Techno-Economic Analysis of Hybrid Infrastructure Deployment for Mission-Critical Communications: A Case Study of Addis Ababa-Adama Toll Road Emergency Network
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Date
2025-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
An absence of efficient, modernized emergency-response and mission-critical communication technology will degrade the service and safety performance of the Addis Ababa Adama toll road. Accordingly, implementing a specific mission-dedicated communication system will be mandatory. However, technology upgrading decisions made without a detailed technical and economic feasibility assessment of emerging mission-critical communication options cannot deliver the expected performance and financial benefits of the intended investment. In this thesis, an audit of the existing AATR communication infrastructure was carried out. Based on its capabilities, deployment scenarios were analyzed and formulated using scenario planning. Four scenarios were developed, either using the existing STM-4/MSTP infrastructure or upgrading Ethio-telecom assets to LTE/5G. The scenarios were evaluated along the Addis Ababa–Adama toll road, using data from Ethiopian Toll Road Enterprise documents and site surveys. The techno-economic analysis of the deployment scenarios used a modified TEA framework for a 10-year period. Network dimensioning determined coverage and capacity for each option. Evaluation included net present value, payback period, benefit-to-cost ratio, and sensitivity analysis, considering currency fluctuation, inflation, operational expenditure, and discount rate uncertainty. An 8% discount rate was applied for all analyses. As the analysis results show, the PBP (in years) and BCR (in decimal) of the scenarios, respectively, are 20.1 and 0.259 for Sc1, 5.29 and 1.224 for Sc2, 6.93 and 0.987 for Sc3, and finally 5.53 and 1.145 for Sc4. According to the above techno-economic analysis results, Scenario 2 (STM-4 Optimized Hybrid Deployment) is technically and economically feasible for the Addis Ababa–Adama Toll Road.
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Mission-Critical Communications, Techno-Economic Analysis, LTE/5G, Hybrid Infrastructure, Toll Road Safety