Data consumption on the rise: Small cells are key solutions to offload network congestion

Gordon Mansfield, recently appointed Small Cell Forum Chairman, today highlighted the excellent state of affairs for the small cell industry in the United States and abroad, “US operators have arguably embraced the technology more rapidly than any other region – over a third of all small cells globally have been deployed by just three operators in the US. Residential deployments have already achieved scale and business rollouts are really starting to gain traction.”
Speaking ahead of the Avren Events’ Annual Small Cell Americas conference, run in exclusive partnership with the Small Cell Forum, and co-located with their USA Plenary, Gordon explained that “The fact that there is a finite amount of spectrum means that the only sustainable way to seriously increase capacity is to build smaller cells.”

Backhaul and network design, key challenges for small cell deployments
“The key challenges for the industry as we move forward with public access small cells are in backhaul, zoning and network management,” says Gordon Mansfield. With the increase number of cell sites and an ever growing demand for data services from consumers, there are clearly increasing opportunities and an inherent need for alternative technology to macro-base stations, such as small cells.

Meanwhile, AT&T’s Project Manager Jim Parker, who will also be delivering a keynote presentation at the Dallas Summit, noted that “AT&T’s mobile data growth has been more than 20,000 percent over the last five years, so the main challenge is how to design a network to meet the capacity needs of a large public venue for today and into the future”.

The Small Cell Forum also sees great opportunity and growth in other spaces where connectivity is required. When asked about the implementation of small cell technology in private and public aircraft, Gordon said “The penny dropped in the industry when it became clear that the technology could reach beyond simply providing residential coverage in rural blackspots.” He goes on, “Today, the market perception is that anywhere you need connectivity, you will increasingly find small cells. “

Exciting time for Wi-Fi and small cell integration
Wi-Fi and small cells are no longer viewed as competitive technologies, but rather different alternatives for operators to deploy on a case-by-case basis. “Joint deployments could allow mobile operators to dramatically increase capacity, intelligently channel traffic over either connection and even support cellular voice & SMS over Wi-Fi.”

Jim Parker added “[We’ve] been deploying Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) and Wi-Fi in locations that typically experience high-volume data usage. Small cells are another tool in the tool kit, adding more network capacity to support increasing demand for data services by consumers using devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.”

Biggest ever small cell conference in the United States
Small Cells Americas 2012 will be the biggest ever Conference in the US to focus solely on small cell technology. Having been run in exclusive partnership with the Small Cell Forum since 2007, Small Cells Americas brings together 200+ delegates and includes keynote presentations and delegations from operators such as T-Mobile USA, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, MetroPCS, Iusacell Mexico, NTT Docomo, SK Telecom and many more!

Event dates: December 3rd & 4th 2012
Location: Dallas Marriott Quorum by the Galleria, Dallas, Texas, USA
Event website: www.smallcellsamericas.com
Email: smallcellsamericas@clarionevents.com

For more information please contact:
Marketing Manager: Katherine Barnett
Email: katherine@avrenevents.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7384 7915

Avren Events is known worldwide for its in-depth, expertly researched and strongly supported events.
Over 2,000 of the most influential senior managers from across the networks and telecoms ecosystem have attended Avren Events conferences so far in2012.
Avren conferences enable you to:
• hear and discuss the challenges leading operators are facing in specifying and selecting systems and devices to compliment their mobile broadband strategies
• learn from experience gained from first movers who have implemented specific technologies and architectures
• discuss and debate technology choices and milestones with key decision makers, analysts and innovators within your sector
For more information visit:
http://www.smallcellsamericas.com

Avren Events
69-79 Fulham High Street
London
SW6 3JW
Marketing Manager: Katherine Barnett
Email: katherine@avrenevents.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7384 7915

This release was published on openPR.