Commscope execs discuss the major challenges with scaling small cell deployments.
Small cell deployments have long fell short of industry projections. The problem isn’t the technology, rather the process for getting small cells into the field and connected to the core network.
In an interview with Commscope executives during Mobile World Congress 2017, the group identified three major problems facing small cell deployments as site acquisition, backhaul and power.
Wes Oxlee, director for CCS business development, gave the example centralized radio access network architectures as a way to help simplify the process.
C-RAN is “really what’s forcing the carriers hand to go to the centralized architecture. What we’re seeing is a lot of the carriers are using their existing macro sites, as well, to house those C-RAN hubs then feeding out the small cell densification projects around that.”
Oxlee said there’s a “big fiber shortage out there. Each of these small cells, they’re fiber hungry. Some of them require two, four, six fibers per site. Some carriers do throw fiber at the problems … but a lot of the companies out there are have to live with the fiber assets they’ve got or they have to lease dark fiber off of other vendors.”
Colin Bryce, director for business development network solutions, talked about the problems with a scalable site acquisition process.
Bryce said carriers looking to place small cells on a building, for example, quickly realize the building manager often has nothing to do with the building ownership, which slows the process. “You’ve got to find a lot of small cell sites in one big deal.”
Phillip Sorrells, VPf for portfolio marketing, said carriers can realize savings by deploying higher-power small cell radios. “If you go by a Small Cell Forum definition … for every macro you’ll need about 10 of those” small cells. But what if you could cut that in half to five small cells? “If you can do five, it’s a big economic benefit. That’s one of the first things we started trying to solve. A little more power out of the radio isn’t a bad thing. It’s a little more expensive per small cell, but you have a low fewer of them to do.”
Another topic that came up is the convergence of wireless and wireline systems, and how that level of network convergence, as well as the increasing emphasis on “5G” fixed wireless access will shape future networks.
On fixed wireless access, It helps the business case,” Oxlee said. “It’s the last 100 feet. That’s where fixed wireless will have a play in some markets … where it’s not economical do those last 100 feet,” with fiber. “They’re using that mixed technology model.”
