Mobile operator MTS has launched a pilot project aimed at managing 5G base stations from old telephone exchange buildings via remote connection via a fiber-optic communication line (FOCL), which, according to Vedomosti, will save up to 70% on equipment purchases. The operator is currently moving base station control units (BBU) from antenna masts and supports to telephone exchange buildings belonging to its subsidiary, MGTS.
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According to Vladislav Medvedev, Technical Director of the Moscow Region of MTS, the specifics of 5G technology require a denser placement of base stations, but they can be controlled from single support points located in the PBX buildings. As part of the pilot, three BBU units were placed in the PBX on Stolyarny Lane in the center of Moscow, which make it possible to control not three, but ten nearby base stations. Thus, it was possible to free up seven BBUs without compromising network performance. With capital costs for the pilot of about 6 million rubles, the savings amounted to almost 8 million rubles. According to Medvedev, MGTS has more than 60 fixed-line PBXs united by a high-speed fiber-optic communication network.
The Minister of Digital Development of the Vologda Region, Akhmetzhan Makhmutov, noted that BBUs can be placed at a distance of up to 20–40 km from towers when using low-latency fiber-optic communication lines, while for 5G networks the permissible distance is 10–15 km. T2 reported that they do not plan to participate in the project, adding that the savings achieved with such a solution are debatable, since it requires more capacious and, accordingly, more expensive BBUs, as well as fiber-optic communication lines to connect remote units to radio modules.
According to estimates by the author of the Telegram channel abloud62, Alexey Boyko, the use of BBUs placed in the PBX will allow saving up to 30-40% on their purchase, but their number can be reduced by 3-4 times if the BBU functions are transferred to cloud servers. He also warned that the concentration of equipment in one place creates a risk: in the event of failures, the stable operation of the equipment and the connectivity of subscribers may be disrupted. A source of Vedomosti in one of the operators agrees with him, noting that the new network architecture requires compliance with stricter requirements for the transport network and fault tolerance, since in the event of an emergency at the facility, not one base station, but an entire segment fails.