Grid Rental Sites on the role of macro sites, DAS & small cells in supporting Chile’s booming mobile market

Maximo Parraguez Diaz started his career in telecoms with Claro Chile where he was in charge of the company’s site acquisition projects. Since then, he has gained further experience in companies like Swedcom and NSN. He is currently CEO of Grid Rental Sites, a Chilean company actively involved in the deployment of new infrastructure, installation of small cell and DAS and site maintenance.

Thanks to Maximo’s long standing experience in the country, we are able to offer our readers a snapshot of the Chilean wireless market, its challenges and the many opportunities ahead.

TowerXchange: Maximo, tell us about your company and its activities in Chile

Grid Rental Sites was created in 2009 and has since been very active in site acquisition, housing of cell sites, facilities management, engineering services and development of infrastructure for major carriers in Chile. We offer housing services for radio installation in areas with coverage problems and affected by traffic saturation. We mainly operate on rooftops thanks to co-location rental agreements.

Our primary customers are carriers such as Claro Chile, Telefónica Moviles, Nextel Chile, VTR Wireless and tower companies such as Torres Unidas.

TowerXchange: Please introduce us to the telecom market in Chile - who are the leading operators, how mature is the coverage, how fast is the number of subscribers and volume of traffic growing?

The leading carriers in Chile are Entel PCS which holds 38% of the market share and Movistar with 35%, followed by Claro (27%). Nextel and VTR Wireless both hold small shares of the market. 75% of the total market is currently prepaid.

With mobile penetration reaching 142%, the market has witnessed an unprecedented growth in the past few years. While our 2G and 3G coverage is very close to 100%, we are still behind in terms of 4G. In fact, Claro launched the first 4G LTE network in June 2013 and Movistar and Entel are planning their launch in 2014. I believe 4G coverage is around 5% at the moment.

TowerXchange: How many rooftops and DAS sites do you currently have in your portfolio?

Our portfolio counts 400 rooftops and 45 cell sites. Moreover, we have access to a portfolio of 1,800 15 metre high street poles for the installation of DAS micro sites in the South area of Chile.

TowerXchange: Out of the 8,000 towers in Chile, how many are currently shared? Which operators in Chile are embracing co-location or selling their passive infrastructures to companies like yours?

Currently, American Tower owns and operates about 1,150 co-located sites and Torres Unidas Chile an additional 500.

Nextel, VTR Wireless and Movistar are all interested in selling their passive infrastructure and this creates an opportunity for tower companies like AMT and Torres Unidas further expand their portfolios.

TowerXchange: Can you tell us more about your upcoming projects and partnerships?

Currently, we are selling our rooftop portfolio to Torres Unidas while exploring some new business opportunities such as creating charging systems for electrical vehicles.

During the first phase of the sale, we will sell 32 sites and we will then release between 60 and 80 sites in the second phase.

Our technical services offered to wireless telecom companies are in demand because they respond to the need to ensure additional coverage at a key developmental time for the local market.

The current legislation of greenfield projects entails a very slow process in terms of licensing. This is where rooftop services become very important to fill the existing coverage gap.

TowerXchange: What is the role of DAS and small cells versus macro cells in network planning in dense metropolitan areas?

The importance of DAS and small cells will keep increasing because of their size and due to the fact that it is relatively easy to source pre-existing locations for their installation. I refer to rooftops, advertising billboards, poles and other similar sites located in dense metropolitan areas.

When assessing the importance of Heterogeneous Networks, we need to realise that the installation of a new 12 meter high tower can take anything between 18 and 24 months. Whereas, a DAS solution requires approximately 6 months. This isn’t only due to technical requirements and processes but also and most importantly due to the current legal scenario and zoning and permitting requirements.

TowerXchange: What is the status of 4G adoption in Chile? Is it driving substantial demand for cell site densification? How can companies like yours help this growth?

Considering that 4G coverage is about 5%, Chile still has a long way to go but carriers are very actively involved in the deployment of 4G network.

Our site procurement services greatly help to create new coverage opportunities utilising DAS and other Het-Net solutions such as in-building coverage projects and Wi-Fi offload in dense metropolitan areas..We have been partnering with several rooftop administration companies to keep expanding in this field.

We are also strongly involved in the rollout of radio frequency engineering systems and have a long standing experience in this field.

TowerXchange: How do you see the passive infrastructure market evolving in the next 3-5 years?

The market will keep expanding and is already shifting towards a pure real estate model. I believe we will see more companies offering tower-related services entering the local market in the near future