Tag Archives: small cell

News, Telecoms

Small Cell Forum report forecasts that open networks, shared spectrum and new operating models can drive significant growth in small cell deployment

London, UK, 7 July 2022 – Small Cell Forum (SCF) has released its latest market forecast report.

The report, available here: https://www.smallcellforum.org/scf-market-forecast/, based on a survey of 101 service providers, confirms the continuing growth of the small cell market, while forecasting that 2022-27 will be a period of rapid change and expansion in the small cell market, driven by potent enablers that include increased diversity in use cases, deployment business models and architectures.

Key data points include:

  • The report forecasts compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for small cells of 15% for the whole global market, which will result in cumulative deployments of almost 36 million radios by 2027.
  • By the end of 2024, the most common architecture for indoor enterprise locations will be a two-unit, one-split network based on Split 6, with a dominant 46% of deployers choosing this option for at least some of their planned rollouts. The next most common choice will be to stick to integrated small cells (18% of deployers) followed by the O-RAN Alliance’s one-split Split 7.
  • The report forecasts the rising prevalence of enterprise small cells deployed and operated together with edge compute and/or packet core. Those deployed with both these functions will grow at a CAGR of 50% in 2020-27 to account for 25% of the total at the end of that period, while 27% of radio units will be run by a private core separate from any edge.
  • Manufacturing, utilities and energy, retail and transportation industries will be the biggest deployers of small cells in the period 2020-27, reflecting the large numbers of units they will need to support very large premises or infrastructure networks.
  • By 2027, the number of units deployed and run by neutral hosts will match the number deployed and run by private network operators (PNOs), at about one-third each. From 2023-27, PNOs will be the largest category of small cell operator, overtaking MNOs’ public networks from 2023.
  • The percentage of new small cells that will be deployed with 5G New Radio, or 4G/5G, support will rise from 13% in 2020 to 96% in 2027.
  • Deployment of Open RAN small cells will rise at a CAGR of 146% in 2021-27, to reach 51% of total small cells deployed at the end of that period, and a rollout rate of 2.7 million radio units in enterprise and private environments, and 1.8 million in public networks.
  • APAC will account for about 55% of total deployments throughout the forecast period; Europe will grow at 15% CAGR; deployments in the rest-of-the-world category will rise, from a smaller base, at 39% CAGR. North America, a very important driver of small cell rollout in the 2010s, will see its annual deployments peak in 2023, though it will still account for 13% of global deployments in 2027.

Caroline Gabriel, SCF Content Director, says: “Our survey tells us that open networks, shared spectrum and new operating models have the potential to drive significant growth in small cell rollout. However, this growth is reliant on several key challenges being addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Some challenges relate to ongoing issues around siting and regulation, others to consensus on technologies such as 5G in shared spectrum. Common foundations on which vendors and operators can innovate in a unified and interoperable way will be the biggest single factor in ensuring that the small cell industry meets or exceeds the growth predicted in this forecast.”

Prabhakar Chitrapu, Chair, Small Cell Forum, says: “The results from this year’s survey make compelling reading. Service providers are clear that the wide variety of enterprise 5G requirements demand many deployment models. To meet that demand, architectural change will not be sufficient on its own. There will need to be a far greater diversity of deployment and monetization models than exists for mobile broadband.

“In addition, the diversity of use cases implied will require common foundations to avoid fragmentation. This is an important area of focus for SCF as it seeks to drive common platforms and deployment blueprints throughout the ecosystem.”

Now in its seventh year, SCF’s Market Status Report is based on service provider surveys, modelling and forecasts. Completed in the first half of 2022, survey respondents comprised a total of 69 tier 1 and 2 mobile-only or fixed/mobile operators, along with 32 other organizations planning or deploying cellular networks, including neutral host providers, private network operators and enterprise service providers.

News, Telecoms

Ontix Joins Small Cell Forum to Drive Indoor, Outdoor and Smart City Connectivity Initiatives

Pioneering neutral host specialist joins industry association developing technical and commercial enablers to accelerate small cell adoption and drive wide-scale densification

London, UK – Monday 13th June 2022 Ontix, the company delivering Next-Generation Wireless Infrastructure-as-a-Service, today announced that it has joined Small Cell Forum (SCF), the industry association developing the technical and commercial enablers to accelerate small cell adoption. Ontix will contribute by bringing its rich experience in 4G and 5G indoor and outdoor neutral host connectivity as well as a deep working knowledge of Smart City initiatives to the Forum’s activities.

Ontix is disrupting the business model for the delivery of connectivity wherever it is most needed. Its list of deployments includes the rollout of small cells across the heart of London working in partnership with MNO’s, MVNO’s and local authorities to combine a neutral host and backhaul/fronthaul network. The company has also been a leading advocate of and contributor to the Joint Operator Technical Specification (JOTS) for Neutral Host In-Building coverage solutions, supporting technical discussions with operators and OEMs to realise deployment-ready neutral host in-building solutions.

“The value in neutral host isn’t about the technology, it lies in moving beyond the theoretical and installing operational networks quickly, and cost effectively, in the places where they can provide the most value to operators, local governments and authorities, partners and end-users,” said Patrick Bradd, CEO at Ontix. “The route to dense 4G and 5G networks, indoors and out, runs through small cells, and SCF provides a platform to drive the ecosystem forward. We’re delighted to join and excited to start working with other members.”

News, Telecoms

SCF Small Cell Award Winners for 2022 Announced

Industry gathers to celebrate best small cell deployments and technology innovations of the year

London, UK 25th May 2022 – Small Cell Forum (SCF) has announced the winners of the SCF Small Cell Awards 2022, recognizing outstanding achievement within, and contributions to, the global small cell industry. The awards were presented at a ceremony during Small Cells World Summit in London last night.

Open to the whole industry and judged independently of SCF by a panel of distinguished analysts, journalists and industry experts, the awards attracted entries from operators and vendors from across the world and the full spectrum of the mobile value chain.

Chair of Judges, and Co-founder of Rethink Research, Caroline Gabriel said: “There was a very wide diversity of entries this year, reflecting how the small cell market is broadening in the 5G era. The judges were particularly impressed by the evidence of innovative thinking, both in technology and commercial models.

“The SCF Small Cell Awards judging process is an extremely rigorous one, and as always, it was difficult to single out winners in a very strong field, but we think the successful entries demonstrate the maturing of this market very well.”

The full list of award winners is:

  1. Excellence in commercial deployment by an MNO

Rakuten Mobile and Airspan – Rakuten Mobile deployment of Open RAN and small cells

  1. Excellence in commercial deployment by neutral host

Wireless Infrastructure Group – How WIG’s sustainable comms infrastructure enables the development of next generation sustainable mobility solutions

  1. Excellence in commercial deployment by a private network operator

Airspan Networks and Druid Software – Airspan 5G starter kit/network in a box: Accelerating adoption of 5G private networks globally using open standards

  1. Outstanding small cell technology in commercial use

Jio Platforms (JPL) – Jio’s 5G outdoor small cell, augmenting data capacity and coverage at hotspot locations

  1. Outstanding software and services technology for small cells, in commercial use

ITRI and PEGATRON – 5G Energy-Saving O-RAN System

  1. Outstanding contribution to emerging technology or architecture

Mavenir – Technology breakthrough in small cells combining Open RAN and containerization

  1. Outstanding innovation in chips or components to enable small cell networks

Picocom – PC802, Industry’s first 5G/4G small cell system on chip designed for Open RAN

  1. Outstanding contribution to new small cell business cases

Betacom – Betacom 5G as a Service – industry’s first fully managed private wireless service

  1. Commercial product or service to enable multi-operator and neutral host business models

Ericsson – Ericsson multi-operator and neutral host solutions

  1. Outstanding contribution to Small Cell Open RAN platforms or standards development

Radisys – Radisys’ Advanced Release 16 Compliant 5G NR Software

  1. Social Impact – Promoting Small Cells for Social / Economic / Environmental Development

BAI Communications and Sunderland City Council – Sunderland: A 5G small-cell powered Smart City to deliver socio-economic outcomes

Special awards

  1. Judges Choice

Corning Inc and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. – 5G mmWave delivers best-in-class mobile experience at the Big Game

  1. Chairs’ Award

Vikas Dixit – For outstanding contributions to Open6 and Fronthaul

  1. Individual Contribution to SCF Activities

Lynne Price-Walker – for member services

5G, News

AccelerComm to Demonstrate How Spectral Efficiency is Key to 5G Small Cell Success at SCWS 2022

Company to present critical role of its physical layer IP solutions in maximising performance of dense networks at Small Cell Forum’s flagship event

London, UK – May 19th 2022 – AccelerComm, the Layer 1 5G IP specialists, today announced that it will be presenting a range of its solutions that help maximise the performance of 5G small cells at the SCWS 2022 event in London from May 24th-25th. The company provides 5G physical layer IP solutions which enable optimal performance of small cell 5G radio networks by mitigating the effects of noise, interference, and poor signal strength, thereby increasing throughput, reducing latency, and maximising spectral efficiency.

The gains available from deploying the complete AccelerComm solution are considerable, enabling operators to as much as double the capacity of their spectrum, resulting in up to a 30% reduction in CAPEX spending on infrastructure. This not only helps make the business case for 5G more compelling, but will also enable a range of new applications and services though higher performance, reliability and lower latency.

As SCWS, AccelerComm will be presenting three key benefits of its physical layer IP solutions for small cells:

  • Doubling of spectral efficiency: The AccelerComm channel equaliser can as much as double the average cell spectral efficiency, which in turn brings an improvement in network performance and results in a large potential reduction in the required number of sites (and hence power) required to provide coverage.
  • Higher throughputs: Look-aside FPGA-based Accelerator with 16 Gbps of throughput using the O-RAN Acceleration Abstraction Layer (AAL) interface.
  • Reduced LDPC Block error rates for improved URLLC performance: LDPC Block error rates using a Xilinx T2 Telco Card deliver improved BLER performance, enabling increased receiver gain, s and no error floors which is important for URLLC applications.

To learn more contact: info@accelercomm.com

To arrange a meeting please visit: Small Cells World Summit 2022 | AccelerComm

Networks, News

Small Cells World Summit returns to London this May with commercially focused agenda and exclusive private networks workshop

Leading industry speakers will cover topics including enterprise connectivity, shared and flexible infrastructure and Open RAN technologies

28 April, 2022, London – SCF, the global organization committed to supporting agile, low-cost mobile infrastructure through small networks, has released details of Small Cells World Summit 2022, which will take place live in London 24-25 May, followed by virtual summits in June.

The conference brings together mobile network operators, neutral hosts, enterprise, public sector, vendors, analysts, policymakers and regulators, for a packed program of leading speakers sharing innovation, best practise and debating some of the industry’s hottest topics, including enterprise connectivity and how this will be delivered, flexible and shared infrastructure and Open RAN technologies and strategies.

A special workshop will also take place, supported by the UK’s Department for International Trade, Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDM), focused on 5G private networks – the opportunities, challenges and regulatory implications. This will include contributions from policymakers and enterprises from across Europe, and representatives from the wireless industry.

Events sponsors have also been announced and are available on the website, including: Platinum sponsor Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Diamond sponsor Ericsson, and Sapphire sponsor Picocom.

Chair of SCF, Prabhakar Chitrapu, PhD, said: “The unique characteristic of SCWS is that its agenda considers the future of enterprise connectivity and digital transformation of industries through the lens of real-world requirements and learnings from commercial deployments.

“We’ve had incredible support from our industry and our sponsors, who have got behind this event because they understand the unique benefit of fostering the much-needed conversation between technologists, business professionals and regulators affecting the success of the whole eco-system. After two years enforced absence courtesy of Covid, I’m looking forward to finally having the opportunity to meet and network once again with colleagues at this two-day event in London.”

Simon Fletcher, SCF Chief Strategy Officer, added: “While at the conference we consider the implications of 5G and 6G evolution, SCWS 2022 is not a blue-sky event. It’s much more grounded – commercially focused on the technology and business models that can deliver outstanding connectivity for enterprise, industry and consumers and service models that can be monetized by our industry. We’re also pleased to be hosting a private networks workshop, supported by the DIT, DCMS and FCDO, because again this focuses on how private network technologies need to evolve to address enterprise demand and the role policy makers can play as enablers.”

SCWS London will also host the SCF Small Cell Awards Gala Dinner on the first evening, a glittering networking event to celebrate the achievements of the industry. The conference will include an exhibition area, main conference stage, break-out areas, networking and drinks functions.

To bring the conference to a global audience, and for those who are not able to travel to the UK, SCWS London will be followed by two exclusive regionally focused Virtual Summits, on June 8 for Asia and June 9 for the US. The virtual platform will host all the recorded sessions from London, and will be complimented by dedicated regional specific sessions and panel discussions, as well as online exhibitors and virtual networking.

Delegate tickets to London include free access to the virtual summits, or virtual passes can be purchased separately. Registration is open. Delegate passes to all summits, and gala dinner tickets can be purchased online now, visit www.smallcells.world

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/