Focus on Small Cells

Wells Faro hosted their 4^th annual telecom symposium, “The Wireless Supply Chain—Soup to Nuts,” last week with 10 panels discussing every part of the wireless infrastructure space. Senior Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche noted some of the highlights from the conference. Fritzsche explained there was a lot of focus on small cells and many were bullish on the future. “We heard from multiple panelists about how small cell and distributed antenna systems (DAS) are coming into greater focus,” Fritzsche wrote. “Mike Kavanagh, CCI’s President of Small Cell & Fiber Sales, spoke about CCI’s 15,000 small cell nodes on-air or under construction, making CCI the clear small cell leader in the tower space. CCI’s thesis was supported by the announcement on 7/23 that private tower operator Digital Bridge Holdings would lead a $1 billion recapitalization of small cell and DAS operator ExteNet. From the carriers’ perspective, we heard from Mike Haberman, Verizon’s VP of Network Support, who described how Verizon has actively been deploying small cells and outdoor DAS, along with macro cells, as part of its current densification plans.” Crown Castle also reported last week that 8% of the company’s site rental revenue in the second quarter came from small cells.