Small cells continue to gain momentum in the market as wireless carriers look for ways to enhance network coverage without the expense or complication of installing a new base station. According to a new report from Mobile Experts, those plans could save carriers approximately 70% in high-capacity urban networks.
Mobile Experts noted that this savings will result in carriers looking for small cell solutions for upcoming LTE deployments, with more than two-thirds of all small cell deployments in 2017 devoted to various iterations of LTE technology. The research firm classifies small cell technology as femtocells, picocells and distributed antenna systems.
“Mobile operators now have experience with residential femtocells,” explained Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts. “They are getting ready to extend this experience into enterprise and high-capacity scenarios. We have talked with more than 30 mobile operators, as well as chipset and backhaul vendors to quantify the cost savings and understand how quickly the market can grow. In short, explosive growth is coming.”
Other analysts firms have also backed the move by wireless carriers to small-cell architectures, noting the need for operators to meet increasing consumer demand for data services that are currently overwhelming traditional cellular networks.
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