Enterprises Need to be Comfortable with IBW Technology

November 12, 2014

By J. Sharpe Smith —

November 13, 2014 — A recent conversation with Boris Golubovic, TE Connectivity director, product management, wireless networks, revealed a new company philosophy: less is more when it comes to enterprise wireless systems. As in-building wireless systems reach beyond the iconic skyscrapers, such as One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, simplicity and ease of use will be key selling points for small to mid-sized buildings, he told AGL Small Cell Link.

“Simple in-building wireless systems are beginning to shape the ecosystem. You can take an enterprise femtocell, connect it to the InterReach Unison system and get thousands of square feet of coverage per active antenna point,” Golubovic said.

TE Connectivity’s low-cost portfolio, InterReach, covers buildings with 20,000 to 500,000 square feet, which Golubovic feels is a sweet spot for in-building systems.

“The technology has been around for years, but it is just now seeing a resurgence to deliver the next wave of user experience,” he said. “It is an ecosystem play because there are many actors involved: the OEM, the carrier, the company and the integrator. There are a lot of motivated parties.”

Because operators are already comfortable deploying residential femtocells and they are involved in wireless connectivity at every major sports complex, they will soon become more attuned to in-building wireless system installation at small to mid-size facilities, Golubovic said.

“A lot of the in-building wireless systems are initiated by the operators that were approached by the enterprise. There is a desire to push that business to integrators, but that ecosystem is still developing,” he said.

To understand the evolution of the enterprise market, other adjacent use cases, such as Wi-Fi, should be considered. With Wi-Fi rolling out to millions of nodes across hundreds of thousands of buildings, the provision of IBW has been demystified. In-building wireless systems will undoubtedly see an accelerated growth curve and general acceptance as well.

J. Sharpe Smith is the editor of AGL Small Cell Link and AGL Link.