Backhaul economics have never been out of the spotlight and with millions of small cells on the horizon how will operators cope? This presentation provides: • The latest financial comparison of backhaul solutions • An insight as to what options and challenges operators face next • An overview of the total cost of ownership model used to create the analysis Senza Fili has completed one of the most thorough analyses of backhaul technologies ever attempted. It is based on a total cost of ownership model and compares the capex and opex of fibre, microwave and E-band point-to-point, and microwave point-to-multipoint backhaul for different configurations of LTE, 3G, and small-cell networks over a period of five years. The model also takes into account architectural differences and, for perhaps the first time, takes aggregation benefits into account. The cost of backhaul per site and per Mb/s is compared. The findings are summarised in the recent Senza Fili white paper ‘Crucial economics for mobile data backhaul’.

1. www.cbnl.com
Next generation thinking
Crucial backhaul economics
The latest Total Cost of Ownership comparison
of backhaul solutions
7 December 2011

2. Crucial backhaul economics – today’s agenda
• Overview of the Total Cost of Ownership project - Lance Hiley
• The latest financial comparison of backhaul solutions - Monica Paolini
• Meeting the challenges of mobile backhaul - Monica Paolini
• How VectaStar achieves cost savings in a live backhaul environment
- Lance Hiley
• Your questions - Q&A will be open for 10 minutes
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 2

3. Crucial backhaul economics – the challenge
Lance Hiley
VP Marketing
Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited
Objectives and overview of the Total Cost of
Ownership project
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 3

4. Crucial backhaul economics
Why is understanding Total Cost of Ownership crucial
for backhaul market?
• Operator financial focus is higher than ever
• Operators demands
• Capex and opex are at the forefront of
the CEO’s thoughts
• Potentially millions of small cells on the horizon
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 4

5. Crucial backhaul economics – the challenge
Objective
Create a financial model tool to analyse the
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for popular
backhaul technologies to help network
operator decision making.
Based on:
•An independent and fair analysis
•Accurate cost estimates
•Research from customers and vendors
across continents
•Industry published data by Next Generation
Mobile Networks (NGMN)
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 5

6. Basis: backhaul solutions and scenarios
Solutions
• Point-to-point (PTP) microwave
• Point-to-multipoint (PMP) multipoint microwave
• E-Band microwave
• Leased fibre
• Built fibre
Scenarios
• LTE
• 3G
• LTE small cells
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 6

7. Basis: cost parameters
Capex
• Outdoor equipment costs
• Indoor equipment costs
• Network planning, site acquisition and installation
Opex
• Site rental fees, leased line fees
• Spectrum licensing fees
• Recurring operating costs (e.g. power, maintenance)
Model was populated with median values across all markets
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 7

8. Basis: backhaul topologies
Point-to-multipoint (PMP) topology Point-to-point (PTP) and E-band star topology
RAN
RAN RAN RAN RAN RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
HUB RAN HUB RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN RAN RAN RAN RAN
RAN
Up to 240 RAN sites supported, depending on RAN site capacity Max 16 RAN sites supported
Point-to-point (PTP) and E-band tree-and-branch topology Point-to-point (PTP) and E-band ring topology
RAN RAN
RAN
RAN RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN HUB HUB
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN
RAN RAN RAN
RAN
RAN RAN
Max 10 RAN sites supported
LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3
Max 15 RAN sites supported
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 8

9. Crucial backhaul economics – the results
Monica Paolini, PhD
Founder and President
Senza Fili
Analysis and conclusions from the Total Cost
of Ownership (TCO) project
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 9

10. TCO analysis of backhaul costs:
why a long-term view matters
Analysis approach
• Small network that scales in size, same size assumptions across solutions
• Cost assumptions are for median prices across developed and emerging
markets, and are consistent across solutions
• No specific allowance was made for discounts made on the basis of contract
size or operator competitive position
• Analysis of multiple geographic and competition environments: presentation
focuses on single one, model allows to change assumptions
Crucial to look at both capex and opex
• Real cost of backhaul is opex - for both wireless and fiber solutions
• Looking primarily at capex can be easier, but misleading
– Impact of equipment costs is often overestimated
But money is not everything
• Non-financial considerations in many cases prevail (and rightly so)
• But understanding tradeoffs makes it possible to take right decision
Our analysis focuses on drivers dynamics:
Costs change across regions and types of operators, drivers stay the same
January 11, 2012 | 10 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

11. Capex drivers:
PMP reduces the footprint, and the costs
Source: Senza Fili Consulting
• PMP topology: fewer equipment terminals, as single hub supports multiple RAN sites
― 15 RAN sites: 18 (15 +3) radios with PMP, 30 radios with PTP
• Fewer terminals: less equipment, less sites to be installed, lower capex
January 11, 2012 | 11 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

12. Opex also scales with number of installed radios
Source: Senza Fili Consulting
• Opex cost items are constant across wireless solutions
• Overall opex depends on topology:
― Number of terminals
― Aggregation gains
January 11, 2012 | 12 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

13. A closer look at cost drivers
PTP compared to: PMP E-band Leased fibre
Capex
Equipment costs, outdoor   
Equipment costs, indoor   
Network planning, site acquisition, installation   
Opex
Site rental fees, leased line fees   
Spectrum licensing fees   N/A
Other recurring operating costs   
 = higher cost than PTP; = lower cost than PTP;  = comparable cost as PTP
| 13 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

14. Summary of results
• PMP is the most cost effective backhaul
– Overall cost savings of 49% over PTP microwave for LTE networks
– 31% cheaper capex than PTP microwave
– 53% cheaper opex
• TCO of backhaul networks is
dominated by opex
– For PMP, opex accounts for
83% of TCO
– For PTP and E-band,
opex accounts for 76% of TCO
• PMP cost effectiveness is driven by
– Less equipment to be deployed,
installed and maintained
– Leveraging traffic aggregation gains
Source: Senza Fili Consulting
October 4, 2011 | 14 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

15. Meeting the challenges of mobile backhaul:
high traffic volumes and small cells
• High data traffic loads changes the nature
of mobile backhaul
– Capacity density rather than coverage
becomes a major issue
• Small cells quickly add to backhaul costs
– Need to keep equipment footprint down
to contain capex and, primarily, opex
• Solutions like PMP that lower amount of
installed equipment are more cost effective:
– Lower installation costs
– Lower opex
– Added benefits: faster installation,
smaller footprint
October 4, 2011 | 15 | Confidential - Do not distribute without permission © Senza Fili Consulting LLC

16. How VectaStar achieves these cost savings in a live backhaul environment
Lance Hiley
VP Marketing
Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited
How VectaStar achieves these cost savings in
a live backhaul environment
www.cbnl.com Crucial backhaul economics webinar 16

17. VectaStar Gigabit Backhaul Solution
• VectaStar Access Point
• All-outdoor design
• Supports 8 remote
terminals per sector
• 150Mb/s throughput
• 10.5, 26 & 28GHz ETSI
• VectaStar Remote spectrum support
Terminal
• All-outdoor design
• 150Mb/s throughput
• VectaStar Radio Controller (Hub)
• Aggregates and switches 8 Access points
• 1U Rack mount, 10Gb/s backplane capacity
• Supports 240 Remote Terminals per hub
• 300Mb/s/sector capacity
• VectaStar is a carrier-grade multipoint microwave solution with the capacity to handle the
aggregated traffic from multiple HSPA and LTE sites
• Each connection requires one radio, one visit, meaning less time and money to deploy
www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence 17

18. Case study: European LTE network
•Brief: LTE backhaul for dense urban
network – emphasis on performance
and speed of deployment
•VectaStar hubs situated on existing
macro sites in dense urban setting
each covering 2sq. Km
•150 Mb/s peak performance – 90 Mb/s
delivered to customers
•Stable sub-600 μs latency
•In the words of the customer:
“The only other feasible alternative to (VectaStar) is
leased fiber. Speed to deploy and flexibility in
deployment are the key VectaStar advantages (it
takes months to set-up leased fibre connections but
VectaStar takes hours. It also has 25% lower TCO
over 2 years!”
www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence 18

19. Summary
Multipoint microwave is a fast and
cost effective way to build backhaul
networks
• Low capital requirements
• Low operating costs
• Fast build-out
• Long deployment life
Mature VectaStar solution
• Deployed across Europe,
Middle East and Africa
• Compatible with what operators run
now and anything they’re planning
for the future
www.cbnl.com Commercial in Confidence 19

20. www.cbnl.com
Watch the webinar
Watch our webinar where Lance Hiley, VP Marketing at CBNL,
and Monica Paolini, owner of Senza Fili, discuss the presentation,
the TCO findings and take industry questions.
Watch now at www.cbnl.com/resources/webinars
Download the white paper: www.cbnl.com/resources/white-papers