Digital Transformation Accelerates TowerCo Business Success

At TowerXchange Meetup Asia 2023, Mr. Luo Keke, vice president of Huawei's Service & Software Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, presented the TowerCo digital transformation target network solution named L.I.G.H.T. (Low Energy OPEX, Improved Tenancy Ratio, Green Renewable, High Reliability, Transform into IaaS&PaaS&NaaS). The solution lightens the road to digital transformation, supporting the sustainability, reliability and profitability of TowerCos.

TowerCos are independent companies that build, manage, and maintain telecommunications infrastructure. Growing rapidly in Asia in recent years, TowerCos have already owned 55% of all telecom towers in Asia (excluding China).

TowerCos need to improve the efficiency of their existing assets and maintain reliable power supply for continuous growth and success. Furthermore, they need to ensure that they're ready for the accelerated rollout of 5G and that they're building enough sites to meet the requirements of the continent's mobile network operators (MNOs). TowerCos have also expanded their business scope from TowerCo to InfraCo with fiber, DAS (Distributed Antenna System), data center, small cell, etc. to increase revenue.

Based on the challenges faced by global TowerCos and Huawei's cooperation with them, Huawei has proposed the TowerCo digital transformation target network solution to match TowerCo's business requirements. The solution covers digital infrastructure, digital O&M, and business expansion.

"When it comes to digital infrastructure, L.I.G.H.T can reduce energy costs through energy modernization and increased use of renewable energy." said Mr. Luo Keke, "This also enables TowerCos to better fulfill their environmental responsibilities."

Additionally, thanks to the solution's digital operations and maintenance (O&M) capabilities, the single-site efficiency and power availability can be dramatically improved.

Business expansion, meanwhile, is made easier thanks to Huawei's extensive experience in supporting indoor coverage services, optical distribution networks (ODNs), and co-located data centers.

Huawei's L.I.G.H.T. target network solution has already seen widespread application globally. In Nigeria, for example, it helped mitigate against rising energy costs and reduce the amount of maintenance needed as a result of passive equipment failures. In fact, the fuel consumption across the sites where the solution has been implemented has dropped by 50%, with the maintenance efficiency improved by 30%.

In South Africa, the solution has helped overcome the challenges of load shedding and high theft rates. Thanks to the solution's anti-theft cabinets, rates of theft at sites where it's been implemented have fallen by 80%. In addition, a combination of a hybrid solar solution and intelligent O&M has reduced site outages and improved the PAV (Power Availability) by 30%. This, in turn, helps secure site revenues.

In the post-4G era, more than 72% of data traffic occurs in indoor scenarios. In Cambodia, Huawei helps TowerCo build a large number of typical indoor sites, for example, those located in shopping malls and business buildings, with the end-to-end digital ICS (Indoor Coverage Solution) solution. In Aeon 3 shopping mall, the tenancy ratio of the indoor site is 3, with a peak-hour throughput of 145 Mbit/s and a weekly traffic volume of 48,953 GB. The solution has helped increase the revenues of both TowerCos and MNOs.

"Now is the right time for TowerCo digital transformation." said Mr. Luo Keke, "We can collaborate to support MNOs' business development."