12:30
Registration and networking with lunch
13:30
Introduction to Small Cell SIG from Bob Driver, CW
13:40
Welcome from event host, Bozidar Radunovic, Researcher, Microsoft Research
13:50
Leveraging the public cloud to provide affordable wireless connectivity; Bozidar Radunovic, Researcher, Microsoft Research
Affordable internet connectivity is still a big challenge. Less than half of the world population has access to the internet. Even in developed countries such as the US and the UK, more than 15% of the population does not have broadband connection at home. A large part of the problem is that in some cases the network infrastructure is too expensive for big telcos to address all the needs at an affordable price. Recent popularity of dynamic spectrum access has opened up an opportunity for small telcos and community groups to serve some of these needs through wireless access. In some cases, such as CBRS, this means leveraging LTE cellular technology. However, even when spectrum is available, building a cellular network requires considerable expertise and expensive appliances. Today, we will discuss what it takes to create an affordable cellular core network as a service in a public cloud and the technical challenges of the current core architecture. We will also present a novel architecture that addresses these challenges and requires only minimal modifications to the existing small cells.
14:00
Q&A
14:05
Self-installed small cells for rural communities - Nokia Kuha solution; Enrico Nigra Gattinotta, GS Solution Architect – UK, NOKIA
This session will look at rural and remote communities’ connectivity challenges and solutions. Enrico will present the Nokia proposal to a sustainable community-based network to close the gap between the availability of new mobile technologies and services in urban areas and their availability in the rural-remote ones.
14:25
Q&A
14:30
Rural Small Cells – Really Making a Difference; Neil Winrow, Director, Product Management, Programmes & Projects, ip.access
• An insight from the TUCAN3G project, which studied both the technical and socio-economic elements of introducing telephony and data services in isolated rural areas of developing countries (Peru) – based on small cells for access network, and a combination of WiLD, WiMAX and VSAT for backhaul
• The impact those services made on the communities they served, how new business models and regulation stimulate change, and what could be replicated in other regions in the world
• Beyond TUCAN3G - What we learned, and how we would do things differently today
14:50
Q&A
14:55
Refreshments and networking
15:15
Connecting the unconnected – a qualitative analysis of using small cells to extend coverage in rural and remote locations; Julie Bradford, Wireless Expert, Real Wireless
In many rural and remote locations worldwide, the high cost of traditional macrocells outweighs the small subscriber numbers they extend service too. The lower cost and more rapid deployment of small cells compared with macrocells promise to provide a better cost per subscriber and positive business case in rural areas. However, does this map to how populations are distributed in reality? This talk will review the business drivers for rural small cells and include an analysis of providing coverage to real population distributions worldwide and the potential extension to coverage that small cells could bring.
15:35
Q&A
15:40
Small-Cell on an Aerial Platform; Ayan Ghosh, “Droneman”, EE
Ayan’s presentation will focus on EE-BT’s innovation on enhancing coverage using small cell on aerial
platforms - drones and Helikite. The various use cases of small-cell aerial platforms will be shared along
with the latest developments on this front.
16:00
Q&A
16:05
Panel session with all speakers chaired by David Chambers, ThinkSmallCell
16:40
Event Closes