Rooftops, billboards and IBS offer accelerated time to market for Mexican carriers

Network planning isn’t just about towers. Increasing data consumption is driving a requirement for additional capacity, particularly in dense urban areas such as Mexico City and Monterrey - and LTE will increase the need for cell site densification. Rooftops, billboards, mini-towers and IBS will play an increasingly important role in radio network planning - not as a substitute for macro towers, but as an invaluable supplement. Intelli Site Solutions offer new ideas for quick and low cost infrastructure deployments.

TowerXchange: Please introduce Intelli Site Solutions - what role do you play in the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?

We are a ‘neutral host’, a provider of telecoms infrastructure for outdoor and indoor coverage.

Intelli Site Solutions is a young, local company, well connected with the major commercial developers and real estate players in Mexico, which has enabled us to create some interesting agreements for outdoor and indoor installations.

We have a database of over 4,000 locations, primarily rooftops and billboards, plus a few mini-towers and monopoles and approximately 200 self-supported & guyed towers with an average height of 60m or 200ft. These can be developed to help carriers improve capacity, particularly in dense urban areas and in exclusive developments where it’s difficult for carriers to extend their coverage.

We undertake site acquisition and complete the turnkey project. We own our infrastructure, and lease space on those structures so carriers can add their equipment and quickly get on air.

TowerXchange: What are the advantages of rooftops and billboards over macro sites?

Zoning and permitting towers is complicated - we prefer to ‘think outside the box’. Using rooftops and billboards gives us a huge advantage in terms of time to market compared to macro sites, which are subject to long processes of site acquisition. We can also leverage our relationships and agreements with real estate developers to offer sites at very competitive rates.

TowerXchange: Who are your target clients?

Our clients are Mexico’s four major carriers.

We believe there are other potential clients including Internet and wireless broadband service providers.

We are also closely watching the development of the public wholesale network announced by the Mexican government. They’re planning on developing a wholesale LTE network, using the 700MHz band, enabling regional service providers to offer LTE services. It’s an ambitious plan, and the scale and timeframe of the project are not yet clear.

TowerXchange: How are Intelli Site Solutions’ sites marketed to potential clients?

Our database of potential locations is mapped and made available to our clients so they can analyze it against their radio network plans, and identify points where they need help with coverage or capacity.

Once a site has been selected, we conduct the site surveys and plan civil works. Intelli Site Solutions has our own in-house engineering and design team, but we use third party contractors for civil works and maintenance.

TowerXchange: What is driving demand for supplementary sites?

Increasing data consumption means carriers need more capacity, particularly in dense urban areas. Mexico City is our most active and dynamic market, where network planner preferences are shifting towards quick deployments and rooftops, especially for LTE which requires cell site densification. Monterrey is also key; another densely populated city where LTE is already being rolled out. 60-70% of the activity is in those big two cities, but there’s a lot going on in Guadalajara and other major cities. Most of the smaller towns and main roads are covered, and don’t have the same need for cell site densification given the relatively low traffic.

It is also important to mention that there are still large areas of the country that are lacking coverage particularly rural areas.

TowerXchange: How would you characterize the status of LTE deployment in Mexico?

Telcel has a large LTE rollout, with substantial coverage in the major cities and currently entering new markets. Telefónica is rolling out this year (2014), and are currently moving from trial to rollout. Nextel are in a similar position.

One of the barriers to LTE is the planning of the network because the spectrum availability is limited. Smartphone penetration in Mexico is also relatively low compared to many countries, and purchasing power is limited in smaller towns and rural areas.

TowerXchange: Given that Telcel owns the largest network in Mexico, and all the other carriers have sold their towers, does that affect each carriers appetite for co-locations on towers and rooftops? What’s the demand for new sites in Mexico?

You’re right that all the carriers except Telcel have sold most of their towers, mainly to American Tower. Telcel still builds their own sites, and sometimes they use providers like us for specific requirements. The other carriers are mainly focused on co-locations or build-to-suit.

Demand for new sites is incredible in Mexico. The pending reforms might have slowed demand slightly in Q1 2014, but appetite for investment continues - each carrier is adding around 600-1000 new sites per year. For our main two carrier clients, growth is driven more by capacity than coverage.

TowerXchange: What role does DAS and other IBS play in network planning in Mexico?

There is huge demand for in building coverage.

While new real estate projects have IBS implemented within architectural designs, there is a substantial retrofit market, mostly in large office buildings, shopping malls, airports, arenas, stadiums and other venues that gather crowds where carriers need coverage and capacity. IBS are deployed at pinpoint locations according to demand.

It’s a growing market with positive outlook, but some carriers prioritize IBS more than others.

TowerXchange: Does Intelli Site Solutions offer services beyond Mexico, or have any plans to do so in the future?

Of course we are interested to expand, but we believe there is plenty of work to be done in Mexico. Once growth slows in Mexico, we’ll look for other markets. But for the moment, our priority is to consolidate and fulfill the full potential of the indoor and outdoor market in Mexico.

TowerXchange: Finally, please sum up how you would differentiate Intelli Site Solutions from competitive telecoms infrastructure companies.

We are a local company - well connected, with solid agreements with real estate developers and real estate companies.

Intelli Site Solutions uses infrastructure innovations to offer coverage where carriers need it - not just typical macro tower sites. This enables us to accelerate time to market and offer low cost solutions to our clients. We have a database of 4,000 potential sites ready to have infrastructure deployed.