Small cells have been climbing up the evolutionary ladder since 2007, according to ReTHINK Research, who says that the technology is “suddenly there,” and it happened “in the mainstream when nobody was looking.”
Densification, LTE-advanced plans and movement to 5G are on the forefront of technology based around small cells, with heterogenous networks (HetNets) being integrated as well. ReTHINK said that the Small Cell Forum’s FAPI and nFAPI “will ease the process of mixing and matching these different options, and sourcing from multiple vendors, while allowing for future 5G technologies to be inserted into the existing framework rather than forcing a rip-and-replace.” Key players in the HetNet future are Facebook’s Terragraph design, OpenCellular’s focus on small cells and The Forum’s Release 7 blueprint for a self-optimizing HetNet.
Additionally, ReTHINK reported that LTE in the 5 GHz spectrum is adding a “new dimension to the dense HetNet. This includes the LTE-Unlicensed and LTE-LAA (Licensed Assisted Access), plus LTE-LWA and Qualcomm’s MulteFire. The news site predicts that small cell access points will “diversify to suit different deployment scenarios,” including deploying low power remote radio heads with small zones of coverage; enterprise players like CommScope have localized Cloud-RAN architectures with a central controller managing a cluster of stripped-down APs; Ericsson Radio Dot and Huawei LampSite are another approach to the distributed network. Multi-operator also is crucial to small cell cost savings and deployment issues.
Fixed wireless access enterprises like Luminet also are working to provide small cell wireless backhaul services. Forum chair Alan Law told ReTHINK: “Multi-operator support and new flexible service models are key elements of our 5G vision. In fact, the Small Cell Forum recommended to the 3GPP’s RAN 5G Workshop that neutral host/multi-operator enablers should be at the heart of future-looking architectures. Solutions that enable fast and simple deployment are precisely what is required to densify networks.” ReTHINK deems Luminet’s plans are the “one to watch,” especially in London’s plans for a focused small cell infrastructure network. Luminet has more than 1,900 fixed access wireless sites in London, according to ReTHINK, and is planning to deploy 23 partitions across 1,050 small cell sites by 2017.
In the United States’ towerco arena, American Tower is focusing on geographic expansion, and SBA, reported ReTHINK, is “unconvinced by small cells.” Crown Castle’s CEO said in a recent call that Crown is “as excited as we have ever been by the opportunities in small cells. Our small cell conversations with the carriers have increasingly become more positive with the passage of time and we are seeing the business model of small cells play out very similarly to that of towers.” On the call, the CEO said small cells account for 12 percent of site rental revenue, with 16,500 miles of fiber to backhaul the cells. However, there is a “significant amount of upfront expense and effort to create fiber-enabled small cell networks.”
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