A Case Study of LTE Coverage Extension for Rural Malaysia

LTE service demand is increasing for the rural areas since Work from Home (WFH) and online learning becoming the norm for Malaysians. However, the LTE coverage expansion mainly focus at highly populated areas or high ROI market, leaving some rural areas under-connected. Instead of deploying a new e-NB, coverage extension method is one way forward for rural mobile connectivity. Mobile Network Operator (MNO) may benefits huge savings on the CAPEX. In this paper, a case study of LTE coverage extension for 2 rural sites is presented. Low profile pico repeater system has been deployed to prove the benefits of LTE coverage extension method. The findings from the coverage mapping and user experience test after repeater deployment are presented. From the field trial, it has been proven that coverage extension method with proper planning can provide LTE coverage with stable service.