Small Cell Site Development Webinar

Site Development in a DAS World, now available on WCAI's YouTube Channel.

Small Cell Webinar Tomorrow

Site Development in a DAS World

Thursday, March 29, 2012
4:00pm ET - Free of charge

Register Now

Shortcomings of the macro network due to the physics of radio waves and certain building materials has led to the development of small cell site development through in-building and other Distributed Antenna Systems - DAS. But deployment is not as straightforward as a traditional tower or rooftop. Join our panelists to learn more about these issues and potential solutions, as small cells begin to play an even more critical role in the wireless industry.

Presented by David Saab - VP of Development - SSC
Moderated by Chris Horne - CTO - LBA Group

Bright Lights, Gig Cities -- BelAir Networks Big 4 Network Predictions for 2012

By Ronny Haraldsvik, CMO/SVP Marketing, BelAir Networks

There will be all kinds of wireless devices unwrapped over the coming holiday season. Whether that’s e-readers, tablets, laptops or smartphones, one thing is for sure: they will feed people’s insatiable appetite for mobile data. And that’s only going to continue as we move into 2012. What impact will this have on the mobile broadband industry?

Based on trends observed through BelAirBI Business Intelligence and data extrapolated from both internal and third party sources, we have compiled 4 Big Network Predictions for 2012. When combined, these predictions all point to the emergence of the Metro Gig Zone offering bright lights for mobile broadband, particularly in big cities where wireless networks are challenged by highly dense pockets of data usage:

1. Big Users and Big Content will Consume Bigger Capacity in Metropolitan areas: 10% of subscribers based in Metropolitan areas, using smartphones and laptops, will consume 90% of all 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi network capacity available. In addition, video-based access to information (CNN, SKYTV, ESPN) and content based over-the-top services (Netflix, Google YouTube), will account for over 90% of all metropolitan broadband access over 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi networks. Of this one-to-one and one-to-many video-based communications using Skype, Facebook and other social applications will soon account for 5%.
2. Big Business and Big New Vertical Markets will create Bigger Opportunities for Carriers: The rise of Wireless-as-a-Service (WaaS) for indoor-outdoor Wi-Fi and cellular services will see enterprise networking vendors and carriers go head-to-head in the market for wireless solutions for SMBs, stadiums and shopping malls. In addition, mobile and fixed carriers will also compete with Enterprise WLAN vendors and resellers in vertical markets such as education, hospitality and real estate high rises, with leased, fixed cost and subscriber-based revenue models. The removal of massive tower investments and time-consuming civil approvals for small cell networks supporting will also open the door for new entrants (previously non-service providers) to enter the metropolitan broadband access market.
3. Big Broadband Experiences will Become Bigger Differentiators for Consumer Facing Organizations: The quest for a better mobile broadband experience will impact user behavior with regard to metropolitan travel patterns. Routes, stopovers and destinations offering consistent and reliable mobile broadband service, irrespective of the wireless access technology will benefit from increased customer traffic. Shopping malls, large hotel chains, and large consumer brands will differentiate themselves by offering free or earned (i.e. points based) broadband access and day/weekend based promotions using GPS-enabled access points for serving up local ads and offers.
4. Big Networks will Become Bigger with Small Networks: There will be 100% growth in metropolitan mobile offload and Wi-Fi services data traffic. When a broadband network is deployed, traffic will double within 6 months. Wi-Fi follows the same daily traffic trending statistics as subscribers using LTE and 3G. Subsequently, mobile carriers worldwide will surpass 100 billion Wi-Fi connections from their subscribers by the end of 2012 by integrating Wi-Fi with their 3G and LTE network strategies. We will also see the first 100k small cell network deployment in the metropolitan area of a country using combinations of Wi-Fi, 3G, and LTE. At the same time 100 mobile operators and Fixed Broadband Service Providers worldwide will have announced small cell trials or commercial deployments.

Reprinted from Life in the Small Cell: BelAir Networks Blog

Small Cells Advance at 4GWorld

By Greg Friesen, VP of Product Management, DragonWave Inc.

One of the top themes at 4GWorld in Chicago was the advancement of small cells. A new industry term that is being called several names, from small cells to Metro Cells to MicroCell to Pico, but all refer to street-level, urban cellular deployments. It was really encouraging to hear a lot of affirmative thoughts from industry experts that this type of small cell network architecture can, in fact, bring higher capacity per user, as well as improve indoor coverage. With growing constraints on spectrum, and as spectral efficiency limits are quickly being reached, there was overwhelming agreement at the show that small cells are the best way to meet the increasing mobile user data demands. Small cells are also a key piece to delivering improved indoor mobile coverage.

The 4GWorld focus on small cells was well timed with two product announcements DragonWave made at the show. The first was the introduction of two new microcellular backhaul products, Avenue Link and Avenue Site. The second announcement was a partnership with FiberTower to use its spectrum in conjunction with our Avenue products, allowing both companies to offer integrated microcellular backhaul solutions.

DragonWave’s Avenue product line leverages the small form factor, all-outdoor Horizon Compact Plus products, combined with a 5” mini-antenna to offer street level microcellular backhaul. The mini-antennas operate in 24Ghz, 26Hz, 28GHz, 32 GHz, 38 GHz and 60 GHz. With FiberTower offering 24 and 39 GHz spectrum covering 99% of the United States, the partnership, ensures that Avenue products are deployable for their entire U.S. customer base.

The Avenue Site product is unique to the industry by integrating all the equipment at a cell-site tower into a single unit that is deployable on a lamp pole, traffic light or side of a building. The Avenue Site includes three independent, easily aligned, high-capacity packet backhaul links, a UPS power supply, battery backup, Ethernet switching, a GPS antenna and a 4G base station slot.

With the introduction of small cellular architectures, there is a whole new set of deployment challenges that Avenue is designed to address. The first challenge is providing street-level, high capacity backhaul. As this architecture requires a five- to ten-fold increase in the number of sites, the next challenge is to reduce per site TCO by an order of magnitude. Avenue achieves this by reducing site lease costs, maintenance costs, CAPEX and installation costs through integration and micro site optimization. In addition, because many installers will not be trained in telecom, and likely will be the same staff used for other city maintenance, installation must be simplified. Features like self-test, integration, and simple alignment help to greatly streamline the installation process.

Even though small cells may still be in their infancy, it’s clear that carriers are preparing to build infill networks over the next few years, and we’re committed to stay at the front of this adoption curve.