China Telecom is one of the largest state-owned telecommunication companies in China, operating the world’s largest broadband Internet network, and FDD – LTE mobile network. By the end of the third quarter of 2018, the number of broadband Internet subscribers of China Telecom exceeded 140 million and the number of mobile subscribers exceeded 290 million.
With the increasing demand for enhanced coverage and/or enlarged capacity, small cell is going to be deployed widely in the future. As a result, larger bandwidth and higher flexibility are required for backhaul transportation, which consequentially leads to higher Operational Expenditure (OPEX) and Capital Expenditure (CAPEX). Therefore, an economic and practical approach must be put forwarded and verified.
To enhance small cell backhaul transportation, we consider utilizing the PON-based broadband access network, which has been deployed by China Telecom throughout the whole country. By the third quarter of 2018, China Telecom has provided Fibre to the Home (FTTH) service to 140 million residential customers. The benefits of this proposal include easy access, cost reduction and efficiency/flexibility.
By reusing the deployed OLT equipment in the PON access network to support the backhaul of the small base station, the equipment room occupancy and energy consumption requirements can be effectively reduced. The terminal device can be miniaturized and inserted into a small base station in a Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP+) form. This can greatly reduce the space requirements and complexity of base station installation, as well as power requirements for power supply and heat dissipation. What’s more, no extra fibre-optic cable deployment is required while the terminal installation is supported.
This solution could reduce at least 80% of the trunk fibre and 50% of associated fibre (compared to Internet Protocol Radio Access Network/ Packet Transport Network (IP RAN/PTN)). Consequently, the CAPEX and OPEX of small cell deployment could be reduced effectively and remarkably.
China Telecom has conducted laboratory and field test in and SHANGHAI and cities in HUBEI, with HUAWEI and ZTE. The test results proved the feasibility of this solution, while the capability of relative equipment and KPI performance are also satisfied.
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