Any company contemplating launching a wireless network or introducing new
technology in an existing network typically creates a business plan. LCC can help create a robust business plan, or review an existing business plan. The largest portion of CapEx in a business plan is typically for the Radio network, and LCC uses its RF engineering expertise to accurately model the Radio network and associated coverage and capacity.
Typical inputs taken into account in any modeling exercise include the following, on a year-by-year basis, and per morphology type (dense urban, urban, suburban, rural, ultra-rural, etc.):
- Target coverage area
- Number of subscribers, by type
- Subscriber usage, Voice and Data
- Target minimum cell-edge data rates, for Uplink and Downlink
- Spectrum availability
- Technology-specific criteria (for example, duplexing scheme, channel bandwidth, etc.)
- Preferred Transport Network methodology (Fiber, Microwave, etc., or hybrid)
- Targeted Value-Added services
- CapEx-related information (infrastructure pricing, etc.)
- Opex-related information (transport network, site lease costs, site maintenance, customer care & billing, G&A, etc.)
- Other business plan-related information (CPGA, spectrum-related costs, etc.)
- Target monthly ARPU, per type of subscriber
LCC can help determine the inputs, or the inputs may be provided directly. LCC also has the flexibility to work on a portion of the business plan (such as the Radio network, since that tends to have the largest Capex and drives everything else), or simply review an existing business plan to make sure the underlying assumptions make sense from a technical perspective. Results can typically include the following, per year, morphology, and market:
- Total number of sites
- Number of Capacity sites
- Offered traffic
- Available capacity
- Average number of carriers per site / required spectrum usage
- Subscribers per site
- Financial results (CapEx, OpEx, Revenue, EBITDA, etc.)
In addition to the above, LCC provides various statistics, graphs, and plots, as per project requirements. For projects involving review of a business plan, LCC examines all inputs as well as results to see if both make sense for a given set of markets. For example, the number of projected subscribers are examined to determine if they make sense given the current level of competition; and, all technical assumptions behind an existing business plan are also examined for the given technology. A key focus of evaluating a business case on the technical side can be whether there is sufficient capacity on a year-by-year basis for a given number of subscribers, and whether the number of sites is reasonable for a given area. LCC has experience with business cases for all emerging and existing technologies, including LTE, WiMAX, UMTS/HSPA, etc.