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SAS 70

Razorsight Wireless Backhaul Engineering Services

Engineering Expertise and our Comprehensive Facilities Database to Help you Make the Most Informed Decisions to Re-engineer your Wireless Backhaul Network

Razorsight and our partners have significant experience in designing and deploying optimal networks for wireless backhaul. Whether from the perspective of a wireless operator working to keep pace with the exploding bandwidth requirements for wireless backhaul, or from the perspective of a LEC, CLEC, RLEC, or fiber construction company trying to best position themselves to serve the wireless operators, Razorsight can help. Our extensive database of facilities serving each US cell tower can be of great value in your strategy and broadband deployment plan. Let Razorsight complement your team with engineering expertise and our comprehensive facilities database to help you make the most informed decisions to re-engineer your wireless backhaul network.

There are 260,000 cell towers in US today and most of them were constructed over the last decade. The bandwidth serving these cell towers on average is (2) T-1s = 3MB. The electronics/hardware on each end of the T-1s use TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) – a technology designed primarily for voice traffic. The growth in popularity of Smart Phones (Apple’s iPhone™ and all the copycats) is driving an exponential increase in data traffic. The new 4G and LTE networks will support faster wireless data traffic and as a result US Smartphone consumer penetration is expected to grow from 15% today to 70% over next 3 years.

The rapid growth of smartphones, more and more “apps” being developed for them, and the deployment of 4G/LTE will drive unbelievable growth in data traffic. The present “backhaul network” – which is the network from the cell tower to a central switching center – is not equipped to handle this data traffic. As such, the (2) T-1s will have to be replaced with faster backhaul networks. Most estimates forecast an increase from 3MB (2 T-1s at present) to 20MB and then 100MB within 3 to 5 years.

In order to get this bandwidth deployed at 260,000 cell towers – and do it quickly and without breaking the bank on Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) – the Wireless Operators – AT&T™, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Cricket, US Cellular – will LEASE fiber to all 260,000 cell towers. This fiber will use different electronics and will utilize IP (Internet Protocol) or Ethernet, both of which are much more efficient at transporting data.

What this means to wireless operators is...

1. Their bandwidth and consequently backhaul network costs will increase 4x – 7x over the next 3 years
2. They will work with a multitude of suppliers in order to move as fast as possible to deploy fiber to 260,000 US cell towers, hence the number of Off-Net providers could increase
3. These fiber construction companies are not usually telecommunication companies and they don’t have billing systems in most cases to track, bill, manage inventory, etc. in their monthly billing to wireless operators
4. The wireless operators will be dealing with a new set of “Local Access” providers for their cell tower backhaul
5. All of this creates new opportunities for Razorsight to

   a. Track/manage backhaul facilities/inventory for the wireless operators
   b. Track/manage leased fiber costs to 260,000 US cell towers
   c. Audit/verify accuracy of network costs to 260,000 cell towers
   d. Provide a database of Ethernet/fiber connections to assist in buy/sourcing optimization

The following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsMDinEgSU explains this phenomenon. This problem is not unique to the US, but it exists in every country and is a global issue. The fiber electronics manufacturers will generate substantial revenue from all of this fiber construction.