Russian carriers shift to all IP backhaul

Russia’s mobile operators are moving to IP backhaul to deal with explosive growth in data traffic. Leading Russian carrier MTS (Mobile TeleSystems) said this week that it is expecting 86 per cent growth in Russian data traffic by 2015, forcing a strategic focus on network transport.

According to MTS, an upgrade to Ethernet and IP as a backhaul carrier is the best way the operator can maintain service quality going forward. MTS has partnered with Tellabs and local telecom solutions provider Intracom Svyaz to undertake this upgrade.

In a double win for Tellabs, smaller Russian player MegaFon is also planning to build a countrywide IP mobile backhaul network with the aim of reducing costs, increasing network capacity and ensuring a smooth migration from legacy technology to an all-IP transport platform. In this case Nokia Siemens Networks will be performing the systems integration.

“We aim to build a unified mobile backhaul to facilitate faster rollout of 3G services such as HSPA and prepare a converged IP transport network for fixed and mobile services for millions of people in Russia,” said Valery Ermakov, chief operations officer at MegaFon. “This will help us keep pace with the exponential increase in the data traffic while significantly reducing our capital costs.”

Feature: Many Operators Are Pushing Core Capabilities Out To The Network Edge

Telecoms.com recently looked at how operators have moved on from addressing shortcomings in their radio access networks, which are being relentlessly battered by the demands of smartphones and tablets, with network congestion is moving ever closer to the core, where it becomes increasingly expensive to manage. The consensus is that the best strategy is to deal with the tidal wave of data moving towards the core before it even gets there, by keeping it as close to the network edge as possible. According to the industry pundits spoken to for this feature, operators worldwide are rethinking their network topology, especially with regard to the design and implementation of the last mile.