The Telecommunications Handbook: Engineering Guidelines for Fixed, Mobile and Satellite Systems

20 Planning of 2G Networks

Jyrki T. J. Penttinen

20.1 General Planning Guidelines for Fixed Networks

20.1.1 General

The dimensioning of the telecommunications networks is one of the principal tasks of operators in order to guarantee adequate quality level for the end-users. The dimensioning is not a task to be done only once but high quality networks require constant optimization and tuning of parameters.

The main division of network planning can be done between fixed and mobile communications. Many of the tasks are actually common in both wired environment and radio interface as some of the most important high-level principles are to offer sufficient capacity with acceptable QoS (Quality of Service), or GoS (Grade of Service). The terminology of the planning items and parameters may vary depending on the network in question, but the basic principles are often similar.

Some of the common topics to be taken into account in network dimensioning are the following: Estimated need for offered capacity. At the most detailed level, this item may be planned by taking into account daily, weekly, yearly and seasonal variations in the capacity demand. As a basic rule, networks should not be overdimensioned as the business model is impacted greatly due to too high-quality deployment. The fact is that the peak-hour consumes far more resources than off-peak hours, and in average there is considerable waste of capacity. Certain blocking level should thus be accepted by the operator as well ...