The HetNet Expo is the successor to DAS in Action, and the show stays close to its roots by focusing on distributed antenna systems more than on other heterogeneous network technologies. DAS, of course, is still more widely deployed than small cells, and in the U.S. those deployments continue despite the fact that many of the nation’s largest venues already have distributed antenna systems.
HetNet Expo Case Studies:
Chicago Merchandise Mart
Chicago Museum of Science & Industry
Selected HetNet Expo Panels and Keynotes:
Planning, Processes and People: Part 1 and Part 2
A Look Inside AT&T’s HetNet Toolbox: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
The ROI of Mobile Broadband: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Capacity upgrades
Many existing DAS deployments are not LTE-ready, and many of those that are ready do not have the capacity to handle the data and video traffic that LTE generates. HetNet Expo last week attendees heard that current DAS deployments are being architected from the outset as multi-tenant, LTE solutions and that many existing DAS will require a “rip and replace.”
“You can put a really great in-building solution in, whether it be a small cell or DAS or whatever, but if you don’t put capacity behind it, whether it be backhaul capacity or the radio capacity behind it, you’ve pretty much wasted your money,” said Paula Doublin, AT&T’s AVP for antenna solutions, DAS and small cells. Doublin used the analogy of a lake to explain what she meant by capacity. “If you’ve got a foot of water you’ve got coverage,” she said. “If you raise your fill level to 20 feet, you’ve got capacity.”
Neutral host DAS
AT&T and other providers are deploying more neutral host DAS, or DAS that can accommodate multiple carriers. Traditionally, neutral host DAS have been deployed by tower companies and by DAS specialists like ExteNet Systems and Mobilitie, while carriers have traditionally deployed DAS that served their own needs. But that’s changing as enterprises push for systems that can accommodate a wider range of users.
“Sprint and Verizon right now are very anxious to get some of their spectrum and some of the networks built out,” said John Bramfeld of Advanced RF Technologies. “They’re putting out neutral host, but it is completely Verizon, Sprint … [that]fund it.”
Healthy verticals
Healthcare was named as a very promising vertical by DAS equipment vendors, many of whom divide the market by verticals including healthcare, hospitality, transportation, education and individual buildings. All are seen as growth opportunities, but some said that healthcare stands out.
“Right now I think healthcare is the most promising,” said Bramfeld. It’s really increasing very much year over year. The complexities that they have to deal with in terms of the RF environment and the necessity of good coverage, good data, Wi-Fi, all of those things in around the ER and the surgery centers is very critical and at the same time they are also being pressured to at least make allowances for public safety and in some cases deploy public safety along with it. And I think one of the big changes there is that more and more they are funding this themselves.”
Enterprise-funded DAS
Building owners are learning more about distributed antenna systems, and system integrators are getting calls directly from building owners who have not been able to interest a carrier or tower company in building a DAS for them, and are unwilling to give up. The larger integrators have the necessary relationships with the carriers and can bring them into the DAS after it is underway.
“Building owners are paying for the DAS; it’s not the carrier that’s totally motivating things and paying and in charge,” said Bob Butchko of RFConnect. He added that firms like his work closely with the carriers, who give permission to transmit their signals over an enterprise DAS. Butchko said that some builders are now looking at RF systems as a construction cost and that it is typically less than half of 1% of the building cost.
“More and more developers and people with buildings are starting to view RF in the same way they view their electrical or their plumbing or their HVAC,” agreed Bramfeld. “It’s not something where they build a building and expect it to work and call up AT&T when it doesn’t. More and more often now it’s a part of the plan, it’s a part of the RFP to build a building.”
Boots on the ground
Finding workers to design and deploy hetnets remains a challenge. DAS equipment vendors said that they like to hire people with field experience when they can find them, and that IBWave certification is important since the IBWave software is used to design the vast majority of distributed antenna systems.
DAS skill sets will be one focus of a new federally funded job-specific training program announced shortly before HetNet Expo. That program will focus primarily on tower climbers at first, but will also encompass RF training for DAS and small cells. “Not everybody wants to climb a tower, but they still want to work in this industry, so we will offer programs in small cells, DAS, project management and site acquisition,” said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein.
Adelstein delivered the opening keynote address at HetNet Expo, making time for two days in Chicago before returning to Washington at the end of last week to witness the Federal Communications Commission’s adoption of an order that should facilitate hetnet deployments in the months and years ahead.
Regulatory environment
The prospect of an improving regulatory environment added a very positive note to HetNet Expo, and industry players were encouraged to learn that the FCC is working closely with PCIA.
“[The FCC order] takes PCIA’s proposal on small cells and DAS that will exempt many of them from historic preservation review and from environmental review on the poles that you put them on, so you don’t have to do that review for each pole,” Adelstein explained. “The last thing we need is to have to go through a long drawn-out process for each node that you’re putting out, each small cell. That’s going to change as a result of what we’re doing. We have more work to do, but this is a great start.”
