of his company's network strategy - the broadband provider offers a bandwidth guarantee to users of at least 80% of the speed specified in their service package.
"We monitor bandwidth, installed 400 field probes to measure performance and have a team that monitors network performance and troubleshoots if there are problems," he said.
Developing markets have their own concerns when it comes to evolving their networks. Bangladesh, for example, has low fixed-line infrastructure and no 3G in a mobile-driven market, and while the number of GPRS/EDGE subscribers is high, less than a quarter of them actually bother to use it.
"They express a lot of frustration with cost, speed and screen size, so our service improvement initiative had to address those concerns," said K.M. Tariquzzaman, deputy director and head of planning, design and dimensioning, for Grameenphone
Grameenphone's plan focused on a device management system enabling the operator to proactively ID devices on the network and push settings over the air to offer appropriate services for that device, a PCRF (policy control and rating function) for policy enforcement, enabling fair use policies and flexible charging schemes, and data optimization for faster download speeds and better bandwidth optimization.
Tariquzzaman said the operator expects to gain 20% more active data subscribers thanks to effective device management and 20% reduction in capex and opex from data optimization, as well more charging flexibility by service, volume, time and event.
Network sharing is also an option, said Dian Siswarini, CTO of XL Axiata, noting that network costs account for 28% of XL's total costs, "so reducing that can impact our profitability."
Indeed, she said, "network sharing can realize up to 40% savings, so that has the biggest impact."
The question then becomes what to share, with whom, how, and when? The answer depends largely on the balance between the dependability of the partner and the feasibility of sharing various infrastructure elements. "Trust is a major issue," she said.
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