Mobile network capacity and coverage problems, especially in dense urban areas demand small cells as a solution, pushing operators to scramble for suitable small cell sites. With the growing demand for small cells installation, ABI forecasts the small cells site services market to reach over US$5 billion by 2019. Leading solution providers such as Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and Nokia, as well as site and fiber owners like Virgin Media, Zayo, and CloudBerry are expected to benefit from the expanding market.
ABI also expects operators to outsource small cell operations and establish RAN sharing agreements, enabling them to focus on their core services. In addition, the unique deployment challenges facing small cells in the enterprise and public markets, said ABI, are resulting in multi-operator agreements which aim to reduce costs while tackling the aesthetic impact caused by infrastructure redundancy.
Operators see small cells networks as a competitive advantage, but mass market and hotspot rollout versus limited site selection changes the equation into site sharing services. We will see the small cell needle move as these arrangements take hold. Winning in the small cell market requires host-neutral solutions, stakeholder cooperation, and cell site services.
