Fish with antennas? Scary! Relax – it's just Connectivity Wireless Solutions making the case for DAS.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

August 14, 2014

8 Slides

When you install a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) in a cool place like Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, it's only natural that you have your customers, partners and network operators come check it out at a swanky event.

That's just what Connectivity Wireless Solutions did on Tuesday night this week. The company, which manages DAS deployments for wireless carriers and enterprises, installed a DAS for the Shedd earlier this year and offered up tours, alongside apps, drinks, and plenty of fish (for both viewing and eating). Click on the image below for some visuals of all four.

Figure 1: The View If the view looks familiar to you Light Reading faithful, it's because it's right next to Chicago's Planetarium where our very own Big Telecom Event took place in June (seems like eons ago...). If the view looks familiar to you Light Reading faithful, it's because it's right next to Chicago's Planetarium where our very own Big Telecom Event took place in June (seems like eons ago...).

Want to know more about DAS and small cells? Check out our dedicated small cell content channel here on Light Reading.

DAS or Small Cells?
Rob Benson, director of strategic accounts for Connectivity Wireless Solutions, acknowledged that many wireless operators and enterprises grapple with the question of whether to deploy a DAS or small cells indoors, but, for the most part, he said DAS is winning out. The rights, backhaul and business model challenges that plague public access small cells are true indoors as well, he said. (See Small Cell Forum Tackles Urban, Virtualization and Small Cells Mean Big Backhaul Challenges.)

"Just a year and half ago, guys like me looked at the industry and asked if small cells would wipe us out. We thought we'd just be annihilated by small cells, but it's become pretty clear that for large venues DAS is still the solution," Benson said, adding that where small cells might play a larger role is in smaller indoor areas. (See AT&T Talks Small Cells, DAS in New Ads, Mind the DAS! AT&T & Sprint Aboard Full NYC Subway Project and Carrier WiFi's Not Winning in Sports Arenas.)

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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