The increasing demand for high-speed data services has put pressure on existing backhaul systems to accommodate more capacity. Operators are now looking towards backhaul solutions with higher bandwidths, which would also be able to support different generations of technologies. Fibre is emerging as a preferred choice for use in conjunction with microwave backhaul systems. Industry experts share their views on the trends in backhaul network deployment, the challenges faced by telecom operators in upgrading their networks and the way forward for backhaul deployment in the country?
What have been the key trends in backhaul network deployments in the country over the past few years?
Rahul Agarwal
Backhaul infrastructure in India is comprised primarily of microwave links. The different layers of infrastructure like the core, metro and aggregation networks use fibre, but close to 80 per cent of the overall backhaul in the country is provided using microwave links.
Ashish Khanna
The telecom market in India is evolving rapidly and mobile operators are facing a significant spike in bandwidth demands in backhaul, due to the proliferation of 3G-based data services and the emergence of high-speed air interface enhancements such as high speed packet access (HSPA). Mobile data has become the engine for the market?s growth, with voice services expected to show only modest growth (if any) given the high penetration that has already been achieved by mobile data and the challenges faced by operators from OTT services. Given this emerging scenario, the backhaul capacity requirements of operators have increased. For mobile operators, the backhaul networks of many cell sites have turned into the hurdles that are impacting their ability to offer a quality network experience in terms of data services to their subscribers.
Higher capacity requirement has led to an increase in costs for operators. The share of backhaul in the overall total cost of ownership has increased substantially, creating an urgent need to boost efficiency and reduce operational costs. In order to address the problem, operators are migrating from the previously existent separate legacy ATM and TDM backhauling networks to a more cost-effective converged MPLS-enabled, and multi-purpose infrastructure.
How have operators? backhaul requirements changed with the rising uptake of data services? What are the key emerging backhaul solutions and technologies for 4G deployment in India?
Rahul Agarwal
The telecommunication sector in India witnessed stupendous growth in the past decade and a half. The growth was nothing short of a revolution, and most of it was voice-centric. The next decade promises another spate of growth, which will be driven by data. Since the growth thus far was voice-centric, a backhaul infrastructure dominated by microwave links was sufficient to handle the growth. However, for the next phase of data-driven growth the backhaul infrastructure needs to be robust enough to support high-speed data without compromising on the user experience. Since telecom operators consider an enhanced consumer experience and data to be the next big opportunity as well as an avenue that can help improve their bottom line, a move towards an all-IP backhaul network is inevitable.
Ashish Khanna
Networks today have to support not just voice but the rapid transfer of huge amount of data generated by applications on phones as well. The proliferation of high-end mobile phones with 3G/4G connectivity has put a lot of pressure on telecom networks. In India, 3G is still at a nascent stage, and the uptake has lagged as compared to expectations. Nevertheless, operators realise that data is the future and that they will need to scale up their networks to provide a quality experience on mobile broadband, in order to get high ARPU customers, which is critical for long-term success. Also, as the prices of these new technologies and mobile handsets come down, more customers will opt for them.
Anticipating these changes, telecom operators in India have already started upgrading their backhaul network deployments, and migrating to MPLS-enabled, multi-purpose infrastructure.
In addition to reducing operational costs, MPLS-based networks will also lay the foundations for the delivery of next-generation mobile services, such as location-based services; mobile gaming; and mobile TV, and for the use of future technologies such as long term evolution (LTE) and mobile Wi-Max.
Ultimately, the fully consolidated network will be able to handle many different types of traffic on a single cell site, thus enabling the operator to offer varied services to different types of customers.
What are the key challenges faced by telecom operators in upgrading their networks or migrating to all IP-networks?
Rahul Agarwal
Right of way has been the single biggest hurdle, and therefore the dependency on microwave backhaul has increased over time. Moreover, upgrades to existing legacy systems require significant investments to be made by telecom operators, who already have stretched balance sheets and the sector is reeling under significant debt. Moreover, in the face of stiff competition and amidst huge payouts that telecom operators are making for spectrum acquisition and renewal, further investments in backhaul would pose a challenge. Fibre can be an ideal solution, but it is costly and its deployment may be limited to urban areas only in the immediate future.
Ashish Khanna
Mobile operators are generating revenues from a range of next-generation data services, in addition to those collected from voice services. However, these new 3G-based services require a substantial increase in bandwidth, which requires significant investments in the network, including backhaul. Since the uptake of 3G/4G services is increasing gradually in India, rather than at the exponential rate anticipated in the early stages, mobile operators are likely to carry these costs in their books for a longer period of time
Backhaul needs to be able to handle a range of new functionality, including Quality of Service and resiliency management. These new elements will become increasingly important as mobile operators begin to migrate towards packet-based networks.
Besides, mobile networks must simultaneously support many different generations of technologies. They must protect existing legacy technology investments for some years, as well as have a strategy that is ?future-proof? and capable of supporting a new generation of networks and access technologies such as LTE.
Going forward, what will be the key growth drivers for the backhaul market in India? How do you see the microwave-fibre mix changing in the coming years?
Rahul Agarwal
The next phase of telecom growth in the country will be data-driven, which demands a robust backhaul network. The deployment of next-generation technologies like LTE, has facilitated the increased adoption of data-intensive applications, resulting in a data deluge. In order to handle this unprecedented growth in traffic, it is necessary to make further investments in backhaul networks. The availability of affordable smartphones has resulted in their increased penetration in the country. The adoption of such data-hungry devices is on the rise, and coupled with the availability of rich content, has resulted in an exponential growth in data.
Further, telecom operators are increasingly focusing on enhancing user experience, which is a strategy to retain customers in an otherwise highly competitive market. In order to provide improved connectivity as well as counter the rising data traffic, investments in backhaul are essential.
Upgrading existing legacy networks is of paramount importance, as the network needs to be made robust enough to handle the traffic. However, the network should be able to support voice as well as data; therefore, the backhaul can be a mix of hybrid/Ethernet platforms, which would support both.
The focus, going forward, will be on moving towards an all-IP network.
In the immediate future, the urban segments can be covered using fibre, since this segment has a higher propensity for the consumption of data. Hence, the backhaul will be a mix of fibre and microwave links, so that the microwave links can continue to function where fibre is either unavailable or unaffordable.
Ashish Khanna
Mobile data is expected to be the main driver of growth for mobile operators, and the same is true for backhaul. Mobile data traffic is growing exponentially in India; we witnessed nearly 70 per cent growth in mobile data traffic in 2014 and the trend is expected to continue in the medium term, with mobile dominance in broadband uptake. Mobile data traffic, is therefore projected to grow from 88 Petabyte per month in 2014 to 1.1 Exabyte (1,100 Petabyte) per month in 2019. The explosion in mobile data traffic will generate give rise to higher capacity requirements and demand for quality on the backhaul side, from operators as well as drive investments on network upgrades to all-IP network.
The growth in mobile data traffic is also expected to have an impact on the microwave-fibre mix, with fibre being the preferred mode of operators for 4G deployments as well as for high-traffic 3G sites. The key issue is the availability and ease of deployment of fibre backhaul (particularly in dense urban and remote rural areas), and the extent to which these issues can be addressed.
Nevertheless, fibre is expected to improve its share in the mix. Currently microwave accounts for about 80 per cent of backhaul requirements for operators, which could reduce to 60 to 70 per cent over the next five years.
