Small cell technology is still viable.
Despite a number of projects and deployments that have yet to come to fruition, several vendor and carrier experts point out the technology’s efficiency and cost-effectiveness make it an attractive choice that remains ready for take off. Still not sold? Read on for their arguments as to why small cell technology may be on the up and up.
- Carriers Are Using Spectrum Differently
As a carrier looks to increase its network’s capacity, it has a choice: employ more spectrum or attempt to use the spectrum it has in a more effective manner. Enter small outdoor cell technology, which allows for carriers to gain more capacity from existing spectrum by increasing the network’s density. As Verizon CEO Tony Melone said recently, the difference between spectrum costs and small cell costs has “changed dramatically.”
“Small cell deployments will be an increasingly cost-effective way to add capacity while at the same time improving cell edge performance and thus further increasing the value of the spectrum we hold,” said Melone.
As spectrum grows more expensive, small cell technology improves and fiber backhaul is becoming increasingly affordable. As Melone noted, the technology is “driving both operating expenses and capital expenses in the right direction.” Verizon is expanding its outdoor small cell deployments, recently coupling 30 urban downtown small cells with an additional 30 in the surrounding suburbs.
- Vendors Are Lending a Hand
Vendors are doing more than simply bringing their ideas to the marketplace. Many have segued into working to see that carriers can acquire new sites, identify backhaul and power resources, and locate installers and integrators that will help move deployments along faster and rein in costs.
Take Alcatel-Lucent. As ABI research analyst Nick Marshall notes, the French company offers a program to aligns a carrier network’s weak areas with power and backhaul resources, and highlights public and private property available for deployment. Ericsson has also created a program to help expedite deployments, and Huawei is working with companies that can provide the necessary infrastructure to help make small cell deployments a reality.
- Business is Ponying Up
As the demand for coverage continues to increase, many corporations, hospitals, and other enterprises are choosing to pay for their coverage needs by bankrolling their own infrastructure. Such companies are often too small for carrier investment, and so enterprise customers are turning to Nokia’s SAC Wireless, which CEO Bill Koziel says creates a host system that will allow for connectivity to a carrier.
Wi-Fi equipment companies have taken note of this trend, and are including small cells into their product offerings.
- Higher Frequencies Are On the Way
“One of the things that everyone agrees on is that at some point in time we will need more spectrum, and the only place where we can find it is in the very high frequencies,” said Lauri Oksanen, head of research and technology at Nokia Networks.
Higher frequencies require cells that are closer together, as they have shorter wavelengths. Nokia and National Instruments are working together to research millimeter wave solutions; National Instruments notes it has seen tests in other high frequency bands.
“As you look at the emergence of massive MIMO and millimeter wave as complementary technologies, I really think that the development of those and the theories behind those will really help small cell get to the point where a lot of pundits were expecting it to be by this point already,” said Jeff Phillips, senior product manager for National Instruments’ LabVIEW solution. “
