India’s Bharti Infratel, Australia’s Aird Towers and pan-Asian player edotco joined discussions with the Small Cell Forum at The Future Network’s Asian Meetup to examine the role that towercos will play in the rollout and management of small cell networks and share their views on what barriers still need to be overcome.
Asia Pacific is leading the way when it comes to small cell deployment globally, with the Small Cell Forum’s Sue Monahan observing that half of the worlds deployed small cells are located in the region. The progress made by leading APAC countries is a shining example of the urgency around hyperdensification with many markets on track to be hyperdense by 2021. Setting the stage for discussions, Sue Monahan referenced a study which showed that there will be 800% more small cells by 2020 with a forecast of 100-350 small cells per square kilometer. Whilst 5G, and preparation for it, is a big driver for the rollout, there are more imminent reasons for networks to be densified with smart cities and meeting data requirements in major stadiums being two such concerns.
“There are two billion smartphones in the world and data growth is going to be huge,” said edotco’s Gayan Koralage. “The current network of macrosites can’t handle the data throughput and cells are getting denser and smaller to address the challenge. The market is currently struggling to manage human communications never mind an extra layer of M2M being added on top of that”
Having played a key role in the rollout and management of macro-networks, many towercos are positioning themselves to play an equally important role in the densification of such networks through small cells rollout and management. The Future Network invited three towercos, edotco Group, Bharti Infratel and Aird Towers to join the discussion in Singapore to hear their views on what role they see themselves playing and what barriers they see as still needing to be overcome.
Aird Towers is a boutique Australian towerco which is progressively moving into the small cell arena in the country; Aird Towers were represented on the panel by their Managing Director, Tom Andrews. edotco Group, with a presence in six ASEAN markets has been examining the small cell market closely and has recently formed a new department dedicated to small cells and DAS. edotco Group were represented on the panel by the Director of Strategy and Commercial, Gayan Koralage. Indian towerco, Bharti Infratel are already active in the sharing of towers, fibre and WiFi and with regards to their small cell strategy, their plan is to deploy small cells so that they’re there for the MNOs when they’re ready. Bharti Infratel were represented on the panel by their CTO, Alka Asthana.
What are the biggest barriers in small cell deployment?
In 2017, the Small Cell Forum conducted a survey of 52 MNOs on the subject of small cell network rollout. Of the surveyed parties, 19% of MNOs said that they would like to start small cell deployment in one year but only 7% of those thought that this was likely. Of the barriers cited, 65% referenced deployment and 46% felt access to sites remained a major hurdle. Other barriers cited included TCO being too high, multi-vendor operability limitations, challenges interworking with macrosites and lack of available and affordable backhaul solutions.
edotco thought that there were three major barriers preventing small cells from getting off the ground. Firstly one must work to convince MNO CTOs to move away from DAS; with significant DAS networks already deployed, the challenge existed in persuading the CTOs to move on from these networks. Secondly the cost of small cells is still too high and work needs to be done on bringing this down. Thirdly, edotco felt significant barriers existed in multi-band multi-vendor operability. Currently if you have a macro network owned by Huawei and a small cell network owned by Ericsson, the two networks are not able to communicate effectively with each other
Bharti Infratel voiced that whilst they also agreed that sharing and interoperability were core issues, the lack of planning when it came to small cells was also a major barrier to overcome. At present, they felt that small cells were almost considered as an afterthought; macro networks are planned and then small cells just need to plug in around that to fill any gaps. Such lack of planning has given rise to an “awkward” way of rolling out small cells, with no carefully considered design process. Overall Bharti felt that the drive for finding solutions in the small cell space seemed to be lacking.
Aird Tower’s Tom Andrews commented that whilst in Australia the MNOs have not been reluctant to the concept of small cells, they have relied heavily on their macro networks. Indoor DAS is being used and whilst it is probably reaching the end of its lifespan and needs replacing, MNOs are still trying to patch up problem areas rather than invest in deploying a new small cell system.
What still needs to be addressed when it comes to DAS?
Panellists felt that there needed to be faster progress towards testing of technologies, technologies with open standard interfaces that can support multi-vendor solutions. A clear business case needs to be put in place which encourages enterprises to co-invest and there needs to be better integration with small cells in order to improve overall building TCO.
What roles should infracos play in the roll out of small cells and DAS?
edotco’s Gayan Koralage felt that the role of the towerco is as the manager of small cell networks. Ultimately any number of different entities could own or host small cells throughout a community, but the towerco can play a central role in securing key locations, bringing fibre to the location and making sure that there is an energy connection to the location. There are lots of infrastructure issues that need to be resolved and towercos can play a role in addressing them.
Alka Asthana from Bharti Infratel commented that the fundamental role of a towerco will stay the same; they need to put up infrastructure that multiple parties can use. When a tower is shared by multiple parties it brings down the cost to the MNOs and a similar model will be applied to the small cell network.
Whilst the panel felt that towercos would continue to play a critical role in small cell networks, they also commented how we could see new types and silos of businesses evolving. One thing that is yet to be worked out is the final use case of the information that is generated by smart city projects. When you put up a camera you generate huge volumes of data and this creates an opportunity for a new entity which could come in and analyse such data.
One limitation to the role of a towerco in a small cell network is regulation. In India, for example, not everyone can put up antennas as they are classified as active equipment, explained Bharti’s Asthana. In order to be able to carry about small cell deployment effectively, towercos need to be allowed to deploy the full solution. Whilst owning spectrum is a matter for licensing, putting up an antenna shouldn’t be bound by the same regulations. This legislation isn’t the same across the whole of Asia with edotco referencing that in Malaysia they are able to invest in antennae.
With towercos set to play a role in small cell network rollout, Aird Towers Tom Andrews explained how new opportunities will arise. With their involvement in street furniture, Aird Towers have been approached by councils to look at carrying out street lighting upgrades or installation of CCTV systems. Such opportunities present exciting new avenues for towercos to diversify their models.
Improving in building coverage
Questions from the audience asked about the possibility of towercos collaborating with building owners and authorities to bring coverage to buildings with poor connectivity. Aird Towers commented that there was a growing sentiment in some geographies that connectivity was part of an essential building service, with developers’ scopes increasingly including an allowance for in-building coverage. This model has been successfully adopted in Australia, particularly in retail environments where smartphones are part of the customer experience.
When working with a building owner to develop indoor coverage it is essential that the system deployed is effectively future proofed. The installation needs to be done in one set of works, returning to the building to lay additional cabling or to add an additional MNO irks the building owner due to the disruption that is caused.
Ultimately however, in spite of the some of the challenges still ahead, each of the towercos on the panel firmly believed there to be a significant future for them in the rollout and management of small cell networks. Whilst the macrosite business will still remain, small cells are going to become an increasingly important part of a towerco business model going forward.
