Enterprises will have to install small cells from a number of different operators thanks to the BYOD trend, so building an attractive pricing model will be important.
Re: Carrier cooperation your comment about the a corporate account being the trigger for indoor small cells, can also be the initiator for a carrier to host a small cell at a given site
Re: Carrier cooperation Interesting suggestion on mirroring the DAS model, Mordy. it would simplify things.
I suppose for small cells it is the same issues as RF planning in smartphones. It'll be telling to see Ericsson's business model (when it finally launches next year). It already has AT&T and Verizon on board, so maybe it can get a cross-carrier deal worked out.
Re: Carrier cooperation It could tie into their corporate accounts too. If they have a big enterprise as a business account, I imagine they'd want to ensure it had proper coverage indoors.
Re: Carrier cooperation It shouldnt drive up the costs that much. With 4G using a single technology across carriers its only a matter of adding additional RF front ends to support the various frequencies. As is a single carrier has to support a large variety of frequencies.
As far as financial models go, I dont work for small cell vendors or for carriers so my opinions are really irelevant. that said there are plenty of possibilities.
My favorite financial model is that a single carrier deploys the device and is responsible for its installation & maintenance, while the other carriers are tenants and have some sort of roaming agreement. this follows the DAS model.
Re: Carrier cooperation When it comes to enterprises there are a few exceptions where such a project would be initiated by the carrier. I was referring more to facilities like hotels, hospitals, office buildings, apartment buildings, etc
Re: Carrier cooperation Mordy, how would that work from a technological perspective (and financial)? I'm not sure it's possible in a single small cell. Even that would drive up costs substantially. I don't see it happening anytime soon.
Re: Carrier cooperation Really great questions, MarkC. I imagine it's primarily the enterprises seeking out indoor solutions. Do you agree, Mordy? Most of the improvements operators seem to do on a regular basis are outdoors, at least so far, although that is changing.
When it comes to residential, operators aren't willing to do much at all besides let you buy a femtocell.
Re: Carrier cooperation Mark, Its all 3 although the third option is rarer.
The first option would be the second one you alluded to which is when the carrier feels the need to cover a specific area and they initiate the deployment.
The second option is one where the carrier feels they can survive without improving coverage but the facility's owner feels a need and they initiate it.
In most cases the initiator foots the bill for the deployment costs and attemots to recoup them by charging the carrier tenants for its use.
There's a 3rd option in which the carrier's have antenna/tower groups that that build and deploy towers and DAS systems which they then rent out and open them up to competing carriers. There are cases where either for competetive reasons or specific site reasons that they will keep it exclusive.
If you find that I missed anything in this short clarification please fill in the details.
Re: Carrier cooperation MordyK/Sarah, I guess this is a continuation from our last thread, since then I did some quick reading on neutral host DAS systems in the US. Typically, do you see the landowners in the US funding/coordinating/driving these inorder to provide better Quality of Experience to their tenants and customers? Like Hospitals, Univeristies, Hotels, Stadiums, Malls and Casinos. Or is it third party service providers trying to stretch backhaul to the carries into wireless coverage as well as backhaul, (MordyK, I think you alluded to this with Verizon)? Or is it a wireless consortium of carriers working together? I could see the first 2 happening, still have trouble seeing the third happening, today unless it was the only way to get coverage, like a state managed highway with no easements in the surrounding terrain.
Carrier cooperation Sarah, Once its established that Enterprises will be paying for these devices, I think carrier's will come to a rapid understanding about the need to share these devices like a neutral host DAS.
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