1. Development of Mobile Broadband
Communication in Tanzania
Peter Chitamu (PhD, PrEng, MIEEE, MSAIEE)
Founder, Chairman & Director - Sasatel
Tuesday 13th Jan 2015

2. Outline
• Tanzania Demographics & Tele-Statistics behind
broadband Communications
• Mobile Broadband Services & Connectivity
– Channel
– Tanzania Operating Environments
• Operational Considerations
– Different Standards
– Legacy Infrastructure
– New Initiatives
• Summary
2 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

3. Tanzania
Demographics
3 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

4. Tanzania population has tripled between 1967 and 2012
4 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

5. % Population distribution per Region – 2012 Census
5 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

6. Urbanization Trend – About 4% Urbanization every 10 Years
Some 40 Years before 50% of Tanzania will be Urban
6 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

7. Population Density according to 2012 Census
7 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

8. Tanzania Populn Density
From 2012 Census
Only Dar es Salaam and
a few Urban areas have
similarities to European
Markets
8 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

9. 9
Tz Voice
& Data subs
9 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

10. Voice Trends
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
30,000,000
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Fixed
Mobile
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Teledensity
Teledensity
Source: TCRA
10
• The Converged
Licensing Framework
created growth
between 2005 and
2010
• Inter-connection
regulation had further
impact on off-net
tariffs
• Further growth need
new innovative
initiatives
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

11. Voice vs Data Growth Patterns
• Voice growth much
faster than data
because data requires
new infrastructure end-
to-end
• Data growth relies on
3G/HSDPA/LTE and
accompanying new IP
backhaul
• Faster growth for data
as mass market product
will depend on new
business models
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
200520062007200820092010
Telephone Subs
Internet Subs
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Teledensity
Internet Density
11 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

12. Mobile Broadband is preferred Platform
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
2008 2009 2010
Cable
Fixed Wireless
Mobile Wireless
VSAT
Other Broadband
Source: Report on Internet and Data Services Supply
Side Survey by TCRA, Sept 2010
12 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

13. The Dilemma / Challenge: Scalability
13
Capex
& Opex
per Sub
User Density (Affordability)
GSM, HSDPA,
Mobile WiMax
LTE, Fiber and Cable
All-IP CDMA 2000 1x
EV-DO Rev. A
ViableNot -Viable
Viable
MOQ
MinimumOrderQuantity
Affordability level
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

14. Networks: Capacity Vs Coverage Vs Throughput
14
Capex
& Opex
User Density
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

15. Broadband
15 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

16. Broadband Services
Data (Internet)Voice
Mobile
Fixed
Individuals and businesses
Phone driven market
Coverage and roaming
(Dual CDMA/GSM)
(GSM Operators)
Fixed Wireless Phones,
PABX for organizations
and large corporate
(PSTN)
Smartphones & Modems
to individuals for private
and business usage.
Speed, coverage and price
(3G, 4G and Wi-Fi)
PTP Microwave, EVDO
Routers, 1x Data, VPN-
connections, (Reliability,
predictability and
speed), High prices (ISPs)
16 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

17. 17
Provided
Service
FDD
especially
Suited for
Symmetrical
Services and
Wide area
coverage
TDD
especially
Suited for
Asymmetrical
Services and
small area
coverage
FDD / TDD
10 kbps 100 kbps 1 Mbps 10 Mbps
Voice
E-mail
Data Base Access
Information Services
Tele-banking
Financial Services
Video Conferencing
Electronic Newspaper
Images / Soundfiles
Tele-shopping
Video Telephony
Question: Why Broadband?
17 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

18. 18
The Future with uncertainty in User Behavior
Telematics
Telematics,
Info Services,
Point of Sale
Email
W W W
File transfer,
Multimedia
0.1 1 10 100 1000 kbytes
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
Data volume per subscriber / busy hour
Subscriberspercell
Combination of Circuit and Packet switching requirements
18 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

19. 19
As Dec 2002As Dec 2002
M El-Sayed and J Jaffe, ”A View of Telecomms. Network
Evolution”, IEEE Comms. Mag., Dec 2002, pp. 74-81
Quality of Service (QoS) is an Issue, Requires flexible Network Design
19

20. Broadband services require end-to-end broadband
Connectivity
Radio Access
Network
2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi
Transport
Network
(TDM or IP)
CSN
PSN
PSTN &
Other
Operator
s
Internet
Core
Network
Range, Rate
& Capacity
Efficiency in
Multiplexing
Provisioning
& AAA
20
Microwave
Cable
Satellite
Optical Fiber
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

21. 21 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014
Radio Access Network Limitation

22. 22
Shannon-Hartley Theorem
• Upper limit that can be reached
–Reliable transmission rate over AWGN
channels
• Exchange of signal-to-noise ratio for
bandwidth
• Noiseless channel has infinite capacity
• Power P = EbRb
  sec/1log1log 22 bits
BN
P
B
N
SBC
O







12 )/(
 BC
O
bb
BN
RE
N
S
22 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

23. Last Mile Channel characteristics is
Key to deliver Mobile Broadband Services
Data
input
Data
output
MODULA-
TOR
2. Multiple
Access
ENCODER
DECODER
DEMODU-
LATOR
1. Noise &
Interference
Channel
1. Satellite
2. Mobile Radio
3. Coaxial Cable
4. Fibre Optic
5. Twisted pair
6. Wireless
S/N for Analogue
Eb/No for Digital
systems
Shapping, channel
& BER performance
Application,
& data rate
BER
performance
23 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

24. Data Encoding for Mobile Broadband
Source
Coding Channel
Coding
Representation of
Source data in a
Specific format e.g.
ADPCM, MPEG, JPEG, SB
C, etc
Prepare info to
Match Channel
Characteristics e.g.
Line, Codes, FEC,
Adaptive Modulation,
etc
Noise
&
Interference
Media
(Mobile Channel)
24 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

25. Mobile Broadband
Channel
25 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

26. Multipath is the single biggest problem for
Mobile Broadband
• Operating frequency
– Lower frequency better
coverage
• Diffraction
– Receiving behind
obstacle
• Reflections (Multipath)
– Receiving multiple
copies of same signal
• Scattering
26 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

27. Effect of Multipath
  






23
exp,][, n
njnECPE 
 














 
23
1
,, exp][
n
nnC jEPE 
Non-Coherent Vector Sum
Coherent Vector Sum
Delay (s)
Real
0
Coherent Vector sum
1
2
3
2
3
I II III
Delay
Resolution
1 2
3
Imaginary
Real
0
(Fading)
Delay ( λ)
27 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

28. Multipath Fades
x1(t) + x2(t)
x t t
x t t
where
C
C
1
1
0 180
( ) sin( )
( ) sin( )

 
 

 

0 45 90 135 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Phase Difference [ degrees ]
Effect of phase difference
CDMA handles this situation better than other mobile networks
Using RAKE receiver and other techniques
28 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

29. 29
Receiver & Transmit test bed
29 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

30. Propagation Measurement
Radio coverage and data rates degrade quickly (exponentially) due to
impact of terrain hence important to carry out Techno-economic evaluations
Pathloss exponent changes from 4.2 to 4.3 gives huge swings in profitability
in Rural areas
30 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

31. 31
Hilly & Flat areas
31 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014
Ngudu, MwanzaUSA River, Arusha

32. 32
Transmit & Receiver sites (Lushoto)
32 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

33. Different services areas BUT same expectations
Mombo
Soni Ngudu, Mwanza
Njombe
33 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

34. Multipath selected Results
AR1082.LIN
-3.0 2.0 7.0 12.0 17.0 22.0 27.0 32.0 37.0 42.0 47.0 52.0
MICROSECONDS
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
V
o
l
t
s
Arusha
34 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

35. Multipath selected Results
ar1082.imp
-0.000010 0.000010 0.000030 0.000050 0.000070
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
Arusha
35 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

36. Multipath selected Results
AR1092.IMP
- 0 . 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 7 0
- 0 . 2
0 . 0
0 . 2
0 . 4
0 . 6
0 . 8
1 . 0
1 . 2
Time in seconds
Pre-Cursors and Post-cursors
Nearby echos and a group from far
36 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

37. Multipath selected Results
TA1 153.IM P
- 0 . 0 0 0 0 1 5 - 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 . 0 0 0 0 1 5
- 0 . 2
0 . 0
0 . 2
0 . 4
0 . 6
0 . 8
1 . 0
1 . 2
Time in seconds
A real strange profile
Pre-Cursors
Post-Cursors
Tanga
37 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

38. Source: M. Taferner & E. Bonek, Wireless Internet Access over GSM and UMTS, Springer
Europe’s typical radio environment
Typical
Urban
Bad
Urban
Rural
Area
Hilly
Terrain
38 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

39. Global Mobile
Broadband
Standards
39 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

40. 40
Roadmaps for Competing Standards
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

41. Roadmap of the Major Mobile Broadband Technologies
41
Humair Raza,”A Brief Survey of Radio Access Network Backhaul Evolution:
Part 1”, IEEE Comms Mag., June 2011, Pg. 164 - 171

42. Multipath Resolving Capability
Network Channel
Bandwidth
Data Rates Multipath
Resolution (s)
1 GSM 200 kHz 270 kbps 3.703
2 CDMA 2000 1.25 MHz 1.23 Mbps 0.813
3 WCDMA/HSPA 5 MHz 384 Mbps 0.260
4 OFDMA 260 kHz
Possible solutions:
1. Diversity (Multiple Inputs Multiple Outputs)
1. Time, Space, Frequency & Code
2. Interleaving, Equalization, Adaptive Modulation
3. Forward Error Correction, Adaptive Channel Coding
4. RAKE Combiner
5. Flow Control (ARQ), Hybrid Coding & ARQ, etc
42 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

43. 37.35%
32.65%
22.86%
6.59% 0.56% 0.00%
Market Share
Vodacom
Airtel
TIGO
ZANTEL
TTCL
BENSON
Tanzania Operators (Mobile Broadband introduce 2006)
1) GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA/HSDPA+ (Vodacom, TIGO, Airtel)
2) EVDO (ZANTEL, TTCL)
43 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

44. Operational
Challenges
44 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

45. Urban vs Rural in Tanzania
• Urban (30% of Population)
– High Density of Users
– Capacity limited
– Less impact from Terrain induced degradation
– High ARPU
• Rural (70% of Population)
– Low Density of Users
– Coverage Limited
– More impact from terrain degradation
– Low ARPU
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 201445

46. Users Density determines best technology
to deploy in a Specific Market
Metro Category Subscriber Density Example Cities
Low Density ~1,500 Pop/km2 Atlanta, Prague
Medium Density ~5,000 Pop/km2 Copenhagen,
Chicago, London
High Density ~10,000 Pop/km2 New York, Moscow
Closer to home
High Density ~1,500 Pop/km2 Dar es Salaam
Low Density < 500 Pop/km2 Outside Dar
46 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

47. Dense Urban Environments
Dense Urban Environment: Singapore
About 4,000 people per sq.km
47 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

48. Urban Environments, London, England
48
Dense Urban Environment: London
About 6,000 people per sq.km

49. Dense Urban Environments
Dense Urban Environment: Southampton, England
About 2,000 people per sq.km
49 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

50. Urban Environments: Shanghai, China
Shanghai
50 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

51. Dar es Salaam Environments – (1)
Urban Environment: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
About 1,500 people per sq.km
51 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

52. Dar es Salaam Environments - from PPF Tower (2)
52

53. Dar es Salaam Environments - From PPF Tower (3)
53 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

54. Dar es Salaam Environments - (4)
54 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

55. Outskirts of Dar (Airport)
55 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

56. Legacy Backhaul – 1 (Backhaul)
• Backhaul uses TDM
Technology (PDH & SDH)
• Capacity per sector and
per BTS assigned PTP
dedicated links using E1
on end-to-end basis not
shareable
• The E1s can not be
shared, migration very
costly and takes time
BSC MSC
BSC
56 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

57. 2G GSM Narrowband Network – 15 Sites
TDM
(ATM) Core
BTS
Traffic
Aggregation
57
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
3 E1s
3 E1s
9 E1s3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
15 E1s
24 E1s
30 E1s
36 E1s
45 E1s (< STM 1)
BTS
To accommodate Broadband
 Change ADMs
 Change link Capacity
 Core Network
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

58. 2G to 3G Broadband Network – 15 Sites
IP
Core
BTS
Traffic
Aggregation
58
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
10 E1s
10 E1s
30 E1s10 E1s
10 E1s
10 E1s
10 E1s
10 E1s
10 E1s
10 E1s
50 E1s (STM 1)
80 E1s
120 E1s
150 E1s
BTS
HSDPA 14.7 Mbps
- 3 Sectors per BTS
- 15 E1s per BTS
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

59. Possible Migration from TDM to IP (Swap?)
TDM/ATM
&
IP CORE
BTS
Traffic
Aggregation
59
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
3 E1s
3 E1s
9 E1s3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
3 E1s
15 E1s
24 E1s
30 E1s
36 E1s
45 E1s
IP
Cloud
(e.g. Fibre)
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

60. WAN MAN LAN
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900 MHz
CDMA / EV-DO 800 MHz
3G/WCDMA
HSPA
2.1 GHz
Wi-Fi
802.11
Challenge 2 Last Mile Reach for
Broadband and fading Problems in 3G
*
100 m5 – 7 km 500 m
Distance
60 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

61. 61
Impact of Operating Frequency
0.0 4.0 8.0 12.0 16.0 20.0 24.0 28.0
80.0
85.0
90.0
95.0
100.0
105.0
110.0
115.0
120.0
125.0
130.0
Distance [ 1 -30 km ]
900 MHz
400 MHz
1800 MHz
About 8 km gained
61 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

62. NICTBB
62 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

63. 63

64. 64
• FE (100 Mbps)
– US$ 116,000 p.a
– QRTLY US$ 29,000
– About US$97 per Mbps
per month
– Once off Connection fee
US$ 22,500
• Capacity high although
cheaper compared to other
operators (US$150, US$500
per Mbps per Month
• POPs not available at District
level to hook up villages

65. Initiatives from
New Companies
65 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

66. Packet
(IP)
Backbone
Hotspot
Kerege
MGW
MNO
Core
Network
Internet
PSTN
MNOs
BlueTown
Services
AAA, SIP
Billing
Self Service
Voucher Mngt
66
Bluetown Rural Broadband Solution
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

67. Kerege Site Model
• 15 m three leg tower
with 5 m Pole
• 0.3m MW dish (5 GHz)
• 3 Sector Coverage
antennas (Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz)
• Bluetown BTS
• Solar Panels
• Battery inside box with
Solar controller
• Site area 4m x 3m
67

68. Kerege Village
Access Point
68

69. MNO
Voice &
Data Net
MNO
Monitoring
Station
HotSpots
Access Points
POP Site
Mapinga
Inter-
net
Fixed
Nets
Mobile
Networks
Hotspot
Jaribu
Bluetown Rural Broadband Solution
POP Site
Jaribu
Hotspot
Kerege
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 201469

70. Handsets
Laptops
Tablets
Smartphones
70 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

71. Handsets Distributed – LG P875 F5
• Kerege Village 25
– Professional People 13
(Teachers, Nurses, Doctors, Farm
Extension Officer, Village Executive
Officer, Magistrate, etc)
– Others 12
(Recommended by Village
leadership)
• Jaribu Village 15
– Professional People 9
– Others 6
71 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

72. 72

73. 73

74. Trying to use the phone
74

75. End of session, people going home
75

76. Summary
• Mobile Broadband is the main platform for users in
Tanzania to access broadband services
• The Tanzania demographics and operating
environments have impact in the cost of service
provision
• It is proposed that new innovative solutions be
supported to enable more cost-effective solutions
especially for rural broadband service delivery
– Overcome legacy implementations
Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 201476

77. Peter J. Chitamu (PhD, PrEng, MIEEE, MSAIEE)
Founder, Chairman & Technical Director
Dovetel (T) Ltd (Trading as Sasatel)
P. O. Box 60483
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Tel: +255 755 307 441
Email: pc@bluetown.com or pjchitamu@yahoo.com
Web: www.bluetown.com
Prepared by:
77 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014

78. end
78 Mobile Broadband in Tz – 13 Jan 2014