System And Method For analyzing Strategic Network Investments In Wireless Networks

• US 20080046306A1
• Filed: 01/06/2005
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cerion, Inc., Cerion Optimization Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cerion Optimization Services, Inc.
• Inventors: Mallapu, Vinay, Yuan, Wei, Egner, Will A.
• Application Number:
  US10/585,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20080046306A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

A method and a system to assist wireless telecom service providers to make strategic investment decisions in their wireless networks is provided. Geographical profitability information in a wireless network is determined to decide where to invest capital funds in order to increase the revenue and profit for wireless service providers. The profitability of a geographical area or a sector is calculated based on network Operation Measurements and subscriber CDR (Call Detail Record) data. The system prioritizes the geographical areas and sectors for capital investments based on the profitability of the areas and sites. Similar information may be determined to assist wireless service providers in developing a decommissioning strategy. Embodiments of the present invention may also be used to reduce network churn by understanding where dissatisfied subscribers experience poor service and where network investments need to be made to improve the services and reduce churn.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing a capital investment in a wireless network, the method comprising:

determining a subscriber profit proxy for a plurality of subscribers;

determining a number of minutes of use for one or more of the subscribers;

determining a service quality metric for one or more sectors in the wireless network;

determining an investment return per sector for one or more of the sectors; and

analyzing an area for the capital investment, the analyzing being based at least in part on the investment return per sector.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber profit proxy is based at least in part on revenue collected from the subscriber, an expected number of months under a contract, an acquisition cost, and a service delivery cost.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the subscriber profit proxy (SPP) value is determined at least in part by the equation:

SPP_i=V_i*M_i−

A_i−

S_i

wherein

V_i is the revenue per month for subscriber i;

M_i is the expected months under contract for subscriber i;

A_i is the acquisition cost for subscriber i; and

S_i is the service delivery cost for subscriber i.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the minutes of use is based on call detail records collected during peak usage periods.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the service quality metric comprises a dropped call rate for each sector.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the dropped call rate is determined from call detail records collected from each sector.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the investment return comprises:

determining a profit per sector;

determining a dropped-call rate per sector;

determining an investment needed per sector to recover dropped calls in each sector; and

determining the investment return per sector based at least in part on the profit per sector, the dropped-call rate for each sector, and the investment needed per sector to recover dropped call in each sector.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining the profit per sector is performed in accordance with the equation:

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining the investment return is performed in accordance with the equation:

R_k=P_k+D_k−

I_k

wherein

k represents a sector;

P_k is the profit for sector k;

D_k is the drop-call rate for sector k; and

I_k is investment needed to investment needed to recover dropped call in sector k.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing the area for the capital investment is performed at least in part by prioritizing the sectors based upon the investment return for each respective sector.

11. A method of determining a decommissioning strategy in a wireless network, the method comprising:

determining a revenue loss value for one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) of a plurality of BTSs, the revenue loss value representing an amount of revenue that would be lost if that BTS were to be decommissioned;

determining an operational cost for each BTS, the operational cost representing an expected cost of operating that BT$ if that BTS were not decommissioned;

determining a decommission return value for the one or more BTSs; and

determining a first BTS to decommission based at least in part on the decommission return value for the one or more BTSs.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the revenue loss value is performed in accordance with the equation:

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the operational cost is performed at least in part by summing a monthly equipment cost, a site monthly leasing cost, and a monthly transport leasing cost.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the decommissioning return value is performed at least in part by subtracting the revenue loss value from the operational cost.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the first BTS to decommission is performed at least in part by prioritizing the BTSs in order of the decommissioning return value.

16. A method of determining an investment strategy for a coverage hole in a wireless network, the coverage hole being an area in which service is not available, the method comprising:

identifying one or more coverage holes in the wireless network;

determining revenue loss for one or more of the coverage holes;

determining one or more BTS options for locating a BTS;

determining a cost for one or more of the BTS options;

determining an investment return value for one or more of the BTS options; and

determining one or more locations to deploy a BTS based at least in part on the investment return value for the BTS options.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the identifying one or more coverage holes is based at least in part on dropped calls as indicated by call detail records (CDRs).

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the revenue loss is performed in accordance with the equation:

U_k=Σ

_i└

D_ik*AMOU_i*UPM_i┘

wherein

k represents a coverage hole;

i represents a subscriber;

D_ik is a number of monthly dropped calls by subscriber i at coverage hole k;

AMOU_i is the average MOU per call of subscriber i;

UPM_i is the revenue generated per minute by subscriber i; and

U_k is the revenue loss at coverage hole k.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the cost for one or more of the BTS options is performed at least in part by summing a monthly equipment cost, a site monthly leasing cost, and a monthly transport leasing cost.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the investment return value is performed at least in part by subtracting the cost from the revenue loss.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining one or more locations to deploy a BTS is performed at least in part by prioritizing the BTSs in order of the investment return value.

22. A computer program product for analyzing a capital investment in a wireless network, the computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program product comprising:

computer program code for determining a subscriber profit proxy for a plurality of subscribers;

computer program code for determining a number of minutes of use for one or more of the subscribers;

computer program code for determining a service quality metric for one or more sectors in the wireless network;

computer program code for determining an investment return for one or more of the sectors; and

computer program code for analyzing an area for the capital investment, the analyzing being based at least in part on the investment return for the one or more sectors.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the computer program code for determining a subscriber profit proxy includes computer program code for including revenue collected from the subscriber, an expected number of months under a contract, an acquisition cost, and a service delivery cost.

24. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the computer program code for determining a subscriber profit proxy (SPP) value includes computer program code for performing the equation:

SPP_i=V_i*M_i−

A_i−

S_i

wherein

V_i is the revenue per month for subscriber i;

M_i is the expected months under contract for subscriber i;

A_i is the acquisition cost for subscriber i; and

S_i is the service delivery cost for subscriber i.

25. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the minutes of use is based on call detail records collected during peak usage periods.

26. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the computer program code for determining a service quality metric includes computer program code for determining a dropped call rate for each of the one or more sectors.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the dropped call rate is determined from call detail records collected from each of the one or more sectors.

28. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the computer program code for determining the investment return comprises:

computer program code for determining a profit per sector;

computer program code for determining a dropped-call rate per sector;

computer program code for determining an investment needed per sector to recover dropped calls in each sector; and

computer program code for determining the investment return per sector based at least in part on the profit per sector, the dropped-call rate for each sector, and the investment needed per sector to recover dropped call in each sector.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the computer program code for determining the profit per sector includes computer program code to perform the equation:

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the computer program code for determining the investment return includes computer program code for performing the equation:

R_k=P_k+D_k−

I_k

wherein

k represents a sector;

P_k is the profit for sector k;

D_k is the drop-call rate for sector k; and

I_k is investment needed to investment needed to recover dropped call in sector k.

31. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the computer program code for analyzing an area for the capital investment includes computer program code for prioritizing the sectors based upon the investment return for each respective sector.

32. A computer program product for determining a decommissioning strategy in a wireless network, the computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program product comprising:

computer program code for determining a revenue loss value for a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs), the revenue loss value representing an amount of revenue that would be lost if that BTS were to be decommissioned;

computer program code for determining an operational cost for one or more of the BTSs, the operational cost representing an expected cost of operating that BTS if that BTS were not decommissioned;

computer program code for determining a decommissioning return value for each BTS; and

computer program code for determining a first BTS to decommission based at least in part on the decommission return value for the one or more BTSs.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the computer program code for determining a revenue loss value includes computer program code for performing the equation:

34. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the computer program code for determining the operational cost includes computer program code for summing a monthly equipment cost, a site monthly leasing cost, and a monthly transport leasing cost.

35. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the computer program code for determining a decommissioning return value includes computer program code for subtracting the revenue loss value from the operational cost.

36. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the computer program code for determining the first BTS to decommission includes computer program code for prioritizing the BTSs in order of the decommissioning return value.

37. A computer program product for determining an investment strategy for a coverage hole in a wireless network, the coverage hole being an area in which service is not available, the computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program product comprising:

computer program code for identifying one or more coverage holes in the wireless network;

computer program code for determining revenue loss for one or more of the coverage holes;

computer program code for determining one or more BTS options for locating a BTS;

computer program code for determining a cost for one or more of the BTS options;

computer program code for determining an investment return value for each of the one or more new BTS options; and

computer program code for determining one or more locations to deploy a BTS based at least in part on the investment return value for the BTS options.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code for determining one or more coverage holes is based at least in part on dropped calls as indicated by call detail records (CDRs).

39. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code for determining revenue loss includes computer program code for performing the equation:

U_k=Σ

_i└

D_ik*AMOU_i*UPM_i┘

wherein

k represents a coverage hole;

i represents a subscriber;

D_ik is a number of monthly dropped calls by subscriber i at coverage hole k;

AMOU_i is the average MOU per call of subscriber i;

UPM_i is the revenue generated per minute by subscriber i; and

U_k is the revenue loss at coverage hole k.

40. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code for determining the cost for one or more of the BTS options includes computer program code for summing a monthly equipment cost, a site monthly leasing cost, and a monthly transport leasing cost.

41. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code for determining an investment return value includes computer program code for subtracting the cost from the revenue loss.

42. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code for determining one or more locations to deploy a BTS includes computer program code for prioritizing the BTSs in order of the investment return value.