Telecom Lead India: In order to handle 3G demand surge
and fulfilling 4G promises, service providers are planning to deploy millions
of small cells to increase network capacity, which will vastly increase
the burden on planning and logistic departments, according to a study conducted
by Amdocs and Rethink Technology Research.
The survey found that 59 percent of service providers
expect to deploy at least 10 times more small cells by 2017 than in 2011.
On the other hand, almost half of network planners (47
percent) say a lack of network planning resources is the biggest challenge
facing them today, leading to rollout delays.
94 percent of service providers are planning for 20-fold
growth or more by 2017. Of these, 24 percent foresee 50-fold growth.
All service providers said that the latest 4G and LTE
technologies would deliver only part of the efficiencies required.
50 percent of service providers expect to increase their
capital expenditure by 10-20 percent between 2012 and 2017. 23 percent plan to
increase it by even more.
Wi-Fi offloading expected to help ease data burden as 88
percent of service providers expect to offer Wi-Fi as part of their mobile
services by 2016.
22 percent anticipating they will have Wi-Fi integrated
into at least half of their cell sites by the end of 2017, further reducing the
data burden on 3G and LTE.
Caroline Gabriel, research director at Rethink Technology
Research said that service providers are facing a data storm, which 4G could
not address, rather small cells are perfect for boosting capacity and coverage
in fixed locations.
The survey covered a global sample of over 65 mobile and
converged Tier 1 and Tier 2 service providers.