Small Cells and the Future of Wireless

Small cells could play a big part in helping to deal with the demand for wireless spectrum. But what exactly are they?

In a report presented this month, a presidential panel laid out a proposal for how the country could get more out of the radio spectrum that carries wireless communications and data. That would help carriers accommodate the surging number of smartphones and tablets on the market. The report proposed that federal agencies share the spectrum they control with commercial entities like AT&T and Verizon, and it endorsed the use of technologies that will help use the radio waves more efficiently. One technology emphasized in the report, presented on July 20, was small cells. These are essentially base stations that blanket smaller areas with wireless coverage; they can be installed in offices and homes, or mounted on the outside of a building for a public event. Instead of guzzling bandwidth from a cell tower, small cells hook up to a local broadband connection, like the cable Internet in a house or the fiber connection inside an office building. If small cells were deployed heavily throughout a city, they would provide the cell coverage for when you’re at home and in the workplace, which is most of the time. That would free the nearby cell tower to cover larger areas where people move around faster, like roads.