Airspan Small Cells and Macrocells Portfolio, including 5G

Back in April, a presentation from Airspan showed that they have shipped nearly 500k small cells. Sprint has nearly 300k MagicBoxes while Jio has around 120k small cells.

As you can see above, Airspan has a range of outdoor small cells and as shown below, a wide range of indoor small cells.

Airspan recently announced that it has partnered with Rakuten, the newest MNO in Japan, to bring comprehensive 4G and 5G solutions to the world’s first fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network. The announcement said:

Airspan’s Air5G OpenRange28 mmWave platform in 28GHz will deliver ultra-high capacity to Rakuten Mobile with record time-to-market, enabling unprecedented monetization opportunities. Airspan’s open RAN platforms will provide Rakuten Mobile the flexibility to disrupt the economics of traditional network operators and lay the foundation for transformational 5G architectures. With over half a million systems deployed globally, Airspan brings its proven disruptive economics to the fully virtualized Rakuten Mobile network.

Airspan’s mmWave virtualized Air5G OpenRange28 platform utilizes Qualcomm’s FSM100xx 5G chipset and supports open RAN architectures, seamlessly connecting to Rakuten Mobile’s virtualized BBU to deliver the world’s most advanced open interface virtualized RAN solution.  The OpenRange28 mmWave platform supports multiple functional splits for the widest possible set of deployment options, ensuring Rakuten Mobile customers benefit from the highest level of efficiency and the best user experience in Japan.

Airspan's 5G products can be viewed here.

With so many innovators working with Rakuten, it would be interesting to see their 4G & 5G network rollout. Looking forward to some big announcements at MWC next year.

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• Dense Air: The Neutral Host Small Cell Wholesale Network Operator

5G Small Cells on 'Smart Poles' in Denver

There was a good report in FierceWireless about Verizon installing 5G in Denver using special ‘smart poles’. We have covered this topic of smart lampposts and poles extensively for many different countries including India, UK, Portugal, China and even Japan.

The article states:

The Boulder, Colorado-based company Comptek Technologies has designed stand-alone poles to house wireless small cell equipment that is completely hidden within the poles. The City of Denver has approved the design of these Comptek City Poles, and Verizon is now deploying them in Denver for 4G and 5G small cell equipment.

In addition to Verizon, Comptek is also working in different parts of the country with all the other major wireless carriers either directly or through their deployment partners. For instance, Comptek is working closely with its customer Xcel Energy, which has an eight-state footprint. Xcel is helping carriers to deploy their small cells on the utility’s existing vertical infrastructure. And in some cases, Xcel is taking down existing light poles and replacing them with Comptek poles that combine small cell equipment along with a streetlight.

The company has a national agreement with Verizon. Besides Denver, Comptek is working with Verizon in other cities including Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Anaheim, San Diego and Los Angeles, California; as well as Salt Lake City. In the Denver/Front Range area, the company has about 350 poles under contract. And across the U.S. it’s got contracts to erect about 1,000 poles by the end of 2019.

CityPoles' website here isn't updated with the latest info but the earlier press release stated 300 small cells in Denver.

A nice looking small cell pole (https://t.co/R0mNf8fxae) – with RRUs & equipment inside the pole. Curious what happens in the future if there is a need to expand or add equipment. Is there enough space for expansion or would another pole likely be needed?#celltower #telecom pic.twitter.com/N28PVYmAdF

— Ken Schmidt (@steelintheair) August 31, 2019

Continuing from the article:

The poles are designed in modular sections. There’s a foundation, base cabinet, shroud, upper pole and top antenna section. They’re custom-designed to incorporate various wireless equipment configurations, cabling, power supplies and antennas. In addition to the physical pole itself, Comptek also provides electronics and environmental controls. The poles can support single or multiple carriers.

Jim Lockwood, CEO of Comptek said that for 5G, Ericsson’s mmWave equipment is mounted in a tri-sector format, meaning that the radios and antennas are integrated with each other and they’re mounted at the top of the pole in three panels that face in different directions. Representatives from Ericsson and Verizon could not verify the "tri-sector format" or provide any additional information about it.

Related info:

• Verizon Small Cell Presentation to City of Alexandria, Virginia - April 2019
• Small Cell Infrastructure in Denver - Denver Public Works
• XcelEnergy: Dual Use Streetlight/ Communication Poles
• Fierce Wireless: Verizon hits 10 5G cities with Phoenix launch

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• What is meant by Infrastructure in a Telecoms Network?
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Some pictures of Small Cells from California (USA)
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Verizon's got Balls and Small Cells
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Verizon's Small Cells and the roadmap to 5G
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: NTT Docomo's Underground LTE Small Cells with possibility to deploy 5G in future
• Vodafone UK improving coverage with Phone Boxes, Mini-masts & Manhole Covers
• Three UK: Mobile Network Cell Tower Site Construction
• Mobile Network Infrastructure Sharing in Japan over Electric Power Infrastructure