Burning power and draining costs: what can Enterprises do to improve their coverage enhancement systems?

27 November 2015

Facilities owners and managers of large, multi-use sites are often wasting thousands of dollars a month fuelling cellular coverage enhancement systems that lie dormant for the vast majority of the time.

In aiming to provide the robust cellular coverage required in modern complexes, managers fail to consider the significant OPEX costs associated with installing legacy DAS in venues with only sporadic cellular service uptake.

The result is either system abandonment or facing the large OPEX costs needed to enable this occasional usage, which include power and maintenance charges. The costs to power an indoor coverage system that supports an office or university campus, plus peripheral sites such as sports stadia, transport hubs or conference centres that are used only sporadically, can be astronomical.

However, modern DAS provides a new option. Some fibre systems can now be configured to move unused capacity to nearby venues, enabling enterprises to share the cost of coverage provision while continuing to supply 100% provision to their site during peak periods.

Capacity shifting DAS can offer power savings of 36% compared to typical analogue solutions while ensuring the provision of cellular coverage where it is most needed. A key example of where this technology will make a real difference is in multi-use venues such as sites comprising offices, entertainment and conference facilities.

Here, during the day, the majority of the cellular availability can be channelled into the offices and conference facilities while the leisure venues are empty. As evening events begin and the offices empty, capacity is moved into the entertainment district. This ensures the availability of high-grade voice, data and SMS services without the need to hardwire the infrastructure into each individual building – providing dramatic OPEX savings while maximizing customer usage and satisfaction. There are also significant CAPEX savings brought about by the requirement for fewer head end resources.

In addition, capacity-shifting solutions are based on future-proof technology concepts, enabling the system to be easily reconfigurable as required and reducing the need for expensive system updates to incorporate new technologies such as LTE-A.

By adopting more dynamic coverage enhancement systems and improving the value they can provide to businesses, facilities owners can ensure their customers are able to access the level of connectivity required and set their business venue apart from competing sites, while improving their bottom line.

 

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