This case study was designed to help answer important questions related to small cell deployments. It is based on a traffic forecast and capacity planning tool developed to aid operator strategic planning activities. The tool can also be used by vendors and other ecosystem players to map their product offering and plan for small cell… Read More »
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced last Tuesday the results of the 700 MHz & 2500 MHz spectrum auction. A total of AU$ 1.96 billion (US$ 2.02 billion) was raised by licensing a combined 200 MHz in these two bands. Telstra & Optus won 2×20 and 2×10 MHz, respectively, in the 700 MHz… Read More »
The deluge of demand for mobile data has been much discussed and talked about. News is abounding with figures, quotes and graphics of the increasing consumption (about doubling every year) and its projection to the future (anywhere from 10-25 time increase within the next 4 years). On the other hand, there has not been much… Read More »
When it comes to deciding on deploying small cell base stations, one is faced with a few options. One option is based on cloud RAN architecture with remote radio heads connected through optical fiber to a central base station housing the baseband processing. A second option is that of a compact base station which includes… Read More »
Small cells raise a number of practical implementation questions which are yet to be resolved. One such question is whether small cells should operate in the same frequency band as the macrocell layer (co-channel deployment), or on a different frequency band. The question has profound implications to operators, vendors, and to regulators alike. To clarify,… Read More »
If you’re in the wireless infrastructure business, you’ve seen it many, many times. I’m talking about the predictions showing exponential mobile data traffic growth. Hardly a conference presentation goes by without seeing this graph on the first or second slide. It became customary to preface any discussion with this context, often with the idea to… Read More »
In my earlier blog post, The Hype & Reality of Small Cells Performance, I provided a qualitative review of small cell performance and discussed interference scenarios that limit performance. Perhaps the most defining problem of small cell deployments is the large transmit power imbalance between the macrocell and the small cell (~20-30 dB) which increases… Read More »
MWC is over. In reflecting on the show, I came up with an idea and tried it out, just for fun. What if I take all the news coverage from the show and generate a ‘word cloud,’ would I be able to zoom in on the few key trends? What would ‘word clouding’ tell me?… Read More »
The long-awaited 800 MHz and 2600 MHz UK auction concluded today with a total of £2.34 billion, or $3.63 billion (Ofcom set reserve price at £1.3 billion). The winners of 60 MHz of digital dividend spectrum in 800 MHz band include EE, 3G, O2 and Vodafone. In the 2.6 GHz band, Vodafone, EE and BT… Read More »
Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) consist of large (macro) cells with high transmit power (typically 5 W – 40 W) and small cells with low transmit power (typically 100 mW – 2 W). The small cells are distributed beneath the large cells and can run on the same frequency as the large cell (co-channel), or on a… Read More »
Small cells are meant as a solution to address the explosive growth in mobile data services, right? Well, the answer is: it depends! They can be a solution under certain conditions, but not always. Yes, there could be situations where small cells add little if any gain. In fact, more than one operator mentioned to… Read More »
Momentum for spectrum sharing is gathering strength, particularly for the 3.5 GHz band which is slated for small cell deployments. The NTIA has done detailed studies and prioritized this band ahead of other candidates such as 1700 MHz and 4 GHz bands for fast track evaluation. The FCC followed by issuing a Notice of Proposed… Read More »
A close look at Interbrand’s best brands report reveals interesting results and insights on the wireless industry. Focusing on brands related to the telecommunication industry, which includes hardware, software, and content providers we find the following top brands for 2012:
There’s much talk about small cells these days – on industry news sites, at conferences, in corporate announcements. This is not surprising given that mobile traffic doubles every year and, according to Cisco, will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 78 percent from 2011 to 2016. Wireless network architecture has relied greatly… Read More »
The vision of urban planners in the late 1940’s and 1950’s was that of a suburban population commuting to work in the main city. People flocked to the suburbs and highways were built to connect suburbs with cities; cars were sold and soon enough the model became unsustainable. More highways were needed and existing ones… Read More »