The ROI on Telecom Site Automation Solutions

Many operators ask us about the return on investment (ROI) for implementing telecom site automation (TSA) solutions. On occasion, Asentria has created ROI calculations for specific operators based on their estimates of costs on truck rolls, network downtime, fuel theft, and more. TSA solution savings comes from two main categories: network resilience and network efficiency.

In a telecom site automation solutions, you can expect to have a range of very different applications depending on the type of operator. The solutions are highly modular to accommodate the needs of a site operator.

Example applications:

1. Operator A would be using a TSA solution to monitor and manage back-up diesel generators. The main goal is to reduce network downtime by improving the management of maintenance and refueling visits during or immediately after a storm or hurricane events. Other applications help manage generators in normal conditions.
2. Operator B would be using a TSA solution to do DC reboot of equipment at a telecom site. The goal is to both reducing network downtime, and also reducing the cost of truck rolls.
3. Operator C would have a solution that applied both applications from A and B. 

The amount of ROI is different for each of these operators. A public safety telecom network may value network downtime differently than a cellular mobile network operator. The cost of a truck roll could vary dramatically depending on how remote a site is.

Considerations from Different Parts of the World

Depending on location, the same TSA solution application could be valued differently. In the examples above, Operator A is monitoring and managing back-up diesel generator fuel levels. In North America, diesel fuel level monitoring might primarily be a part of disaster recovery planning. In Africa, diesel fuel level monitoring is done mainly to try and identify and reduce diesel fuel theft, with the added benefit of gaining visibility into telecom site fuel levels during and after weather events.

Defining Your ROI for a Telecom Site Automation Solution

Before you can determine a more exact ROI on a telecom site automation project, its necessary for a network operator to understand and consider how they value the various benefits form a telecom site automation solution. Asentria has created a basic ROI checklist, to help start this conversation with customers that are considering adding a telecom site automation solution to their network. This checklist indicates where to look for ROI for these types of solutions, without assuming we know how any particular telecom operator would value the benefits. What we do know for sure is that EVERY telecom operator wants a more resilient and efficient network.