2nd

MTN Ghana
Carrier Strategies

Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South

Africa
22th April , 2012

Introduction
As a 2nd carrier strategy is carried out for MTN
Ghana, we are reviewing strategies implemented in
other networks in order not to reinvent the wheel
and to learn on how 2nd carrier has been
implemented in other networks.
In this report , we are going to review the 2nd carrier
strategy used in MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 2

MTN Nigeria - Strategy

F2

R99+HS

R99+HS

2G

R99+HS

2G

R99+HS

F1

2G

The strategy used by MTN Nigeria is to have R99+HS/EUL on both carriers and to
strive to distribute traffic evenly between the two carriers.
Both carriers are thus handling R99 and HS/EUL traffic.
Idle mode parameters are set in such a way to make the UEs camp on either
carrier and to balance traffic on both carriers in idle mode.
Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 3

MTN Nigeria Idle Mode Cell

Selection/Reselection

Cell Selection/Reselection
UEs to camp on either F1 or F2 on
Idle Mode.

R99+HS

2G

F2

R99+HS

R99+HS

R99+HS

2G

2G

UEs are allowed to camp on either F1 or F2 and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).
Strive to balance traffic on idle mode by tuning idle mode parameters.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 4

F1

MTN Nigeria Idle Mode - Parameters

Idle/FACH

F1

F2

parameter

value

parameter

value

comment

qRxLevMin

-118

qRxLevMin

-115

Want only UE with good

RSCP to camp

qQualMin

-18

qQualMin

-15

Want only UE with good EcNo

to camp

qualMeasQuant
ity

2(EcNo)

qualMeasQuan
tity

2(EcNo)

EcNo is better to measure

network quality than RSCP

qOffset1sn

qOffset1sn

qOffset2sn

qOffset2sn

sInterSearch

same as F1

sInterSearch

same as F1

sIntraSearch

same as F1

sIntraSearch

same as F1

sRatSearch

same as F1

sRatSearch

same as F1

qHyst2

same as F1

qHyst2

same as F1

interFreqFddMe
asIndicator

1(TRUE)

interFreqFddM
easIndicator

1(TRUE)

UEs are allowed to camp on either F1 or F2 and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).
Strive to balance traffic on idle mode by tuning idle mode parameters (qRxLevMin , qQualMin and
qOffset2sn ).
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MTN Nigeria Neighbor Strategy

One Way Neighbor relation F2->F1
except on collocated where it is both
ways .
F2-F1 Relation

R99+HS
ifho_Preferred

R99+HS
Gsm_Preferred

R99+HS
Gsm_Preferred

F2

F1-2G Relation
F1-F1 Relation

R99+HS
Gsm_Preferred

F1

One Way Neighbor relation F2->2G on

a case by case basis.

2G

2G

2G

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 6

MTN Nigeria IFHO - Parameters

Utrancell
parameter
HoType
usedFreqThresh2d
Ecno
usedFreqThresh2d
Rscp

RNC

value
F1(gsm_Preferred),
F2(ifho_Preferred)

parameter

value

FddIfHoSupp

F1(-13), F2(-10)

IFHOAllowed

F1(-100), F2(-95)

usedFreqRelThresh2fEcNo
usedFreqRelThresh2fRscp
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEc
no
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRs
cp
nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2
bEcno
nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2
bRscp
hyst4_2b

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 7

MTN Nigeria Conclusion

The 2nd carrier strategy adopted by MTN Nigeria is to

have R99+HS/EUL on both carriers.
Traffic is equally balanced between the two layers.
In order to achieve that, UEs are allowed to camp on
either carrier and to strive to balance traffic equally
between the two layers on idle mode by tuning idle
mode parameters (qRxLevMin , qQualMin and
qOffset2sn).

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 8

MTN South Africa - Strategy

F2

R99+HS

R99+HS

2G

R99

2G

R99+HS

F1

2G

The strategy used by MTN South Africa is to have R99 Only on F1 and
R99+HS/EUL on F2.
With this strategy, R99 traffic will stay on F1 while HS/EUL traffic is pushed to F2.
Idle mode parameters are set in such a way to make the UEs camp on F1 only.
At call initiation, R99 Users will stay on F1 while HS users will be directed to F2
through the cell Selection feature.
Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 9

MTN South Africaa Idle Mode Cell Selection/Reselection

Cell Selection/Reselection
UEs to only camp on F1 on Idle
Mode.

R99+HS

2G

F2

R99+HS

R99

2G

R99+HS

2G

UEs are allowed to only camp on F1 on idle mode.

UE will only reselect to any F1 or 2G cell .
All UEs camping on F1 allow a better steering of HS traffic to F2 and keep R99 traffic on F1.
Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 10

F1

MTN South Africa Idle Mode - Parameters

Idle/FACH

F1

F2

parameter

value

parameter

value

comment

qRxLevMin

-115

qRxLevMin

-115

qQualMin

-18

qQualMin

-18

qualMeasQuant
ity

2(EcNo)

qualMeasQuan
tity

2(EcNo)

qOffset1sn

qOffset1sn

qOffset2sn

50

qOffset2sn

-50

F2->F1

sInterSearch

same as F1

sInterSearch

same as F1

sIntraSearch

same as F1

sIntraSearch

same as F1

sRatSearch

same as F1

sRatSearch

same as F1

qHyst2

same as F1

qHyst2

same as F1

interFreqFddMe
asIndicator

1(TRUE)

interFreqFddM
easIndicator

1(TRUE)

UEs are allowed to camp on F1 only and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).
With this strategy, R99 traffic will stay on F1 while HS/EUL traffic is pushed to F2 using Cell Selection
Feature.
Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 11

MTN South Africa - HS/EUL settings

F1

parameter

HS/E
UL

F2
comme
value
nt
parameter

RNC
comme
value
nt
parameter

comme
value
nt

Hsdpa

disabled

Hsdpa

enabled

HsToDchTrigger

FALSE

HsOnlyBestCell

FALSE

HsOnlyBestCell

FALSE

.poorQualityDetected
.
changeOfBestCellIntraR
nc
.serHsChangeIntraRnc

TRUE
TRUE

HsPathLossThresho
ld
170
CoverageIndicator
1
EUL
disabled
sIntraSearch

HsPathLossThresho
ld
-
CoverageIndicator
EUL
enabled
sIntraSearch

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 12

MTN South Africa Neighbor Strategy

One Way Neighbor relation F2->F1
except on collocated where it is both
ways .
F2-F1 Relation

R99+HS
ifho_Preferred

R99+HS
Gsm_Preferred

R99
Gsm_Preferred

F2

F1-2G Relation
F1-F1 Relation

R99+HS
Gsm_Preferred

F1

One Way Neighbor relation F2->2G on

a case by case basis.

2G

2G

2G

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 13

MTN South Africa IFHO Parameters

Utrancell
parameter
HoType
usedFreqThresh2d
Ecno
usedFreqThresh2d
Rscp

RNC

value
F1(gsm_Preferred),
F2(ifho_Preferred)

parameter

value

FddIfHoSupp

F1(-13), F2(-12)

IFHOAllowed

F1(-100), F2(-110)

usedFreqRelThresh2fEcNo
usedFreqRelThresh2fRscp
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEc
no
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRs
cp
nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2
bEcno
nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2
bRscp
hyst4_2b

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 MTN South Africa HS Mobility - Issue (UEs moving from a Non

Second Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site)

No F1->F2 relations allowed

On Non 2nd carrier sites
Preventing IFHO for
HS from F1->F2
Incoming
HS UE

F2

R99+HS
HS Selection
feature
R99

R99+HS

R99+HS
DwSw to R99

F1

HS UE dragging the call

Till the next non 2nd
carrier site. HS Call may
drop or survive
depending on the
density of F1 sites

In this strategy, a special case arises when an incoming HS user is moving from UEs moving from a Non
Second Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site .
The HS UE will either Down Switch to R99 or dragg the call till the next non 2nd carrier site depending
on the value of hsToDchTrigger been set to TRUE or FALSE.
HS Call may drop or survive depending on the density of F1 sites .
This is a potential issue as this will degrade the throughput .

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 15

 MTN South Africa HS Mobility Issue (UEs moving from a Non

Second Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site)

F1->F2 relations should be

Allowed between
the 1st tier Non 2nd carrier
Cells and the 2nd carrier Cell.

R99+HS

F2

R99+HS
HS Selection
feature
R99

R99+HS

F1

In order to provide smooth mobility for UEs on HS Call and avoid

interruption of the Throughput when moving from a from Non Second
Carrier site to Second Carrier Site,
F1->F2 relations between the 1st tier Non 2nd carrier Cells and the 2nd
carrier Cell to allow IF HO from F1 to F2 while on HS.
With IF/IRAT mobility on HS activated, the threshold settings of event 2d
and event 2b needs to be tuned (serviceOffset2dEcno and
serviceOffset2dRscp) to avoid unnecessary compressed mode periods and
also that the UE leaves HSDPA channel while still experiencing high
throughput.

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