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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

How to Finance DAS Systems

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What if I gave you a way to remove an obstacle in deploying DAS systems? When selling DAS, usually the price can be in the way, even though you offer your best price, you may need a way to help the customer pay for it. Maybe this will help you move ahead in your next DAS deployment. You all know that the carriers are not crazy about smaller shared DAS venues any more. T-Mobile made this very clear with their recent statements that they don’t want to pay for DAS systems. They are tired of paying for these systems and getting a limited return. They are not alone because Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint were already headed in that direction. Small cells are going to help drive the cost of DAS systems down and now that LTE is taking over, the new systems will be all digital. It also looks like they will be a mix of Wi-Fi and LTE-U. Here is a way to help the enterprise and real estate companies pay for the systems.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells!

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Before you start to panic, the large venues, like stadiums, will continue to be paid for by the carriers using a combination of LTE and Wi-Fi for content Tower Safety for all your safety training!delivery. As you know everyone is using their phones and tablets to see the replays and the extended coverage at these games. The NFL gets it because they offer enhanced services in most stadiums for the people who pay to see these games. They want you to appreciate the game by seeing it live and seeing every possible angle on your device. That is really cool!

Back to the smaller venues. I just watched a presentation that Iain Gillott of IGR put together to show that most users of smart phone rely on it indoors. I would say in an enterprise environment. He sells the report here if you’re interested. This is a growing area of concern but the carriers no longer want to pay for any DAS systems. So the business or building owner will need to pick a carrier and then install. Now Wi-Fi makes it easy, if you install Wi-Fi then you offer them a data solution. But what if they need to make a call or if there is an emergency and 911 becomes an issue. If there is no voice coverage in the building then the problems compound. Many work places no longer rely on landlines, so the wireless coverage is crucial!

Voice still matters! If someone collapses do you text someone for help? Just like public safety coverage in large buildings. The first responders need to stay in touch with their crews on every floor, whether it’s the roof or the basement, everywhere in between is a critical area when there is an emergency. Lately there have been many emergencies here in the US such as fires, bombings, and shootings. What about a medical emergency? If you have a heart attack you want to make sure they can do what they can on the scene so you are stable for the ride to the hospital. That’s how I see it. First responders need to have seamless coverage.

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So I see the need for DAS and not just for the carriers but for public safety’s first responders. This is becoming a requirement in most cities. I am sure that building owners will push back because of the additional cost, but when someone dies in their building they may see the need. I have an example of an ordinance for Riverside, California, which has requirements for public safety radio coverage in buildings of excess of 50,000 square feet here. City of Irvine, Ca, here. Seattle, Washington, here.

First off, I would recommend that the carriers let go of their hold on the front end, it could be a small cell or the BTS, I wrote about it here, but they need to come up with a system to allow DAS to get installed so they stop being the bottle neck of the process. They say that they don’t want to pay then they won’t let anyone else install the system. Well, which is it Verizon and AT&T? Make up your mind to let the public do this so they can help your coverage. Public safety groups are so happy when someone offers to put in a system for them. They don’t push back, they say thank you!

This is where Sentry Financial can help. They will finance the DAS system for creditworthy customers so that the installers and vendors get paid. Then the owner can make reasonable payments over time and it will be a write off for them all the same. See the win-win? The vendors all get paid, the building or business owner meets the requirements without all the upfront costs.

I had a conversation with Jenn Faber (jfaber@sentryfinancial.com ) of Sentry Financial Corporation, the director of business development, about financing these systems. I am interested because I plan to work with small cell and DAS side of the industry more and more. This is a segment that is booming. We just have to come up with ways to make it affordable.

So Jenn told me that financing is a great option for the larger DAS systems going in, why? Because it provides a model where the financing is taken care of ahead of time. Here are some questions I asked her.

  • What DAS systems would you finance?
    1. All DAS systems for creditworthy end users. Financing may include passive or active equipment as well as design and installation.
  • Who would finance these systems? Would it be enterprise, building owners, government entities, utilities, small to medium businesses, installers, or who?
    1. We will provide lease financing to all creditworthy end-users including enterprise, building owners, utilities and middle market companies (e.g., revenues >$50M and positive net income last 3 years, tangible net worth, and audited financials).
  • What price range would the DAS system be in?
    1. Minimum project cost of $250,000, no maximum if the end-user’s credit supports the transaction.
  • What OEM do you see deployed the most often?
    1. Primarily SOLiD, CommScope, TE Connectivity (now part of CommScope), Corning, and JMA in DAS.
  • Do you have a requirement for the integrators doing the DAS installation?
    1. We typically work through the OEM or integrator partner and rely on their expertise for the installation. Nevertheless, the integrators must be experienced and reputable.
  • When financing, what would the payment terms be like for time, like 5 or 10 years?
    1. For DAS the lease term generally ranges from 36 to 60 months depending on the business accounting, tax, and other objectives of the end-user. At the end of the lease term, the end-user had the option to: purchase the system, upgrade the system, or extend the lease term.
  • Do you work mostly with the DAS contractors or the end-user when finding the business?
    1. We typically work through an OEM or integrator partner (DAS contractor) to enable them to offer the lease financing solution to the end-user customer. We have also worked directly with the end-user.
  • How would a potential customer go about getting financing with your group?
    1.   An OEM, integrator, or end-user may contact Sentry directly, information below. Sentry typically starts with a high level overview of the project, project costs, and financials of the end-user (3 full years and most recent interim financials). If the end-user is a public company, we can get their financials online. The creditworthiness of the end-user must support the transaction.

 

Financing DAS Model

So there you have it, all you need to know about financing a DAS system. This is one more way you can deliver DAS to your customer, one less obstacle that the integrators have to contend with.

For more information about Sentry Financial Group contact the people below.

Jennifer FaberJenn Faber promo picture

Director, Business Development

(801) 303-1113

SBC logo

Bo White

Director, Business Development

(801) 303-1137

Scott Young

Chief Executive Officer

 (801) 303-1111

So remember that wireless deployment will have challenges but here is a way for you to remove one of them.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Free the LTE Indoor Small Cells!

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Attention carriers, free the indoor LTE indoor small cells so that they can be deployed with iDAS! This is specifically for the enterprise and building coverage, since you already freed the small femto cells. You are the ones holding the industry back, not the other way around. You say you don’t want to pay for iDAS, but how can anyone else when you control the small cell? Small Cells can be deployed for home office, let’s free them up for the enterprise! Why? Let me tell you why.

The carriers say they don’t want to pay for indoor DAS but indoor small cells are part of that system, aren’t they? The carriers control the release of larger small cells, well any eNodeB for that matter. The VARs, (Value Added Resellers) want to sell and install these systems for large enterprise but they need to work through the carriers, maybe even to purchase the equipment from the carriers. If carriers want to save on these costs, then set up a system to approve the small cells and low power BTS for DAS systems so you can hand it off to someone who can sell it to the building or business owner. Again, I mean that the indoor small cells are so controlled by the carriers that they can’t be deployed by anyone else. It’s like a small cell hell!

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Who agrees with this? I listened to the RCR interview that Sean Kinney did with Jonathon Adelstein, the CEO of PCIA, and he appears to feel the same way. He thinks that the carriers should not be held responsible for a utility like broadband. He was actually talking about DAS, specifically iDAS, but he has to know that small cells are part of the new DAS systems, right? This guy of all people dog-tags_clearbackgrondshould understand this. Digital DAS, LTE DAS, get it? Small cells play a part. So it appears that PCIA is all in, but the carriers want the installs to be paid for by others and yet they won’t let go of the control! Well, which is it? It’s going to be hard for you to hand off the DAS without the indoor small cell. Get your head out of your butt and wake up! Make the change today! This is LTE; analog BDAs are not going to cut it anymore!

Let’s build a better model like the femto cell, for instance, homes and small offices are able to have anyone install the femto cell. Let me explain this model. You may have heard that T-Mobile is handing the CellSpot femto cell out to customers for free. This will help build a coverage model similar to what Comcast did with Xfinity Wi-Fi, hand out hotspots, (Cable modem or femto cell), and put your default ESSID on a Wi-Fi hotspot and then all of you customers can use it. It is a complete plug and play device, one that most carriers offer home users at some point, even with Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi calling may change this, but T-Mobile made it sexy and smart. They get expanded coverage for the price of a box and shipping.

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I believe that SpiderCloud is building this model for their small cells. They know that the carrier does not want to deploy indoor small cells everywhere, but the carriers have to build a better process. So why not do this for all businesses that want iDAS and indoor small cells? Let a contractor handle it! An approved contractor (of course) installing an approved unit.

As for carriers, I believe that T-Mobile is handing out the femto cells, but not anything larger. I think AT&T was going to set up something that would have them hand them, (sell them) to end users that wanted to install them. I didn’t hear of anything like this from Verizon. I know that the technology is catching up but I think that if they would allow the approved contractor to buy them, preferable from the OEM to save money unless the carrier would be able to get them really cheap, the contractor could do the rest. Building out the network for the carrier.

How should carriers do it? Build a process where the vendor gets certified by the OEM and the carrier. Then the carriers will vette the vendor for being a real business and take a look at their safetydog-tags_clearbackgrond programs. Then let the vendor sell to the enterprise and landlords! It’s that simple carriers, get out-of-the-way. Don’t worry about the vendor making you look bad because I know you can set up a feedback system so that the end customer can grade the vendor. Help them improve or boot them out. Build the process today.

Now, on the network and equipment side, you need to do several things. You need 1) Plug and Play, 2) an auto-config neighbor list, 3) power control, 4) get certified VARs to call the integration center, and 5) monitor PCMD data. Then you can let the VAR build your system and improve your coverage! Am I making any sense yet?

Readers, I know that many of you are blaming the OEM, right? But the reality is that the carriers have a firm grip on the small cell since it connects to the network.

Free the small cells to the vendors and let the network grow organically. Increase the pipe with little or no expense! Put the growth on auto pilot for heaven’s sake!

In case you wonder why carriers control deployments, look at the reasons below:

  • Approvals: The OEM has a lot of work with the carrier prior to even being allowed on the network. You see, to get on the carrier’s network you need to put all small cells through lab tests, minimum 3 months, to make sure they are certified and won’t take down a site, cluster or harm the network. Anyone who is working on the OEM side of small cells understands that this takes a lot of time, energy, money, and lab support. It doesn’t happen overnight, in fact, if it happens in 3 months you’re doing incredibly well.
  • Integration: Another thing is the current commissioning and integration of a cell onto the network. It usually needs to be planned. It is still not automated except small femto cells used for home and SOHO, (Small Office Home Office). The reason being is the core. You have several locations that the cell could connect with, and it may be different for each region. There is not an easy way for it to locate the core that it should be talking to. So they either preconfigure the cell or they do it on site. This seems to be tedious but in my opinion, the process should be automated.
  • Optimization: Finally, the ever so important neighbor list. This is the list of neighboring sites that the cell could interfere with and hand off. They want a clean handoff, no drops. Also, you don’t want self interference; you want a good cluster frequency plan. Don’t forget the power setting has to be just right. All key factors in the optimization phase of deployment. An optimized network is a happy network. Happy networks mean happy customers.

Maybe Wi-Fi and LTE-U calling will change this. With the license free options you can already get internet access and make a voice call over Wi-Fi. Comcast has a serious Wi-Fi network that people could use If only Comcast would create a better core for voice, VOIP, or VoWi-Fi, so that they can complete voice calls. It looks like they are working towards this from what I have read, but who knows. They recently announced the deal with Verizon so maybe they will move ahead with a real heterogeneous network.

Q with A&A – (Questions with actions and answers)

  • Q) Are small cells plug and play? A&A – They should be! Femto cells usually are, so all indoor cells should be, get on that today! Tell the OEMs that it is a requirement.
  • Q) Do I have to preconfigure the cell ahead of time? A&A – Get the OEM or a vendor to set up a system where it will be ready to be put on the network. It could be through your office or the OEM or let the VAR do it! One of them could load a configuration file so that when the installer gets it all they need to do is power up and connect to the internet or some type of backhaul.
  • Q) What if it interferes with a neighbor? A&A – Monitor the site when it goes in and catch the PCMD data from the units in the building to update the cell. This is work, but chances are you’re already doing this or you have a SON server doing this. This should be automated.
  • Q) What if power needs adjusted? A&A – See above, monitor, adjust, done.
  • Q) What if the carrier feels they need to install the small cell? Action – Don’t do it! The OEMs are already training people so just verify certifications. Get out-of-the-way!
  • Q) Who will configure the radio? A&A – Build basic configuration files. Could be the VAR or it could come preconfigured.
  • Q) Who will certify the installers? A&A – Let the OEMs manage the certifications! They are doing it today. Carriers need to verify that the VAR is certified to commission the small cell. Again, they need to be trained by the OEM. There should be a certification for installation and commissioning.
  • Q) Do carriers have to stock the small cells and spend the extra expense tracking and shipping? A&A – Don’t do any of it except create the process! Let a warehouse, distributor, OEM, or the VAR do it. If you want complete control then manage and warehouse everything, but the reality is that you should work a deal with a distributor, VAR, or OEM to stock them, prep them, and install them. All the VAR should need to do is call you to verify configuration and date of install. Let each group do what they are good at.
  • Q) What if it’s a large iDAS system? A&A – Don’t get involved unless it’s a high-profile venue! Let someone else do all the work. They should be buying all the equipment to make your coverage better.
  • Q) What will the cost to the carrier be? A&A – Let the VAR’s buy direct. If you do this right you should only pay someone, a PM, to manage the process. The business, building or venue owner will pay for the installation and the small cell just like you want them to do for DAS. You need to define the process and approve the vendors. Get out of your own way!
  • Q) Where will we find these VARs? A&A – They will come to you if you have a contact or group they can talk to! Seriously, this business will boom because a ton of companies want to do small cells and iDAS, just make someone available to them. Set up the process to get contractors approved. Get the contractor vetted and move on to the next one. Seriously, why make more work for yourself? If they screw it up, then deal with it or throw them out of your system.
  • Q) What if the enterprise or venue calls the carrier? A&A – refer them to the nearest 1 or 5 VARs. Build a database of VARs by region. Let the customer run the RFP or bidding process. Let the VAR fight for the work.
  • Q) How do we let the VAR know what band to install? A&A – Create a process where they can either access a website or let them call the regional team for information. I like the website because it is automated with little human interaction.

I would recommend having the carriers approve indoor small cells and then letting VARs deploy them as part of the iDAS and indoor small cell systems. For indoors, the carriers don’t want to pay for the installation unless they have a large payback but a VAR will do it for the cost of the installation. Hopefully the business will pay for.

The carriers, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint need to go to the next level for indoor deployments. In this case I would recommend letting the VAR do the installation for enterprise and for business. Let the VAR work with the end-user for installation of the indoor small cell just like they would the iDAS systems. Honestly, what are they waiting for? They just need to approve it for their system then the PnP, plug and play, should do the rest. Make the investment in a decent SON system and then hand it off to the VARs! Let them sell it to the businesses and enterprises! Let them improve coverage at the request of the end use, not at the carrier’s cost. Get out of your own way! Don’t forget to automate the system!

I think that this is what the carriers want. They can control their end of it with the testing, the labs, and the approvals. They can then hand it off to the VAR to sell it and install it to improve coverage. Just like everyone wants to do with Wi-Fi. Comcast figured it out. T-Mobile is giving the femto cells to the end-user. Let’s create a system that works with this business model.

Don’t get me wrong, there will be a learning curve. If you don’t have a clean way to do this now then get busy! You should have done this already! Automate, integrate, and then grow!

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Carriers say they don’t want t pay for iDAS, what about indoor small cells. Here is an opportunity to let go.

If you are a vendor, a VAR, an installer, here is a golden opportunity for you to get in on a booming market. Coverage is the name of the game! Maybe LTE-U will take off, I know that Verizon has plans to deploy in 2016, or so they say, but wait and see.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Small Cell, CRAN, Fronthaul, and oDAS

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We always talk about backhaul when it comes to sites. Wireless, fiber, cable, and copper are all solutions. So do many of you really know about fronthaul? This is what we use when we connect a BBU to the radio head. Is it different that backhaul? That depends where you are in the wireless ecosystem.

For this article we are talking about remote radio head small cells, not the all in one unit. These are very common indoors and outdoors in larger deployment scenarios. This is also something that will be more common when CRAN, Centralized Radio Access Networks, become more common place. Eventually, the RAN will be controlled by the cloud, for a vRAN, virtualized RAN. 

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So on Macro, think about when you run fiber up the tower from the BBU, this essentially is the fronthaul where it feeds from the BBU to the remote radio head, (RRH). The data in the BBU is sent out the radio head for transmission to the user equipment, (UE). So now imagine that the BBU is located miles away from the RRH. The RRH is located where coverage is needed. Most small cells are low power units. This is very similar to a small cell and would be deployed similar to a small cell. The BBU hotel is located in one area and the link from the BBU to the RRH. So the data will leave the BBU and go into a router or fiber box and then feed dark fiber or a radio link. Personally I am not a fan of this but they are very common in the market. I prefer a small cell that is standalone with all of the components in one unit just because it’s easy. However, there are many advantages to having one BBU controlling several RRHs.

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These systems do have their advantages because the control is all in one place and can do a better job of timing and synchronization and reducing interference. If you are designing a network, then it makes dog-tags_clearbackgronda lot of sense to have centralized control. Centralized control will be reducing self interference, which is huge and something that most field workers could care less about until it gets to the optimization and performance phase. Then it’s an issue. Interference has to be cleaned up to improve the performance. Remember that this is all about coverage and performance. In a Het Net system we would call this eICIC, enhanced Inter Cell Interference Coordination. This is one of the reasons the cells have neighbor lists, to avoid this situation. Learn more on eICIC here, http://arxiv.org/pdf/1302.3784.pdf

So, back to fronthaul In this case timing is critical, and by timing I mean latency between the BBU and the RRH. It needs to be a specific time, depending on OEM. The link must arrive in time to properly send the data and have the timing set up properly. If it is late, packets are lost, and then people complain or it has to be sent again causing congestion. This is critical in voice communications.

This is why many carriers like fiber for the front haul because it’s clean and fast. It is usually easy to predict the delays because they are predictable unless someone screwed up a fiber connection or put a sharp bend somewhere.

Wireless links are great because it is line of sight, normally, but the radios add delay, usually with the error correction. So the distances, from what I have seen is generally lower that fiber. This could all change tomorrow but as of this time they have limitations. There are several wireless link manufacturers like EBlink working to make the fronthaul wireless link better, http://e-blink.com/.

Now, if you are doing the installation, you just do what you’re told and make sure it’s a great installation. If you are doing the design, you need to be very aware of the latency and the link delays. They will add up. The fiber will have some delays, the router will have some delays, and the equipment will induce delays. This all adds up to either success or failure. Proper planning! If you are doing the optimization, the commissioning NOC should have a good understanding of the delays of the fronthaul. So if there is an issue it needs to be considered.

Did you ever work with a CRAN? If you have done work for Verizon Wireless on oDAS, (outdoor distributed antenna system), then you may have. You see the concept behind the oDAS when using a distributed RRH is basically that of CRAN. Get it? The hBBU is located in one place, centralized, and the RRHs are distributed around where the population is. 

Why do you care? Because you want to make sure you have a successful installation, commissioning, and integration. Then the commissioning should go well and everyone gets paid for the work. If there are problems, you all need to put more time into it, and chances are good that time will eat into your profit. Just think about the bottom line, proper planning and quality work adds up to a quality system and profitable work.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to the plan! Look for oversights and point them out.

I am putting a small cell handbook together, it should be out soon. It will be geared towards deployment but a good reference overall. It will have most of what I post but also some extra notes is it.  If your interested, feel free to sign up for my newsletter below. 

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