Small cells industry celebrates coming of age at World Summit in London in June

April 19, 2012 - PRLog -- As small cells are becoming an integral part of cellular networks across the globe, more than 500 industry experts will gather for the Small Cells World Summit in London in June, run in exclusive partnership with the Small Cell Forum, to discuss progress in small cell network deployments and mobile technology convergence.  

“Small cells are not only an opportunity for new revenue streams and large-scale network roll-outs and quick deployments, but a must-have for operators looking to deploy next generation networks”, says Alejandro Pinero, Small Cells World Summit director.  “Higher capacity, open-access settings, SON capabilities and more enhanced network planning techniques are driving small cell technology to become a universally applicable technology for networks worldwide.”  

He continues:  “These are exciting times for small cells and wireless network planning.  The focus has moved away from competing technologies and moved towards creating a converged wireless solution portfolio.  Mobile technologies such as LTE also push for greater speed, and data-hungry users will demand more from operators. Small cells are therefore a tremendous opportunity for operators to cost-effectively expand their networks, whether in outdoor urban settings, or more remote, urban service areas and bringing the base station closer to the user.”

Small cells deployed on global scale
The small cells industry came of age last year, femtocells in particular, says the Small Cells World Summit director:  “there was a dramatic increase in deployments, nearly forty at the end of 2011, with operators such as Telecom Italia, Optus Australia and Mosaic Telecom announcing their deployments.  Operators have also been working closely with the vendor community to develop LTE cells, capable of handling next generation traffic.”

Outdoor small cells are regarded as an exciting prospect for the industry according to Alejandro Pinero, who says higher capacity picocells will be key for operators to bring the network closer to the user.  He explains:  “industry analysts ABI Research estimated that by as early as 2014, LTE small cells will outnumber macro cells, which is a testament to just how big this industry is becoming. Other areas such as rural deployments, and enhanced enterprise services are also creating headlines this year.”

Small cells are being trialed and deployed on a global scale says Pinero, “whether in crowded urban centers in Asia, or more remote, rural settings in Africa or Latin America, operators are looking at small cells to fulfill their coverage obligations thus maintaining QoS and reducing customer churn, as well as deploying LTE and multistandard networks.”

A testament to this global reach is the line-up of speakers at the 2012 Small Cells World Summit.  During the event, delegates will hear from MNOs from countries such as New Zealand, UAE, Bosnia, Israel, Japan, China, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and more.

Headline speakers at the Small Cells World Summit include:
•  Simon Saunders, Chairman, Small Cell Forum
•  Meredith Sharples, Product Manager, Vodafone Group
•  Khaled Saif, In-Building Solutions Director, Du
•  Emmanuel Adnot, International Strategy Manager, Orange
•  Carmillo Carlini, Home Network & Handset Engineering, Telecom Italia
•  Hyunsoo Cheon, Manager, Access Network Lab, SK Telecom

Conference and exhibition
The Small Cells World Summit is produced by Avren Events in exclusive partnership with the Small Cell Forum.  The event, formerly known as the Femtocells World Summit, will feature the largest exhibition space in the industry, bringing together more than forty exhibitors to showcase their products and solutions.  New to the event is a seminar theatre programme, which will run concurrently with the main conference programme.  Delegates will hear more than twenty two network operator deployment case studies and trial results, with topics ranging from interference mitigation and backhaul alternatives to marketing strategies for small cells.

Event dates:  26-28 June 2012
Location:  Hilton London Metropole, London, UK
Event website:  http://www.smallcellsworldsummit.com/

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