2015
Launching LTE: The Good, Bad and Ugly
•
•
•
Fred McLaughlin, Standing Rock Telecommunications General
Manager
Albert Kangas, New Core General Manager & COO
Eric Grey Cloud, Economic Development Administration Director
1
2015
Standing Rock Telecommunications
2
2015
About Us
 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST)
 Sioux County, ND / Corson County, SD
 Standing Rock Telecommunications Inc., (SRTI) created in
2008.
 Primary objective: To provide telecommunications services to all
peoples within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
 100% owned and operated by SRST.
 Achieved Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) status in Oct,
2010.
3
2015
Development
Early development (2008-2010)
Mark White Bull (SRST Tribal Member) &
Turtle Island Communications (TICOM)
Construction of 16 cellular towers
throughout Standing Rock Sioux
Reservation
CDMA 1900 Mhz Network.
4
2015
Tower Sites
5
2015
Servicing Standing Rock
 SRTI starts offering
telecommunications
services to customers in
early 2010 to present day.
 1,200 customer base
 65% cellular, 35% home
internet services.
 Staff of 7 workers,
consisting of 2
technicians, 3 sales staff,
and 2 administrative.
6
2015
Adversities in Operating
 SRTI does experience modern difficulties in operating on




occasion. These vary from end-user comprehension of
technologies to data roaming charges to staffing issues.
Evolution of modern telecommunications technologies.
Predatory vendors
Competing with Nationwide providers.
Maintaining infrastructures (towers/switches/links)
7
2015
Working within SRST
 THPO
 Tribal Business Code
 Tribal Programs utilizing SRTI services.
 Microwave Project
8
2015
FCC Tribal Mobility Fund

MOBILITY FUND

 Coverage Based on Road Miles.
The Mobility Fund is the wireless component of
the Connect America Fund. It provides support for
the expansion of mobile broadband networks in
areas that might otherwise not be served. The
Mobility Fund consists of two phases.
 Letters of Credit to guarantee

Phase I provides immediate one-time support to
accelerate the deployment of mobile broadband
and voice service to unserved areas. A nationwide
reverse auction held in September 2012 awarded
$300 million of Phase I funds to over 30 service
providers. A separate auction, called the Tribal
Mobility Auction, will award up to $50 million to
providers that serve Tribal lands.

Phase II provides ongoing support to deploy and
maintain mobile broadband and voice service in
high-cost areas. Up to $500 million will be
available every year; however, the FCC is studying
the exact amount to be allocated for services on
Tribal lands in future years
build out.
 Completed Phase 1 of the
project, awaiting approval
from USAC to start the build
out on Phase 2.
-http://www.usac.org/hc/caf/mobility/default.aspx
9
2015
Mobility Fund changes to SRTI
 CDMA to GSM
 Allows SRTI to acquire
cheaper handsets for
end-users.
 1x to 3G/LTE
 Faster mobile data and
allows customers to
roam off our network.
 Home internet service
range and connectivity
allows for steadier
services.
 Partnership with New
Core
 Gives us support with
connectivity/roaming/
cellular device issues we
come across.
10
2015
1900 Mhz - HSPA 3G Coverage
11
2015
Band 12 - 700 Mhz LTE Coverage
12
LTE
The Good, The Bad
The Future
14
NewCore Wireless
Founded in 2008 on the
principle of providing rural
carriers the ability to offer
wireless services economically
through a shared switching
platform while providing value
added Tier 1 services.
Building
Tomorrow’s Wireless
Network Today
History of NewCore Wireless
NewCore Wireless is owned mainly by
independent phone companies
RAN Network – over 300 hosted sites
Experienced senior management
Cellular 2000 Network – 1988-2005
• 40 sites, 40,000 subs
 Sprint Affiliate Network – 1999-2007
• 400 sites, 160,000 subs

16
Value Adds
Performance
reporting &
network
management
Project
Management
Experienced
support team for
managing initial
implementation &
ongoing operations
User Community
Knowledge
Knowledge
sharing among
20+ partners
Call Detail Record
Management
Access to
customized reports
& base station
network tools
Billing system
receives standard
CSV file with
voice/data call
records
NOC Services
Improve network
performance with
additional network
monitoring
Customer
Management &
Provisioning
One solution and
interface
1
7
SS7
Messaging/Diame
ter Routing
Eliminate service
provider costs
NewCore Wireless’ Role in the Project
①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
1
8
Provide a hosted Ericsson LTE solution to small and medium sized operators
Aggregate the networks of numerous carriers to add scale to all of the partners “ONE
TO MANY”
Due to operational and capital cost of a commercial mobile network, networks less
than 300 sites usually cannot support a stand alone core
Partners own their own sites and customers
Integration with Tier 1 and other regional carriers for LTE roaming adds new revenue
to our partners
Offer a complete toolbox for our partners to operate their business
NewCore Wireless’ Current Partners and Their Spectrum
1
9
What Is LTE?
①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
⑦
⑧
2
0
Long Term Evolution
Global standard for wireless data
Every major carrier has launched
Tier 1 Carriers are moving to LTE only
①
T-Mobile has a significant base of VoLTE deployed
②
AT&T is slowly rolling out with Verizon and Sprint later
Initially a data only solution
Long term will handle HD voice and SMS
Supported across all licensed spectrum in the mobile space
Designed for handsets, data sticks and fixed data modems
How Can LTE Be Used?
Meet the needs of your community
① Fixed Broadband
② Mobility (traditional cellular)
③ Voice
④ SMS
⑤ Mobile Broadband
⑥ Public Safety
⑦ Machine to Machine
2
1
Lessons Learned
①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
⑦
2
2
Spectrum is key - lots of it
Streaming video impact
Mobility roaming
Devices
Operational Costs
Minimize CapEx
RF design
Business Model 101
①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
⑦
⑧
⑨
2
3
Own your towers if possible
High quality Backhaul is needed, 100 Mbps per tower
Roaming costs need to be controlled
Plan on $300 for each device
Plan for upgrades: 15% of revenue for Capex
Market to your community, Tier 1’s are your competition
Partner with others, strength in numbers
Get buy in from your entire team
Each site should produce at least $4,000 revenue per
month
Network Calculations
①
Three sectored LTE site operating 5 MHz x 5 MHz carrier
①
②
③
②
Three sectored LTE site operating 10 MHz x 10 MHz
carrier
①
②
③
2
4
Each sector has approximately 25 Mbps of bandwidth
30 fixed broadband users per sector can be supported
200 mobile broadband users per sector can be
supported
Each sector has approximately 40 Mbps of bandwidth
60 fixed broadband users per sector can be supported
400 mobile broadband users per sector can be
supported
Opportunities for service to “things” not just people
①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
⑦
2
5
Agriculture
Oil and Gas
Education
Construction
Forestry
Public Safety
Residential
What Can You Manage?
Agriculture
2
6
What Can You Manage?
People And Assets
2
7
What Can You Manage?
Transportation
2
8
4C Your Path
To LTE
Success with
NewCore
Wireless
Thank You.
Albert Kangas
General Manager
T
320-492-7510
M
Albert.kangas@corewg.com
E
www.NewCoreWireless.net
2015
Where we are going
 New branding of our services
 Website
 90% Tribal utilization of our services.
 Expansion of broadband services to boarder towns to our network.
 Participation in the FirstNet initiative.
 Expanded partnership with tier 1 carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint)
 Acquiring Apple Certification
30
2015
31
2015
In Memorandum
Mark White Bull
Oct. 23, 2007
32