Knowledge base

Telecom network planning and optimisation, explained without the brochure

17 technical guides written for engineers and buyers working on real deployments across Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Mersun Telecom Solutions · October 2026

5G and indoor planning

5G NR network planning

How to plan a 5G NR network: beam-based coverage, link budgets for mmWave, massive MIMO modelling, and the planning decisions that are expensive to reverse later.

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Indoor 5G coverage planning

Indoor 5G and LTE coverage planning: penetration loss, in-building design, DAS versus small cells, and how to validate indoor coverage without a full drive test.

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Propagation models

Choosing a propagation model

How to choose and calibrate a radio propagation model: empirical versus ray-tracing, when calibration matters more than model choice, and what to measure.

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Automation

Automatic frequency and cell planning

How automatic frequency planning (AFP) and automatic cell planning (ACP) work, when they beat manual planning, and how to avoid the failure modes that make teams distrust them.

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Automatic cell planning (ACP)

How automatic cell planning (ACP) works in practice: which parameters it changes, how to write an objective that survives acceptance, and the four failure modes that make teams abandon it.

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Capacity and radio design

RAN capacity planning

How to build a RAN capacity model: the three inputs every traffic forecast needs, how to convert busy-hour traffic into a site count, and why average cell throughput is the wrong design KPI.

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Antenna tilt and azimuth

Mechanical versus electrical tilt, how to set initial tilt on a new site, why overlap matters more than best-server coverage, and how to verify a tilt change without a full cluster drive test.

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DAS, small cells or repeaters

How to choose between distributed antenna systems, small cells and repeaters for indoor coverage: sizing rules, operator approval requirements, and the risks that decide total cost.

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Transmission

Microwave link planning

Microwave backhaul planning essentials: how to build a path budget, how much fade margin each availability target needs, why rain rate dominates above 15 GHz, and what breaks links that pass the calculation.

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Data and models

Feeding live data into models

Which live network data sources actually improve RF predictions, how to reconcile OSS counters with the site database, and a quarterly recalibration workflow that keeps models honest.

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Preparing planning data

A practical data audit for RF planning: what a site database needs before import, how accurate clutter data must be, what breaks vector geometry, and how to audit a dataset in a day.

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Optimisation

From drive test to optimisation

The end-to-end workflow from data collection to optimisation decisions: what to collect, how to post-process, and where acceptance reporting fits.

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A KPI-driven optimisation loop

How to build an optimisation loop that closes: which KPIs belong in it, how to set achievable targets, where loops usually break, and how to verify a change without a full cluster drive test.

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Architecture

Private 5G and private LTE

Planning private 5G and LTE networks: spectrum options, coverage for industrial environments, isolation from public networks, and the design differences from macro planning.

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Spectrum and strategy

Spectrum refarming and 2G/3G sunset

How to plan spectrum refarming and a 2G or 3G sunset: what changes in the link budget, how to prove the replacement layer is ready, and what a guard band really costs in capacity.

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5G-Advanced and 6G readiness

What 5G-Advanced changes in practice, which investments are safe now, what carries over from 5G to 6G planning, and what not to buy yet.

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Choosing RF planning software

How to evaluate RF planning software: what to test in a trial, which capabilities are usually over-specified, how licence models differ, and what migration actually costs.

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