Last year, airport traffic rebounded to pre-COVID levels and is now poised for exponential growth, with the FAA projecting a 158 percent increase in passenger traffic by 2040. As passenger numbers surge, airports are ramping up their technology investments, aiming to digitize their operations, enhance efficiency, and improve the passenger experience, according to Julie Song, President of Advanced RF Technologies.
Airports are often built using materials that impede wireless signal propagation, Song said, making it difficult for RF signals to penetrate in-building structures from the macro network. Thick walls, LEED-certified glass, and steel structures are among the primary obstacles encountered in the majority of airports.
“DAS provides a much more efficient and convenient single point of interface for any and all signal sources,” Song said. “It can distribute RF to an expansive network of antennas dispersed across all terminals, parking areas, and administrative facilities to optimize infrastructure and provide significant cost and space savings. Thanks to its modularity, DAS can provide ubiquitous connectivity for all 4G, 5G, and private wireless RF bands for hundreds of thousands of square feet.”
In addition to the physical challenges airports encounter with wireless connectivity, according to Song, they also contend with network-related issues. The wireless ecosystem is intricate, with the major U.S. mobile carriers—Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE:T), T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS), and DISH (NASDAQ: SATS)—using many RF bands to deliver 4G and 5G services including 600, 700, and 800 MHz, 3.5 GHz, 2.5 GHz, and more. This is alongside maintaining private networks, Song said, that leverage other frequencies like 900 MHz or CBRS for their most critical operations and allocating resources to support the necessary RF bands for first responders and other public safety communications.
“Though it’s projected to take 20 years to implement this transition across more than 40,000 airports globally, wireless connectivity is now not only a nice-to-have but imperative for operations,” Song said.
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