Coverage extension and quality, cell power utilization, neighbor cells ranking and other information normally provided by expensive field measurement campaigns can alternatively be extracted from signaling monitored in the Radio Network Controller. This paper, after reviewing a set of key performance metrics and optimization solutions validated experimentally in live networks, shows how automation benefits an Operator radio network planning department by increasing efficiency and reducing the operational expenditures up to an estimated 40%. Moreover, the paper explains how the proposed optimization method could evolve into an autonomic solution.