Goals Have Changed For DAS Vendors
It’s a soccer summer in North America, with 16 marquee venues hosting millions of FIFA fans. All of these stadiums have robust distributed antenna systems (DAS), many of which were built by leading DAS vendors like JMA Wireless and ANDREW (formerly part of CommScope.)
Analyst Earl Lum of EJL Wireless calls these systems the “golden rings” of the DAS world, meaning they are the most sought-after projects for vendors. But beyond these multi-million dollar deals are thousands of hotels, hospitals and office buildings with owners who would love to offer tenants, employees and customers the same multi-carrier connectivity stadiums get. Vendors have tried for years to address these markets. Since carriers typically won’t pay to be in these buildings, the goal for vendors has shifted from winning carrier-financed contracts to building business models that work for a range of venues.
“The vendors that can evolve are going to need a lot of money to actually change the business model from doing integrator stuff to being DAS-as-a-service providers,” Lum said. He said buying radio equipment and leasing it to enterprises is a long game that requires significant upfront investment.
In addition to capital, vendors need good relationships with the carriers because a DAS is useless without the signal sources. OEMs are well positioned here. Lum highlighted Ericsson Radio Dot as a multi-carrier solution for enterprises.
Some systems integrators have also cracked the code. Communication Technology Services (CTS) recently deployed its 100th neutral host signal source, called Forté. “We work with the operators, and CTS is the owner of record, leasing signal source from the operators so they have a set of signal sources and a single point of contact,” explained CTS VP of Channel Sales Dean Fresonke. “We sell it as a service and do not transfer it to the customer.” CTS maintains a network operations center (NOC), and is the customer’s point of contact for network issues.
“We own the active equipment and the internet connectivity,” said Fresonke. “One internet connection from the local provider is enough for all three carriers.” Aside from the radios, the customer’s other DAS equipment (headend, antennas, amplifiers, etc.) can be leased or owned, and can come from CTS or another integrator.
CTS’s largest Forté customer is a four million square foot venue and the smallest is 40,000 feet, Fresonke said. The company has delivered neutral host DAS solutions across several industries, including transportation, healthcare and manufacturing. Customers include Oracle, UPS, Cleveland Clinic and Boeing.
Engineering Wireless is another integrator pursuing a similar business model. Like CTS, the company works directly with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile and sells connectivity to enterprise customers.
By Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers Contributing Analyst
