A conversation about densification with a Director of Network Architecture and Strategy at a US-based global manufacturing and retail corporation
The below is only a summary. Download a transcript of the complete interview and the full report “Massively densified networks. Why we need them and how we can build them.”
I talked to a Director of Network Architecture and Strategy who choose to remain anonymous about the enterprise requirements and whether carriers meet them. He told us “I’m looking to move to small cells. I’ve been pushing carriers in that direction. Unfortunately, I haven’t got them on the same page as I am. They have their single-point solution; for each carrier, it’s all different.”
Visibility and some degree of control over the cellular infrastructure are key requirements: “If I had one cohesive system, then I might be able to pick up some additional benefits, such as the ability to take calls off of that system and handle the call control ourselves. I have three different systems. That’s never going to happen.”
“What I’d really want is one provider that could give me one system on which I could put multiple carriers. I don’t necessarily want to run the system myself, but I want the benefit of being able to add services as small-cell companies add features. The carrier is not going to offer them at the same rate I want to consume them at. Additionally, if each carrier used different solutions I would not be able to offer the same enterprise features for all employees.”
With control, cohesion and transparency comes the willingness of the enterprise to pay for the in-building infrastructure. “Depending on the level of control, I don’t mind owning it. I may not want to run it, I may want to push that to a third party, but I do want to have full control over what features are turned on.”
We further discussed the topic of densification during our recent webinar. Download the webinar.
