Strategic investment analysis for migration beyond 3G wireless networks

摘要

This paper analyzes investment alternatives for cellular operators who deploy either universal mobile telecommunications systems (UMTS) with high speed data packet access (HSDPA) networks or UMTS with Wi-Fi networks, for moving beyond 3G-networks. The evaluated business scenarios focus on two different deployment alternatives: UMTS with HSDPA and UMTS integrated with Wi-Fi. HSDPA deployment targets the overlay on the existing UMTS cells, whereas Wi-Fi covers only indoor hot spot areas where data demand is high. Capital investments and operational costs as well as revenue streams have been analyzed for the two types of network architectures. Techno-economic methodologies have been applied for this study and results are derived that are presented and discussed for two types of wireless networks.