A combined CAPEX and OPEX cost model for LTE networks

The paper presents a detailed techno-economic model for LTE networks with inherent coupling of CAPEX and OPEX cost elements. Every resource of the developed cost model defines its contribution to the investment and operation costs, which allows for a detailed tracking and reporting of capital and operation expenditures from single elements to complete network abstraction. The internal structure of the model makes use of template replication that allows for the modelling of a generalized modular structure of a network location in great detail, which is in turn instantiated and parameterized to as many instances as required to match the respective operator network. Several techniques are described to demonstrate simple modelling solutions for complex network structures. This combined CAPEX and OPEX model is run for several scenarios to exemplarily demonstrate its usage for strategic modelling of architectural design decisions. The software “Strategic Telecoms Evaluation Model (STEM)” was used for the model development and result analysis.