In the heavily populated cities of East Asia, network densification became a priority for mobile operators before it became critical for U.S. operators. South Korea’s SOLiD, parent of Texas-based SOLiD Americas, is helping its American subsidiary gain experience with indoor deployments that will build a base for 5G densification. Ken Sandfeld, president of SOLiD Americas, said the company is already developing “super hot spots” in Asian markets.
“Super hot spots can deliver 10, 100 Gbps, really a lot of bandwidth to a hot spot location where you technically can use the millimeter wave bands to be able to deliver that high capacity,” Sandfeld said. “Then when you walk away from those high capacity hot spots, then you go back to 4G, which has much better coverage. So I see it really playing out that way for in-building, and we’re only a few years away.”
Sandfeld said fiber is the foundation for the coming densification. He said that by using fiber to converge networks, U.S. operators are following the lead of their global counterparts.
“In other parts of the world, when operators deploy their networks, they typically are one fiber and they deliver wireline, wireless and anything in between,” Sandfeld said. “In the U.S. it’s never been that way.”
But that’s changing. Verizon has been a major purchaser of fiber assets in recent months, and Sandfeld said the operator now wants to use the same connectivity to support wireline and wireless.
“That’s ultimately going to drive more services into the building,” Sandfeld said. “It’s going to allow Verizon to do more in the building with what they offer across the fiber that they provide to that building.”
