 Sweden's Tele2 and Telenor announced plans to create a joint venture to build and run an LTE network. The agreement includes the formation of a joint venture for network construction and sharing of spectrum for mobile communication. Recap and Future Outlook Service Service Platform Platform MSC/SGSN MSC/SGSN BSC/RNC BTS/NodeB Shared Frequencies Figure 13.4 MOCN based sharing. Reproduced with permission from C 2008 Frisanco et al. [7] Transmission Network Sharing: Transmission Network Sharing is a new concept that involves either sharing of access transmission (backhaul) network only or the entire transmission network (Figure 13.5). Figure 13.5 shows that if two radio sites are shared between two operators then the transmission resources can also be shared if frequencies and capacities are available on the microwave equipment. Barter sharing can be applied where fiber or transmission capacities are swapped in a 1 to 1 deal in the network. Barter sharing is being done between mobile operators of Pakistan to build resilience in the backbone networks, where typically single STM-1 is exchanged between cities. Vodafone and Telefónica have agreed in 2009 to share sites including access transmission (microwave) in Germany for 2G and 3G sites. Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem Service Service Platform Platform MSC/SGSN MSC/SGSN BSC/RNC BSC/RNC Common Microwave System With Dedicated Frequencies BTS/NodeB BTS/NodeB Figure 13.5 Access (backhaul) transmission sharing 13.5 Connecting the Next Billion Users The mobile subscription is saturated or close to saturation in the urban/suburban areas of some of the world's most populous and/or poorest countries of the world. The ARPU (average revenue per user) has kept on declining and telecom operators are hoping to tap more than 1 billion new customers by 2015 to sustain their businesses. Traditional GSM was not designed for the unique challenges posed by vast rural areas. It is costly to manufacture, quite expensive to run and requires considerable power. All these c