Confidential Information

© GSMA 2010

All GSMA meetings are conducted in full compliance with the GSMA’s anti-trust compliance policy

Global Roaming Quality

Presented by Torbjorn A Pettersson

Global Roaming Quality Expert & Advisor

Confidential 2

Agenda Global Roaming Quality

Background and needs for Global Roaming Quality

What is Global Roaming Quality?

Key to success for GRQ?

Update from regions and GSM Arab world

Understand how to get started to implement GRQ

Confidential 3

“Average of 39 percent of 630 Million Live Mobile Calls fall below the industry minimum standard for voice quality”*

How does Global Roaming Quality and impact us?

Quality and GRQ

* Ditech Networks World Wide Voice Quality Audit, Feb 2008 information obtained from more than 630 million live mobile calls in 16

different networks across 12 countries

•In mature markets such as the U.S. and Western Europe, 23 percent of all

calls fall below the industry minimum.

•In rapid growth markets, such as the Middle East, India and South America,

59 percent of all calls fall below the industry minimum.

Background

Confidential 4

GRQ framework Recognition that improving quality involves all parties in the traffic chain – quality is only as good as the weakest link

GSMA has developed a cost-effective framework for monitoring and assuring quality of roaming services globally, including:

Set of quality parameters and how to measure them

SLA templates with roaming services quality measures included

Troubleshooting procedures

Guidelines and contacts for information exchange

Regional GRQ campaign groups to support quality discussions between roaming partners

GRQ for use in a roaming hubbing environment as well as bilateral roaming relations

Background

Confidential 5

By implementing GRQ, operators,

hubs and carriers define the GSMA standard for QoS, gaining volumes and revenue.

The beauty is to create a win-win!

“I expect my mobile services to work well at all times”

Background and needs for GRQ

Confidential 6

Global Roaming Quality Help operators and carriers to work more closely to improve the quality of voice, dataand SMS services or roaming customers

What are the impacts of poor quality?

How does that affect our customers and roaming business?

Background

Without automated end-to-

end monitoring, problems

at often looked at from the

tip of an iceberg!

Confidential 7

GRQ parameters are now a roaming standard

The KPI’s have been identified by defining 5 QoS aspects for Roaming Signalling, Voice, Data and SMS. Cross references has been done with ETSI, ITUT, 3GPP and IETF. Network accessibility

– The network indication on the display of the mobile is a signal to the customer that he can use the service of this network operator

Roaming Service accessibility – If the customer wants to use a service, the network operator should

provide him as fast as possible access to the service

Connection establishment – Is to measure on the connection establishment

Service retain-ability – Service Retain ability describes the termination of services (in

accordance with or against the will of the user)

Connection quality – For measuring the connection quality

Confidential 8

How to get started

Review how you work today, and set a goal what to improve

Self monitoring of important roaming destinations and services

Set up a 24/7h International Network Operational Team

Confidential 9

What do we need to get started?

IR81

GRQ

Measurement

Implementation

AA.13

Roaming SLA

Annex C12

BA.51

Roaming SLA

Handbook

IR42

Computation

including trigger

point Dictionary

IR.78

Roaming

Trouble

Report

IR.21

Database

International Carrier

Additional PRDs supporting the GRQ

framework:

– IN.01, IN.05, IN.10, AA.80: SLA

templates for carriers, GRX, and IPX

– AD.22: Self certification for GRQ

vendors

– IN.02: Use of Gateways for Mobile

Communications

Link to Infocentre GRQ Knowledge Base

https://infocentre.gsm.org/cgi-bin/knowledge_base_disp.cgi?1933

– BA.51: Roaming SLA

Handbook

– IR.42: QoS Parameters

– AA.13 (Annex C.12):

Roaming SLA

– IR.81: GRQ measurement

Implementation

– IR.78: Trouble shooting

procedure

– IR.21: Contact information for

trouble shooting

The GSMA framework of GRQ documents, templates and guidelines are

ready for use by operators.

Mobile operators and Hubs

Confidential 10

Example – start with a few KPIs!

Active method measure about 27 KPIs

Passive measure about 13 KPIs

There are 7 KPIs that can be comparable between active and passive

monitoring tools- those are the most important

Location update success rate

Network effectiveness ratio MO

Network effectiveness ratio MT

Call setup success ratio MT

Service Accessibility for SMS-MO

Packet Switched Location Update success rate

PDP Context Activation success rate

Confidential 11

Monitoring methods

Active Monitoring

Pros

Passive Monitoring

Useful for testing purpose

Reproduce test can be done anytime

End to end view is possible

All RSLA KPIs can be measured

Number of test cycles is flexible

Cons

Doesn’t reflect real customer

experience due to limited location for

testing

Difficult to identify the root cause of

problems High OPEX (cost of testing)

Pros

Real-time view of the network and

service performance experienced by

the roamers

Easier to identify the root cause of

problems

Cons

Not all RSLA KPI can be measured

(e.g. end to end delivery time)

High CAPEX

There are two main ways to measure QoS.

– Active methods using either fixed or mobile probes

– Passive methods using either SS7 signaling

– The GRQ framework has standard test scripts for both methods.

GRQ Monitoring Methods

Confidential 12

Roaming SLA and SLA

Have SLA with your carrier for all services

Agree on Roaming SLA with your most important partners

Redundant solutions to secure GRQ and weakest links

SMS

Hub

GRX

Carrier

A

Operator A Operator B

SLA SLA SLA

SLA SLA SLA

RSLA

SMS

Hub

GRX

Carrier

B

SLA SLA SLA

Confidential 13

GRQ Use Case – 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Operator Report Sample

Confidential 14

Monitoring methods

Active Monitoring

Pros

Passive Monitoring

Useful for testing purpose

Reproduce test can be done anytime

End to end view is possible

All RSLA KPIs can be measured

Number of test cycles is flexible

Cons

Doesn’t reflect real customer

experience due to limited location for

testing

Difficult to identify the root cause of

problems High OPEX (cost of testing)

Pros

Real-time view of the network and

service performance experienced by

the roamers

Easier to identify the root cause of

problems

Cons

Not all RSLA KPI can be measured

(e.g. end to end delivery time)

High CAPEX

There are two main ways to measure QoS.

– Active methods using either fixed or mobile probes

– Passive methods using either SS7 signaling

– The GRQ framework has standard test scripts for both methods.

GRQ Monitoring Methods

Confidential 15

GRQ Business Intelligence

Create your own business intelligence for GRQ

Collect, measure and analyse all your roaming

Follow up alarms and reports daily and weekly

Confidential 16

GRQ daily report example

Confidential 17

GRQ Update from GRQ Arab World

GRQ workshop was hosted by

Mobily SA in Jan 2011 (Jeddah)

Participants included:

• Mobily Saudi Arabia (Host)

• Zain Saudi Arabia

• Zain Bahrain

• Vodafone Egypt

• Thuraya UAE

• Qtel Qatar

• Orange JO

• VIVA Bahrain

• Maroc Telecom

• Keynote SIGOS (& others)

Confidential 18

GRQ Arab World

Findings:

GSMA should define a minimum set of KPI’s (the 7 most important and common for

both Passive and Active)

The background is that there is a limited number of KPI’s (13x) that can only be measured

with Passive probes, however, most KPI’s (27x) can be measured with Active probes.

Findings:

Reject codes in MAP signaling should be more clearly defined (since a number of reject

codes relevant for SoR and ASoR) is not described in either IR42 and IR81.

This is confusing while configuration the KPI’s using Passive probes (since the Reject codes

wrongly defined would cause inconsistency in the KPIs between Active and Passive

measurements (CS Location Update, and GPRS location Update

Confidential 19

GRQ Arab World

Findings:

CLI Transparency and not CLI Delivery

There is a need for this clarification, since it might appear to mean the same, but it is

different KPI’s and needed further clarification.

The KPI for CLI transparency MUST mean the same in both SLA (MNO-Carrier) and

RSLA (MNO-MNO).

SIM box detection affect roaming traffic is now part of GRQ.

The further defined clarification has been APPROVED by IWG on November 2010 for PRD IN.18

Section 5.1.4 and PRD IN.01 Section 1.0 & Annex A.

Confidential 20

Example- SIM box with the capacity of 4 E1’s

Confidential 21

GRQ Next Steps

Evaluate the impact of SIM Boxes on RSLA

– SIM Boxes is affecting roaming traffic as quality is compromised

– Prepare SIM Box slides for the IWG Plenary that highlights the impact to roaming

customers and quality aspects

Impact of Steering & Anti-Steering of Roaming on GRQ measurements

– Liaise with SIGNAL to ask for a possible KPI to measure Steering and Anti-steering of

Roaming

Initiative on how Roaming KPIs are inter-related with Interconnect KPIs

– Draft a new PRD based on current IMQ IN21 to be approved at IWG Plenary 2012

HPIG decided to further investigate possibilities of implement GRQ parameters

between Carriers

Need for future KPI’s for VOIP, LTE, VOLTE …

Confidential 22

Confidential 23

Summerise

Understand what the current situation are

Create a Business Case and set goal for GRQ

Start with internal processes – start today

Implement GRQ measurements

Set up a Service Level Management and INOC team (24/7)

Check redundancy all roaming services

Agree on SLA & Roaming SLA

Start with a few KPI’s and follow up daily (alarms & reports)

Confidential 24

Global Roaming Quality - Q&A

Torbjorn A Pettersson

GSM Association GRQ Expert & Advisor

torbjorn.pettersson@telenor.com

Mobile +46 708 331244