Feature report: Tower & Antenna technology review

New network technologies and standards-based features driving changes at macro cell sites, and networks are moving toward HetNets with the advent of small cells and the increasing focus on indoor coverage through technologies such as distributed antenna systems (DAS). A new feature report from RCR Wireless examines infrastructure trends and challenges facing the wireless industry, including the increasing load on macro sites, and issues posed by trying to support increasingly varied spectrum bands and generations of technology while trying to minimize infrastructure footprints.
This latest addition to RCR’s wireless infrastructure series includes information on fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA), remote radio head (RRH/RRU) use, wireless and fiber backhaul, and antenna technologies in use.
The free feature report includes interviews with companies including T-Mobile US, Galtronics, Ethertronics, 3M, Alcatel-Lucent, the National Association of Tower Erectors, Mobilite, Aviat Networks and more.
An accompany webinar on the topic is available here and includes Joe Madden, principal analyst for Mobile Experts; Dave Mayo, SVP Technology for T-Mobile US, and Christos Karmis, president of Mobilitie.
The report also includes a bonus supplier guide for tower services, staffing, training and hardware.
“Wireless networks are evolving in how they are built and used, due to the huge increases in the amount of traffic, as well as the shift to network traffic being generated indoors,” said RCR Wireless News Technology Reporter Kelly Hill, who authored the report and moderator for the webinar. “Antenna technologies are changing in order to keep up with network demands, and both the industry standards and real-world conditions make for some significant technical challenges.”
RCR garnered insight from experts across the infrastructure ecosystem on the state of the industry, the role of small cells and DAS vs. the macro site, and both regulatory and standards-based initiatives that are in motion which hold potential impacts for the tower industry. The report explores issues and trends in site configuration, network densification, and the impacts of multi-band deployments due to spectrum fragmentation in LTE. It also includes a snapshot of recent infrastructure investments by each of the four national wireless carriers and their ongoing work to roll out the latest advances in their networks.
“As the amount of people starting to use streaming data and video through LTE devices increases, as carriers implement VoLTE – all those types of things require modification to the network to support it all,” said Christos Karmis, president of Mobilitie. “You’re never really done.”