MNO Core Network Capacity & Cost Planner
Estimate your mobile core network traffic demand, capacity requirements and indicative deployment costs based on your subscriber growth and network assumptions.
This tool supports early capacity and budget planning. It is not a complete network engineering design: radio, spectrum, transmission and regulatory costs are out of scope.
Estimated results
U × (1 + G)^Y at the end of the forecast period.
Projected subscribers × monthly usage ÷ 1000 (TB).
Projected subscribers × D × 0.003086, based on 30 days per month.
Average throughput × busy-hour multiplier.
Busy-hour throughput ÷ (1000 × target utilization).
CEILING(required planned throughput ÷ throughput per UPF instance), before redundancy.
Base instances after the selected redundancy model. Session capacity, signalling load, AMF/SMF/MME sizing, geography and failure domains are not included.
Optional Cost Assumptions
One-time deployment cost + first-year instance count × cost per instance.
Final-year instance count × (infrastructure + license) + monthly support.
Staged by forecast year: instances added each year plus 12 months of operating cost. It only covers the cost items you entered.
No cost assumptions entered — only capacity results are shown.
Capacity by forecast year
| Year | Projected Subscribers | Required Planned Throughput | Estimated UPF Instances with Redundancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2160000 | 285.68 | 30 |
| 2 | 2332800 | 308.53 | 32 |
| 3 | 2519424 | 333.21 | 35 |
Calculation assumptions
Projected Subscribers = U × (1 + G)^Y. Monthly Traffic (TB) = projected subscribers × D ÷ 1000 (decimal units, 1 TB = 1000 GB). Average Throughput (Mbps) = projected subscribers × D × 0.003086 (30 days per month). Busy-hour Throughput = Average × B. Required Planned Throughput (Gbps) = Busy-hour ÷ (1000 × R). Base UPF Instances = CEILING(Required ÷ K); N+1 adds one standby instance and 2N doubles the base count. Cost results are shown only for the cost assumptions you enter, and when the forecast spans several years the TCO is staged by each year’s actual instance count. This is an indicative estimate, not a capacity commitment; if you already have measured busy-hour traffic, use those measurements instead.
This calculator provides indicative capacity and cost estimates based on user-supplied assumptions. It is not a substitute for detailed network engineering, vendor capacity validation or a formal commercial quotation.
Preliminary Estimate Range
The range below is calculated from the assumptions you entered. Change any input and it updates immediately.
These ranges are planning references calculated from your own inputs. They are not a quotation, an offer or a price list.
The low–high spread is a configurable planning margin used for sensitivity testing. It is a demonstration assumption, not a market benchmark or an IPLOOK price.
Want a More Detailed Cost Estimate?
Our team can review your requirements and the assumptions used in this calculation, then prepare a tailored estimate for your project.
The detailed cost breakdown (software licence, deployment and integration, customisation, maintenance and support, and architecture options) is not published online. It is prepared by our sales team after a manual review of your requirements.
Request an MNO Core Network Consultation
Tell us about your network profile and we will review your capacity and deployment assumptions with our core network team.
Thank You for Your Inquiry
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Our team will review your requirements and the assumptions provided in your calculation, then contact you by email with a tailored estimate.