Estimation and Analysis of Network Capacity Under the Introduction of Mobile Banking: Case of Ethiopia
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Date
2014-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis work is based on a value added cellular technology service called mobile banking (m-banking). Mobile banking is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications via a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Since mobile banking is a new avenue in Ethiopia for bringing financial service to the unbanked, how the additional traffic generated by mobile banking will impact the existing telecom network by forecasting its traffic demand is done in this particular paper. Therefore by clearly understanding the mobile banking system and platform implementation, network capacity audit is performed for the existing telecom system against the additional capacity this service requires for the case of Ethiopia. So this way one can recommend the best business model or technology option that suits the country the most. Network performance analysis and evaluation is normally done to keep subscribers satisfied with the delivered quality of service. In this thesis, the existing network is studied and evaluated whether or not it can handle the additional traffic introduced by mobile banking. Network performance audit for the radio access network is done using a comparative process with an initial baseline of Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The performance indicators used to evaluate the radio access network are: Traffic Channel (TCH) and Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH).
The experience of several African countries was taken into account to create the scenarios used in this research due to the fact that previous work to bridge the two areas, i.e. mobile banking and network capacity hasn’t been made in the country. For this study two sites in Addis Ababa are selected. One of the sites is considered to have a very high traffic volume or congestion rate and the other is with a moderate trafficThis thesis work is based on a value added cellular technology service called mobile banking (m-banking). Mobile banking is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications via a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Since mobile banking is a new avenue in Ethiopia for bringing financial service to the unbanked, how the additional traffic generated by mobile banking will impact the existing telecom network by forecasting its traffic demand is done in this particular paper. Therefore by clearly understanding the mobile banking system and platform implementation, network capacity audit is performed for the existing telecom system against the additional capacity this service requires for the case of Ethiopia. So this way one can recommend the best business model or technology option that suits the country the most. Network performance analysis and evaluation is normally done to keep subscribers satisfied with the delivered quality of service. In this thesis, the existing network is studied and evaluated whether or not it can handle the additional traffic introduced by mobile banking. Network performance audit for the radio access network is done using a comparative process with an initial baseline of Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The performance indicators used to evaluate the radio access network are: Traffic Channel (TCH) and Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH).
The experience of several African countries was taken into account to create the scenarios used in this research due to the fact that previous work to bridge the two areas, i.e. mobile banking and network capacity hasn’t been made in the country. For this study two sites in Addis Ababa are selected. One of the sites is considered to have a very high traffic volume or congestion rate and the other is with a moderate trafficUSSD ;STK
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Keywords
Mobile Banking, Network Performance, Erlang-B, TCH, SDCCH, SMS, IVR, USSD, STK