It was interesting to read today that the Finnish Operator TeliaSonera is planning to backhaul all of it’s 2G and 3G traffic on its Finnish network over an All-IP infrastructure from RAD Data Communications.

TeliaSonera will be using the vendors ACE-3220 cell site gateways to connect to a fiber network and Cisco 7600 EDGE routers – They are one of the first Mobile Operators to upgrade to all-IP in order to support the growth of mobile broadband traffic driven by HSPA usage and planned evolution to LTE.

As I have discussed previously, with the shift to flat rate ‘all you can eat’ service packages, Mobile Operators revenues are failing to keeping pace with skyrocketing network costs and nowhere is this more critical than in backhaul – In many instances, Mobile Operators using traditional backhaul technologies are having to upgrade the transmission capacity to 6, 8, 10 or even 12 T1’s or E1’s. In situations where this capacity is leased, this can have a massive impact on cost and business profitability.

While some Mobile Operators are moving to adopt RAN sharing as a solution for helping to reduce site-leasing and backhaul costs, this brings it’s own problems – In my opinion TeliaSonera’s move is just ‘opening the floodgates’ in terms of the accelerated deployment of All-IP backhaul by many more Mobile Operators.

While backhaul costs are significant, to maximize profits for shareholders Mobile Operators need to look beyond the immediate problem and focus on reducing the total cost of network ownership. This requires a move away from traditional ‘silo-based’ planning methods towards a more holistic, end-to-end approach. By changing their processes, Mobile Operators can optimize the capacity and cost of the network from an end-to-end perspective, in response to changing market conditions and the demand for mobile broadband services – Thereby keeping network costs as lean as possible and at the same time delivering maximum value for their shareholders.