ABI Research says that business and residential femtocells will increase in unit volumes this year and next, due to demand driven by operators such as AT&T, Vodafone, Telefonica, Softbank and Sprint after “lackluster” years in 2011 and 2012.
ABI’s latest forecast for the indoor small cell market estimates that enterprise and consumer femtocell shipments will reach 5.7 million units in 2014, up from 3.8 million units in 2013. The research firm noted that “while 3G indoor small cells will continue to represent the vast majority of shipments it is LTE indoor small cells which are expected to ramp up significantly starting in 2013.”
The company’s outdoor small cell picture shows similar growth, with year-on-year unit growth of 125%, and a value of almost $3.6 billion, expected for 2014. Carriers driving that market segment include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and China Mobile. ABI noted that carrier-grade Wi-Fi is also emerging as a small cell solution for traffic offloading, and predicted that the number of carrier Wi-Fi access points shipped next year will be three time that of 2012.
—Commscope has launched a new solution for fiber-to-the-antenna deploymentsthat standardizes remote radio unit installation. The FTTA Turnkey Solutions includes Commscope’s multiport antennas, hybrid fiber and power trunk cable and tails, RF cable assemblies, cabinets, structural supports, connectors and assemblies, and the option to include the company’s Andrew SiteRise pre-assembled tower top. Commscope partnered with international telecom company Ooredoo earlier this year on the design for a factory produced, pre-assembled tower top to simplify installation and lower costs.
“The top of an antenna tower is one of the more challenging places to work, especially when you are adding active components while protecting existing systems,” said Stan Catey, SVP and GM of cable products for Commscope. The company said that the turnkey solution can be implemented with any major radio technology and that it will “relieve uncertainty about successful RRU deployment while increasing visibility into installation, maintenance and operating costs.”
—Boingo Wireless will be providing a neutral-host, multi-carrier Distributed Antenna System for the new Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. The 15,300-seat arena will be the home of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers men’s and women’s basketball teams and is expected to host more than 120 major concerts and other events each year. Boingo’s DAS installation will launch in conjunction with the opening of the venue in September.
“Boingo’s success in operating neutral host DAS at SMG’s Soldier Field made them an ideal fit with our vision for the modern, technologically advanced Pinnacle Bank Arena,” said Tom Lorenz, general manager for the Pinnacle Bank Arena/SMG. “This arena will be a centerpiece of the community’s sports and entertainment activity, and Boingo brings significant experience in optimizing cellular access for a full house. Season tickets for Huskers’ men’s basketball have already sold out, and our docket of concerts is selling out well into fall 2013.”
Boingo was chosen as the arena’s DAS provider by the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency (JPA), a governmental agency formed by the City of Lincoln and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The wireless provider also has DAS networks in airports including Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, and JFK, LaGuardia and Newark International in the New York area.
