Operating LTE networks at 2300 MHz presents several technical and economic challenges compared to lower frequency bands like 700 MHz. Specifically, 2300 MHz requires 9 times as many cell sites to achieve the same coverage area as 700 MHz due to its poorer penetration characteristics. This results in significantly higher capital and operating costs to deploy and maintain the denser network. Additionally, the ecosystem for 2300 MHz is less mature with fewer available devices, which can impact adoption rates. The increased network complexity from inter-RAT, backhaul demands, and interference management also introduce operational complexities. Overall, 2300 MHz is better suited as a capacity layer for dense urban areas rather than a primary band for widespread rural coverage due to these challenges.

1. LTE: Challenges with 2300 MHz
Technical and Economic Implications of Band 40

2. Table of contents
i. Global presence on the basis of frequency bands
ii. LTE Global subscriptions – region wise
iii. Significance of bands across developed LTE networks
iv. Operating frequency band Vs. Coverage
v. Site count Impact : Chennai : 2300 MHz Vs. 700 MHz
vi. Impact of Ecosystem
vii. Impact on CAPEX/ OPEX
i. Complexities with regard to IRAT
ii. Backhaul
viii. Interference management
i. Spectrum Allocation specific to Aircel
ix. In Summary - Operational challenges with 2300 MHz

3. Lets get started1

4. LTE Global presence across frequency bands
CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States ; MENA : Middle East North Africa ; SSA : Sub Saharan Africa

5. LTE Global subscriptions by regions
Growth in Asia Pacific is primarily due to India, China & South Korea besides
Taiwan, Russia and its only through better coverage that we can have widespread 4G influence.
For a capital intensive market like telecom, the question is
‘how to provide widespread coverage with least investment?’

6. LTE Scenario : Europe : Significance of bands
0.9
1.8
2.1
0.9
1.8
2.1
0.9
1.8
2.1
0.9
2.1
1.8 1.8
0.9
50
TDD
700 – 900
MHz
1700 – 2100
MHz
2300 - 2700
MHz
 Pure Coverage
• MU/SU/Rural
• Good Penetration
Coverage/Capacity
• MU/SU Presence
• Capacity/coverage.
 Pure Capacity
• DU Presence
• Poor Penetration
Era OrangePlus Play Centernet Aero2
67 to 62 MHz 40 MHz 112
MHz
* Bands broken up 1 Total view of UL + DL 2 Based on 2014 actual customers. COUNTRY - POLAND.
0.8
Sferia
20 (UL) + 30 (DL) MHz TDD-LTE
2×20 MHz FDD-LTE

7. FREQUENCY
VS. COVERAGE
How about some stats?

8. LTE : Operating frequency Vs. Coverage
700 MHz
DL power
UL power (typical limitation for coverage)
×9 ×6 ×4.5 ×1.1
900 MHz 800 MHz (digital dividend)
2.3
GHz
2.3 GHz
“Availability of bandwidth for LTE”
Large
Coverage Area
Small
Coverage Area
LowHigh
190 MHz
2.1 GHz 1.8 GHz
2×60 MHz 2×75 MHz 2×35 MHz 2×30 MHz
2.3 GHz requires 9 times the site density to match 700MHz.

9. LTE : 2300 MHz Vs. 700MHZ : ’Chennai’ Coverage
700 MHz FDD
Clutter
Chennai
Area(Sq.
Kms)
FDD Cell Radius(Kms)
Area Per
Site(Sq.Kms
)
No. of Sites
DU 26.66 0.54 0.57 47
MU 213.75 0.91 1.61 133
SU 56.18 1.30 3.30 17
RU 0.77 0.63 48.20 1
Total 297.36 198
2300 MHz TDD
Clutter
Chennai
Area(Sq.
Kms)
TDD Cell Radius(Kms)
Area Per
Site(Sq.Kms
)
No. of Sites
DU 26.66 0.16 0.05 534
MU 213.75 0.28 0.15 1398
SU 56.18 0.70 0.96 59
RU 0.77 2.04 8.12 1
Total 297.36 1992

10. LTE: Impact of a Mature Ecosystem
“The table illustrates the
number of available devices
across available LTE bands. It
is quite evident that the
ecosystem for lower frequency
bands is more developed
which means more number of
devices are present at lower
bands, hence, lower priced
handsets compared to ‘Band
40’, too “
• Lower demand
worldwide leads to
costlier production of
handsets and thereby
fewer subscribers.
• In a capital intensive
market this can be
detrimental.

11. More CAPEX
•Equipment (baseband, radio, antennas) at each site
•Shelter, Air Conditioning, Battery at each site
•Backhaul – Connectivity with core network (cost Vs. performance)
Increased OPEX
•More Rental and running cost
•More trained staff for network planning and maintenance
•More site visits for preventive and fault handling
•Energy Efficiency
•Significant part of OPEX
•Included Market, regulatory and customer requirements (especially for small cells)
Interoperability
Interworking nodes between different networks
Network Densification (Cont.)
6 A tier-1 operator in Europe typically spends around 60% of revenue in OPEX. The burden will surely increase
with LTE and LTE-A
o LTE : Band 40 : Impact on CapEx/OpEx

12. As the number of network nodes go-up
 It is extremely challenging to maintain and
optimize such networks
1. Number of Neighbor Relationships grow
exponentially
2. Coverage / Capacity trade-offs between
different network layers
3. Complex dynamic traffic patterns and low
base station utilization
LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : IRAT Layer

13. Increasing radio network complexity casts its shadow on the backhaul
- More base stations, more backhaul links -
• Puts additional complexity burden on backhaul
• ICIC and CoMP (Coordinated Multipoint) – Needed to sustain a good user experience at cell edge
• Needed - Real time co-ordination between huge number of base stations
• Needed - Low latency on backhaul also is to be maintained
• All base stations need sub-frame level co-ordination
• All clocks need to be in phase
• Common reference needed from backhaul
LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : Backhaul & Radio

14. ◦Higher base station density, more Interference
◦Bigger guard band is needed in TDD technology to avoid interference
◦Difficult to control and maintain coverage area, tilt, power and placement of
small form factor base stations
◦Particularly difficult to optimize Cell Edge users performance
◦Terminal assigned to macro, sees strong interference from micro, especially, if
micro serves a CSG and the UE is not allowed to latch on to it
◦Allocation of frequencies in this band is too close and may lead to inter-
operator interference.
LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : Interference Management
Scenario depicted in the following slide

15. Qualcomm (Airtel)
Tikona
Augere
Aircel
Airtel
Mumbai
Delhi
Kolkata
LTE : Band 40 : Spectrum Allocation

16. LTE in India- The Operational Challenge – In summary
◦LTE on 2300MHz will require high density of BTS
to offer sufficient coverage
▫LTE on 2300MHz has limited coverage with lower
wall penetration
▫Complex and Interference prone
◦2300MHz LTE solution – unlikely to benefit from
scale of ecosystem as devices available for this
band are relatively fewer
• Voice over LTE have not been fully developed
so there is a dependence on 3G/2G for CSFB
LTE coverage likely to be enhanced with fallback
on 3G, however, it’ll come with some drawbacks
▫User Experience is limited because of nomadic
coverage through mix of LTE/3G/2G
▫Issue is more prominent while on higher frequency
bands
Economics of 2300Mhz could strain LTE business case
in short-medium term

17. LET’S REVIEW SOME CONCEPTS
Coverage
Key to laying the foundation.
Useful for widespread 4G
influence.
Lower frequency >> Better
coverage
More Bandwidth in Higher
Frequencies
Ecosystem
Devices available across
spectrums.
Less devices relatively for Band
40.
Overheads
More deployment means
extensive care.
More running costs.
CAPEX
More number of BTS >> More
hardware >> More CAPEX
Complexity
IRAT, Backhaul, Maintainance
become difficult
Design
2300 MHz viewed as capacity
layer across mature LTE
Networks.

18. Thanks!
ANY QUESTIONS?
You can find me at
karan.ahluwalia@hotmail.com
EduVantage
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