Pandemic and Open RAN in Indonesia
Fri, 12 Nov 2021 14:36:10, atika, [category: blog-information]
The COVID-19 pandemic is unavoidable, this virus has had a significant impact on various industries in Indonesia. In the midst of the severity of the pandemic, the telecommunications industry was able to survive and even progress because of the WFH and Online Class programs. However, telecommunications is a technology-intensive industry controlled by vendors who always “force their will” on operators by taking advantage of new inventions.
When the fourth generation (4G) cellular, which has developed several layers into 4.5G LTE, the previous technology, namely 3G, which has lasted for a long time, is now an obstacle because of the high price, but many customers still use it. Even 2G technology still has many users, an average of 20 percent of Operator’s customers, even though technology provider vendors have not received 2G orders. 2G and 3G technologies are now considered obsolete and no longer used, so the project price becomes more expensive than the price of 4G LTE technology if it requires BTS expansion.
When the telecommunications industry in Indonesia advances with a very tight level of competition, cellular operators always strive to adopt efficient and inexpensive technology. Regulatory costs become one of the burdens that are quite expensive, with high-frequency prices and annual frequency usage rights fees. Government policies that encourage efficiency by proposing the infrastructure sharing method are viewed cynically by large operators. In fact, sharing infrastructures such as towers and BTS radio can reduce capital and operational costs.
In RAN (Radio Access Network) technology controlled by technology vendors such as Huawei, Nokia, and Ericsson, hardware and software are one unit. As a result, the price of the technology becomes expensive. RAN is part of a telecommunications system that connects individual devices to other parts of the network via radio connections. RAN resides between user devices such as smartphones or remotely controlled computers and establishes a connection with the core network. RAN is the main component of today’s wireless telecommunications. RAN has evolved through the generation of mobile networks ahead of 5G.
Based on these problems, the new concept of Open RAN to develop radio technology by separating the two can be a solution. Open RAN is a radio access device technology that adopts the open interface concept. Operators can use a combination of radio devices such as radio units and basebands without being tied to one specific brand. Open RAN offers a standardized open technology, as well as a lower cost structure. This provides a good opportunity for operators to develop a wider network.
Open RAN encourages cellular operators to accelerate expansion to all regions in Indonesia, even to remote areas with quality that is maintained. Open RAN built with open and disaggregate standards is expected to be able to open up more device manufacturers and solution integrators in the manufacturing industry. Thus, operators have more options in choosing a vendor that can provide the best business case that can reduce capital costs and operating costs.
PT Alita Mitra Praya, a company that focuses on providing technology, information, and communication solutions, believes that the implementation of Open Radio Access Network (RAN) can make cellular operators more efficient in terms of capital expenditure. Head of Corporate Communication, Alita Fita Indah Maulani, said that by implementing Open RAN, telecommunication operators do not need to rely on only one vendor in deploying radio access networks. Operators can combine several vendors according to their needs, so they have the opportunity to save on capital expenditures and operational costs. Savings also occur because operators have bargaining value and have many choices, so the prices applied by vendors are increasingly competitive.
Without Open RAN, the entire radio access network will be run by only one vendor. This makes the bargaining value of vendors high and cellular operators have no choice. Open RAN also gives operators the opportunity to have a backup network system, to anticipate something unexpected with the vendor. If in the past operators only depended on certain vendors and then a force majeure occurred with that vendor, the network recovery process would take a long time. The conditions are different if the operator cooperates with a multivendor. Operators can save more and increase bargaining power.
As for the resulting efficiency, based on various research and calculations of cellular operators, the Open RAN architecture can significantly reduce capital expenditures when compared to 4G. Deutsche Telekom, through its Open RAN architecture, managed to reduce capital expenditures for 5G by at least 50 percent compared to 4G. Various global mobile operators also believe their capital expenditure will be reduced by 30–50 percent with Open RAN. By assembling themselves, they can adapt to their needs. In terms of domestic industry, Open RAN also opens up opportunities for local players to be involved in the performance of radio access networks. If local players have not been able to develop hardware, local players can now play on the side of software providers such as system integrators.
In Indonesia, Open RAN technology is strongly supported by its cellular operators. For example, XL Axiata has started testing Open RAN in Eastern Indonesia, in Ambon from November to the end of December, until it is ready to make its first call to Jakarta. All cellular operators join the Open RAN Lab Community which consists of Telecom Infra Project (TIP), GSM Association, Government of Indonesia, and Tel-U (Telkom University). The community aims to grow digital talent and a strong and diverse telecommunications ecosystem, as well as to encourage and support government-initiated digital transformation efforts.
Currently, the trial is in the service, functionality, capability, and performance testing stages. The progress of the test calls on the 3G network (CS fallback) and OTT calls on the 4G network has also been successfully carried out, and is currently in the monitoring process for performance and stability. This series of trials is an early stage, further exploration is needed to really understand the characteristics of Open RAN, including understanding the operational mechanism of the network. In this trial, a number of aspects were observed, including the services, functionality, capabilities, and performance of Open RAN devices. To that end, trials were conducted for call services, data browsing, uploads and downloads, accessibility and retainability, availability and mobility (handover), as well as network utilization and quality.
In 2021, XL Axiata plans to test Open RAN with other technology partners to get more options before implementation. The trial is at the same time to compare the performance quality and capabilities of technology partners. The next process after this initial trial is the Open RAN deployment pilot project to further ascertain how much benefit this technology can bring.
References:
https://www.beritasatu.com/digital/731097/xl-axiata-sukses-uji-coba-teknologi-open-ran-di-ambon
