Huawei Releases Network Consolidation Trends White Paper

[Shenzhen, China, September 23, 2015] Huawei today released its latest white paper on business trends in mobile networks: Network Consolidation – Cooperation for Business Success.

The trend of consolidation in the mobile network business stretches back to early 2013, when Europe saw the first of what today is now more than 20 merger & acquisition deals, having a value exceeding US$1 billion. Increasingly, mobile network operators (MNO’s) actively share network infrastructure. The new white paper looks into the current market situation, as well as the trends driving the growing numbers of M&A and network sharing deals. The wave of consolidation typically has a significant impact on the markets affected.

Following a merger or acquisition, pressure on average revenue per user (ARPU) is reduced. Profit margins are improved by consolidating network infrastructure, and the two organizations’ retail side. Network sharing on the other hand focuses on the cost side of the operators’ business, reducing network OPEX to improve profit margin and shortening time-to-market for new services. The operators’ business objectives determine the choice of consolidation strategy and the paper looks into the benefits of the most common business models.

Since 2009, Huawei has supported MNO’s in major markets with managing the challenges of consolidating network infrastructure. The paper further explains the ways in which consolidation of two networks is a much more complex task than the typical rollout or swap project most MNO’s have experienced. Many factors determine the success of a consolidation project. The best practices developed by Huawei address three key objectives most operators set up for consolidation how to shorten the time needed to prepare and execute the consolidation, how to insure the consolidated network offers an improved end-user experience, and how to maximize cost synergies without jeopardizing time-to-market and user experience. The paper provides references illustrating Huawei’s capabilities to support operators in successfully managing these challenges.