SAS UK announces Network Analytics Initiative into Telecoms sector to meet Capacity Planning Challenges in a Digital World

  •  Predictive analytics will enable operators to optimise investment in new data-ready infrastructure
  • Will drive up Quality of Service for network users
  • Recent SAS trials indicate most mobile cells deliver less than 1.4MB/sec

23rd July 2009 – SAS, the leader in Business Analytics software and services, has announced a Network Analytics initiative into the UK telecoms sector. Its advanced network analytics will enable telecoms operators to understand existing network usage and demographic growth areas, by type of usage, and accurately forecast capacity requirements. This is critical if operators are to deploy new infrastructure to the areas of highest need and manage the new generation of data-driven services, as highlighted in the government's recent Digital Britain report.

SAS' Network Analytics will help operators understand their existing infrastructure investment and drive up Quality of Service – which recent SAS trials have shown is low, with 54 percent of mobile cells delivering less than 1.4MB/sec speeds. The SAS solution will enable operators to predict network usage based on modern methods that use granular network performance data collected from network elements, rather than rely on the 'old' models from the world of voice traffic. This will help them better target their investment in infrastructure by understanding where upgrades and new investment are needed most.

"As mobile handsets become more sophisticated and consumers are driven by data services, the demand on network capacity will grow exponentially – one of our clients even believes that they'll see a 400 percent increase in data traffic this year!" commented Tajinder Jagdev, Head of Communications, Media and Entertainment Practice, SAS UK. "Networks will struggle to cope with this increase without a large capital investment in infrastructure. However, operators cannot afford to lavishly throw cash at this; they need to know where investment is needed the most, based on actual consumer usage, and deploy new equipment accordingly. SAS' Network Analytics initiative is designed to demonstrate to organisations how they can get the maximum return on their network capital expenditure with the potential to reduce it by 15 percent, equating to cost savings of £10s of millions for the UK operators.

"There is currently no legislation in place governing advertised broadband speeds, but if this were to come into force, the importance of visibility for operators will be compounded. It will become essential to ensure that every customer receives the speeds they pay for. This visibility will also enable operators to not only deliver Quality of Service, but also develop a new pricing and delivery model," Jagdev continued.

The recent Digital Britain report highlights upcoming challenges for telecoms operators and how they will cope with the new demands from telecoms consumers. This telecoms sector initiative from SAS will help operators deal with many of the new and changing issues raised and adopt the best business models for network provision.

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About SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2009 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

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