LAS VEGAS–Kyung Mun, principal analyst of firm Mobile Experts, told attendees of the 10th annual DAS and Small Cells Congress, that both anecdotal and U.S. Census Bureau-backed data demonstrates that there’s an ongoing global construction boom that has been in an upswing since the Great Recession. And that trend, he said, is good for the in-building wireless ecosystem.
He mentioned that in his home town of Denver, Colo., to London, and metros around the world, the skyline is dotted with cranes. “We have been climbing up. There’s been a lot of multi-family construction happening, largely in urban areas. These are all good signs.”
Mun continued: “Any kind of infrastructure projects will be good for this particular industry. This fourth utility is really true today. It’s expected you have a mobile connectivity service wherever you’re at.” He said as carriers, vendors, system integrators and enterprises invest in in-building wireless systems, DAS is “predominant,” while small cells, boosters/repeaters and hybrid systems all have their place.
But although DAS is currently the predominant multi-carrier, multi-band solution of preference for large spaces, Mun said technological advancements around small cells and repeaters will gain share. “The technologies are also evolving. They’re hybridizing. There’s kind of a blurring of the lines.”
In terms of enterprise-led investment, he did caution that the “if you build it, they will come,” mentality does come with some risk–a sentiment echoed throughout the conference by other industry leaders. The best way to address this paradigm in which enterprises deploy DAS then wait for carriers to activate is to initially deploy with an anchor tenant, according to discussions at the event.
