Capacity Planning in a Telecommunications Network: a Case Study

Satisfying the demand in a timely fashion is a critical task in any company. In a service sector like telecommunications where sold information transmission units cannot be stored in inventory or cannot be backordered, having appropriate capacity to fulfill all demand becomes crucial. In order to achieve this goal, not only a well designed planning system but a sound capacity expansion strategy is necessary. In this paper, capacity planning in a telecommunications network is studied through the novel application of inventory control techniques aiming to meet the demand to a certain service level. In addition, a capacity expansion plan via equipment purchase is carried out through a mathematical programming model. The use of inventory control techniques in the telecommunications industry is the principal contribution of this work. The use of inventory control techniques in the telecommunications industry is the principal contribution of this work.