Impact of Power Outages on a GSM Network in Emerging Markets

Neil M., Yahoo! Contributor Network Mar 25, 2010 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."

More: GSM Emerging Markets Power Outages Emerging Power Outage

Power outages are the most common of the issues, which reduce efficiency of the GSM networks in the emerging markets. Power outages can seriously affect network availability and retain-ability. Moreover, it can seriously reduce the revenue generation from a particular area and it can also cause serious degradations in the GSM transmitters. Impact of power outage on the Network Availability of the GSM network

The most direct consequence of power outages is in the form of network availability. It is a common practice in the emerging markets to include battery back-up and generators with most of the Base stations. However, with no primary power source for more than ten to fifteen hours, it becomes impossible to ensure 24/7 site operations. Prolonged power cuts result in serious amount t of site outages. Key performance indicators such Call Setup Success rate and SDCCH Blocking rate shown considerable degradation. These indicators are a direct measure of network availability and accessibility experienced by the end user. In some cases, networks can suffer up to 100% degradation due to the prolonged primary power source. Impact of power outage on the Network Retain-ability of the GSM network Network Retain-ability is a direct measure of the quality of network experienced by the user. This includes the network performance during a call or while sending or receiving a data service. Site outages resulting due to severe amount of power cuts give way to coverage abnormalities. For example, a cluster planned and operational with 20 sites will now be served with ten sites. The increased amount of coverage and capacity requirement for the remaining up-sites results in RF losses and Handover losses. RF losses occur due to disturbance in the frequency plan whereas Handover losses are suffered due to site fluctuations. RF losses are a cause of serious concern for the network operators as it clearly indicates bad quality being experienced by the end user. Key performance indicators such as Drop Call Rate, Handover success rate and TCH RF loss rate are seriously affected because of prolonged site outages.

Impact of power outage on the Revenue and Repute of the GSM network Power outages can reduce 'per user revenue' by a significant factor. This is due to a number of factors. Firstly, user traffic reduces due to the network being unavailable for any type of service. Secondly, the

degrading network performance results in churn among the users. This can give way to people switching to other networks and thus causing reduction in the overall revenues. The over-head operational costs also increase due to the power outages. These costs are incurred in the form battery back-ups and generator fueling on the problematic sites. Source(s): Personal knowledge and experience

Understanding Key Performance Indicators

Rebecca Mastey, Yahoo! Contributor Network Sep 14, 2009 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."

More: Key Performance Indicators Kpi Profitability

Performance indicators are an easy way for a business to measure its development. Businesses use key performance indicators (KPIs) to track performance in relation to set goals. To increase effectiveness and

profitability, organizations define the key indicators of success. It is not sufficient to simply define these indicators. To effectively use KPIs, an organization must consistently track their progress and reexamine how they are related. Managers and executives must periodically review these indicators to track the business' progress. These individuals should focus their attention on meeting or exceeding set targets. To ensure their success, organizations must set correct indicators from the beginning. Managerial examination will fail if indicators address the wrong facets of the business or are set too high. When defining KPIs, organizations must consider how the indicators will change over time. Executives should periodically review all defined KPIs and verify their relevance to evolving relationships and market changes. KPIs set before a major business decision, such as a new contract, will not necessarily apply to the environment after the contract takes effect. Organizations benefit from defining all key performance indications, even those that will not be tracked immediately. Through defining these indicators, executives ensure and expand their understanding of their business model and factors necessary to its success. Understanding the importance and interaction of these factors is vital to the business' operation. Additionally, by creating extesive KPIs, executives can identify errors and shortcomings in their business plan. KPIs must be effective and quantitative. For example, employee happiness is a valid KPI only if it corresponds to a measurable metric. Organizations can track this indicator by creating and regularly

conducting employee satisfaction surveys. While this process may be time consuming, executives should not ignore a desired KPI simply because there is no obvious metric available.

To simplify the process, businesses should avoid "reinventing the wheel". Similar key performance indicators exist for nearly all business in the same industry. Executives should research the KPIs used by

other companies and examine each indicator's relevance to their business model. By duplicating KPIs from other organizations, executives streamline the development process and create a concrete comparison to the performance of other organizations. This examination may also yield insight to new and useful indicators that the executive did not consider.