SLT’s Success in Fixed LTE Implementation

With the popularity of smart phones and rapid growth of the mobile broadband (MBB) market, fixed-line network operators are facing challenges from mobile operators in their fixed broadband businesses. Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is a state-owned telecom operator that provides ICT solutions and advanced broadband and backbone facilities. It has achieved a dominant position in Sri Lanka's fixed-line market, having over 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and a market share of nearly 90%. In the mobile communication era, how has SLT made new breakthroughs in services to turn crises into opportunities? Let's read through SLT's success story to learn how it has been revitalized in the mobile communication era.

The MBB market has grown very rapidly in Sri Lanka. From 2010 to 2015, Sri Lanka's MBB penetration increased from 2.4% to 18.1%, but its fixed broadband (FBB) penetration increased slowly to only 2.3% in 2015. Of the three local fixed-line operators in Sri Lanka, SLT is overwhelmingly predominant in the FBB market while Dialog Axiata and Lanka Bell are aggressive in TD-LTE deployment. In the first quarter of 2013, Dialog Axiata secured a sustained growth in subscribers through TD-LTE wireless broadband access (WBA) service. By the end of 2014, the number of Dialog Axiata's TD-LTE subscribers had exceeded 50000.

In Sri Lanka, the application period of fixed broadband installation is about three to four weeks, and the access fees are high. Therefore, SLT's existing XDSL and FTTH services only cover large-scale enterprises, government, and some high-end customers. Meanwhile, because WiMAX failed to be promoted worldwide, SLT's WiMAX network has not been put into commercial use. The best way out is to transition WiMAX to TD-LTE. As the mainstream 3GPP technology, TD-LTE beats WiMAX in chips, terminals, test instruments, and commercial scale. To date, global telecom giants in USA, China, Japan, and India have chosen TD-LTE as their development priorities.

Making the best use of the TD-LTE network has become a major concern for SLT. Because of high costs, FBB services have been applied mostly in urban areas. SLT has to adopt different strategies for commercial TD-LTE business in different areas. In the areas concentrated with government offices and large enterprises, SLT provides excellent and high-speed fixed broadband services for these high-value customers. For small and medium-sized enterprises, low- and middle-income families, and individual mobile subscribers, SLT provides convenient wireless broadband services through TD-LTE+CPE. In the countryside not covered by fixed networks or FTTH infrastructure due to land privatization, and also for those users who cannot afford for fixed access, SLT uses the TD-LTE network to provide cheap wireless broadband services.  

In addition to the business strategies, SLT also adopts integrated 4-channel RRUs and 8-channel RRUs deployment to balance network coverage and capacity. In urban areas, 4-channel RRUs are used to support remote electrical tilt (RET) antennas for considering the initial network construction speed and cost control. Ultra-wideband and high-power 8-channel RRUs not only apply to urban hot-spot areas for traffic absorption but also satisfy the need for wide coverage in suburb and rural areas. This helps SLT reduce network construction costs. With rich experience in network construction and on the basis of precise field survey, ZTE has assisted SLT in deploying a TD-LTE network with simpler structure, faster speeds, and lower costs that can satisfy service requirements in the coming five to eight years.

SLT also has distinct advantages in supporting future LTE-A technology. Currently, SLT has a 30 MHz bandwidth at the 2.6 G band that  enables two-carrier aggregation (20 MHz and 10 MHz). In the future, 20 MHz bandwidth will be added to implement three-carrier aggregation with a theoretical peak data rate of 275 Mbps. The RRUs deployed by SLT support three-carrier aggregation in hardware. This helps SLT greatly save CAPEX, ensure smooth evolution, and improve TD-LTE performance.

Since the kick-off gathering for SLT's fixed LTE implementation project was held in December 2014, the test team has worked closely with the delivery team to ensure that SLT's roll and pay policy can be implemented with the best network performance and the fastest time to market. The roll and pay policy refers to the commercial mode where network construction and service charging are implemented simultaneously. At first, SLT didn't require to build a national wireless broadband network. Instead, SLT divided the areas in the country and deployed the network in hot-spot areas. When broadband services were provided in these areas, SLT began to gain revenue which SLT could use to deploy the network in other areas. This commercial mode used for data services provides a fast return on operator investment. SLT put its TD-LTE network into commercial use in June 2015, and attracted 5000 new subscribers within one month. By the end of 2015, its subscriber base had reached 14000.

In the mobile communication era, fixed-line operators concern more about how to leverage wireless technologies to offer innovative broadband access services. TD-LTE is a preferred choice for operators to expand their coverage within a short period of time and grab more market share with flexible pricing modes. TD-LTE also provides diverse value-added services and excellent user experience. The success of SLT has once again proved that adopting ZTE's TD-LTE as broadband access is the best choice for fixed-line operators in their business transition.