Fiber Backhaul - Network Building

1 Fiber BackhaulNB+C WHITE PAPER | Fiber Backhaul | APRIL 2015companies and Fiber Service Providers (FSPs) such as Comcast, Cox and Time Warner capitalized on their significant Fiber resources and entered the wireless market as Fiber providers. These companies acquired vast networks of dark Fiber as a result of the telecom bubble in the late 1990s when many competitive carriers and a host of startups like WorldCom, Global Crossing, Metromedia, Williams Communications and XO built out nationwide Fiber networks to support a projected demand for high speed internet and telecom services.

2 This demand did not materialize, many of these companies went bankrupt and the dark Fiber was left largely unutilized after the bubble , the cable companies and FSPs partnered with the carriers to deploy Fiber to their sites in conjunction with their LTE upgrades. As a result, Fiber Backhaul is increasingly common and has replaced copper and T1s as the standard in the industry for 4G is a crucial component of mobile networks that connects communication data from end users to nodes through the central Backhaul to the cell site was traditionally provided by copper or T1 lines.

3 However, beginning in 2005, as all the major carriers deployed 4G technologies and ubiquitous mobile data became a reality, consumer data consumption dramatically s been going on over the last couple of years is that the wireless operators have issued a lot of RFPs to upgrade those networks to higher-speed Backhaul because they re really looking to get fiberbased connectivity out to the you can imagine from a cable perspective, we re very well-positioned, given the amount of Fiber density we have in the metro areas that we serve, to leverage those assets to put in additional transport networks using SONET or Ethernet technology to provide high-speed Backhaul out to the towers.

4 4 Jay Clark, director of carrier product and sales operations for Cox Business. Fiber BackhaulHISTORY OF Fiber Backhaul TO THE CELL SITE280%IN 2008 AND to Ericsson, mobile data surpassed voice in December of 2009, with global data traffic increasing Suddenly, the T1 and copper Backhaul solutions were no longer sufficient for the demands on the carriers networks and Fiber Backhaul needed to be deployed to maximize the 4G networksAs Fiber was identified as the solution for increased data speeds, the major cable1NB+C | Fiber Backhaul | APRIL 2015As of the end of 2012 only approximately 40% of the United State s 300.

5 000 cell sites had Fiber Backhaul , however it is estimated that the penetration is over 90% in urban markets and below 30% in rural This is mainly in response to the increased data demand as wireless operators have deployed 4G LTE networks, which require the bandwidth of Fiber . In 2014, all the major carriers continue to deploy Fiber to their sites, focusing primarily on sites outside the urban core which still don t have a Fiber Backhaul +C | Fiber Backhaul | APRIL 2015 Fiber BackhaulCURRENT Fiber LANDSCAPET otal Mobile Backhaul RevenueRevenue In $ BillionsMobile Backhaul revenues will exceed $8 billion by $0$9 SOURCE: DELL ORO GROUPT here are challenges associated with the deployment of Fiber to the cell site.

6 The cost of the long Fiber runs necessary in many rural markets can be prohibitive for the budgets of both the mobile operators and the FSPs. In addition to cost, there are challenges in the development process as well. Landlord negotiations for Fiber upgrades require a different approach than a traditional wireless site acquisition negotiation, and it is necessary to reshape the mindsets of site acquisition professionals and 90%under 30%Dr. John Saw, Chief Network Officer for Sprint recently spoke about Backhaul at the 2014 4G World Conference held in Las Vegas and described Backhaul as one of the biggest challenges in his Network planning.

7 This is a challenge that is not going away, he Networks (HetNet) which include IDAS, ODAS, small cells and Wifi, are currently exploding as a solution to build out networks as demand for capacity Operators are currently considering deployment of small cells as a complement to their macrocell networks to improve coverage at not-spots and ease congestion at hot-spots 8 but have struggled at times to find solutions for Backhaul to small cells . In some cases, the Backhaul equipment would be larger than the antenna is one recent solution for small cell Backhaul challenges: RAN architecture promises superior performance in coordinated systems such as LTE Advanced.

8 Standing for both centralized RAN and cloud RAN, the CRAN concept is based around the idea of a centralized baseband processing pool serving a number of distributed radio access nodes. 9 While CRAN was first considered as a Backhaul solution for macro networks, it can be implemented in HetNet environments as wireless industry has been deploying Fiber to the cell site for several years and Fiber deployments will continue into 2015 and beyond both for traditional cell sites and within Heterogeneous Networks. As an industry leader in cell Backhaul deployment, NB+C will continue to keep abreast of industry trends and work on behalf of our clients to develop creative solutions to ensure their CBH deployments are +C | Fiber Backhaul | APRIL 2015 Fiber BackhaulFIBER FOR HETNETA bout NB+CNB+C is an industry leader that has specialized in all aspects of wireless site development for 30 years.

9 NB+C is comprised of experienced industry professionals who understand that client service is the key to its past and future +C s management group assembles top project teams to deliver results and provide tangible value to its clients. NB+C s entire staff takes pride in meeting client expectations and works diligently to ensure project excellence on all +C | Fiber Backhaul | APRIL 2015 Network Building + Consulting, LLC | 20156095 Marshalee Drive | Suite 300 Elkridge MD, 21075 REFERENCES:1 What Is Wireless Backhaul ? - Definition from Techopedia.

10 Techopedias. Web: Mobile Data Traffic Surpasses Voice. Web: Buckly, Sean. AT&T, CenturyLink and Competitors Are Divided on Dark Fiber Potential. FierceTelecom. 7 July 2014. Web: Mobile Backhaul : Opportunity Knocks for Cable Operators. CED. Web: Engebretson, Joan. Push Is on for Fiber to the Cell Site. Broadband Communities (March/ April:2013). Web: Marek, Sue. Sprint s Saw: 16M Customers Have Access to HD Voice. FierceWireless. 9 Sept. 2014. Web: About Us. The HetNet Forum. : A White Paper By The Ngmn Alliance.