DAS In Action: Policy, public safety and what’s practical highlight event

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to be known as the broadband chairman, and as such has been at the forefront of removing obstacles that prevent wireless broadband deployments, said Josh Gottheimer, senior counsel to the chairman during PCIA’s DAS Forum “DAS In Action: Capital View” conference here last week.
Gotteheimer and Matthew Hussey, telecommunications, commerce, science and education adviser to Sen. Olympia Snowe (D-Maine), both listed the need for more spectrum during speeches at the event. Mobile broadband is a “bright light in the economy,” Gotteheimer told the audience, citing PCIA statistics that 53,000 jobs will be created as operators move to advanced networks. As such, the FCC needs to do anything it can to remove barriers to broadband deployment, including the need for more towers.
Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) are a good way to get coverage and capacity in concentrated areas when a macrocellular tower won’t work. The networks, which use smaller equipment, traditionally have been easier to get through municipal and state regulations, but the industry is facing some challenges at the local level, said PCIA President and CEO Michael Fitch.
The two-day event covered technology, policy and design, among other things.
In-building DAS deployments remain white hot as enterprises realize they need to provide capacity to customers at venues who want to share photos and video while at the event.
DAS systems became popular “when we started looking instead of hearing,” said Allen Dixon, business development manager of Corning Cable Systems, who chaired the event as chair of the council of founders of the DAS Forum.
In other panels, audience members heard how to cooperate with utility companies, efforts underway at the federal level regarding tower siting, DAS for LTE networks and public-safety DAS implementations.