T-Mobile to Deploy 28,000 Small Cells to Beef up Network T-Mobile says the company will be ramping up its use of small cells to help beef up network coverage over the next few months. Speaking at an industry conference this week, T-Mobile's vice president of network technology and strategy Karri Kuoppamaki said the company would be deploying as many as 28,000 small cells in fairly short order. Small cells are low-powered cellular radio access nodes, operating in licensed and unlicensed spectrum, that can help improve network coverage beyond traditional cellular tower deployments.

"Densification is really about moving from that macro (tower) into the small cells dimension," Kuoppamaki said. "We’ve already deployed thousands of small cells and we’ve contracted 28,000 small cells to be deployed in the short term." While its competitors gobble up fiber companies to lay the foundation of fifth generation (5G) networks to come, T-Mobile says it's partnering with fiber companies that also operate small cell business services. "You can do small cells in so many different ways, and I think we have a little bit of a different approach when it comes to small cells," Kuoppamaki added. "We found the best way to do that is to partner with fiber providers...that not only build and bring that fiber to you, but also build those small cells for you. And that is a very efficient way to actually get to the point when you go from having a few (small cells) to having tens of thousands in the network." Kuoppamaki also reiterated T-Mobile's pledge to get the 600 Mhz spectrum it recently spent $8 billion for into operation as quickly as possible. T-Mobile particularly hopes to use this spectrum to shore up coverage in the rural and suburban markets it has traditionally lagged its larger competitors in in terms of coverage and performance. "In the summer we built the first sites in our mass deployment of 600, and we expect by the end of the year we’ll have access to about 1.2 million square miles of clear (600 MHz) spectrum," the T-Mobile exec said. "I think this is the fastest that spectrum has been brought live anywhere in the world…. It is a proof point that when you do things right you can bring spectrum to life very quickly and efficiently." Granted not everything is up to T-Mobile in terms of getting this spectrum deployed. Cable operators still need to vacate much of the spectrum sold at incentive auction, and T-Mobile has also stated that -- given the company's opposition to the migration plan -- the Granted not everything is up to T-Mobile in terms of getting this spectrum deployed. Cable operators still need to vacate much of the spectrum sold at incentive auction, and T-Mobile has also stated that -- given the company's opposition to the migration plan -- the Sinclair Tribune merger could also delay deployment of this valuable spectrum.







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Most recommended from 36 comments

oldschool

join:2016-12-03

Frederick, MD ·DIRECTV

·Comcast XFINITY

·Callcentric

6 recommendations oldschool Member Is this to fill in gaps in coverage?



I assume this is to fill in coverage gaps along the beach front, within all the condos, etc. They have antennas on top of high buildings in town and plenty of towers in the area, but I suspect these mini sites fill in gaps and provide better coverage and perhaps handle more load during summer months when the beach is full of people.



After noticing this site, I started looking around and I'm seeing them on many side streets along the beach front.



If this is the case, I don't think anyone out in rural areas will be helped by this TMO initiative. This is more of an attempt to fill in coverage gaps in more densely populated areas, not wide open fields. Is my thinking correct? Is this the kind of thing they're talking about? I'm seeing a lot of these things showing up recently in a beach town I visit frequently. My AT&T service was noticeably better last summer and when I took a walk I discovered this small cell site down the street. So I suspect this is an AT&T mini cell site. A few months later there was another new one installed a few blocks up. Neither one is marked as to who ownes them, but they look like different equipment and since they're so close together I'm sure they're different providers. Maybe one is AT&T and one is Verizon?I assume this is to fill in coverage gaps along the beach front, within all the condos, etc. They have antennas on top of high buildings in town and plenty of towers in the area, but I suspect these mini sites fill in gaps and provide better coverage and perhaps handle more load during summer months when the beach is full of people.After noticing this site, I started looking around and I'm seeing them on many side streets along the beach front.If this is the case, I don't think anyone out in rural areas will be helped by this TMO initiative. This is more of an attempt to fill in coverage gaps in more densely populated areas, not wide open fields. Is my thinking correct? Papageno

join:2011-01-26

Portland, OR 1 edit 2 recommendations Papageno Member I'm with T-Mo, and generally happy with them, BUT... ...there's this one grocery store in my neighborhood that must have lead lined walls or something because I can't even get a cell phone signal in there, let alone a data signal. This despite the fact that out in the parking lot it's no problem.