When enterprises begin exploring ways to solve their indoor connectivity issues, much of their decision focuses on the bottom line – of course anyone wants to get the best bang for their buck, and for many purchases, that mainly comprises the initial layout
However, when it comes to DAS systems, the hardware costs are just the beginning – there are other components to getting a DAS system set up and installed, meaning it’s important to consider total cost of ownership (TCO). And focusing on the initial financial outlay for DAS is a mistake; a today-and-tomorrow approach is required.
Three primary factors account for the total cost of ownership (TCO) of any DAS system:
TCO Factor No. 1: The Cost of Cabling and Ancillary Hardware
An enterprise might be looking at a system that claims to use fiber cabling, but that may not necessarily mean the system is fiber based – many systems do use fiber at some point, but most are hybrid fiber and coaxial cable.
A hybrid system is more difficult to install, more intrusive to the business or building where it is being installed, and more expensive. It uses fiber cabling is the backbone, but the coaxial cabling goes out to the antennas (the equipment that distributes the now-amplified cellular signal to be consumed by mobile devices).
Depending on how the system is engineered, antenna points can be hard to access with coaxial cabling. Because heavier coaxial cabling is very difficult to manipulate, more cable is necessary, resulting in higher costs that might not have been figured into the initial price.
In addition to cabling, the system may require ancillary equipment that wasn’t accounted for in the initial hardware estimate, whether it’s special building-specific hardware or additional antennas due to the way the building is configured.
The optimal DAS system uses fiber cabling throughout the system all the way to the antennas, and in many situations, an all-fiber DAS system can utilize the existing fiber infrastructure of a building.
TCO Factor No. 2: The Cost of Installation
Coaxial cable is not as flexible as fiber cabling, which may mean longer runs are needed to get from point A to point B. Longer runs require more man-hours to install. Additionally, a team of people will likely need to access ceilings, which adds even more installation time.
This means that not only is the cable itself is more expensive than fiber, but the installation will cost more as well. And with employees being displaced while teams of installers work in the ceiling, businesses also must add lost productivity into the total cost.
TCO Factor No. 3: The Cost to Meet Future Connectivity Needs
TCO Factors Nos. 1 and 2 focus on a system that meets the connectivity needs of a business today. But what about the future – one or two years in the future, or more?
Enterprises sometimes hope to push off big decisions about and investments in technologies to see if something better comes along, or because they are concerned about investing in something that quickly becomes obsolete – and these are legitimate concerns.
But with the industry already deep into 5G network development, organizations will need to add new frequencies to expand their network’s capacity and ensure they are future-ready.
Of course, not everyone has the resources for the capital outlay required to purchase an in-building wireless platform. Unfortunately, the immediate need for improved indoor cellular connectivity is a business concern that cannot be ignored. In those cases, there is a solution: cellular as a service (CaaS).
With the CaaS option, improved connectivity becomes an operational expense. In this model, the solution is available on a monthly, per-square-foot basis and includes deployment and on-going system monitoring and maintenance. Any new frequency or operator additions or additional coverage will change the monthly cost, but those additions would not involve any capital outlays by the company, as they would be covered as part of the service.
To meet current and future needs of employees requires reliable connectivity, and a DAS solution that seems like a luxury today is a necessity for any company that wants to support how people are communicating now, as well as how they’ll be communicating in the very near future.
To help determine the TCO of a DAS system, ask a prospective partner these targeted questions:
- Is it full spectrum, so it can access all of the most utilized cellular signals as well as all of the frequencies available between 150 MHz and 2700 MHz?
- Is it fully fiber based, instead of cable based or a hybrid of cable and fiber, to keep costs lower and installation time to a minimum?
- How much hardware needs to be installed? Is it complicated? Are there multiple components to install that will add to installation time and costs?
- Is it multi-carrier – does it give access to all guests and employees within the building, no matter what carrier they use?
- Does the system support adding carriers and frequency bands without the need for additional hardware or expensive upgrades?
Not all DAS systems are created equal, and it’s critical that an enterprise’s investment pay off for years to come. With careful consideration of TCO and the future-readiness of a selected system, a company will be well positioned to not only solve current connectivity needs, but also take advantage of tomorrow’s technologies and get ahead of workforce trends.
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Scott Willis is CEO of Zinwave
Zinwave provides the indoor cellular and public safety coverage that businesses need in a four-component, fiber-based solution that’s easy and affordable to install. And because it can support the full spectrum of common radio frequencies out of the box, it’s future-ready without additional hardware needed to add capabilities, making for the lowest total cost of ownership. Zinwave has a global customer base. For more information, please click here .
