International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) |Volume VIII, Issue I, January 2023|ISSN 2454-6194
Framework for Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing
Frankline Makokha
University of Nairobi, Kenya
ABSTRACT: – Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing is no longer an optional course of action to be adopted by service providers and industry regulators, for it has evolved into a public policy issue. This is due to the impact it has on the telecommunication sector ecosystem and the environment. Two broad categories of Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing, active and passive sharing, are implemented by various types of sharing, namely, equipment and resource sharing, collocation, leasing, hosting and national roaming. Successive implementation of these sharing types is anchored on key Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing principles, namely, Mutual Negotiation, Non-Discriminatory Offers, Technical Feasibility, Cost Effectiveness and Environmental Considerations. Development of a robust policy on sharing of Telecommunication Infrastructure therefore requires adherence to a framework that takes into consideration all concepts and fundamental principles of Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing. All these are dependent on the Network Infrastructure Open Access theory whose building blocks are open access regulation and open access network model.
KEYWORDS: Active, Passive, Infrastructure Sharing, Public Policy, Open Access Theory
I. INTRODUCTION
Due to the high cost of setting up Telecommunication Infrastructure, most jurisdictions encourage Telecommunications Infrastructure sharing which is the joint utilisation of assets and/or services necessary to provide telecommunication service in order to reduce the costs of building, operating,and maintaining network infrastructure[1].
Regulatory reasons for Telecommunications Infrastructure sharing posits three considerations, namely, eficiency, competition and environmental aspects, while among the telecommunication players, commercial considerations are the drivers for Telecommunications Infrastructure sharing[2].
The considerations from the stakeholders to the Telecommunications Infrastructure sharing yields two categories of sharing, namely, passive Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing which involves joint use of non-electronic components like Masts and Pylons, electrical or fibre optic cables, physical space on the ground, towers, roof tops and other premises, power supply, air conditioning, alarm installations and other passive equipments[3].
The other category of sharing , active Infrastructure sharing, involves joint use of electronic components of the network and the radio spectrum , which includes: Radio Access Network (RAN)sharing where the shared equipment includes Base Transceiver Station(BTS), NodeB, Base Station Controller (BSC), Radio Network Controller (RNC) and may extend to feeder cables and antennas; Backhaul sharing, where operators may decide to share the transmission channel; and Core network sharing, where the Home Location Register (HLR), the billing platform and the Value Added System(VAS) can be shared[4].
II. TYPES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING
The two categories of Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing, namely, active and passive , are implemented by various telecommunications infrastructure sharing types and at different levels by Telecommunications Service Providers. The types are Equipment and Resource Sharing (ERS), Collocation, Leasing, National Roaming and Hosting. The contextual definitions and description of this forms of Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing are detailed in the subsequent sections.
2.1 Equipment and Resource Sharing (ERS)
Equipment and Resource Sharing (ERS) refers to joint use of electronic equipment and/or frequency by telecommunication service providers. Examples of what could be shared include Spectrum Switches, Antenna, Transceivers and Microwave equipment[5]. The level of sharing of this Equipment and Resource can vary on a graduating scale from sharing antennas only to sharing antennas, BTS, BSC, the entire RAN , the core transmission ring as well as VAS platforms[2]. The other resources sharable under this type of Infrastructure sharing are power supply , generators and batteries[6].