5G indoor coverage poses problems for office buildings and operators

It’s no secret that 5G cellular is coming, but mobile operators have primarily focused on the consumer market. However, 5G will bring some important developments that will impact enterprise technology buyers. Enterprise customers should start factoring these capabilities into their cellular planning process.

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One of the most widely recognized features of 5G is higher data rates. All mobile users will benefit from higher data rates. However, for enterprise managers, other issues and decisions may be more important. In other words, don't be brainwashed by the operators' claims about speed.

There is still a lot of work to be done for commercial 5G. For example, Apple has not yet launched a 5G iPhone. Therefore, enterprise users (many of whom are iPhone users) will not join the 5G party anytime soon.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the body that develops cellular standards such as 5G, also promises ultra-reliable, low-latency communications and support for denser deployments of IoT devices. But those capabilities have yet to materialize.

For enterprise users, the big question that hasn’t received enough attention is how to bring 5G indoors.

5G indoor coverage issues

Carriers talk about 5G indoor coverage in their ads, but they’re mostly talking about venues like stadiums and shopping malls, which have lots of open space and are under roofs. When enterprises think about 5G indoor coverage, they’re usually thinking about office spaces.

Offices have lots of walls and solid walls, which leaves a lot of radio dead spots. Wireless LAN (WLAN) experts are well aware of these dead spots. And, as builders design for energy efficiency, we're seeing specially coated window glass block radio signals, too.

Therefore, if users in a building want to talk on their cell phones, a cellular signal source may be required within the building.

The huge potential of small cells

Traditionally, carriers install distributed antenna systems (DAS) in buildings to improve indoor signal coverage. These systems have a signal source, either through an external donor antenna or a dedicated cellular base station. A network of cables, amplifiers, and antenna heads distributes the cellular signal throughout the building. Typically, the DAS is installed by one carrier, and other carriers pay to access it, which is called a neutral host.

However, traditional DAS has big problems with 5G's multiple-input multiple-output transmission technology, which is the key to high transmission rates, so the industry has come up with an idea called small cells.

Small cells have a coverage area equivalent to a Wi-Fi access point, with less coverage if there are obstacles. Operators have installed thousands of small cells in outdoor applications to provide denser coverage in high-traffic areas. Now, operators are promoting small cells for indoor applications.

For outdoor small cell networks, operators can use the new higher frequency millimeter waves, 24 GHz to 36 GHz. These frequencies are highly linear, meaning they don't turn, and they don't penetrate walls as easily, making them better suited for use in open spaces. For indoor use, you need lower frequency small cells, which are better suited for indoor applications.

Cellular Voice Is a Problem

Eventually, installing small cells in office buildings will look like an enterprise WLAN. However, we have yet to see a neutral host small cell service that supports multiple carriers. So unless this changes, we may have to deploy a separate small cell network for each carrier we use.

Interestingly, this situation mainly creates problems for cellular voice. Your data traffic, on the other hand, may not be affected much. The reason data is not affected is that we have WLAN, and almost all smartphones default to Wi-Fi as the primary choice for sending data traffic. However, the default choice for voice calls is cellular. Tests have shown that about 75% of cellular data traffic is sent over Wi-Fi. So as long as your WLAN is working properly, your data will be covered.

In the end, 5G may be an interesting topic for the general public. However, for network professionals, it is a critical responsibility. Enterprise IT departments need to get up to speed on 5G. They should contact mobile operator sales representatives and start planning to support 5G within their facilities.

Or you can skip this suggestion, but then I guess you'll need a landline to reach you.