Prominent Eastern European Service Provider Turkcell Maximizes Its 4G/LTE Wireless Network Performance and Service Delivery

• Networks & Connectivity - Cellular
• Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

• Telecommunications

• Logistics & Transportation

• Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

• System Integration
• Testing & Certification

Turkcell’s customers demand superior 24/7/365 service, and achieving that level of service reliability is not easy. The lifeblood of Turkcell’s business is its service performance. If there is any customer-impacting service drop off, it eventually reverberates through to its bottom line. Turkcell’s primary ongoing challenge was that it needed a performance-monitoring tool that provides end-to-end visibility based on real-time, continuous traffic-based intelligence. It also needed to be able to pinpoint performance problems quickly to reduce Mean Time to Knowledge (MTTK) and to maintain a flawless customer experience. LTE control plane monitoring, user plane visibility and session tracing must all be visible, as all are indispensable to ensuring and maintaining the exceptional quality service Turkcell subscribers have come to expect. Turkcell also needed customized reporting procedures coupled with real-time intelligence regarding its LTE signaling behavior. Turkcell’s approach is to solve problems proactively, not SERVICE PROVIDER reactively, before they are noticed in their network. So, proactive alarming of budding issues was a much-coveted service triage feature that Anil Ercan Sonmez of Turkcell Operations and his team members needed.

Headquartered in historic Istanbul, Turkey, and with business operations in Turkey and Cyprus, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., or Turkcell, is the leading mobile phone operator in the country servicing over 35 million subscribers. It is also the first Turkish company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Turkcell offers a complete array of mobile services including voice and data over their 3G/4G network. The company also has international roaming agreements with 605 operators in 201 countries and claims to have more general packet radio service (GPRS) roaming agreements than any other telecom operator.

After testing products from CA, Splunk, JDSU, HP and Anritsu, Turkcell chose the NETSCOUT nGeniusONE® Service Assurance platform for its feature-rich capabilities. Once NETSCOUT nGeniusONE was deployed, it immediately paid back rich dividends to Turkcell. Before using the NETSCOUT nGeniusONE platform, Turkcell had to use raw traces and Wireshark captures. Now, they use NETSCOUT’s Adaptive Service Intelligence™ (ASI) technology in its network for complete visibility of MME, P-GW and S-GW signaling for the continuous monitoring of its 3G and 4G/LTE network for service anomalies, such as what access point name (APN) subscribers used so as to find why calls were rejected. It now monitors its control and user plane traffic 24/7, and if a problem should arise, the company can quickly troubleshoot service-affecting errors. According to Anil Ercan Sonmez, of Turkcell Operations, “With NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, I can see our overall network situation in one screen, and can easily deep dive into the relevant details.”

• Turkcell now has a complete service assurance platform that provides rapid triage while optimizing performance of mobile services.
• It no longer has to endure helter-skelter problem identification, which extended MTTK and caused friction within the operations team.
• Besides the obvious enhancement of possessing a holistic view of service dependencies and interrelationships, it has increased agility in solving performance issues while simultaneously increasing ROI in both the short- and long-term, and has markedly enhanced end-user experience.

• Diminished time spent in the war room, resolving incidents from 30+ hours to a maximum of 5-10 hours per incident.
• Improved problem identification rate by 75 percent or more.
• Reduced overall time spent troubleshooting service issues by 75 percent or more.