QoS systems in Uganda

Kampala, Uganda, 23 June 2014

QoS systems in Uganda

Echeda Robert,Compliance Specialist,

Uganda Communications Commission

[email protected]

ITU Regional Standardization Forum for Africa

(Kampala, Uganda, 23-25 June 2014)

Uganda Communications Commission

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) established by the Communications act 2007 (which was revised in 2013) as the regulator of the Communications Sector in Uganda. Its core mandate is to promote the interests of consumers and operators as regards the quality of communications services and equipment.

UCC has licensed 6 PLMN networks, 5 ISP, 2 fiber cable operators, 3 Mast operators and 3 technical service providers each operator is required to ensure services meet the basic QoS standards.

Kampala, Uganda, 23 June 2014 2

QoS legal Framework

The Communications actQoS regulationsLicense requirementThe Name and Shame Policy


Mandate of UCC

to set national standards and ensure compliance with national and international standards and obligations laid down by international communication agreements and treaties to which Uganda is a party.promote and safeguard the interests of consumers and operators as regards the quality of communications services and equipment.establish an intelligent network monitoring system to monitor traffic, revenue and quality of service of operators


Roles of UCC

Establish Quality of Service Framework.QoS assurance through periodic monitoring and

evaluation.Adopt internationally inter-operative standardsEstablish equipment type approval regulationsCarry out and certify Type approval of epment.Manage scare resourceEstablish and maintain a mutually conducive

environment for operators, the public and authoritiesPromote consumer awareness through public

dialogues and stakeholder workshops.


Roles of service providers

Operators to provide services that meet the minimum requirements of QoS standard.Establish Monitoring system, customer support centers and

proactively address consumer complaints.Ensure redundancy of network infrastructureEnsure use of type approved equipmentEnsure optimum usage of authorized scare resource through

use of efficient technologies.Establish open standard interoperable points of interconnect

and share resources where technically feasible.Ensure integrity of network systems and protect consumer’s

privacy or confidentiality of information.


Consumers

Buy Type approved terminalsEnsure proper use of servicesensure to Use services of licensed operatorsDemand and Pay for services usedUse the right channels for ComplainsMay resort to UCC for arbitration


QoS Monitoring system

Drive tests along routes of high traffic in towns with the highest traffic.Auto generation of calls from Mobile unit, the call profile is: setup time out of 12s, duration of 60s and a call window of 90s based on common usage patterns.Parameters monitored Call success rate, Dropped

call rate, Blocked call rate, call setup success rate.Data collected in the 10 major towns


Monitoring Ctn

Other statistics submitted by operators include network outage stats, Consumer Compliant reports and network performance statistics.


Parameters

Congestion: Probability of not accessing a traffic Channel- TCH congestion – (0.5%)Call Drop Rate: Percentage number of calls that are dropped after connection to the system or Network during the call duration - (<2%) Call Block Rate: Percentage number of calls that are blocked after call set up - (<2%)Percentage of good quality calls: the percentage of Good calls made within the hour – (>95%) Success call rate: Success call is one which terminates with ‘no’ answer’ on voice mail service, announcement that subscriber is not available, with a busy signal, with an announcement that wrong number has been dialled, and in conversation – (>99% )Network Availability: time that the network resources Are available to the consume, >95% for MSCs and BSS And >95% for BTS


Evaluation and enforcement

Following conclusion of monitoring, the major cause and areas of failure are identified through a consultative forum with respective operator and remedial action plan developed. The comparative performance of the operators are published in public media.

The remedial plan is periodically monitored for effectiveness and potential impact to QoS performance. The UCC may institute other measures of enforcement like penalities for repeated failure to achieve minimum targets.


QoS Eco system


Inter relations of different views of QoS


Relationship between QoS and NP


QoS criteria

Non network related

QoS criteria

Network related

QoS criteria

Mapping

Network performance

parameters

Target - range

or limit

Parameter 1

Parameter 2

Parameter N

xxxx

yyyy

zzzz

Methodology for Mapping QoS to Network performance

The user's QoS requirements is the starting point. This is mapped to QoS offered parameters by the service provider. These are mapped to network and non-network related performance parameters. The network related parameters are mapped into NP parameters and target values are assigned. A set of monitoring systems keeps track of the desired performance. The achieved end-to-end QoS performance is derived from the measurements and combined with the non network related QoS.

QoS performance is compared with the users/customer's QoS perceived and Corrective action is taken to address the difference.


Mapping QoS to Network performance

The achieved QoS is the end-to-end QoS performance is derived from measurements.users/customer's QoS perceived is obtained from customer surveys, consultative workshops and could be indicated by number of complaints.Corrective action is taken to resolve difference between QoS Perceived and QoS achieved.


Relationship btn QoS and NP

An example of mapping of QoS into NP is shown below:

- QoS requirement for telephony: not more than x % of connections made to experience difficulty on the clarity of conversation;- the NP requirements are the parameters identified as

contributing to call clarity: transmission loss, noise (impulsive and non impulsive), echo, delay, crosstalk, voice clipping, (and possibly others);end-to-end target values for each parameter may be

specified. The sum effect should result in not more than x % of calls experiencing difficulty in call clarity.


Challenges

Correlating QoS targets to consumer perceptionCorrelating QoS achieved to QoS perceived by the consumer.Correlating QoS perception to network performance.Establishing the cause of failure and determine the appropriate remedial action.Addressing thefts, vandalism, unstable power and delays in issuing way leaves.


Conclusion

Uganda has established technical and legal mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement of QoS to ensure consumer’s interests are addressed.Monitoring is designed to benchmark respective operator performance against set target and identify major cause and areas of failure for remedial action.Over the years as subscriber numbers grow and services are unified on one platform there is a growing need for proactive monitoring of end to end performance facilitated by methodology of relating QoS performance target to performance target of network requirements for the service.


RECCOMENDATION

A standard Guideline to correlate QoS performance targets to performance targets of the network requirements for the service.


TO BE CONTINUED

ITUT SG12 AFR

Kampala, Uganda, 23 June 2014

QoS systems in Uganda

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