Recent market statistics show a significant upturn of in-building digital cellular solutions. The simplicity, flexibility and ease of installation are all much better than legacy choices. Costs are further reduced when the signal source is integrated within the digital solution, allowing this approach to provide the best business case and platform for future growth.

The lifecycle of this annual event has seen many changes over the past 10 years or so since inception. Femtocells have been renamed Small Cells, the scope has expanded, 5G has become a hot topic. Many small cell start-ups have come and gone, we’ve shifted focus from technology to deployment and business case, and the larger RAN vendors and tower companies are much more visible.

The dust has settled after the UK’s latest round of spectrum auctions, so perhaps it’s time to step back and ask whether the outcome is good for end customers, for existing operators, for competition and ultimately the long term economy. Was it a quick short-term fix or a long term masterplan?

In several regions of the world, network operators seem to be so set against sharing infrastructure that they’ll actively install duplicate/parallel systems to serve their own customers. Elsewhere, a focus on cost encourages wider co-operation. What is the right answer to best improve the end customer experience?

Both Verizon and Samsung have been emphasising significantly better than expected performance from extensive trials using early 5G millimetre-wave radios. I spoke with Derek Johnston, Head of Marketing with Samsung Network Division in North America, to uncover more detail of the trials and the likely path to commercial deployment. I’ve summarised my findings below.

Joe Neil, Director of Solution Architecture at Microsemi, travels the world working with mobile operators of all shapes and sizes. His role is primarily focussed on their network architecture and specifically the design for timing and synchronisation. With networks currently deploying LTE Advanced Pro and looking ahead towards 5G, he shares his insights on how and where tighter timing constraints will be met.

I’ve noticed more frequently these days issues with voice calls to some mobile phones. The other party quickly points out that they are using Wi-Fi Calling because of poor indoor coverage and that this is the best they can do. While it works for some, clearly it’s far from a perfect solution. Are there any other options?

The promised high data rates and huge capacity of 5G place increasing demands on network fundamentals, of which timing and clocking are critical. Rakon has been working closely with standards bodies, chipset vendors, customers and service providers in the 5G ecosystem, to develop products that meet the synchronisation requirements for the new generation cellular technology.