BARCELONA, Spain—Globally, the small cell footprint is growing at a rapid-fire pace. According to new research from the Small Cell Forum in conjunction with Informa, about 56 percent of all cells today are femtocells, and that number will grow to 86 percent by 2016. Also by 2016, 90 percent of all cells will be small cells.
The Small Cell Forum released these numbers here at the Mobile World Congress. Gordon Mansfield, chairman of the Small Cell Forum, said 2013 is the "year of public access" small cells, noting that by 2016 public access small cells will drive $16.2 billion in revenue despite the fact that they only make up 4 percent of small cells today. Mansfield also said 98 percent of mobile operators believe small cells are essential; however, of the 46 operators that have deployed small cells, the majority are larger operators.
With that in mind, the Small Cell Forum has developed a guide for smaller operators that will help them develop a business case for deploying the technology. Called Small Cell Release One, the guide is intended to help operators successfully launch the technology. The guide provides all the business cases and technical details, including recommended equipment specifications for RFPs and a best practice guide from the operators which have successfully deployed femtocells in scale.
For more:
- See this press release
- See this press release
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