Europe : Swisscom Mobile, part of Switzerland’s leading telecoms company Swisscom Group, has selected AIRCOM International’s ADVANTAGE Automated Network Cell Planning (ACP) & Optimisation tool to optimise its UMTS network and HSDPA throughput.

ADVANTAGE has been deployed initially to optimise the existing Swisscom Mobile 3G sites within the city of Basel, Switzerland, to enhance coverage and service. The measured results reveal an improvement in efficiency, quality and coverage area by as much as eight percent that reduces the requirement for additional infill sites and a parallel uplift in subscriber revenue.

There is potential for further optimisation and revenue as the national network expands, by leveraging the ADVANTAGE tool to keep the number of blocked and dropped calls to a minimum and, improve coverage through swift redesign of trouble spots. With the ability to capture more traffic, AIRCOM expects that optimising medium sized networks such as this could add an additional ₤300m in yearly operator revenue, with further revenue potential following increased 3G penetration.

Margaret Rice-Jones, AIRCOM CEO, says: “The initial feedback following ADVANTAGE deployment is remarkable, particularly taking into consideration the already high quality of the Swisscom Mobile network. Achieving similar results through new site investment would correspond to a 10 per cent increase in both CAPEX and OPEX, representing a significant cost saving benefit of the ADVANTAGE product – in addition to the incremental subscriber revenue-earning opportunities resulting from increased data capacity and speed.”

Swisscom Mobile’s UMTS network already covers around 90 per cent of the populated area of Switzerland, and it is the first carrier in Switzerland to roll out HDSPA. Thomas Vonlanthen, Head of Access Technologies, Swisscom Mobile says: “We aspire to give our customers the very best mobile coverage, offer them the latest technologies and exceed their expectations. Ongoing investment in expanding, developing and optimising our services through world-class products such as ADVANTAGE ensure we continue to deliver to the highest European standards of efficiency and quality of service. We are delighted with the results achieved to date.”

ADVANTAGE can operate as a stand-alone solution or as part of AIRCOM’s ENTERPRISE Suite of Network Engineering tools, in particular the close integration of the Radio Planning and Post Processing tools, ASSET3G and RANOPT, which provide improved performance for design and optimisation activities. Operating from ENTERPRISE’s single Universal Core Oracle Database, ADVANTAGE is a fully-automated network cell planning and optimisation tool, providing the most accurate picture of network performance possible, through utilisation of the key information available within the single database.

“The increased complexity of mobile communication networks is the key driver behind the development of ADVANTAGE,” says Margaret. “The product’s automation of complex design algorithms incorporates understanding of ‘real world’ issues and performance targets, which enables us to pinpoint precisely which sites need to be deployed – in some cases as little as 40 per cent of those intended – to achieve the desired results.”

ADVANTAGE can be used to optimise the design of cellular, WIMAX and Mobile TV networks.