Will 5G NR and LTE work together?

November 18, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

The answer, of course, is yes to this stupid question. Why did I ask this? Well, I was reading an article by Ericsson about the advantages of having 5G NR and LTE working together, what a novel idea, like who has a choice in this?

Article found here, https://www.ericsson.com/en/ericsson-technology-review/archive/2018/the-advantages-of-combining-5g-nr-with-lte?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=TeamEricsson&utm_content=38ae46f4-4fb4-4bd6-872b-a0694d61648e if you want to glance at it. Or, download the PDF at https://www.ericsson.com/assets/local/publications/ericsson-technology-review/docs/2018/etr-2018-09-5g-radiodeployment.pdf if that’s easier.

OK, Ericsson, I am a fan of what you’ve done this year. You’ve done great things in 2018, turned your company around and added more and more jobs in the USA, (where I live). I love that because Nokia and Samsung have done all that they can to move more and more out of the USA. FYI – I am pro USA, sorry world, that’s where I live, and I see so many people losing jobs in telecom. Oh, one more thing, it’s the largest telecom market for revenue in the world, yet, all the OEMs want to offshore everything. I think its time for a disruptor!

Now, back to the article. Here’s the thing, WTF? That’s like saying 3G and 4G are better together. Why do I think that is a stupid statement? Here’s why. Any carrier in the USA will deploy them together anyway, and they probably have 3G out here as well. Not just Tier 1 carriers! Also, what about Wi-Fi, they rely on that to offload the carrier’s network. Luckily, I actually read the article.

The title is awful. Not sure who would say such a silly thing or how it could be taken seriously with anyone working on LTE or 5G deployments. When you read the article, it’s much better at explaining that they really are talking about spectrum, Massive MIMO, and planning. I don’t know why they didn’t call the article, “How to get the Most out of your 5G NR Deployments with LTE as the foundation”. Seriously, it makes more sense.

Anyway, let me break it down for you. They cover how 5G spectrum will be either be 3.5GHz or mmwave. That is for everyone but T-Mobile and Sprint. They have other plans which they are executing now. While T-Mobile has fought for 3.5GHz spectrum, they also plan to roll out 5G in the 600MHz spectrum. Sprint is already rolling out massive MIMO in 2.5GHz with LTE. They have plenty of 2.5GHz spectrum to deploy 5G in the same spectrum. Meanwhile, AT&T is deploying 5G in both mmwave and other spectrums while Verizon will use 3.5GHz and mmwave. It’s obvious that mmwave is the choice of FWA.

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The article talks about how MIMO will be a game changer. I am talking about massive MIMO which includes MU-MIMO and beamforming technologies. Who knew that when Ruckus used beamforming for Wi-Fi years ago that it would be a norm for carrier spectrum now?

The article brings out the fact that LTE and 5G will have to work together. No shit Sherlock! This is true, but more out of necessity since hardly anyone is rolling out a 5G only system. If you say DISH is doing it, I’ll believe it when I see it. They’ve done little with their spectrum to date. Dish’s history of wireless deployment is weak at best outside of TV delivery. All that money for spectrum and very little, if anything, to show for it. Although, they finally appear to be making progress in deploying something, supposedly a 5G IOT system. Again, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Spectrum is key because 5G can do more if it has the bandwidth. Sprint has prime spectrum for 5G in their 2.5GHz band. They literally have 100MHz of spectrum in most of the USA. That’s ideal for 5G. It should be a game changer that would allow them to use it for backhaul and/or fronthaul.

I believe that Verizon will also want to use the mmwave to supply backhaul to their small cells and CRAN sites and use it to deliver broadband to end users to create high-speed 5G hotspots. That’s going to be awesome.

Indoor use for mmwave should take off almost immediately, but there are health concerns. Everything I read says the spectrum is safe, but so many people are scared of it. The spectrum is the key.

I bring up safety because that’s a huge question in Quora, “How safe is 5G?” and the point I try to get across is that it’s not the technology but the spectrum and power that can hurt people. Oh, by the way, your microwave uses 2.4GHz, just like Wi-Fi in the ISM band. Wi-Fi can run in several spectrums, today most people use 5.8GHz, but 2.4GHz is still being used. What’s the difference? Wi-Fi power is so low; it’s not a safety concern whereas the high-powered Klystron is hammering 2.4GHz to through food and liquids! Power is the difference, and the FCC has strict limits that the carriers are supposed to follow when deploying on poles. Most small cells are very safe, but the CRAN radio heads could be a different story if not carefully monitored.

Anyway, I digress.

The thing is that 5G will need new spectrum, duh! That spectrum should have enough bandwidth so that we see incredible improvements in throughput and latency. That’s why 3.5GHz is nice, but mmwave is amazing because it has so much more bandwidth. If we can get mmwave spectrum with 100Mhz to 1Ghz carriers set aside for 5G, then imagine what you could do! A lot of broadband stuff! Interactive games, AI functions, near real-time functions and more. How cool would that be to have dedicated spectrum that should be more efficient than Wi-Fi? Yet, if we have dedicated Wi-Fi, it works really well. BUT, you’re only as good as you backhaul, the carriers need to make sure that the backhaul can handle more than 1Gbps. Here is where I think Sprint might fall short. To raise all the backhauls to 100Gbps to handle the new loading costs a lot of money. It ain’t free! And, the reoccurring OpEx will be more. So now you are adding monthly costs to your sites.

How do we cover the increased backhaul costs? We need to load the sites with more and more subscribers! While we all loved densification like adding small cells everywhere. What we really want, at least what the carriers really want is to get as much money from one site as possible. This is why small cells never went into the 100,000s for deployment. They only could handle so many users. How did we overcome that issue? We deployed CRAN, a radio head that could handle all the loading of a macro site sector. That is a game changer. Now we can have very small cells in dense coverage areas that handle heavy user loading as well as high throughout.

Now, many carriers will call CRAN deployments small cells. That’s a ruse to get them deployed. A CRAN site requires a lot more fiber than a small cell, it is a bigger radio head and has more power and loading. Sorry, I’m off topic again.

Let’s sum this up, 5G and LTE will work great together; it has to. Massive MIMO is a great improvement. Spectrum matters, we need more to do more.

Spectrum – the FCC needs to be more proactive. I mean, can I go out and use 3.5GHz CBRS spectrum today? How long did they sit on that, like 3 or more years? What about mmwave? Some carriers are deploying this year. Why does it take the FCC so long to move on spectrum? No wonder there was a concern we would fall behind China in the 5G race, that falls squarely on the FCC’s shoulders. Anyway, we all know China waits for the USA to develop the technology so China can make it cheaper. Business as usual.
Massive MIMO systems – Sprint and T-Mobile are working to deploy massive MIMO this year so that next year they can deploy concentrated 5G systems along with an improved LTE system. The antenna plays a big part in this deployment. Antenna systems are very important.
5G – yes, 5G will be live next year, finally! Actually, I’m sarcastic again, no one thought 5G would be deployed until 2020, yet we’ll see it in 2019, a year early. That is working out very well for T-Mobile and Sprint. They committed to these systems.
LTE – already deployed and will have to work with 5G. If for no other reason, 5G can’t do voice and if someone has to call 911, it has to default to either VoLTE or 3G or 2G. Calling 911 is a requirement in the USA and 5G has to switch back to a voice system. There have been great advances in LTE like VoLTE, carrier aggregation, and massive MIMO. It’s better than ever.
Backhaul – If the backhaul is crappy, it doesn’t matter what technology or how much spectrum you have. If you have a funnel for a backhaul, then the forward bandwidth gets choked, and the systems look like crap. Sure, it costs more, that sucks! Just commit and do it right! Do you want to be the one who has crappy 5G because you saved a few bucks on backhaul? If that’s what you’re thinking, maybe you should have kept those T1 lines! Or maybe DS3 because it’s so much faster and this Ethernet thing is a phase! I bring that up because when we deployed the first 100 Mbps Ethernet system in Maryland, that’s exactly what I was told by all the wireless teams. They laughed at the public library system for deploying an all-Ethernet system because DS3 was the standard. I wonder what they are saying today? Oh, that’s right, they probably all retired!

For Ericsson, they need to do a better job naming their articles or white papers. That title sucks. If you need help, let me know. The information was good, not complaining about that.

Reference:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

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Will the Mini MVNO make a difference for indoor carrier coverage?

November 8, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

When the CBRS is finally released to the public, the carriers want to grab as much spectrum as possible. The thing is, they need partners to provide coverage. Currently, they are relying on Wi-Fi to offload indoor coverage, but that model is fading. The carriers will need to rely on the partners. That’s where a mini MVNO can make a difference.

The model has to change. The release of the CBRS had the carriers blinded with spectrum greed, forcing the FCC to change the rules so they would have more spectrum for a longer time. The overall solution was lost in their blind greed for spectrum. They forgot that they don’t want to spend the money to expand indoor coverage. Honestly, what were they thinking? That is where the CBRS will shine, indoor LTE and 5G coverage. It’s very limited coverage areas will make it ideal for indoor solutions.

That paired with the fact that the carriers don’t want to invest in DAS or indoor coverage anywhere they don’t have to is going to make a new business model for mini MVNOs. That’s where a smaller ISP or carrier could offer coverage in a limited area. This would be the rise of a mini MVNO.

The carriers are missing a golden opportunity if they don’t pair with smaller carriers and ISPs. They could ban together to get CBRS spectrum in buildings around a city or a region. This could make the growth of indoor coverage much cheaper than if the carriers did it themselves. A smaller company using CBRS could pair with any carrier to provide the coverage needed to improve indoor coverage.

That’s why being a mini MVNO for any carrier would make sense. The idea that the carriers won’t spend to improve indoor coverage helps a smaller company look more and more valuable. The carriers can continue with the Wi-Fi offload model, but I don’t see it as sustainable. Wi-Fi in an airport where you have to pay for the access doesn’t make sense when you pay a carrier for unlimited coverage. Why pay for the Wi-Fi? You already pay the carrier for unlimited coverage.

The example I have is when I fly from BWI airport. The airport has limited free coverage, but email on your device quickly eats that up then Boingo wants paid to use their unlimited coverage. However, I have great carrier coverage inside the airport, so I turn off Wi-Fi and rely on the LTE coverage that is there today, and it works very well. Why go to Wi-Fi when you have unlimited data with a carrier?

So for smaller companies that may have CBRS spectrum in an area where the carrier coverage is spotty at best and the Wi-Fi is very limited or nonexistent, you have an opportunity. The opportunity to create a small business model and allow offloading from the carriers in a small controlled environment.

Now, how do you make money off this model? Good question! We know that the carriers won’t pay you squat unless they have to. So one idea is you could ink a deal with one carrier exclusively to see if they would give you some monthly payment, but I would think it’s going to be a very small payment. Then there is the idea that you could get local subscribers. They would sign up to a point. Then local businesses may want to have coverage if they can use it for their back office and business systems as well as customers.

There are a few ideas. I hate to say it, but you may have to build it first. To be honest, I hate the “build it, and they will come” model because if it’s there, no one wants to pay, ask anyone who rolls out free Wi-Fi.

The idea is to get the local businesses or building owners to buy in first. Advertise so that people know that you’re offering the coverage and not the carrier. Make sure people see the difference between what you offer and the Wi-Fi in their business. If you can save someone from a large backhaul cost every month, they would buy in. Make it valuable to the local businesses and maybe the carriers will want you as a very small partner.

This is my business case for the mini MVNO using the CBRS spectrum. The FCC won’t give anything else to the small business; those days are gone. This is going to be the best you can do for now.

The CBRS equipment is out there, and the way to license is cost-effective. Let’s put together some smaller LTE and 5G systems while we still can. The FCC should be opening up the CBRS someday soon, hopefully. I know they had the big press release, but what can we do today? Seriously, who grabbed spectrum so far outside of the carriers or major OEMs to test?

So when the spectrum is free, smaller companies can start working with SpiderCloud, Ruckus, Ruckus, Airspan, and the other OEMs to roll systems out. The major OEMs may not be so easy. I was working with a smaller company that wanted to roll out Nokia and Ericsson gear, and it would take them months before they could deliver anything and they really weren’t interested in any order under 50 units. Just so you know, deal with the OEMs that want to deal with smaller companies. Not every OEM cares about smaller businesses and enterprise the way some do.

Indoor coverage for LTE and 5G are critical to all carriers. Businesses will rely on indoor coverage; the enterprise will build private LTE and 5G systems, new carriers will arrive offering limited indoor coverage. There will be disruptors in this industry.

Something to think about, as VRAN grows and becomes the new normal, smaller CBRS indoor units will make more sense. Currently, CRAN is pushing the limits of VRAN so the CBRS units will need to have the controller remote so they can be deployed anywhere. It’s going to be like the Ericsson DOT system on the controller will be off premises, not the convoluted system that they currently have. It will be cleaner and remotely controlled in the cloud, more or less.

The major OEMs will lose ground to new open source equipment providers, learn more at;

The carriers realize that the last mile is losing its value with the acceptance of unlimited data. They are already looking for new revenue sources. Spectrum is going to lose its value with more and more unlimited data plans. They have to come up with a new way to make money instead of crushing contractors pricing to save money. The model must change.

I can’t wait to see who will be the last mile disruptor. I thought it would be Google, but they didn’t have the stomach to continue to roll out FTTH, so it’s hard to believe they could roll out anything beyond Wi-Fi in a local region. I hope they deploy CBRS, but they need to find a very cheap and easy way to do it. Let’s face it. You need a strong heart and determination to deploy any wireless system. Google hasn’t proved they have either in deployment. Anyone who climbed towers can tell you how hard field work can be. Google supports the CBRS in the background, but I don’t see them deploying much of it.

For those of you that don’t know:

VRAN – Virtual RAN
CRAN – Centralized RAN, radio heads controlled by a central BBU, slightly different from cRAN, Cloud RAN.
RAN – Radio Access Network
BBU – Baseband Unit
FTTH – Fiber to the home
MVNO – Mobile Virtual Network Operator, someone who may use another carrier’s network as their own, for example, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile.
DAS – Distributed Antenna System
CBRS – Citizens Broadband Radio Service, 3.5GHz spectrum in the USA.
Wi-Fi – honestly, you don’t know what Wi-Fi is? And you’re reading this? Google it then get lost! This is for real engineers and technicians.

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

Would you sign up for a membership site with private content? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

Do you want an occasional email with free PDFs of these reports along with book and training offers? Read posts like these offline!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

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Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more…TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!

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Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

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What are the Deployment Risks and How do I Protect Myself?

November 4, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

I know all of you are thinking of all the risks associated with climbing here, that’s a lot of what I write about. However, they are the obvious risks, aren’t they?

When it comes to risks, there are so many that happen. I am going to break them down by the risks in this business.

While this seems to apply to tower workers, it also applies to commission engineers, IT workers, and anyone who might be working at a remote site for a carrier, OEM, or large GC.

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1) Getting Paid for the full scope:

This is the one thing that is most prevalent in wireless deployment, yet one that few people talk about. When it comes to getting paid, the carriers and OEMs generally pay the GCs they work with. However, the money is supposed to trickle down. It doesn’t always happen that way. In fact, several small businesses won’t get paid for one reason or another. There are so many scams that happen in this industry for the deployment teams. This is why the carriers often go directly to the small business now because the GCs got a black eye. There had to be consequences for not getting a job done.

Here are some scams I’ve been told about over the years.

Larger GC will give the vendor 80% of the equipment, and then never give them the rest. Instead, they will pay another crew to finish up, the final day or two while the crew that was there for a week and did 80% of the work can’t get paid because they could not complete the job.
Larger GC will pay a partial payment and ask the contractor to do another job to get paid for the last job; then it goes on until the contractor goes broke. Several larger GCs did this in the early 2000’s and not only got away with it, but they also got rich. Sometimes unethical greed pays, even if they destroy small business and people’s lives in the process.
The larger GC will approve change orders without the carrier’s approval, then not pay. Partial payments or payment for the base scope is all they get. Make sure you have a clear Change Request process in place to handle Change Orders!
Scope creep is when the scope grows, and the contractor on site does way more than the original scope had in it for the same money. I did this all the time when I did fieldwork. There comes the point when you have to say no or ask for more money, maybe even walk off the site.
Delay penalties are built into the contractor scope. This is a common thing that many GCs do, and then the work gets delayed with penalties going to the contractor.
Scope changes at the last This is very common; it’s hard to determine a cost when the changes happen a day or two before you get to the site.

2) Long Payment Terms:

Here is something fairly new, the carriers delay payment from 30 days to 90 days, maybe longer. Larger companies can absorb this to a point, but for services, this is hard. Especially for smaller companies that are trying to make payroll every month. They don’t always have the money to float for a long time, yet the carriers are looking for a way to delay payments as long as possible.

Let me put this into perspective by looking at a little history. If you’re wondering, I have lived through all of this. If you think that the 90 days starts when you finish, guess again. It starts when the site gets accepted. A game the carriers used to play is that they would not send

someone out to inspect and accept the site for weeks, delaying payments. They, the businesses start putting language in the contracts stating that the carrier had 7 to 10 working days to accept the site. That changed a lot of things, like how soon they get out to inspect the site.

Then, the carriers would critique every little thing, and the contractor had to fix a lot of items. This would cause delays and scheduling issues. The contractor would have to come back, do the work, and then wait for another inspection. Well, the contractors wised up by bringing a crew on site and doing all the work real-time. Thus, inspection and repair are all done the same visit. However, the schedule would suffer because the scope did not define the end product that well.

Then scopes and site acceptance packages all improved, to the point it is expected to be prepared up front, which add more money and man hours to the job before anything is deployed. I got way off topic, sorry.

So, after the work is done, let’s say a week, then after the inspection is done, let’s add another week, then when the paperwork goes through, add another 2 to 5 business days, then the bill goes to the carrier, and the countdown begins. It could be 30 days or 90 days or longer, on top of the additional 7 to 15 days already included. Like I said, if you are floating paychecks to people and this is your only income, it gets painful.

3) Up Front Training:

Remember for all of this work to be done; the contractor has to have some training. They may be able to read a MOP, but they should have an SME, Subject Matter Expert, within their company to make this happen. Generally, the contractor has to do this on their own dime.

It could be climbing, commissioning, wiring, making jumpers, terminating fiber or coax, anything that could be needed at the site. Even router configurations.

IF the training is not sufficient, then the quality of the installation suffers.

4) Miscellaneous Risks:

This is something that is encountered, causes problems, but is not often talked about unless you’re working the offer.

I have a list:

Weather-related delays, maybe even hurricanes. All cost the deployment teams money and delay the project. Even if it happens somewhere else, your boss may pull you off the deployment to do repairs which are generally more lucrative than new installations.
Vandalism and theft. This is very common for contractors. Not necessarily at the job site, but when they stay in hotels or park somewhere in the city, very common. Causes delays and out-of-pocket money to replace a tool that may have been needed but left in the vehicle.
Per Diem becomes an issue for smaller contractors. They should give their workers more than a hotel room, but often, that’s all some of them get. They need to get paid for their meals. If you don’t think this happens, talk to the Hubble Foundation because they used to help out climbers that would have no food money, in fact, sometimes they get left at the hotel without getting paid. Surprisingly, this is more common, although it never happened to me! It pays to know whom you work for.
Health Matters. For many of these crews and commissioning engineers, an injury or sickness can really be a setback. They don’t’ have endless resources of people and if the work has to be done at the site, what can you do? You have to replace them, even if it’s short term.
Security is an issue in some areas. I mean physical security against theft or bodily injury. I know so many site workers, engineers, and technicians that locked themselves in a site to be safe. I know that some sites require that you have a security guard or service to protect your team or vehicles while working at the site. Sadly, all too common in this industry.
RF Safety could be an issue at a tower site. Something to think about, the climbers will be working around a lot of RF. This could cause problems if the RF is not turned down or they get too close to another antenna. While this falls under health, it really has to do with training.
Poor training. This goes without saying, but you would be surprised how many people at a site are poorly trained. You probably know, but you don’t want to admit it.
Lawsuits overwork. This is a drain on everyone, but a larger company may look at a petty lawsuit for nonpayment or injury as “business as usual” whereas a smaller company has to decide if the fight is worth the time and lost income.
People walk off the job; this is common. Sometimes people get pissed off and leave, it sucks, but there’s little you can do to control those people.
The OEM’s equipment doesn’t work. Could be a failure out of the box, or poor documentation, improper installation, wiring error, you name it. You think you do everything right, and it fails. Who pays for the equipment replacement? Something to think about.
Damaged equipment is common in work like this. We do all that we can to make sure that the equipment gets there in one piece, but this is delicate equipment, and it is a rough environment. It could get damaged, and then you have all the finger-pointing. It sucks, but it’s common. Did it get damaged in shipping, did the crew damage it, or did it get damaged during installation? We may never know the truth!
Misunderstandings happen. This could be that the contractor was going to install something that they are not familiar with. While we should all read the scope prior to the job, not everyone does. This creates confusion, could create a problem with the installation, commissioning, or testing. While this is never accounted for, it happens more often than people realize.

How do you protect yourself?

There are a lot of risks in deployment. Not just for the tower crew, but for the engineers, technicians, and especially for the small business owner. How would you protect yourself from these risks? I believe it all starts up front. I have an outline below of somethings that are probably common sense, but you may not practice them as you should.

As you read these, understand most of this has to be done up front. The paperwork matters if you want to be protected.

The contract. Read the contract and understand it. Hey, I don’t understand most contracts, so what I do is hire a lawyer who specializes in contracts. In fact, that’s what all businesses should do. It pays to have someone smart in your corner. Don’t just pay them to read and protect you but ask them to walk you through it. This sounds like a pain; I used to ignore this. I have learned that it really pays off. Ask them to explain it. It costs more to do this if paying by the hour, but it will help you in the long run.
The scope of work. I know, you all know what it takes to get the job done, but did you put in the proper assumptions and exclusions? Did you outline the change request process? Is all of this laid out in layman’s terms, so your worker has a clear understanding of what they need to do at the site. Most larger OEMs have MOPs, Method of Process or Procedures, for you to follow. Make sure they get this to you prior to doing any work.
If you are doing something new, what training do you need from the carrier or OEM? Make sure you get it. Make sure you set aside the time and resources to do it properly. If it’s cable termination, as the supplier to provide it at your location. If it’s the carrier providing it, ask them to do it in the closest market to you. What can be done online and what has to be hands on? Figure it out!
Milestones and payment terms. While this should be in the scope or the contract, lay it out in clear English, or whatever language you’re doing business in. Each milestone will need to be laid out along with a payment expectation for that milestone. If you get 80% of the site complete and the GC does not supply you with enough equipment, state that in the SOW you should get paid 50% to 80% when that much is done. Maybe you want a deposit up front, outline what the expectation is to get off your ass and start working.
Poor workers. If you have someone who is a danger at the site or stupid, you need to trim the fat. I hate losing bodies, but if you don’t, then you may wind up with a lawsuit to protect some idiot who should have been fired weeks ago.
Take care of your superstars if you want to keep them. If you take care of them with payment, per diem, and understanding, then you are ahead of 80% of other companies out there. Taking care of them is more than money. You need to listen to their ideas and explain why you are doing what you’re doing. One thing I have been complimented for is that I often give people the “ Why are we doing this? Why is it done this way? Why do we need to use this tool or training?” If you can answer these questions, then you have them understand the reason for the scope of work, and they are aligned with your goals for the right reasons. Not just the almighty dollar. FYI, this is a two-way street, if they have a better way to do something that could save money, you need to listen to them as well. Don’t just talk, listen!

Summary:

Now you have an idea of what risks you will see. This is especially valuable when bidding a job or starting out. That’s the time to look at the risks, not when it’s too late, and something horrible has happened. Then it’s too late.

You have some ideas on what to do to avoid these risks. You can’t control the weather, but you can plan around it. You can’t control accidents, but you can do all that you can to prevent them. You can’t control other companies, but you can build in language to make sure you have a viable lawsuit if things go south.

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

Would you sign up for a membership site with private content? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

Do you want an occasional email with free PDFs of these reports along with book and training offers? Read posts like these offline!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

More products from TechFecta and Wade4Wireless that support WADE!

Do you know what to put in your SOW, the details needed to get paid for milestones or job completion?

Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more…TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!

Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

Uncategorized

How do you overcome Small Cell Deployment Obstacles?

October 14, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

We hear how small cells are going to be deployed more this year than last. In fact, I’ve been saying myself. It’s just that small cells have not taken off like we had all hoped, or at least as I hoped. The good news is that there are great improvements being done to the macro sites that have mad the small cell a better addition and so much as an offload as we thought. Also, the CRAN systems have made the typical small cell model look insufficient as CRAN offers the macro capabilities in a single radio head compared to a typical small cell.

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What does that mean? It means that people will look at CRAN deployment first. Unfortunately, it means we all look at CRAN and a small cell deployment rather than what it really is, an extended sector of a macro site. So, I digress from the topic and explain the difference. But, I did so to help you see that when we talk small cell deployment, what we’re really talking about is small cell, CRAN, oDAS, and more that will all be called small cells going forward. Remember that the carriers want everyone to think that we’re just deploying small cells, not CRAN, mini-macros, or anything else. It’s easier to identify all of this in one big group, a small cell.

Small Cell Obstacles and how to overcome them.

OK, now, let’s look at the small cell deployment obstacles.

Permitting – the FCC is pushing to get the permitting problems eliminated. While the carriers still need to pay a permitting fee, the cities, townships, and municipalities can no longer sit on these permits. They may still reject them if they have just cause. The can also have a say in what they should look like. The citizens may still protest them. But the time to deployment will be greatly reduced. Many larger cities have already overcome this by offering a mass permit approval process to accelerate deployments. Let’s face it, the citizens want the coverage, but they don’t want to see the equipment. I get it, make it look nice and keep quiet if you want a happy citizen.
Backhaul – here is a key component, how do you get the backhaul or fronthaul to the device. Whether it’s a radio head or a small cell or a CRAN interface, you need to get the connection to the device to make it work. Can we do this wirelessly? YES! Sprint has been doing this with their 2.5GHz spectrum successfully with a UE Relay. Others may use microwave or a Point to multipoint, PMP device. It comes down to space and making it look aesthetically acceptable. That’s been the problem with microwave, even in the 70 to 90 GHz range. It has to be small and hidden. Hence, that why Sprint’s UE Relays have been a success. With the rollout of Sprint massive MIMO and 5G in the 2.5GHz spectrum, they should have the ideal spectrum for massive backhaul paired with new solutions and bandwidth. I think that the 3.5GHz spectrum could produce similar results. The UE Relay has smaller antennas, can receive from multiple cell sites and choose the best one, and is an ideal solution. Sprint uses this technology for their magic boxes, which appears to be a success. Although fiber is still the preferred backhaul for any of this, it’s still the hardest to get anywhere.
Mounting assets – here is still an issue. Many states have limited what an owner can charge for these assets. While that seems like a great win for the carriers, for Crown Castle, it seems like a step backward. They have put money into building poles and offering backhaul. The good news if they have limited rent on the income, they could earn it back selling their backhaul. I don’t know how it will play out, but they were proactive in planning for this deployment. They worked out many of the problems, like noise, aesthetics, and so on. They were pioneers in the small cell planning.
Site Acquisition – this is still costly. You would think this would not be as important but think of what goes into site acquisition. It takes the lease amendments if not a new lease. It has to have the structural analysis of a pole done as required. Carriers and landlords require CDs, (construction drawings), to be done for every site, even small cell sites. They need to know what power and backhaul will be used, what equipment will be mounted, and so on. It costs money to get all of this done, not as much as a macro site, but pretty close.
Installation, commissioning, and integration – I have to be honest, I don’t see this as an obstacle. Installation is cheap. The commissioning and integration, (C&I), generally plug and play. All the same, C&I is something that could be done remotely if the equipment allows it. The installer is asked to power it up and wait to see the green lights. This really should not be an obstacle anymore.
Equipment – I bring this up because it could be more than you think, the equipment is something that the carriers have worked out, but it’s not always the same. There are mounting kits, grounding, routers, camouflage, physical security, and so on. All the things that the site survey should point out.
Site surveys – this is where most groups go cheap, they use google earth to site the poles, then when they get there, they see a problem, which usually falls on the installer’s shoulders. Oh, the installer probably gets paid the least and has to most problems to deal with. Remember that the installer is at the site with the equipment and needs to mount it for that $200/site the carrier wants to pay. So, any delays and the installer loses money. Usually, the delays are caused by the group planning the installation, carrier or OEM or GC, and the installer won’t get reimbursed for the additional work or hardware unless he has a good contract and scope of work. So, the physical site survey should save you delays, costs, hiring new installers, and so on. They are easy, and can all be done with a simple iPhone or Android using an app. Don’t make it harder than it already is. Do the work, save time and improve the process. If it’s a large deployment, you should be able to have 10 surveys done a day unless you bog down the survey team with useless requirements. Be smart and think it through and have most of the work done in the back office. Make sure you have the best pictures you can get. Remember that this information will be used for the permitting, CDs, and so on. Make the most of it up front to have the process run smoothly on the backend.

To sum it up, the obstacles are starting to be eliminated. The site survey will eliminate many of the obstacles that remain. It’s still not free or cheap, but it’s becoming more cost-effective than it ever was. That combined with the fact that the CRAN solution allows more macro-like capabilities to be used at a small cell location helps push things along.

Planning is the key! I’ll tell you from experience that only so much planning happens in the office behind a laptop. What generally happens is 2 things. Problems get reduced to nothing or blown out of proportion. I have seen it go both ways. Analysis paralysis happens all the time. Most engineers think of all that could go wrong and talk everyone out of doing anything whereas sales think of everything going perfectly and push too quickly. Real-world input helps with the reality that the worst-case scenario could happen, or the best-case scenario could happen. Find the balance that happens in the real world.

Resources:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

Would you sign up for a membership site with private content? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

Do you want an occasional email with free PDFs of these reports along with book and training offers? Read posts like these offline!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

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How can YOU put the Tech in PropTech? Build the business plan here!

September 30, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

Do you know what PropTech is? According to Tearsheet, “Technology aimed at the real estate industry is positioned to change the way we buy, sell, and manage property.” This is a growing area of technology.

PropTech should be on the forefront of anyone who does in-building work. All the contractors and distributors should be thinking of how to promote products that will show value for the tenants. Many need indoor technology and coverage to do business. Would they pay more for it? I think so.

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What does this mean to you? Working in wireless and technology, you have the opportunity to make a difference in how the property managers deploy. You can build up a model that helps them decide if it’s going to make sense to add your system to the buildings that they build, lease, or renovate. It makes sense to be a part of it up front so that when they decide to build or renovate, you are there doing it at the time of construction, not as an afterthought where you have to go in later.

Broadband Access

To me, this goes without saying. However, many realtors I talk to have no idea what broadband is available near a building they are representing. They just assume there’s access. BUT WHO IS IT? What I mean here, does Verizon have fiber here or another provider? Is a cable company offering anything? What is in the building and how close is the nearest fiber ring? What other technology tenants do you have here? It’s nice when this is identified before you talk to the client.

Indoor Communications

What are the opportunities here?

DAS in common areas and hallways,
Small Cells to cover less used areas,
Public Safety DAS to cover all areas,
Fiber runs inside the building, to feed tenant spaces,
Fiber access from the outside in,
Fixed Wireless broadband to rooftops,
Wi-Fi deployment in common areas and to feed tenant spaces.

Das and Small Cells:

Here is something that DAS and small cell vendors should be interested in. How can we create an app to place small cells and DAS? How could we prepare the properties for the communications that they need?

We have to show the building owners what the payback would be with new investors and how they could improve the quality of their building by adding commercial communications.

This is where communications are needed the most. While many cities and municipalities have requirements to add public safety DAS systems since they are a requirement. This is why the building owners often put in the minimal requirement. This means that they have to have the coverage in most of the building. While many building owners will not do it unless they have to, they try to get what they can. It is never an issue until an emergency happens, then it is too late. Lives lost, then it seems like a priority.

How do I know this? When I was working with Alcatel-Lucent, we often put together models for companies that needed this. There were the obvious, like hospitals, large corporate centers and so on. I also did it for many businesses by putting in paging boosters, cell repeaters, public safety systems, and DAS. It has always been there. It was usually up to the tenant to put this in, but they are focused on one thing normally, not a system that spans multiple carriers. Now that we have Wi-Fi and companies want workers to BYOD, it’s not going to be the company that makes this choice; they will want it buried in the rent.

Why care about carrier communications when it’s not required? Because it’s what tenants want as well as public safety! Landlords don’t want it because of the costs. I find that interesting because the first person on the scene will want to dial 911, not sit and hope that the first responders arrive. They call for help if they can. It’s not always easy, but that is what has to be done. If they can’t get coverage, they can’t call for help; people could get hurt or die. Simple.

Public Safety DAS:

Now, imagine we can create an app for the property owners, realtors, or brokers showing them that public safety DAS is needed? Then they would see the value. Then we add the payback for DAS or small cells in the building. The payback could be bringing in more clients or offering an additional safety feature. I was hoping that CBRS would play a part in this, but the FCC is really late on releasing anything CBRS related.

Then the property owners would know what has to be done and what would have the greatest impact on leasing. It helps to put carrier coverage in front of them while they are still working on the building, and not as an afterthought. This is where the value is going to be added. By helping them get out of their own way. That’s our job!

Fiber:

Fiber inside the building needs to be run. If the landlord can run the fiber ahead of time through common areas, then the tenant won’t need to go back and rip up the hallway ceilings or walls when they simply want to add fiber to their spaces. It makes sense. Help show the landlord that makes sense to run it ahead of time and label everything.

Fiber from the outside in should be considered. Where does the landlord own the fiber, it’s not always at the building, but if it is, make sure they know where the fiber is coming in and where it needs to go before it reaches the tenant. They could save cost and construction if they plan accordingly. When the tenant is in, they want fast and efficient construction costs associated with internet connections. It makes sense, yet so many landlords think they are saving money by not planning then they get pissed off when the tenant was to drill through the main wall or tear up a hallway to add new internet service. Save them time, money, and aggravation by creating a proactive plan.

Fixed Wireless Rooftop:

This is best to be planned in advance because the fiber will need to be run form a raceway on the roof to where ever in the building. Wireless is a cost-effective way for many to connect or a quick redundant internet access option. Help them plan for this ahead of time because they will want it to aesthetically pleasing and functional at the same time.

Wi-Fi in Common Areas:

While it’s easy and cheap to deploy Wi-Fi, you still need a backhaul. The landlord needs to understand this. They can have Wi-Fi if it’s planned properly. Make sure the coverage is good and that the backhaul availability is there and that there are CAT 5 or 6 cables run to the data room. Also, Wi-Fi needs to be upgraded to make sure there is access to the units. The easier it is to access the better in the long run.

Data Centers

Back when I designed data centers, we would help the people make decisions based on growth and need. It was easy because when I was in paging, we built data rooms all the time. At that time paging was booming, and we always planned for 3x growth.

While you think it’s easy, there is a lot to be considered. It goes beyond air conditioning and designing racks in a room. Maybe a raised floor, higher ceilings, temperature controlled environment, fire suppression instead of fire sprinklers, backup power, surge suppression, broadband availability, fiber and internet access, overhead water pipes, and so on. You should be a part of this discussion. Even cable management

should be thought of ahead of time.

If a building owner wants to have technology customers, then they should consider what is needed for data rooms. Often the tenant chooses a closet as an afterthought. Those days are disappearing. The landlord just wants to provide space, but in today’s world where work is done remote, tenants still need a data room. They want one that is suitable for all their servers, backup power, and routers. It should never be an afterthought in today. It should be the center of the design. Then the office space should be designed around it. I can’t believe it would be any other way.

I’ve known companies that put data rooms in basements and had water pipes break. I’ve seen a major distributor have an underground data center and a water main outside of their building burst and flooded their basement. They didn’t have off-site backups, so all of their records were destroyed.

I’ve seen power surges cripple data centers because they had a poorly designed UPS power systems. Often, it’s designed that way to save money, more cost savings that hurt them later.

I’ve seen so many problems that were caused because of lack of planning, lack of spending, or just plain bad luck.

If someone could help these landlords tell their tenants where the data room should go, where the fiber runs are, how to add redundancy, and where the closest fiber loop is located, then tenants would have a lot less homework to do. The decision to move in would be so much easier than all the crap they have to do now. It builds trust between tenant and landlord.

Most realtors don’t care until they start to lose business. We, in the tech field, have the ability to win them more business and we deserve to get paid for it. This is a growing business in PropTech where technology meets Real Estate. It could equal huge profits for all, include the tenant moving in. Why not carry the services over to them?

Let’s look at the opportunities:

Lay out the communications for the buildings,
Show the need for seamless communications,
Separate the public safety from commercial,
Identify the nearby fiber, fiber loops, and redundancy options,
Point out companies with large data centers, like Amazon, Facebook,
Identify the payback like value to tenants and increased rent value,
Identify the expenses and be transparent,
Put it all together in a spreadsheet,
Make an offer!

Now, the next steps:

Reach out to realtors, building managers, and renovators to show models,
Partner with construction and renovation firms,
Maybe you could align with banks who give loans for this kind of thing,
Create models, including BOMs and services costs,
Don’t forget the maintenance or testing that may be needed later,
Present the models you built in an organized way, slide decks or websites,
Offer to build different models with products and services
Build BOMs and scope, high level, to show cost models,
Show how this will entice tenants to move it,
Identify how the quality of tenants will increase,
Make this a new business line with your new partners.

Hey, I just laid out most of your business plan, now get busy and make it happen. Whether you’re an installer or an app developer or a distributor, you can find a business in this model.

Resources

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

Would you sign up for a membership site with private content? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

Do you want an occasional email with free PDFs of these reports along with book and training offers? Read posts like these offline!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

More products from TechFecta and Wade4Wireless that support WADE!

Do you know what to put in your SOW, the details needed to get paid for milestones or job completion?

Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more…TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!

Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

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What is your telecom services workforce model?

September 23, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

I have been working with partners on placing people. As you know, the larger OEMs and carriers look for new ways to hire people for deployments. The new work model is to get 1099 workers more and more while the W4 workforce is starting to dwindle. That’s the trend, but we still need both.

The deployment projects force telecom companies to increase the workforce quickly. Then when the deployment is over, they have to reduce the workforce just as quickly. This is why the 1099 model has been on the rise. Sometimes they add the W4 on a temporary basis to keep the people onboard for over a year, maybe 2 or 3, but eventually, when the project winds down, they keep very few.

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Would you sign up for a membership site with private content? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

This is where the rise of placement companies in the telecommunications industry is on the rise. I work with several companies to create models and to attract people. I know that having a pile of resumes is not always the best way to recruit. I am a fan of LinkedIn to find people. I now have new resources where the models that play out in other industries now will work in telecom.

Why will 1099 work?

It’s already being done it’s just that most companies don’t realize how common it is. While I still work full-time for one company, I consult with others. As a contractor, not as an employee. This is basically allowing me to be a W4 and 1099 all at the same time.

The 1099 model works well for some jobs. The engineers that do the commissioning and building of sites are general contractors. They have a skill that could parlay across several brands. The OEMs have similar equipment models that could be commissioned in a similar way.

Companies will use a referral system to get people in quickly and in the local market. In the old days, they would pay someone like me to go from market to market if the equipment was new. I would commission the equipment. In today’s world of software, that skill can be learned quickly, but you still need someone familiar with site equipment to load it and work with it. So, it’s easier to train someone for that skillset. Also, there are a lot of semi-retired people that would like to do the jobs on a limited basis. This is where the 1099 model fits.

I am working with teams that can make this happen. It is working today. It’s just like hiring a small contractor or an individual contributor for that specific task in that specific city. Nationwide and regional deployments need skill sets even if the software is similar, you would like to have someone ta the site that knows what to look for. They may know what’s working and what isn’t, or they may be able to find their way around. In other words, it’s familiar to them and not alien so you can rely on them to work on something without guiding them every inch of the way.

This is why the 1099 model for the field workforce is growing. The experience is out there, and the work is out there. We just need to find a way to bring the two together. I have this model laid out. It’s straightforward, and a way for companies to find workers much like you would find an Uber driver, online. You may think it’s hard, but let me ask you, how hard it is for you to find a driver or a Starbucks with your smartphone, do you trust that the driver will get you where you need to go or that Starbucks will have the coffee you want? Of course, so here is a way for you to find the worker you want and rate them.

To learn more about finding engineering 1099 resources for your business, email me at wade@techfecta.com, and I’ll tell you how it works. It’s really simple. I have a partner, Field Nation, who is great at this. If you go direct, please let them know you found this on the Wade4Wireless blog!

Do we still need W4 workers?

Of course. These are your core workers who are building up the company from the inside out. They are going to be the go-to people who design, train, and lead. If you’re building up a workforce for longer work, then this is the model. Many companies will ramp up the W4 workforce when they need project managers. PMs are a key to successful deployments. Most companies think that they can have a few for a specific project, but once they know how the companies work and the contractors, the entire model changes. They keep them much longer to work on the new projects as well. If you let go of a good PM, you may be losing a valuable resource.

I also have partners that can help you build a W4 or 1099 workforce. Again, email me at wade@techfecta.com, and I can help you out. I have a partner, which I point out below, but you could build a model like this on your own. I am just trying to align you with someone I work with, obviously because I get a commission.

What about contractors?

OK, when I say 1099, I generally mean an individual. 1099 is a simple contract that makes payment terms for the work and time. They are contractors like tower crews that are needed because deployments require companies. They will contract to be agreed upon price and scope between the two companies. Many IT companies or tower crews’ companies are larger contractors. There is more risk, insurance, and quite frankly, it takes a team to do the tasks required. This is where the contract model will come in. Larger companies are agreeing to an outcome, project-based pricing, or a per site price. This is common with 1099 workers, but they may expect an hourly rate.

It’s not all peaches and cream. The carriers have reverse auctions, making contractors take pay cuts, locking them into 90-day terms, and asking for limited change orders. While they are saving money up front, they have alienated several quality contractors. They are rarely about quality anymore but all about the cheapest vendor that can deliver.

If you are a contractor and bid low, beware! You may lose money on the job or worse when they expected more, and you didn’t complete the work to their unrealistic expectations, they may not pay you. If you think it doesn’t happen, guess again.

All I ask is that both sides agree to a set scope of work, pay attention to what is in scope and what is out of scope. Things always creep up, called scope creep, that can eat you. Do the best to assume but don’t be afraid to list exclusions.

Very large companies always try to bully smaller contractors, all I can say is know when to walk away. If it is a trusted partner, then maybe you know you can move forward, However, if the company was bought by another and they basically tell you to play ball, or you’re fired, be ready to walk away from those douchebags! I have seen it and talked to many companies that had a long-standing relationship with a larger company bought by another, and the new procurement department came in and said, literally, “half of you will be gone by next year.” Guess what, it was more than half, they would go directly to the carrier or to other companies that treated them better. That company, with its brilliant tactics, (SARCASM!), alienated potential partners when it would have been building solid relationships. It’s hard to trust someone when they tell you that you’re expendable. Sure, it happens in large companies every day, but you still don’t say it if you want them to work hard for you! My point here is, you have more power than you think because when the large corporation tried to push the workers around, they lost good partners. Then they started losing money on jobs because contractors walked off job sites. Then large corporation got a crappy reputation. Who wants to work for someone who you know will screw you! Obviously, they didn’t realize that in the USA you can’t offshore tower work. IF someone is going to screw you, then don’t work for them. Unfortunately, many of us have to learn the hard way. OK, I am off my soapbox. By the way, if you want to tell stories about how you or your company got screwed over, send an email to wade4wireless@gmail.com and tell me about it. If you want to share it, give me permission in the email to share, if not then tell me not to share.

How do they set a rate?

This is going to be set by the area, the work, if travel is required, and so on. There are a lot of variables. A PM might get paid differently than the IT guy or the BTS commissioning engineer. They may sign up for a month or to do 100 sites. They may need someone in New York City and in Liverpool, Pennsylvania. All of these affect the pay rate.

Sometimes, companies get a discount if they commit to 1,000 sites versus having someone go out to troubleshoot one site in the middle of nowhere.

These are all variables that will be considered when determining a cost.

In the new models, the worker and the company can set the rate between them. In a day of reverse auctions, it’s better to agree this way. Why? In a reverse auction, chances are you only have the companies showing up to talk to the larger GCs, OEMs, and end customers (like the carriers). However, in a model where you find someone online, you can see what they want paid to do a simple job, a site, or a task that you need to be done. They are not worried about the liability or the risk. They simply want to do a task. Also, they have a specific region, city, or even site that they will do. Why pay more? However, the GC will need to have a PM manage everything, so if you’re the GC, remember to have money to pay for your PM and risk.

What if you’re the GC?

If you are the GC, you may have a region based on your presence or based on what OEM expertise you have. Either way, you will need staff to support. You have to plan for what you need. Most of you know these projects take expertise. With the rollout of new technologies like Massive MIMO and 5G, you will need people that have done site work in the past but can adapt to the new technologies. If you’re like me, you know there is a learning curve. So, how do you plan?

Well, you need to rely on the people that may know their way around an OEM’s equipment and a site. Let’s look at commissioning and integration of a carrier’s site for example. It’s different from the construction or tower work. That takes a crew, a contractor with employees or subs that will do the work. For the commissioning and integration at the site you need someone with knowledge of that equipment, even if it’s a new and improved version of the original OEM’s gear, they can learn it quickly. You need someone with knowledge on that equipment, but maybe they don’t know how the new process will work.

It doesn’t matter about the old MOP, (Method of Procedure), but the new MOP should be familiar to that engineer. You may have a pool of resources but are they what you need?

There are alternatives to working with your limited pool.

I am working with a company, Field Nation, and that is what they specialize in, finding you the resources you need. I can work with you to align with this company with the resources you need, again, feel free to contact me at wade@techfecta.com for more information.

The way I see it, this is the future of the workforce. These engineers have a skill that you need for a limited time. The workforce is there for the equipment you need. You just have to find them.

What if you’re the contractor, engineer, or field worker?

This is a way for you to connect to the GCs without having to make 100 calls or hope that you have someone on the inside. What you need to do it clearly build a resume. LinkedIn is a great place to have your references and skills listed.

I mention both because the company that is researching you needs to know where to learn more. LinkedIn is where you can post all your professional work experience and build your resume. This is going to be used for a background check whether you like it or not. If a GC or OEM can look at your profile, they may dig deeper. They don’t always check references unless you sign up for a whole lot of sites.

If you’re retired, semi-retired or laid off this is a good way for you to get paid and possibly make some new contacts. To see how it works and where to sign up at Field Nation, go to https://www.fieldnation.com/how-field-nation-works and learn more. You may like it or maybe not, but it’s a viable alternative to the W4 lifestyle.

Overseas verses in country workforces

Listen, I see it happening all the time in the US and UK. The workforce is being eliminated in these countries and moving to India, Mexico, and other countries. This makes sense. Mexico and India have really smart people that do the work for less than ¼ of what US and UK workers get. For RF engineering, support, call center, and remote integration, this is the way things are done. It’s just like manufacturing in China, they do it much cheaper, more efficiently, and well. It’s hard for us to compete. (With all of that said, I am working on a smart manufacturing article that will change the dynamic. Manufacturing is changing, and we need to be ready.) It’s not going to change overnight, even with all of President’s Trump’s Tariffs.

Large companies, corporations are rarely run in our home countries anymore, especially in telecom. Even the carriers are foreign-owned. That’s fine, they all know where the money comes from. They just need to understand that it can’t all be done overseas. Site work is still site work.

That’s why I am presenting this model. The workers in the US have an alternative to jump on a system like the drivers of Uber. More of a work where and when you want. The GCs have an opportunity to hire people based on location, talent, and need rather than full on boarding.

Times are changing!

Look at the new companies on the rise, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, Lyft, and all the rest. The way we do business has dramatically changed. The way people work has changed. It’s now hitting telecom and larger businesses. The time for you to change is now. My job is to make sure you have this information. To get the updates you need to align your business with the best profitability. If you’re the worker, my job is to let you know that the business model is changing and it’s not all bad.

We all have trouble with change. If you have been laid off recently, you know what I am talking about. The goal of most larger carriers and OEMs in telecom is to streamline. What that means is to downsize and offshore resources so that the investors see a higher return on investment.

If you run a small business, you can’t compete with that. The thing the larger GCs have the relationship. The crutch the carriers and larger OEMs have is that they need someone to respond to them 16/7, (16 hours 7 days a week). It’s hard for a smaller business to cater to the carriers all the time. Carriers are demanding and don’t plan very well. They rely on the GCs to do that for them.

In the US, offshoring is normal, and this is great for India and Mexico. They have the talent. In the US where I live, we need to find ways to align with the new technology revolution. That means we have to use our knowledge, experience, and expertise to become invaluable.

Commentary:

The lesson here is that there are new models for the GCs and contractors to be more efficient than ever. The W4 model is not going to be as popular, and 1099 models could bring a lot of workers out of retirement to do local work around their schedules.

Resources:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

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What spectrum would you use for Private LTE?

September 23, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

This is a question I recently saw on a friend’s post. He gave a talk about private LTE. His point was that you have more options than the CBRS.

If you are planning to deploy private LTE then you have several options. The thing is you could use the ISM band, where you have Wi-Fi. The problem is it’s full of Wi-Fi. There could be issues with that pesky Wi-Fi that is everywhere and on almost every device. That is good and bad. Good if you need instant free broadband connections. Bad if you want dedicated spectrum. So, it may not be the best choice if you’re worried about interference.

If you want a lightly licensed solution, with limited bandwidth but low latency, you can use the CBRS. This is going to be your best choice. You can use it.

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I like SpiderCloud and Ruckus as a CBRS OEM. They make good products, and they connect to Federated Wireless for SAS, Spectrum Access System. They all work together to make sure that the private LTE system will work perfectly for your network. I know, this sounds like a sales pitch, but the tools are out there, and these OEMs will help you get around the learning curve. Why not take advantage of their knowledge?

The idea here is that you can figure everything else out. The network is already your strong suit, routers and networking are something you’ve done and will continue to do. So why make the spectrum choice hard? If you use ISM, then you may have to compete with all the Wi-Fi in your building. If you go with CBRS, you have dedicated spectrum in your building.

I was hoping that there would be some mmwave that we could all dip into, I mean something that could be used that is lightly licensed with a ton of spectrum. That may not happen. The FCC does plan to release more spectrum in the ISM band. Sure, you can use 70GHz, 80GHz, and 90GHz, but I was hoping something for the small business in the 24 to 28GHz range. Probably not going to happen since the carriers are willing to pay for that spectrum.

What would you choose?

ISM band for LTE-U? Cost effective but limited indoor-outdoor coverage areas. Chances are it’s all you need, I mean look at Wi-Fi, it’s good enough for most people.
The CBRS band? Another cost-effective and somewhat protected indoor and outdoor solution. You have more options here, but maybe not the throughput you need.
The 70GHz, 80GHz, and 90GHz bands? Cost effective with limitations, outdoor solutions. Weather can be an issue.

You could use any of them, all of them, or none of them. It’s all up to you and the business model you’re building around private LTE.

If you are interested in commenting on the commission’s planning for spectrum above 24GHz, then go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/20/2018-14806/use-of-spectrum-bands-above-24-ghz-for-mobile-radio-services and read it.’

Comments are welcome, email me at wade4wireless@gmail.com if you want to share some thoughts.

Resources:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

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Could you support a large Broadband Deployment?

September 23, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

I was reading several articles about the failure of Google Broadband to rollout nationwide. The article in TechDirt was really interesting. It’s listed below under resources.

The thing is, Google thought it would be easy to roll out fiber. I think they thought it would be cost-effective to be the resource and the provider. What they didn’t count on is how much hard work and upfront money is needed. The could have partnered with some smaller ISPs to leverage their expertise. In this case, they thought they knew better. They learned the hard way.

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I see the difference as Google was used to building data centers and applications. While this is work, they can test it, but they have to build it and hope the people like it. If they don’t sign up, then they can shut it down and move on for relatively little cost and no ongoing costs other than internet access.

If you deploy a system, you have a heavy upfront cost, ongoing OpEx, and expense to shut things down. You can pull the fiber and use it somewhere else, once it’s pulled its garbage in most cases.

Then, if you build it and nobody signs up, you’re losing money every month because you’re paying for that pole, that line, that support as part of a heavy OpEx whether it’s used or not.

It takes time, patience, money, and an investment to roll out fiber. It takes CapEx up front and OpEx for the long haul. It’s not an easy venture, and it takes balls.

That’s why the smaller businesses struggle, they have to do all of this, and they probably have a debt to pay. You have to pay your contractors when they do the work. You have to pay for the supplies and fiber as you roll it out. You have to pay for the permits up front, a hefty cost. You have to pay for the site acquisition up front. There are very few shortcuts.

Almighty Google learned this the hard way. That’s probably why they always complain about spectrum but have yet to win any in the auctions. They know it would be a long hard and expensive road to build a wireless system. Why do you think Virgin is an MVNO? Richard Branson didn’t want to outlay billions of dollars or Euros just to hope people would use it. So he bought minutes off of an established carrier in the countries where he wanted to do business. Then he started reselling. It just made sense. With a low CapEx and little OpEx, he can start selling smartphones on day one without hoping anyone would sign up or be limited on coverage. I wonder how he will compete in the unlimited data world?

In all honesty, Google did a great job where they did deploy fiber. It was a resounding success in the markets they reached. At least, I thought it was great. They helped to prove that it would work. People wanted them in their markets for a reason. Comcast and AT&T hated them for a reason. It all means the same thing, better internet for the end-user, which is you and me.

Planning:

It takes a plan. One thing I learned from my Smart City days is that you need to have a plan to deploy. Depending upon your job, you probably thought about this differently. What I mean is that the deployment teams think of site acquisition, labor, contractors, union issues, permitting and zoning. If you’re the financial guy, you thought about the leasing, the outlay of funds, the investment, and the payback. If you’re the pole guy, you thought about the leases, the competition, the potential for protests from the preexisting companies on the poles.

My point here is, you need to start high level and work your way down. In the early days of small cell deployment, we worked with many teams to see what we could do.

The thing is that Het Net planning and fiber planning have a lot in common. OK, when I say Het Net, I mean small cells, sorry.

Planning:

Where is the current fiber?
Getting access to poles,
Get permission from whoever owns the poles,
Possibly get permission from whoever is already on the poles, depending on the lease and noncompete clauses,
Full site acquisition which is not cheap, probably more than a year’s rent on said pole, (fiber is not so bad, but for Small Cells it gets expensive),
Permitting, zoning, approvals,
Small Cells need fiber run to them, so they have the issue of getting fiber unless they have wireless backhaul,
Backhaul connections; where is the nearest fiber connection that you can connect your new fiber or small cell to? How do you get it to this location? Can you do overhead, or will you have to dig?
Plan well, my friends!

If you wonder why I am dragging small cells into this, it’s because the FWA, Fixed Wireless Access, models are going to require sites at poles to be the new last mile. Verizon and AT&T will be using these poles to do just that. They will need either a wireless backhaul or fiber at the pole. It’s not magic, but rather a well-planned deployment hat will make it happen.

Deployment and turn up:

Here is where you need someone to deploy. It would be great if you had plug and play, but that may not always be the situation, you may need to have an installer then a commissioning engineer to make it work properly. However, this phase is efficient and pretty reasonable cost wise. It isn’t like the planning where you have to take all the what-ifs into consideration. Here you have the installer and the commissioning engineer. you may need the city to help or traffic control. For the most part, it should be straightforward as long as you know the local municipality or city’s regulations for working on poles in their jurisdiction.

Finally, getting the customer!

The customers need to know that you have something in the market. It takes very localized advertising and connections. The carriers generally rely on a website to tell them where customers are asking. The problem is, what if they are not customers already? You have to reach them, maybe with flyers, email, snail mail campaigns, or good old door knocking.

Google did something amazing by holding contests to ask what cities wanted them. Could you imagine Comcast doing this? Who would ask them to come to them? I already know of some cities that wanted Comcast to come in, but they can’t go into another cable company’s territory, and they will only do it if they see a very large payback. I worked with Comcast engineers in the past, and if they aren’t interested, they just don’t return your calls. Sure, it sucks, but you get the hint pretty quick. Besides, in a company like that, you need an executive to push something like that. I got the impression that they really don’t care if a city wanted Comcast in your market. That is the complete opposite of Google Fiber! Everyone wanted them so much they were changing the local rules to get them. It just wasn’t enough.

One more thing, cable companies are a good old boys network, they generally don’t tramp on each other’s toes. If someone is in the market, even if they totally suck, they probably have a non-compete with big brother Comcast. Comcast doesn’t look at other cable companies as competition, they look at them as potential partners and customers. So if you want to see a new ISP, it’s either a larger carrier, like T-Mobile, Verizon or AT&T, or someone like Google. Once in a while, you have a local company build, but they find it hard unless they know they have a set amount of customer lined up and waiting. They need to see the payback before they begin if they’re smart. That’s why so many were happy when the smart city thing was happening. Now they are let down because smart city rollouts take money from someone other than the city. Again, a solid business case helps.

Resources:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people! Would you sign up for a membership site? If so, email me at wade@techfecta.com and write Membership.

Do you want an occasional email with free PDFs of these reports along with book and training offers? Read posts like these offline!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

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Uncategorized

How will CAF 2 Roll out successfully?

September 16, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

The CAF, Connect America Fund. Brought to you by the FCC! WOW! A fund to help subsidize the growth of the rural areas in the USA so that we may have broadband everywhere. While most people are not in favor of the tax money being used for this, I think it’s good for the industry. Yes, anything to help people deploy more broadband to spark the economy in those areas without broadband can be seen as a good thing. It’s not a new idea, but maybe now we can break the barriers that stopped us before, like budgets. I support growth and bringing high-speed wireless affordable internet to all. While you may not think about this if you’re in an urban or suburban area, I was raised in a very rural farming community. For them to get internet access is huge.

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To put the rural areas into perspective farmers are on the cutting edge of technology. They are constantly looking for better yields from their crops. That means that they are looking at everything from weather patterns, soil moisture, pests, and so on. Not only that but they also have tractors that can tun themselves using GPS tracking, yes, self-driving tractors. Did I mention that they also track their animals? You get the picture. Now you have one farmer, using wireless, data, and GPS to track pest, weather, herds, and their self-driving vehicles in the fields. Farming got high-tech, and most of you didn’t realize it. It’s where all the technologies meet, and big data is crucial.

Now, what about all the smart people that are in rural areas that may need broadband? Now they have the opportunity thanks to these grants. Schoolkids that have to be at school for internet access. A business that has to reside in town may not be able to work remote or from home. You may not want to work from home, but you know this is how it’s done today. FYI, farmers work from home.

Winners must deploy service to locations in the CBG – 40% of the number of locations by year 3 – Additional 20% in each subsequent year – 100% of locations by year 6 – Measured at the state level

Data on locations served filed with USAC • Rates must be reasonably comparable to rates for similar services in urban areas.

So, now let’s look over the winners of the auction, not the companies, but the technologies that are going to be used. If you want a list of companies, the links are below. I think we need to figure out how the technologies are going to be used and I may mention the companies will use them.

Technologies:

Optical/Fiber – OK, we have all seen this play out This time the government is helping to foot the bill. If you look at many of this winners, this is only a partial solution. They also mix it with fixed wireless, which makes a lot of sense. The thing is, it is very expensive to run fiber across the rural areas, so if the government helps pay for that, I see it as a good thing because it will open up so many new doors. The fiber is essential to the backbone for broadband in those areas. Once someone runs the first fiber run, then others can jump on it or have a model to work with. The carriers have been running fiber to a rural area when it becomes cost-effective, although they still use the microwave in many of those areas. They probably find it cost-effective, but the need is going to outweigh the cost at some point. I am so happy that some have signed up to do this. The list starts here (taken for the FierceWireless Article listed in the resources section) :
- Rural Electric Cooperative – fiber to the end-user, $186K to cover 66,322 locations,
- Benton Ridge Telephone Company – fiber to the end-user and fixed wireless, $52K to cover 23,957 locations,
- Midcontinent Communications – fiber to the end-user and fixed wireless, $39K to cover 9,371 locations,
- Wilkes Telephone Membership Operation – fiber to the end-user and fixed wireless, $33K to cover 13,866 locations,
Terrestrial fixed wireless – this is great, some companies are going to roll out fixed wireless of some kind. I hope it has enough bandwidth that many users can use it with efficiency and real broadband. Why do I say this? Because I have done a lot of fixed wireless ventures in the past using the ISM band. I saw the 928MHz roll out because they thought it would cut through vegetation, but the power was low, and the bandwidth limited. I’ve seen 2.4GHz rollout out with success, but the bandwidth was limited, and it usually has shared loading. I’ve seen 5.8GHz rolled out with limited success. All of these are license free but very low power and very limited in coverage, and the loading can cause problems. I would love to see the CBRS used effectively and maybe some of the mmwave. That is where I think we need to go. Unfortunately, unless you see Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T on the list, it probably won’t be mmwave. Again, that is where we want to go to make the broadband rollout effective with reasonable broadband. I thought maybe Sprint would have signed up for some of this, but nothing. Here is a list of the fixed wireless companies that I didn’t mention above.
- AMG Technology Investment Group LLC, $281K to cover 100,661 locations,
- Wisper ISP, Inc, $220K to cover 80,149 locations,
- California Internet, LP, $88K to cover 11,845 locations,
- Comnet Wireless, LLC, &80K to cover 31,824 locations,
- Net, Inc, $51K to cover 20,859 locations,
Geostationary Satellite – this holds a place in my heart. I love satellite, but it has been so limited. Now, Hughes is talking about rolling out the LEO satellite system, which they talked about years ago. It’s going to be like is a cell site in the sky. LEO satellites are lower and constantly moving, you would need to connect to multiple satellites like you would cell sites. I love the model, and I hope someday it happens. Since this says geostationary satellites, keep in mind that they are very limited, super expensive to deploy, and fixed. I love satellite, but they have their limitations, and the payback is a very long time. At least that was the old model; I am not sure how it’s changed with more competition in the rocket companies. If they really plan to use geostationary and not the LEO satellites, then I hope they have line of sight to the sky, and the users can accept the dish on their roofs. It’s going to be the same old battle that users have always had. It’s great when you’re using a new bird, but the latency is high, and if it becomes loaded, everyone has to share the transponder. If you need something and you are literally in the middle of nowhere, it may be your only option and will work if you have no alternative. Who is doing this?
- ViaSat, Inc, $123K to cover 190,595 locations.

Whatever your preference, there should be opportunities here for the rural workers. These guys are going to try to do as much as they can within the budget. While it may look like a lot of money on the list, they have a lot of territories to cover. Most have permitting, regulations, and all the paperwork that has to happen as soon as they design something but before they deploy. It looks to be in their own territories, so they should be well prepared for the work coming their way. They also have to fulfill the commitment to the FCC to keep the money. That may sound easy, but they need proof that they did what they said they were going to do.

Normally I would say this will be a lot of work for the industry, but unless you already work with them, you may not get much. All we can do is offer our services and see who needs support. In my case, fixed wireless, massive MIMO, and small cell design. For you, fiber, IT, RF planning, and so on.

Deploy, deploy, deploy! It good for the industry and for the end-user!

Just remember, I am here to help at www.techfecta.com when you’re ready!

Resources:

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Did you get caught in the power struggle?

September 16, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

No, it’s not a question about political power, I mean with your equipment power. With all of the deployments going on, grounding and surge suppression are vital to successful deployments. This is more about the instability of the electronic and electrical systems than just weather.

Let’s face it, surges suck! I am talking about power surges here. They cause so many problems from total site failure to ongoing troubleshooting of issues that cause performance issues endlessly at a site or even in a data room. Unstable power can be a major problem anywhere in the world!

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When we plan deployments, we often just assume that the power and grounding at the site will be OK. When I did data room design, it was one of the first things we would plan, the UPS and surge protection along with proper grounding. This was the first thing that most customers hated because they thought we were trying to get more money out of them. While power and surge suppression cost more, it’s often worth the investment in the long run. I couldn’t convince everyone that when they were planning their first large data room. Even at tower sites, they rely on the DC power supply to save them. They don’t worry about power until they have intermittent problems which they can’t explain. After hundreds of hours of troubleshooting and changing equipment, they may figure it out. Then it becomes a priority. It could be the grounding or the power. They often blame the design, when in fact, they were trying to take shortcuts.

Lightning is still the enemy, but not the only enemy. That’s why companies spend so much money on surge protection. The electric in an area could be unstable, and that could cause problems or lightning could strike, literally strike a site. If lightning strikes, then you could have issues for months because the electrical system or electronics could be weakened and fail over time. Lightning can cause issues for months to come.

Unstable power is another issue that is all too common at remote tower sites or even sites in the cities. It causes problems that may come and go. Very intermittent. You may have to monitor the power to see what’s really happening. Unstable electric is still an issue. No matter where you are in the world.

Then there are the other problems we often overlook like a car hits a power pole and a surge or outage happens. Lines go down in a storm, overuse of power, like on a hot day with millions of air conditioners running, cause outages than a surge when everything is repaired.

Back in 2016, I interview Jim Grasty of Alltec, (link below), and he talked about the surge problems of the tower sites. He also mentions that a lot of his work is in the data room, not just at tower sites. He thinks that companies suffer from unstable power more often than they realize. Unfortunately, they don’t l see it until something dies or it’s been causing problems for a long time. They are still an issue today.

The problem with a small surge or unstable electric is more than a simple outage. Large surges take the site down, and you repair it. Sure, downtime looks bad on your KPI report, but it’s obvious. The real problem is that it causes in the equipment to act strangely in a way that you can’t track. The router could drop packets, the server could lose data or could be rebooting for no apparent reason. Stable power is critical in all work environments. I have seen anomalies in radios due to unstable power or surging power. Issues like this are often not looked at right away. You just assume that if it’s powered up and working that it has power. It’s got power, what more do you need? You need stability!

It’s like the grounding issues; they also cause really strange problems. These issues take weeks to troubleshoot which drains resources, time, and money. These intermittent problems could be anything; they could be data, power, software, or anything. So often we never look at power until we get a glaring alarm about unstable power. Then we realize that it was the issue all along.

Even when a site dies due to a surge, how many times does it need to happen before you take it seriously? How many repairs and replacements will you do before you actually look for the root cause? Is it lightning? By the way, lightning does strike twice in the same spot, anyone who worked on a tower that got struck several times knows this to be true. Some are more susceptible than others. Many companies have moved the site just to avoid lightning strike problems. I’ve done it! Lighting is a real issue. Unstable power and poor grounding cause strange issues.

What can you do to stop this? Make your power stable. Some do this with a UPS, some monitor the power for stability, and others install surge protectors. This is why many tower sites rely on DC power and batteries to run the equipment. DC can easily be monitored for problems. It’s generally stable and will work with unstable power.

Above I pointed out what you should look for, but it’s hard to tell all the same. It will pay to monitor power in some way if you want to invest in power monitoring equipment.

Here are some ideas to avoid power problems:

Surge protectors on the AC system. Some people put in something on the plug or something for the site or location.
- Small surge protectors on each piece of equipment. This is small, but it may be good enough.
- Site surge protectors are a lot more money, but if you have a roomful of equipment, it may be worth the investment, especially if you lose money when you have downtime.
UPS to provide clean AC inside the site, as well as reliable power backup in case of a power outage. Typical data room solution.
Use DC power for the equipment and let the AC feed the DC power supply and use DC to power everything. Typical RF site solution.
Batteries on DC, they are almost always stable when the power supplies work in conjunction with them. Typical RF site solution.
Line conditioners for clean power. These are often more money, but worth it.
Good grounding at the site or in a data room, you can’t always rely on the electrician’s ground, who knows what they used for a ground. Verify their ground or run your own.
Power monitors are a good idea. Maybe you could get one and use it as you see problems. It would be great to monitor power everywhere, but this may not be practical. You probably already have something that monitors AC power, but how good is it? It may be smart to invest in something that you can move from site to site that is a really good power monitor. It’s up to you, but it may be worth the investment. I have had several units that monitor power but only at a high level.

Plan accordingly. Your budget will determine what you can do up front. I get that. However, if you start to have intermittent problems that you can’t explain, start to look at power as one of the causes.

Resources:

Thank you for your support and your time. And good job on learning all you can in the wireless industry, you are amazing! Now, go out and impress people!

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Reference:

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For those of you that don’t know:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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1) Getting Paid for the full scope:

Here are some scams I’ve been told about over the years.

2) Long Payment Terms:

3) Up Front Training:

4) Miscellaneous Risks:

I have a list:

How do you protect yourself?

Summary:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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The foundations below do beautiful work, spreading love when all seems lost.

Climbers can get seriously injured and/or die on the job. Support the workers who build and install the wireless systems!

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Small Cell Obstacles and how to overcome them.

Resources:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Broadband Access

Indoor Communications

Das and Small Cells:

Public Safety DAS:

Fiber:

Fixed Wireless Rooftop:

Wi-Fi in Common Areas:

Data Centers

Let’s look at the opportunities:

Now, the next steps:

Resources

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The foundations below do beautiful work, spreading love when all seems lost.

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Why will 1099 work?

Do we still need W4 workers?

What about contractors?

How do they set a rate?

What if you’re the GC?

What if you’re the contractor, engineer, or field worker?

Overseas verses in country workforces

Times are changing!

Commentary:

Resources:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

More products from TechFecta and Wade4Wireless that support WADE!

The foundations below do beautiful work, spreading love when all seems lost.

Climbers can get seriously injured and/or die on the job. Support the workers who build and install the wireless systems!

Together we can honor and remember the fallen in our wireless family.