Creating an optimal access transformation plan – Understanding the problem
By Luc Absillis (FPI), Sudheer Dharanikota
September 01, 2022
What is the Problem?
How do I create an implementable optimal access transformation plan, that gives me the most “bang for the buck”?
This first paper in the series looks at the process to get to the insights needed to define an optimal network transformation plan.
What’s next:
- Tuning the selected optimal transformation strategy
- Applying constraints to create realistic plans
- Zoom in and refine with targeted deployment strategies
Key Takeaways
In this paper we observe:
- The optimal upgrade strategy is not intuitive
- The mathematically least cost solution is not necessarily deployable
- The greedy algorithms reflecting different upgrade strategies can create near optimal implementable transformation plans
- The lifespan of the network goes beyond the plan, future safeness must be a key factor in strategy selection
Executive Summary
Telecommunication networks are going through major transformations to meet insatiable bandwidth demand growth and to release new product speed tiers to stay competitive. Especially the access part of the network is affected the most by the changing requirements and it contributes to 90% of the yearly CapEx investments [1],[2]. Carefully planning the access network transformation is fundamental for a telecom operator’s success. This requires a systematic approach to answering a lot of what-if questions with strong tool support, as discussed in previous papers [3],[4],[5].
After doing all the work using access transformation tools such as AP-Jibe [6] a solid plan will emerge. But the leaders and stakeholders will have a nagging question that remains – is this access transformation plan the optimal plan? In this paper, we will show how to answer this question using a realistic HFC network transformation plan as an example.
Key Words: Access planning, optimization, strategy, speed tier, finance, operations
