The First 5G Network Launch in the World

On the Road to 5G - The First 5G Network Launch in the World

LG U+ was established on July 11, 1996, and has been transforming the lives of customers since. The company strives to develop telecommunications services, high-speed internet, VoIP and IPTV services as well as other data services. In fact, LG U+ was first in the world to establish a nationwide LTE network with super high-speed services of the highest quality. Continuing into the era of 5G and IoT, LG U+ continues to create higher standards of service.

LG U+ operates mobile, home, corporate telecommunication and network management business, with its Yongsan headquarters and office buildings at Magok Science-park and Sangam at the center of its operations. In addition, LG U+ has 12 IDC centers all over the country to provide stable infrastructure and corporate customer support service. Specifically, the Pyeong-chon Mega Center in Anyang, Gyeonggi province, is Asia’s largest white space, global MW-class super modular data center. It is the first IDC to have achieved Uptime Tier III certification in Korea in recognition of the high quality and stability of its non-stop 24/7 service.

The Challenge

As with any other major project, implementing such a complex system was challenging, but we made those challenges work to our advantage.

Time zone difference was our friend
We decided to follow the sun model – we synchronized work in order to function both in Korean and Polish business hours. Every day we managed to find a common timeslot between Poland and Korea in order to synchronize the work. Progress was marked in a written report.
Local presence wasn’t a problem
In order to provide the best service possible, our presence locally was crucial. That’s why we opened a local Comarch office in Korea, and organized long-term business trips for our experts from Poland.
Korean, as the official language of the project, has motivated us to find optimal solutions for different challenges
As for one of the biggest challenges – the language barrier – we found several solutions. We hired Korean-speaking employees in Poland, established cooperation with local interpreters, employed local representatives, started Korean lessons for Comarch employees, implemented automated translations for unofficial communication, and hired highly-skilled interpreters for official business. Efficient communication was possible via different means, including email and chat (for example,WhatsApp and KakaoTalk). We also found a way to ensure secure communication, which incorporated platforms such as Jira, PowerSource and Webex.
Culture differences were actually quite… exciting
We arranged “cultural classes” for our employees, so that we could gain more experience and knowledge about Korean culture.

The Business Need

As one of the global telecom technological leaders, LG U+ wanted to be the first in the world to launch a 5G network. In order to achieve this goal, OSS transformation was very much needed, as existing systems were not providing enough possibilities. The customer faced numerous problems with resource and network management systems, including high system complexity, legacy, a silo-based stack, low degree of automation, inverted network modifications flows (from network to system, not from system to network), high maintenance costs, etc. This resulted in poor data quality and inefficient integration on all levels – business, functionalities and data flow.

In order to proceed with the 5G network launch, we needed to adapt the OSS software first. LG U+ had several requirements,
the most important of which were:

A standards-based solution, aligned with TMF, ETSI and 3GPP
Software that would increase automation within the OSS environment
An integrated, future-proof system
A solution that would allow domain siloes created around separate systems to be dismantled in the areas of:
- Mobile network – mobile access, transport network
- Mobile core network & fixed network – fixed access, aggregation network and fixed core network

The Implemented Products

In order to fulfill the LG U+ objective to deploy the first 5G network in the world, our goal was to provide them with comprehensive OSS software tailored to their needs.

The customer needed the solution to be versatile, and to be able to help them reach such goals as introducing customer/service-centered quality management, implementing proactive failure detection that would shorten the mean time to repair, reducing OPEX, improving data quality, and minimizing operator engagement by automating some of the most time-consuming tasks. The proposed solution included multidimensional automation facilities (Comarch E2E Orchestrator) enabling LG U+ design of zero-touch maintenance and provisioning scenarios for 5GC network functions (this function is under development).

The Results

Improved position on a competitive market:
- Shortened mean time to repair
- Reduced time to market due to automation of network provisioning
- Focus on customer needs thanks to newly created Service Operation Center, supported by Service Quality Management and Customer Experience Management tools
Advanced functionalities available for business users:
- Rapid access to all required information using single sign-on and single pane of glass approach
- Automation of repeatable tasks, freeing more time for network optimization – still in delivery
- Predictive maintenance taking into account regular alarms, threshold-crossing events, trouble tickets, planned works, and configuration changes
- Embedded AI engine supporting dedicated use cases
- Embedded rule-based engine supporting dedicated use cases
- Best practices from other operators
- E2E orchestration facilities for 5GC (NSA) – still in delivery
Decreased cost of maintenance:
- 5G-ready and future-proof OSS environment for convergent network (mobile and fixed network)
- Inventory management
- Intelligent assurance and analytics
- Highly-configurable environment – no need for coding
- Modern technological stack – based on microservices
- Efficient knowledge transfer to Comarch’s customer
- Breaking the silos architecture

Implementing the Comarch solution allowed the customer to attain their goals of deploying the first 5G network in the world
and providing even better customer service.

Why Comarch?

"At LG U+ we were using an OSS stack developed in-house. The IT architecture was divided into silos, which entailed a number of challenges regarding the introduction of new technologies such as 5G and network virtualization. The successful implementation of the comprehensive Comarch OSS platform enabled us to realize digital transformation and become a cutting-edge, customer-focused CSP."

Hokyung Kwon, NMS Development Team Leader
LGU+

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