The small cell market, depending on how it is defined, covers a wide range of technologies: small cellular sites, distributed antenna systems, and Wi-Fi. That range means a broad set of skills is increasingly being sought, even as companies are trying to push down the cost of deployment, including installation and testing, as well as the time to market.
“The biggest selling point of small cells is time to market, the ease of integration and the ease of testing,” said Manik Arora, EVP Telecom Practice for Verveba Telecom of Richardson, Tex., which has been a part of major small cell deployments. Arora said that Verveba can install 20 to 30 small cells in a handful of days.
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These are the top four skill areas for small cell jobs that are currently listed by companies such as Crown Castle, Goodman Networks and others in the small cell deployment space:
Radio Frequency knowledge. The demands in this area range from the need for installers with basic familiarity with RF concepts, to RF expertise in engineers. Because small cells cover multiple technologies and multiple generations of technologies, employers commonly require at least general familiarity with GSM, LTE, CDMA, EVDO and often Wi-Fi as well.
In a reflection of the RF diversity — and the overlap between small cells and DAS — job titles often include “small cell/DAS” rather than one or the other.
Project management skills. The goal of small cells is typically to get them deployed quickly and as inexpensively as possible, and job listings in small cells often emphasize the need to be familiar with telecom construction cost structures and stay within budgets. Employers are seeking both experience in site acquisition, permitting, construction management and zoning, but also so-called “soft skills” in the project management area, such as excellent communication and coordination skills to deal with the numerous vendors, contractors and sub-contractors that may be involved at a given site.
Documentation is a crucial skill both at the project management and installer level, and can include both hardware and software changes made in the field. Because vendors typically don’t get paid until their documentation is in place and approved, test vendors are trying to make site documentation easier in a number of ways, through wireless connectivity for the testing device solution and cloud-based reporting systems — such as the recent move by Fluke Networks to expand its Link line of hardware and software.
Familiarity with cabling systems. OEMs may be designing small cell systems to be as close to “plug and play” as possible, but first that “plug” has to be in place and functional. Syed Hasan, Verveba’s small cell RF manager, said that the some of the most typical challenges Verveba has seen in small cells include backhaul issues and the need to make sure the backhaul connection is good and provisioned properly.
Some employers like to see specific OEM certifications, in particular for DAS, such as CommScope or TE Connectivity.
Network testing skills and certifications. Along with cabling systems comes the need to test both the wired and wireless portions of small cell sites — either from an installer-level view, where test equipment vendors have been working to make testing as simple as possible; or from the RF engineer level, where detailed testing knowledge is required. Common requirements in this area include familiarity with sweep testing, passive intermodulation testing (PIM), and Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) testing for fiber optic cables, and employers often want to see certification from test equipment vendors in their specific equipment.
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