A far-reaching collaboration has been formed between the Small Cell Forum (SCF) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) wherein the alliance will address issues with smart communities and smart buildings.
Both parties have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in order to work on technical, commercial, and regulatory solutions. All their existing work and skillset will be put together to develop solutions that simplify and expedite deployment of dense networks and in-building connectivity.
TIA, as part of its “Transforming the Network” strategic initiative, had previously identified smart communities and smart buildings as critical areas of focus, which dovetail with the Small Cell Forum’s two major programmes for 2017: Hyperdense Networks – including a focus on smart cities – and the Digitized Enterprise. This will aim to bring high-quality connectivity to every citizen and business, and enable a wide range of new services.
Both SCF and TIA have also agreed to explore opportunities for technical collaboration, particularly for efficient implementation of small cells across a campus or city, in-building infrastructure and wiring for smart enterprises, and creation of a smart building ‘blueprint’ that can be used across the real estate market.
Back in July, a new analysis from iGR states that the outdoor smart cell market is set to become an integral part of mobile networks. According to the report, small cells will be playing an important role in the coming days as the demand for high-quality data services on LTE networks is continuously growing, with the increasing number of mobile subscribers and their rising consumption of data on their smartphones and tablets, especially to watch mobile video.
