METHOD FOR DEACTIVATING A CELL SITE IN A CELLULAR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A method (200) for managing a cellular communication system (100) is proposed. The cellular communication system comprises a plurality of cell sites (105i) each one associated with a plurality of cells (115i,cj), each cell identifying a respective radio coverage geographic area, and wherein each cell site comprises a cellular communication equipment (110i) associated with the plurality of cells of said cell site. The method comprises the following steps: (i) among said plurality of cell sites, determining (205) a candidate cell site to be at least partially deactivated, said candidate cell site being a cell site associated with at least one candidate cell to be deactivated, wherein the at least one candidate cell comprises at least one cell of the plurality of cells associated with the candidate cell site with a load factor below a threshold load factor; (ii) selecting (210), among the plurality of cells associated with the plurality of cell sites other than the candidate cell site, replacement cells intended to replace the at least one candidate cell upon deactivation thereof, the replacement cells being adjacent to the at least one candidate cell; (iii) determining (215) a target geographic area, the target geographic area enclosing at least the geographic areas identified by the at least one candidate cell and the geographic areas identified by the replacement cells; (iv) estimating (220) at least one radio transmission parameter in the target geographic area as a function of a cell configuration of each cellular communication equipment associated with the replacement cells, assuming that the candidate site is at least partially deactivated; (v) based on said estimated at least one radio transmission parameter, selecting (225), for the cellular communication equipment associated with the adjacent cells, respective replacement cell configurations; (vi) setting (230) each cellular communication equipment associated with the adjacent cells at the respective replacement cell configuration; (vii) causing (235) the at least one candidate cell to monitor said at least one radio transmission parameter in the target geographic area, and (viii) if (240) the monitored at least one radio transmission parameter approaches at least by a predefined amount the at least one radio transmission parameter estimated for the respective replacement cell configurations, deactivating (245) at least partially the candidate cell site by deactivating the at least one candidate cel