In a telecommunications network including a fronthaul network portion comprising a plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) and one or more baseband unit, BBU, hubs , each BBU hub comprising at least a BBU (110-N, 112-M), a method of configuring network connectivity between the plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) and the one or more BBU hubs , the method comprising: providing a plurality of input variables and design constraints; selecting a BBU hub from the group of BBU hubs responsive to a determination with respect to at least one or more input variables and design constraints; allocating at least a portion of the cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) to the selected BBU hub until the selected BBU hub is determined to be full with respect to a capacity parameter; assigning the allocated cells to individual BBUs sequentially within the selected BBU hub; repeating , in a sequential iterative process, the acts of selecting BBU hubs, allocating cells to each of the selected BBU hubs and sequentially assigning the allocated cells to individual BBUs within each selected BBU hub, respectively, until there remain no unallocated cells; obtaining a cell allocation map identifying allocations of the plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) with respect to the selected BBU hubs and the individual BBUs therein; and responsive to the cell allocation map , configuring connections between the plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) and the selected BBU hubs to facilitate optimization of one or more key performance indicators in the fronthaul network portion with respect to at least one of radio frequency, RF, capacity, network throughput, spectral efficiency, hardware optimization including per-BBU port utilization, application coverage, inter-cell interference, and user media experience. providing a plurality of input variables and design constraints; selecting a BBU hub from the group of BBU hubs responsive to a determination with respect to at least one or more input variables and design constraints; allocating at least a portion of the cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) to the selected BBU hub until the selected BBU hub is determined to be full with respect to a capacity parameter; assigning the allocated cells to individual BBUs sequentially within the selected BBU hub; repeating , in a sequential iterative process, the acts of selecting BBU hubs, allocating cells to each of the selected BBU hubs and sequentially assigning the allocated cells to individual BBUs within each selected BBU hub, respectively, until there remain no unallocated cells; obtaining a cell allocation map identifying allocations of the plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) with respect to the selected BBU hubs and the individual BBUs therein; and responsive to the cell allocation map , configuring connections between the plurality of cells (118-1 to 118-5, 120-1 to 120-5) and the selected BBU hubs to facilitate optimization of one or more key performance indicators in the fronthaul network portion with respect to at least one of radio frequency, RF, capacity, network throughput, spectral efficiency, hardware optimization including per-BBU port utilization, application coverage, inter-cell interference, and user media experience. <EOS>