Tag Archives: neutral host

News, Telecoms

SCF Small Cell Awards 2022 announces two new categories dedicated to neutral host and private network deployments

Prestigious Awards ceremony will take place during SCWS in London

London, 16 March 2022 – Entries are open for the SCF Small Cell Awards 2022, with new categories added to showcase neutral host and private network deployments, as well as updated categories on the topics of small cells Open RAN and small cells technology.

The Awards ceremony will take place during a prestigious gala dinner in London at Small Cells World Summit 2022, on 24 May.

Companies from across the eco-system are invited to submit their entries by 1 April to the Awards, which are recognized as the ultimate industry badge of excellence.

Caroline Gabriel, Chair of Judges for the awards, and co-founder of Rethink Research said: “This year, as in previous years, we looked at the categories to see how well they reflected our industry and we felt that this year neutral host deployments needed a dedicated category as did private networks. These are growing areas of our industry right now, and I am looking forward to seeing the submissions for these categories where companies can showcase some of the real deployments taking place globally.

“I urge companies to submit an entry because the SCF Small Cell Awards are the Oscars of our sector and I am delighted that this year, after a two-year hiatus, we will be able to gather at a ceremony in London to celebrate the finalists and winners.”

The awards are judged independently by a panel of industry analysts and journalists. This year’s judging panel includes Sue Rudd, Director of Networks and Service Platforms, Service Provider Group, at Strategy Analytics; Keith Dyer, editor of The Mobile Network; Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis, Roberto Kompany, Principal Analyst, Service Provider Networks, at Omdia and Mark Keenan, CEO of Real Wireless.

There are 10 categories in total to enter, including ‘Outstanding small cell technology in commercial use’, ‘Outstanding contribution to Open RAN networks or standards’, and ‘Outstanding innovation in chips and components to enable small cell networks’.

Submissions can be joint entries between two or more companies, and the event is open to the whole industry, not just SCF members. To find out more and to enter visit https://www.smallcellforum.org/awards/scf-small-cell-awards-2022/

Appointments, News

Small Cell Forum appoints Simon Fletcher as Chief Strategy Officer to drive its support for neutral hosts, private network operators and Open RAN architectures

10th February 2022, London, UK – Small Cell Forum (SCF) today announced it has appointed wireless veteran Simon Fletcher as its Chief Strategy Officer, drawing on 25 years direct industry experience and work as an advisor to governments, regulators and big business.

SCF CEO Sue Monahan said: ‘We’re delighted to have someone with Simon’s knowledge and contacts in the CSO role. Simon’s brief is to continue to build and strengthen SCF’s technical and regulatory support for the growing ecosystem of service providers that includes neutral hosts, private network operators, and systems integrators. Our strategy is founded on trusted, collaborative partnerships with MNOs, enterprises and policy makers. Simon has strong, long-term relationships with these stakeholders.’

Simon brings a broad range of global wireless experience, from launching 3G trial networks at NEC, work on the evolution of (e)CPRI, 3GPP RAN1/2 small cell and macro architectures, telco equipment development in joint ventures, to commercial rollouts including smart cities, stadiums, commercial property, transport hubs and IoT. In addition to sitting on the UK5G Advisory Board, he continues as a Small Cell SIG Champion at Cambridge Wireless and CTO of wireless experts Real Wireless.

Simon Fletcher said: ‘SCF is one of the industry’s most respected SDOs and I’m delighted to join the organisation as it helps drive and shape an important phase in the evolution of service models and architectures plotting a path through 5G-Advanced and 6G.

Agile, low-cost mobile infrastructure enabled by open architectures and diversified supply chains is key to the digital transformation of industry and enterprise. Small cells are an essential enabler for the new business models and ecosystems underpinning sustainable change. I believe SCF is uniquely placed to help policy-makers, service providers and equipment vendors maximise the potential and overcome the hurdles associated with this critical inflection point for our industry.’

Small Cell Forum Chair Prabhakar Chitrapu, added, ‘Simon’s experience will be invaluable in helping us further develop our strong technical and commercial base, to help guide the wider small cell ecosystem through an evolving wireless landscape.’

Major SCF work streams for 2022 include:

  • Scalable commercial models for neutral host private network deployments are critical to achieving 5G and industry goals. SCF is focused on establishing global best practice and blueprints that bring confidence to enterprise and inform policy and regulation.
  • Building on FAPI, nFAPI and Open fronthaul workstreams to provide practical options for Open RAN with a strong focus on the environments in which Open RAN deployments will succeed first.
  • Detailed specification at product and component impact level to make Open RAN and private wireless readily deployable, reducing cost and risk.