Small Cells and the Enterprise

Brought to you by The Small Cell Group

Handling cellular connectivity and coverage/capacity issues is a burden for enterprises, who would prefer to save their resources and leave the problem-solving to the Mobile Network Operator (MNO) or a third party.

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About the event

‘Small Cell and the Enterprise’ is a London-based half day event that will explore the various options and solutions available for cellular coverage from the perspectives of both the enterprises and the MNOs by looking at the business cases, technical and deployment challenges.

While most of the industry focus has been on the residential Femtocells and public access Small Cells, there is an increasingly growing need for Enterprise Small Cells. Distributed Antenna System (DAS) has been the traditional choice for medium and large enterprises and even today, over half of the enterprise coverage is supplemented using DAS. However, while DAS has been a simple solution in many situations, the requirements have shifted from coverage only to coverage and capacity due to the increasing popularity of smartphones. Many enterprises adopt a quick and simple solution to supplement capacity by providing WiFi access and allowing the users to 'Bring Your Own Devices' (BYOD). Having its own challenges, BYOD puts the onus on the enterprises to maintain sufficient and reliable coverage and also manage the security aspects, which enterprises would prefer not do.

Small Cell experts will present on the options available for cellular coverage and conclude the event with a panel discussion: on which technology is most suited to which enterprises - Wi-Fi, DAS or Small Cells.

Speakers confirmed for this event include:

This SIG is championed by Zahid Ghadialy of eXplanoTech, David Chambers of ThinkSmallCell, Simon Fletcher of NEC Telecom MODUS,  Paul Kenworthy of Ranplan and Simon Saunders of Real Wireless. We are also extremely grateful to PwC for hosting this event and to Microlease and Agilent Technologies who are kindly sponsoring this event.

To follow this SIG on Twitter, @cambwireless, please use #CWSmallCell

This event is FREE to members of Cambridge Wireless. Tickets for non-members are £180 plus VAT. To join Cambridge Wireless as a member and attend future events for free, please visit: www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/sign-up

This SIG is championed by Zahid Ghadialy of eXplanoTech, David Chambers of ThinkSmallCell, Simon Fletcher of NEC Telecom MODUS, Paul Kenworthy of Ranplan and Simon Saunders of Real Wireless. We are also extremely grateful to PwC for hosting this event and to Microlease and Agilent Technologies who are kindly sponsoring this event. To follow this SIG on Twitter, @CambWireless, please use #CWSmallCell

Hosted by PwC UK

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. Working across artificial intelligence, life sciences and AgriTech industry sectors with businesses in the region.

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Sponsored by Electro Rent

Electro Rent are test equipment specialists with over 50 years of experience providing access to the latest test and measurement technology.

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Sponsored by Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, the world’s premier measurement company offers a full range of the latest wireless test equipment that spans the entire lifecycle from early design and development through to volume manufacturing, network deployment and service assurance.

Agenda

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The information supplied below may be subject to change before the event.

12:00

Registration & Networking over Refreshments/Lunch

13:00

Introduction to the Small Cell SIG by Zahid Ghadialy of eXplanoTech

13:10

Welcome from our host, Colin Brereton, Global Leader Communications, PwC

13:15

Welcome from our Joint Sponsor, Chris Trim, Northern Europe Sales Manager, Agilent

13:25

Market Status of Enterprise Small Cells; David Chambers, Founder and Senior Analyst, ThinkSmallCell

 What exactly is an Enterprise Small Cell
 Alternative/competing technologies such as DAS and Wi-Fi
 Delivering coverage from indoor vs outdoor
 Round-up of vendor products, solutions and deployments
 Online resources

13:45

Q&A

13:50

The Business Case for Small Cells in the Enterprise; Prof. Simon Saunders, Director, Real Wireless

This presentation will outline the detailed business case analysis for enterprise small cells conducted by Real Wireless. The work was commissioned by Small Cell Forum but conducted independently and highlights the opportunities from both operator and enterprise perspectives in a wide range of “enterprise” environments. These include offices of all sizes, hospitals, hotel/conference centres and retail chains.

14:10

Q&A

14:15

Enterprise Small Cells – Ten Years to become an Overnight Sensation; Nick Johnson, CTO, ip.access

People are asking, “are enterprise small cells on the same hype cycle as residential femto?” What
a strange question that is to us. We’ve been selling enterprise class cellular solutions since 2002
and is now deployed in over a hundred networks worldwide, in 2G, 3G and LTE. This presentation
draws on that unparalleled real-world experience to show the reality of enterprise deployments and the value they bring. By focussing on a range of case studies, including a full range of classic office applications, as well as an unexpectedly large range of other deployments, we show how small cells have brought value to mobile operators and their enterprise customers across the globe.

14:35

Q&A

14:40

Coffee/Tea & Networking

15:10

Case Study; Art King, Director of Enterprise Services & Technologies, SpiderCloud Wireless

A large financial customer with 2,000 valuable subscribers in a challenging, “green building” RF
environment, where seamless mobility, capacity and performance are “must deliver” requirements.
The solution is to use scalable indoor small cell system made for targeted deployments for medium-to-large enterprise and venue customers using up to 100 Radio Nodes with just one Services Node connection to the mobile core network.

15:30

Q&A

15:35

Small Cells and Wi-Fi in the Enterprise; Mark Grayson, Distinguished Engineer, Office of the Mobility CTO, Cisco

As an industry, we are starting to see a convergence of small cells and Wi-Fi to help solve coverage, capacity, and spectrum issues in our increasingly connected, mobile-dominated world. Small cells and Wi-Fi are bringing corporate networks and mobile networks closer to each other, how can they work together to build the future of mobility-enabled enterprises?

15:55

Q&A

16:00

Panel Session with all speakers chaired by Simon Fletcher of NEC Telecom MODUS

16:40

Closing remarks and fill in evaluation forms

16:45

Event Closes

Speakers

David Chambers - Founder and Senior Analyst, ThinkSmallCell

David Chambers is Founder and Senior Analyst at ThinkSmallCell.com, an independent website which has tracked the evolution of small cells from their early femtocell origins. With both an engineering and marketing background, and a career spanning product management and marketing for several large telecom vendors, he has gained insight and experience by meeting with mobile operators worldwide. Well known throughout the small cell industry, David writes articles, white papers and presents at conferences on all aspects of the subject. Based in a firm belief that the only technical solution to meet strong data demand is rapid deployment of large numbers of small cells, David continues to be a strong advocate of their adoption whilst pointing out their technical and commercial constraints.

Mark Grayson - Distinguished Engineer, Cisco

Mark Grayson is a Cisco Fellow in Cisco’s Global Technology and Standardization Group, where he currently has broad responsibility for supporting Cisco's 5G strategy, including defining the role of Wi-Fi based access in 5G environments, chairing the WBA’s OpenRoaming program, leading Cisco’s multi-vendor RAN virtualization efforts, being co-chair of the O-RAN Alliance’s Fronthaul Working Group, as well as supporting Cisco’s enterprise team defining systems for supporting 5G enterprise use cases.

He has over 30 years of experience in the wireless industry, ranging from the development of military HF systems, cellular handset RF/DSP design, the definition of mobile satellite communication architectures, architecting service provider Wi-Fi solutions, the evolution of traditional cellular systems through to the creation of the latest virtualized RAN solutions.

He holds a first class Honors degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Birmingham (England) together with a PhD in Radio Communications. Mark has been granted over 150 patents in the area of mobile communications and is the co-author of IP Design for Mobile Networks (2009) and Building the Mobile Internet (2011), both published by Cisco Press.

Nick Johnson - Head, UKTIN

Nick was founder and CTO of ip.access, the leading small cell infrastructure business based in Cambridge UK from its inception in 2000 to acquisition by Mavenir in 2020. As well as leading the ip.access product line from GSM to 5G, he chaired the Radio and Physical Layer Working Group in the Small Cell Forum and introduced the world to FAPI - the industry standard software/platform interface for small cells.

Nick brings an unequalled commercial experience to the UKTIN and is looking forward to it helping those seeking to exploit and contribute to the unrivalled inventive spirit of the UK, as well as informing the UK Innovation ecosystem into the foreseeable future.

Art King - Director of Enterprise Technology & Services, Corning

Simon Saunders - Visiting Professor, King's College London

Prof. Simon Saunders is an independent advisor and researcher with deep industry and academic background in communication systems technology and a burgeoning interest in the intersection between real and artificial neural systems, communication systems and music. He is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, telecoms advisor to DCMS and Trustee of the charity Music for All.

Simon is a specialist in the technology of wireless communications, with a technical and commercial background derived from senior appointments in both industry (including Google, Motorola and Philips), academia (University of Surrey, Trinity College Dublin) and regulation (Ofcom).

He founded the Small Cell Forum and chaired this industry association from 2007-12, growing membership to 150 companies and working with 3GPP to create the first standards for small cells. He acted as Director of Emerging & Online Technology for Ofcom, leading Ofcom’s Emerging Technology programme and creating their Online Tech team. At Google (2015-20), he worked with operators globally to enhance wireless connectivity via a range of advanced technology initiatives, combining wireless networks, artificial intelligence and network virtualisation. As co-founder and Director of Technology for independent wireless strategy advisory firm Real Wireless (2006-15), he was responsible for overall technical capability and direction, providing independent wireless expertise and advice to operators, regulators, technology and law firms and wireless users. In 2019 Simon organised the world’s first 5G music lesson on behalf of charity Music for All, led by famous musician Jamie Cullum.

He is an author of over 150 articles, books and book chapters, including a popular textbook on antennas and propagation. He has invented over 15 patented wireless technologies and served on technical advisory boards of several companies and universities.

SIG Champions

Simon Fletcher - CEO, Real Wireless

Simon joined Real Wireless in January 2016 as Chief Technology Officer, taking overall technical and innovation strategy responsibility across the company. He is a member of the UK5G AB, co-chair of the International WG, and member of the Climate WG. His long-standing association with the UK innovation eco-system through roles such as Director of mVCE and the Innovate-UK ICT-KTN brings a wealth of practical knowledge on open innovation to accelerate product and services delivery. Simon spent his formative years in telecoms infrastructure systems and product development. In NEC Corporation he played a key role in the formation of Joint Ventures for development of 3G and 4G products and established a core team that developed the first-generation of technology for 4G systems culminating in a Steering Board position in the LTE SAE Trials Initiative (LSTI). In recent times he has directed projects on future cities, the application 5G and IoT in industry verticals with an event horizon towards 2030. His long participation in Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and then directing Real Wireless engagement in H2020 and the 2016 NIC study on Future Comms infrastructure brings great foresight on a range of architectural evolutions underway in 5G architectures, in particular for Open RAN and Diversification. He is a CW Small Cell SIG Champion, and in February 2022 the Small Cell Forum (SCF) appointed Simon as their Chief Strategy Officer, drawing on 25 years direct industry experience and work as an advisor to governments, regulators and big business.

Caroline Gabriel - Research Director, Analysys Mason, Co-founder and Research Director, Rethink Technology Research

Caroline has been engaged in technology analysis, research and consulting for 30 years and since 2002, has been focused entirely on mobile and wireless. As co-founder and research director of Rethink Technology Research, Caroline has developed a significant research base and forecast methodology, based around deep contacts with mobile and converged operators round the world. This addresses critical issues and trends in mobile and wireless infrastructure, and particularly operator deployment intentions for 4G, 5G, small cells, Cloud-RAN and other technologies. She is also a senior contributor to Analysys Mason’s Next Generation Wireless research programme. She has led research and consulting projects with a wide range of clients, including mobile infrastructure vendors, large and start-up operators, regulators, trade bodies, government agencies and financial institutions. Her advice and forecasts have helped inform strategic decisions at a wide range of vendors, operators, start-ups and finance houses. Prior to setting up Rethink, Caroline held various executive positions at VNU Business Publishing BV, then Europe’s largest producer of technology related B2B reports and publications. She was the European content and research director, and was a member of the leadership team for VNU’s online business. She holds an MA from the University of Oxford.

Vicky Messer - VP Product Management, Picocom

Vicky Messer is VP of Product Management at Picocom with over 25 years of experience in the wireless industry. Vicky joined Picocom over 4 years ago and leads Product Management, Technical Marketing and partnership activities. Vicky also leads the Picocom Small Cell Forum (SCF) activities and joined the board member at Small Cell Forum (SCF). In recognition leading in multiple work items and a published papers, Vicky was awarded the SCF ‘Outstanding Individual Contribution to SCF award’ in 2020.

Vicky is a certified IET registration mentor, and currently mentors a local young female engineer. In May 2023 Vicky joined Industrial Advisory Board Bath University Electronics and Electrical Engineering and also won a SCF Industry Award 2023 for Women in Wireless.

Neil Piercy - Founder, Independent

Neil has been developing base stations for various communications systems for over 30 years, during which time he has performed roles throughout the whole development lifecycle, as well as management roles. Neil joined the small cell specialist company, ip.access, when it was formed as a spin-off from TTP Com back in 2000, and stayed with the company for 23 years, during which time his roles varied from System Architect through to Head of Engineering. As a Systems Engineer covering software, hardware, and RF, he includes specialist areas such as security and networking, as well as a focus on all aspects of protocol design and implementation. He has analysed system performance and performed simulations across GSM, UMTS, LTE and NR small cell RAN equipment and systems. He is now a freelance telecoms Systems Engineering consultant.

Simon Saunders - Visiting Professor, King's College London

Prof. Simon Saunders is an independent advisor and researcher with deep industry and academic background in communication systems technology and a burgeoning interest in the intersection between real and artificial neural systems, communication systems and music. He is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, telecoms advisor to DCMS and Trustee of the charity Music for All.

Simon is a specialist in the technology of wireless communications, with a technical and commercial background derived from senior appointments in both industry (including Google, Motorola and Philips), academia (University of Surrey, Trinity College Dublin) and regulation (Ofcom).

He founded the Small Cell Forum and chaired this industry association from 2007-12, growing membership to 150 companies and working with 3GPP to create the first standards for small cells. He acted as Director of Emerging & Online Technology for Ofcom, leading Ofcom’s Emerging Technology programme and creating their Online Tech team. At Google (2015-20), he worked with operators globally to enhance wireless connectivity via a range of advanced technology initiatives, combining wireless networks, artificial intelligence and network virtualisation. As co-founder and Director of Technology for independent wireless strategy advisory firm Real Wireless (2006-15), he was responsible for overall technical capability and direction, providing independent wireless expertise and advice to operators, regulators, technology and law firms and wireless users. In 2019 Simon organised the world’s first 5G music lesson on behalf of charity Music for All, led by famous musician Jamie Cullum.

He is an author of over 150 articles, books and book chapters, including a popular textbook on antennas and propagation. He has invented over 15 patented wireless technologies and served on technical advisory boards of several companies and universities.

Event Location

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Location info

PwC, 7 More London Riverside, London, SE1 2RT

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