STEM help / Basic concepts

3.1.1 Who uses STEM?

STEM is used by:

major incumbent operators – for tariff studies, service cost analysis, competitor analysis and modelling, evaluating whole-life costs of technology strategies (e.g., optical networking, IP and ATM routered networks, Terabit submarine cables), business case evaluation, roll-out planning
new operators – to investigate where and when to roll out new infrastructures or services; to compare mobile versus fixed network solutions; and to present quantified economic cases when lobbying regulators on interconnect agreements
telecommunications regulators – to explore the costs of alternative technologies, to justify interconnection and USO costs, to explore the impact of new competition and of price controls
equipment manufacturers – who wish to understand the financial and cost structure of their customers’ networks in order to assist in product planning and in sales presentations. For example, STEM can be used to make a case for replacing existing equipment with new and/or initially more costly technology
private network operators – to examine the costs of alternative network development strategies, evaluate the competing suppliers, or to quantify the returns from providing networks across departments within an organisation.