T-Mobile Standardizes Network Design and Operations Activities with OPNET
Dr. Jörg Hagemann
Head of Technical Design Authority IP Networks
T-Mobile Germany
T-Mobile is the leading mobile phone operator in Germany with more than 37 million subscribers as of March 31, 2008. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, T-Mobile generated EUR 8 billion in revenues in 2007. T-Mobile continuously invests in modernizing its network, with a focus on superior network experience, and deploying state-of-the-art technologies for high-speed mobile data transmission (GPRS, EDGE, W-LAN, UMTS, and HSDPA).
The IP Design Authorization Group at T-Mobile is responsible for making design recommendations to guarantee the correct operation of multiple networks across the organization. To support these activities they undertook the strategic initiative to implement a standardized toolset across the company, based on OPNET SP Sentinel and SP Guru Network Planner.
SP Sentinel is deployed in a hierarchical configuration to collect data from different networks and audit these networks against misconfigurations, security gaps, and violations of organizational policies. Based on the detailed recommendations provided by SP Sentinel, T-Mobile identified and modified several erroneous configurations that went previously unnoticed and could have resulted in service disruption.
Leveraging the network and traffic data collected by SP Sentinel, T-Mobile uses SP Guru Network Planner to guarantee end-to-end connectivity and service delivery across multiple service areas and undertake survivability analysis to ensure that services remain operational in case of equipment failures. SP Guru Network Planner is used also to simulate the impact of new services and traffic growth on the backbone network and make timely recommendations to perform capacity upgrades before service performance is impacted.
OPNET is a strategic partner for T-Mobile’s network design and operations activities. Using SP Sentinel and SP Guru Network Planner, T-Mobile gained an unprecedented level of end-to-end visibility and understanding of the network, allowing to make better justified network design recommendations and significantly reduce network configuration errors and resulting down-time.
Dr. Jörg Hagemann
Head of Technical Design Authority IP Networks
T-Mobile Germany