Customer: RATEL, Serbian national regulator
Location: Serbia
The mobile market in Serbia features five mobile operators, including the two virtual mobile operators. Each MNO has an LTE network to provide various levels of coverage across the country. Since the introduction of LTE to Serbia in 2015, market competition has been intense. As a result, there has been an increase in public demand for an independent, reliable, and neutral service to provide mobile network coverage views to support consumer choice.
The Serbian national regulator RATEL, has used ATDI’s automated spectrum management solution since 2008. RATEL awarded the contract to ATDI to develop a web portal to publish mobile coverage maps across the country.
At project kick-off, ATDI consulted with RATEL’s internal and external stakeholders to understand their requirements and to identify a ‘wish list’ of features required. From this list, they were able to translate them into requirements for a custom solution.
Based on the output from the stakeholder consultations, ATDI designed, developed and deployed a front-end and back-office system. The two systems featured:
Front-end service: an interactive web portal coverage maps were overlaid on a digital map, showing different technologies across the country. Coverage was based on outdoor only and users were able to input addresses or coordinates, to identify which MNO provided the best service in a given area. This search and zoom function is available for a given area or address. The solution provided multi-language support, as well as an adaptative view for various devices and browsers.
Back-end office: integration of a spectrum database, which recorded all MNOs network data. The back-end service featured ATDI’s spectrum engineering tool, HTZ Communications. Data was pulled into the modelling tool which produces network coverage plots across the country. Additional capabilities included document format reports based on technology for each operator, using a DTM/clutter map and the deterministic models featured in the software.
The output from these calculations are published to the front-end service portal with a simple legend to identify the coverage quality. The coverage calculations are repeated quarterly to reflect the latest changes in the network service. All workflows in HTZ Communications (back-end office) are automated.
This project demonstrates how a technical solution was designed to the needs of multiple stakeholders. This solution ensured mobile network operators complied with license requirements in terms of coverage. Consumers were given access to previously unavailable data to support consumer choice. And, the regulator was able to monitor the MNOs compliance against license conditions.
