Feature Article

Free eNews Subscription>>
March 26, 2014

Deployment Costs for Small Cells is Affected by Installation Location

A few months ago, in December 2013, Infonetics Research released a brief synopsis of its Small Cell Mobile Backhaul Equipment report. This report is used to track and forecast outdoor cell backhaul equipment revenue, units, connections, and small cell sites by mediums such as copper, fiber, or air. 

These are sturdy, small and light weight devices, which makes them perfect for outdoor installations. Generally, you will find small cells attached to the side of a building or an existing utility pole, such as a light or electrical pole.

According to Infonetics’ report, deployments of outdoor small cells will be driven largely by mobile operators' need to enhance saturated macro-cellular networks in urban, high-traffic areas and improve the mobile broadband experience. The report also estimates that by 2015 outdoor small cells will see significant growth.

A new study out today from iGR agrees with this. The new market study is entitled “U.S. Small Cell Costs: How much will they cost to deploy?” iGR’s new small cell cost model consists of four real-world scenarios designed to illustrate where small cells are likely to be located. As mentioned above, iGR also expects that small cells will be located on new or existing poles, building walls and roof tops. Detailed costs are determined for each distinct type of installation.

President and founder of iGR, Iain Gillott, said "Mobile operators are deploying small cells to provide necessary coverage to meet users' rising demand. iGR has found that the many possible deployment locations of small cells, as well as other variables, have created a very wide range of costs associated with the deployments."

The iGR model references the fact that there will be varying costs associated with each type of location. Some of the facts included in determining the cost are backhaul type, broken down to fiber or microwave, backhaul speed, labor and installation, power and ancillary costs for additional equipment. This model also shows how scale affects costs across 10, 50 or 100 small cells deployed into a given market.

The following are just a few of the key questions that iGR’s study takes a closer look at:

  • What is a het-net? What are small cells?
  • What are network 'pain points'?
  • What is driving the need for het-nets?
  • How are pain points identified?
  • What are different ways to address pain points?
  • Where is it appropriate to deploy small cells (indoor and outdoor)?
  • What are iGR's assumptions regarding small cell installations?
  • What outdoor locations are best suited for small cell deployments?
  • What are the average costs of these outdoor locations?
  • What is an attachment? What is the average cost of an attachment?
  • What are the different types of backhaul with regard to small cells?
  • What types of backhaul are considered in the model?
  • What is the average throughput needed for a small cell? What does that throughput cost?
  • How much does it cost to deploy small cells?

If you are interested in the first answer, a het-net, or heterogeneous network is a network connecting computers and other devices with different operating systems and/or protocols. Small cells are defined as low-powered radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum that have a range of around 30 feet to as far as a little over a mile.

The report goes on to breakdown estimates for the types of capital expense and operating expense that can occur from the deployment of small cells. This information is based on a variety of different variables. Taken into consideration is location, the type of small cell used, the type of backhaul and how large it will ultimately be. 




Edited by Cassandra Tucker


FOLLOW MobilityTechzone

Subscribe to MobilityTechzone eNews

MobilityTechzone eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the Wireless industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter