Actix RAN automation delivers 60 percent efficiency gains

Overhauling engineering processes with NSM produces 600 percent gain in capacity returned to the Radio Access Network

London, 17 September 2008 – Actix, the leader in Network Status Management (NSM) solutions, has revealed how automating radio network engineering processes can deliver significant efficiency improvements for mobile operators. Research conducted with network engineers working for Tier 1 mobile customers has shown how Actix NSM technologies are delivering up to 60 percent efficiency gains in radio access network (RAN) engineering activities by intelligently correlating data and prioritizing tasks, and allowing engineering experts to utilize their time more effectively.

Mobile operators typically use as many as 50 different engineering tools and interfaces to manage the RAN, many of which can now be replaced entirely by more coordinated enterprise-grade NSM platforms like Actix One. This shift in thinking is reflected in Actix-led productivity studies with NSM users, which show that more than 70 percent of engineers using the Actix One NSM platform feel the system could replace dozens of existing RAN engineering tools.

With a typical RAN generating around 200 issues to be solved per engineer per day, slow, manual investigation processes result in engineers being flooded wih tasks, and a subsequent lack of ability to remain in control of their workload. In contrast, two thirds of engineers using Actix One NSM solutions said the system saved them as much as 60 percent of their working day. Perhaps even more important, better prioritization of issues produced a 600 percent gain in traffic-carrying capacity returned to the network.

“Todays standard manual engineering processes are costing mobile operators tens of millions of dollars in both excess capital and operational expenditure – expenses which are clearly unwelcome at a time when they need to be reducing the cost of running the RAN,” commented Alex Hawker, Actix CEO. “That inefficiency, which allows capacity to leak from the network, is brought into sharp focus by the recent explosion of data traffic. The Actix One NSM platform is today helping operators to deliver more capacity in less time for a lower total cost of ownership by using a unified, process-optimized approach to network status management, which makes it good for the operator and good for the end customer.”

About Actix

With increasingly fierce competition and sky-high customer expectations, mobile operators around the world are striving to extract every last bit of performance and value from one of the biggest assets, the radio access network. UK-based Actix helps wireless carriers enhance revenue growth and improve operating margins by delivering intelligent, automated network performance engineering and network status management systems. Actix solutions feature embedded wireless expertise, automating key processes and enabling very significant efficiencies in the deployment and operation of carriers’ networks, delivering measurably higher performance at lower cost. Over 10,000 engineers from 227 operators – including Verizon, O2, AT&T and T-Mobile – in 106 countries globally depend upon Actix software every day to help improve coverage for more than 1,100,000,000 subscribers. For more information, please see www.actix.com.

Press contacts:

Nicola Smart/Sarah Rhodes
AxiCom (for Actix)
Email: actix {at} axicom(.)com
Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 4050