Firstly I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year - this is the time of year when all manner of predictions are made for the year ahead - and I often wonder how many of these are checked out at the end of the year....
Anyway - I'm not going to make any fanciful predictions here because I have enough sense to know that things can change - however one thing is clear and that is the ongoing growth of wireless networks - be they for conventional mobile, mobile broadband and so on we will undoubtably see more and more wireless in the world. This will put huge demands onto spectrum and network capacities and there will be ongoing new site builds and existing site upgrades as the existing networks start to creak and groan at the seams with the ammount of data being transmitted and as new networks are rolled out.
So what is needed in the coming year - I see a couple of things coming up:
Networks will need sites that can be build ecconomically and offer savings in capex - this means a complete rethink on current site designs and layouts and use of materials. The use of items like GeoStrut carbon fibre monopoles and rooftop stub towers offer such an opportunity in cost and time saving - same strengths as steel but at about 10% of the weight makes the advantages obvious. Hybrid power systems will also start to gain ground once network operators realise that its not just a "green" thing - it actually saves opex $ as well.
In an effort to save the networks from overloads I also think we will see things like the rise of WiFi data off-loads - particularly in retail environments where there is growing WiFi coverage and heavy mobile data demand. In city areas we will also see more and more outdoor DAS systems come on line (watch Crown Castle in the US for this - quiet - and astute -achievers in this market at the moment). We will also see more refarming of the older GSM spectrums to allow LTE roll-outs - interesting just now here in Australia as many of these original spectrum licences are coming up for renewal - no doubt some tense negotiations with the government agencies will result.
Finally I think as more and more new or upgraded sites are needed, even with smaller equipment, there is going to be more and more need for sites to be better blended to their surroundings. I dont think we will see a rush on palm tree sites but more "Stealth" type screening on rooftop sites where parapet extensions to exactly match the building and so on will be required - either by town planning restrictions or just as a means of getting sites in certain areas.
Whatever the new year brings I hope it is a peaceful and happy one for you and your family
