HetNet News: DAS contract sizes increase

DAS contracts increase in size, outpacing market growth
Typical distributed antenna system contracts for hardware only (hubs, nodes, remote radio heads, antennas, etc.) now range from $5 million to $10 million, compared to just $1 million a few years ago, according to analyst Stéphan Téral of Infonetics Research. But, the overall market grew slowly last year, with worldwide DAS revenue up just 2% to $2 billion. North America was the strongest market for DAS last year, with total revenue up 10%. Infonetics says that growth was offset by weakness in Asia.
“China Mobile’s shift to TD-LTE again slowed the overall distributed antenna system market. At a time when all other major regions were growing significantly, DAS revenue in Asia Pacific declined a steep 12% in 2013,” said Téral. But he believes DAS spending in China will go up from here, and is also encouraged by spending in Brazil, where carriers are working with DAS providers to upgrade coverage in the soccer stadiums that will host the World Cup.
“In the [United States], the next wave of DAS installations will be combined with small cell deployments for LTE capacity upgrades,” said Téral. “This wave just started last year with a few thousands picocells at AT&T and even fewer microcells and remote radio heads at Verizon Wireless. In both cases, DAS will fill whatever gaps small cells do not address and, therefore, will be complementary.”
Infonetics estimates that a total of 1.2 million DAS nodes were shipped last year. The firm expects that number to hit 2 million by 2018, and forecasts global DAS revenue of $2.3 billion.
Churchill Downs DAS system can go the distance
For AT&T, the Kentucky Derby lapped the Superbowl when it came to mobile data usage, but the Churchill Downs DAS system was ready. This year more than two terabytes of data crossed the AT&T network at the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby events, triple the amount that the AT&T network handled during the Superbowl in February at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Churchill Downs DAS provider Mobilitie made significant upgrades in advance of the Derby. The venue’s neutral host DAS now includes more than 253 antennas and over one million feet of fiber optic cable. It covers all of the grandstands and parking areas, the newly installed Grandstand Terrace and all of the infield.
“Since 2003, Churchill Downs has invested $160 million into improving the onsite customer experience for guests attending the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby,” said Ryan Jordan, GM of Churchill Downs. “A major part of the live event experience is ensuring that fans maintain connectivity to their social networks.” AT&T reported that during the hour leading up to the Kentucky Derby race (5 pm to 6 pm, EDT), more than 180 gigabytes of data crossed the network.
Cloud4Wi enters U.S. market with managed Wi-Fi hotspot offering
Italy’s Cloud4Wi just raised $4 million and is using some of the funds to establish North American headquarters in San Francisco. The company will use its new U.S. base to market its managed Wi-Fi hotspot service to North American service providers.
Cloud4Wi will compete with Boingo, Ruckus and Smith Micro Software in this fast-growing market. As its name suggests, Cloud4Wi is hosted in the cloud. The company uses Amazon EC2 Web Services. In the United States, Cloud4Wi has partnered with iPass. In Canada, Cloud4Wi is partnered with Paragon World Solutions and G2 Marketing Solutions.
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