C a s e

S t u d y

UMTS900 A Case Study

September 2008
Elisa Corporation is the leading
Finnish telecom operator and
service provider with 2.4 million
mobile subscribers and 50%
market share in 3G services.
Elisa also serves 500,000 DSL
and 1.3 million fixed phone
subscribers, which makes Elisa
the market leader in those
segments. In addition to its
Finnish business, the company
operates a subsidiary in Estonia
that provides both mobile and
fixed network services. A
wireless pioneer, Elisa
established the inaugural GSM
network, made the very first
GSM call and launched the very
first GSM service in July 1991. In
November 2007, the company
continued its groundbreaking
role by launching the worlds
first UMTS900 network service.

greater distances between cell

sites. UMTS900 was the ideal
solution because it offers a cell
radius that is typically almost twice
that of a 2100 MHz site. It also
provides the same cell radius for
packet data services as GSM900
voice, optimizing coverage and
performance.
In addition, the performance of
UMTS900 and UMTS2100 is the
same with typical data rates
ranging from 2 Mbps to 5 Mbps
and maximum peak data rates of
up to 7 Mbps, but UMTS900
provides a much larger coverage
area. As a result, UMTS900 can
provide the same coverage with
two to three times fewer cell sites
than UMTS2100. That meant that

Elisa could save 50% to 70% on its

build out costs by deploying
UMTS900 compared with
UMTS2100.
Since the commercial deployment
of UMTS900 in November 2007,
Elisa has seen a 300% increase in
data traffic and a positive impact on
ARPU. Typically, 3G networks
show an increase in ARPU of 5%
to 10% when deployed, thanks to
enhanced data performance, so we
had an economic motivation to
make the changeover, admits
Panu Lehti, Elisas EVP of
consumer business. The fact that
we could couple it with major
savings in network build out costs
made the decision simple.

A Smarter Deployment
Approach
The rollout of Elisas UMTS900
network in suburban and rural
areas was the natural extension of
its initial 3G deployment in the
more heavily populated urban areas
of Finland using UMTS2100.
UMTS2100 worked well in cities
because the high subscriber
density allowed a relatively
compact cell site distribution.
However, in bringing 3G to
suburban and rural areas, Elisa
needed to find a more costeffective method of deploying the
UMTS network where sparse
subscriber populations demanded

Maximizing Existing
Infrastructure
With UMTS900, Elisa was able to
reuse its existing GSM900 sites
and frequencies to fill in the areas
not covered by the urban
UMTS2100 network already in
operation. The 900 MHz sites in
these lower-density areas offered
unused bandwidth that could be
shifted to the UMTS900 overlay
without impacting the existing
GSM service. By using UMTS900,
we have the same coverage for
mobile data as we already have for
voice with GSM900, notes Dr.
Eetu Prieur, Head of Access
Networks for Elisa Corporation.
And were using the existing
GSM900 cell sites that we have
been optimizing for 17 years, so
we know UMTS900 will deliver the
same coverage and quality our
customers have come to expect.

By using UMTS900, we
have the same coverage for
mobile data as we already
have for voice with
GSM900.
Dr. Eetu Prieur
Head of Access Networks,
Elisa Corporation

Prieurs goal was to use as many

of the existing antennas, antenna
lines and other cell site
components as possible. In fact, in
the initial rollout, existing
infrastructure was used in almost
100% of the cases. The only
alterations needed were the
addition of a multi-radio combiner
at each site to handle the
transmission and reception of both
network signals, and a tower
mounted amplifier to improve
uplink coverage at some sites.
Elisa estimates that in the
beginning of 2009 they will have
several hundred UMTS900 sites in
commercial use. For UMTS2100 to
get the same coverage, it would
have required two to three times
the number of sites.

Looking ahead, once we have

completed our GSM site
conversion and established
nationwide 3G coverage, we will
expand our UMTS900 rollout into
urban areas to create a nationwide
UMTS900 network, remarks Timo
Katajisto, CTO of Elisa Corporation.
We will utilize the existing
UMTS2100 network as a capacity
layer for urban subscribers. This is
a similar approach to what many
operators did years back with a
GSM900 national coverage layer
that dovetailed with GSM1800 as a
capacity layer in cities.

The Ramp Up
Elisa made the first UMTS900 call
in November 2006 to demonstrate
that the technology would work in
commercial networks. Once its
viability was confirmed, the
company deepened co-operation
with two of its existing network
vendors Nokia Siemens
Networks and Ericsson to
accelerate the launch.
To collocate UMTS900 in its
existing cell sites, Elisa had to first
optimize its GSM900 network,
essentially squeezing it into a
smaller spectrum to operate more
efficiently. This process introduced
a small measure of interference,
which was not significant but
required consideration. For a
co-ordinated deployment, the basic
goal was to optimize the existing
GSM900 network in a way that
freed up as many channels as
possible for UMTS900. In our
case, 21 channels across 4.2 MHz
of bandwidth was ideal, notes
Prieur.
As a first step, Elisa used system
measurements, network
optimizers and other tools to finetune the existing GSM equipment
and frequencies. Then Elisa utilized
a new GSM network feature called
adaptive multi-rate half-rate (AMR
HR) codec. This audio data
compression technology enabled
Elisa to free up the necessary
bandwidth for UMTS.

We found that more than 50% of

our users devices supported AMR
HR which made this technology
feasible, acknowledges Prieur.
Where AMR HR is not an option,
though, some frequencies from
the GSM1800 spectrum could be
used to free up the required 900
MHz channels.
In urban areas, Elisa also tested
the collocation of UMTS900 with
existing UMTS2100 MHz sites.
The company found little that
would impact future collocation
opportunities when it extends
UMTS900 into its current
UMTS2100 markets. The only
minor interoperability issue
encountered was the handoff from
the UMTS900 network to
UMTS2100 at certain conditions,
but that will be corrected in the
future software upgrades.
In late 2007, Elisa simultaneously
launched areas with both Nokia
Siemens Networks and Ericsson
infrastructure using Nokia
terminals. The deployments
involved standard testing
methodologies, including drive
testing, optimizing parameters and
a post-launch checklist which
involved confirming KPI values
from the network for both
UMTS900 and GSM900 in that
area. Prieur was happy with the
results. We found that the
UMTS900 deployment was not
very different from any 3G rollout
with regard to testing.

Once we have completed

our GSM site conversion and
established nationwide 3G
coverage, we will expand our
UMTS900 rollout into urban
areas to create a nationwide
UMTS900 network.
Timo Katajisto
CTO, Elisa Corporation

The Overall Benefits

Conventional wisdom says that the
cost of a large mobile network is
directly proportional to the number
of cell sites it requires. At the
lower 900 MHz frequency, Elisa
can use fewer sites to get full
signal coverage in its suburban and
rural areas.
We estimate that UMTS900
coverage requires 50 to 70%
fewer sites than we needed for
UMTS2100, acknowledges Prieur.
That means that 3G coverage
with UMTS900 can save 50 to
70% of our mobile network costs
versus UMTS2100. And that
includes both CAPEX and OPEX
categories. Its not every day that
you can realize a 50% saving in
your network costs.

3G coverage with
UMTS900 can save 50 to
70% of our mobile network
costs versus UMTS2100.
And that includes both
CAPEX and OPEX.

earned a good reputation and

boosted Elisas customer
satisfaction. Weve received very
positive customer feedback on
UMTS900, admits Lehti. Many
customers couldnt believe the
performance of the 3G services.
Were still in our early phases, but
it has had a very good impact on
customer satisfaction.

Dr. Eetu Prieur

Head of Access Networks,
Elisa Corporation

The Future of UMTS900

Elisa also recognized that indoor

coverage was a key benefit of
UMTS900 mobile broadband
usage. If we had tried to deploy
UMTS2100 from our existing
GSM900 sites, we would have
suffered a lot of coverage holes,
especially indoors where the
weaker 2100 MHz signals would
have been degraded by going
through walls and furniture.

UMTS900 is becoming a standard

feature in virtually every new 3G
phone and data modem destined
for European and Asian markets.
As of mid-2008, over 30
compatible models have hit the
market, so UMTS900 penetration
is no doubt increasing. Moving
forward, UMTS900 compatibility
will be one of our mandatory
requirements for new devices,
particularly for mobile broadband
data modems, explains Lehti.

Anywhere that Elisa has deployed

a 3G network, whether that be
UMTS900 or UMTS2100, the
company has seen an increase in
data traffic because of the higher
data speeds and capacity. As 3G
has been implemented in rural and
suburban areas, UMTS900 has

Elisa also recognizes the need to

educate rural and suburban
customers about the benefits of
UMTS900-capable devices. At the
end of the day, the company
realizes that GSM/EDGE users in
areas served by UMTS900 will

eventually see the reasons to

upgrade.
The number of UMTS900
terminals in the market is
significantly increasing over time
from multiple vendors including the
leading industry players. The
increase is seen in all form factors
including phones, PC modems,
embedded laptops, and routers
which support data speeds
comparable with UMTS2100
devices. In addition, theres no
price barrier for end user adoption
because UMTS900 and UMTS2100
terminals are priced the same,
notes Lehti. Were very close to
the day when all new 3G terminals
support UMTS900.

The number of UMTS900

terminals in the market is
significantly increasing over
time from multiple vendors
including the leading industry
players.
Panu Lehti
EVP of Consumer Business,
Elisa Corporation

The high industry commitment and

strong user uptake of mobile
broadband services enabled by PC
cards and USB modem devices,
initially offered on the UMTS2100
networks, have undoubtedly been
a factor in ensuring availability of
similar devices for operation in the
900 MHz band. We market a mix
of handsets, data cards and
modems, but anticipate that
initially there may be more
UMTS900-enabled data cards in
use due to the mobile broadband,
remarks Lehti.

implementation easier. The

bottom line is that its worth
seriously considering a UMTS900
network, at least as a pilot, Prieur
says. You will definitely see its
benefits and learn how to make it
work most effectively. There is no
reason not to give it a try,
especially since the network cost
savings alone can be huge, even
50 to 70%.

From a technical standpoint, Prieur

recommends that other operators
seriously consider using frequency
planning and other tools to
optimize their usage of GSM900
frequencies to make the UMTS900

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