The Wireless Industry Conference Calendar as a Three-Act Play

The Wireless Industry Conference Calendar as a Three-Act Play

Blame it on the English major in me, but I’ve long observed that the annual conference calendar for the in-building wireless industry progresses like a three-act play.  

In Act One, we get introduced to the characters and learn what the main problem or conflict is. Next, we discover in Act Two the “complication” or obstacle to achieving a successful conclusion. And in Act Three, the problem gets resolved.  

Consider the three-act play model as it applies to the movie Casablanca: In Act One, we learn about Casablanca, get introduced to Rick, Captain Renault and Major Strasser, and find out that Rick has the letters of transit. Then in Act Two, we ascertain that Victor Lazlo wants to letters of transit, Strasser intends to prevent Lazlo from escaping, and – oh yeah – Rick and Lazlo’s wife have a past and that those letters of transit could help him win her back. Finally, in Act Three, Rick puts aside his feelings for Lazlo’s wife and instead architects their successful escape from Casablanca.  

Because 2016 is still unfolding, there’s no risk of me spoiling the ending. Nonetheless, here are the first two acts of the annual in-building wireless conference calendar and what I envision to be Act Three…  

Act One  

The opening scene takes place at Verizon’s annual IBTUF conference where the in-building wireless ecosystem breathes a collective sigh of relief thanks to analyst forecasts that densification spending for 2016 is going to be higher than the off-year of 2015 but, alas, not likely at those levels from 2014. However, the landscape is becoming increasingly competitive.

Emerging from the cacophony at Mobile World Congress over 5G, IoT and VR, there is market evidence that indoor and outdoor small cells are finally taking off in a big way. Pervasively, manufacturers are delivering richer feature sets at lower prices. More vendors with sophisticated public-safety DAS and Repeater solutions showcase their products not only at IWCE and APCO but, also, at the traditionally-cellular conferences. And, most noticeably at the SCWS World, DAS & Small Cells Congress and the Wireless Infrastructure Show conferences, panel session, exhibit floor and hallway discussions focus on identifying how to unlock the middle-enterprise or “middleprise” market that consists of Tier 2 buildings having between 100k and 500k square feet.  

Act Two  

Although large, Tier 1 venue opportunities such as Super Bowl stadiums, airports and subways remain, they are fewer and, therefore, the in-building wireless market focus continues to shift to the large enterprise and middleprise which includes hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, universities and corporate buildings. Vertical industry conferences illustrate that business models need to change to address enterprise market economics; and that products must similarly evolve.

At the ACUTA Annual Conference and a DASpedia event hosted on the TCU campus, university IT directors lament that, although they have garnered interest from operators or third party owners to deploy networks for the stadium and arena, they struggle to tackle the much-needed cellular coverage inside student buildings and residential dormitories. Hoteliers at HITEC corroborate reports on increased spending for both WiFi and cellular coverage enhancement out of concern that bad reviews on hotel rating sites such as Travelocity and TripAdvisor could lead to lost revenues but, ultimately, share they are challenged to align the business model and technology toolkit to support each of the four wireless operators. The chasm is even greater at Commercial Real Estate (CRE) and Property Management conferences including Realcomm and BOMA where there is a dearth of in-building wireless presence on both the agenda and exhibit floor in spite of sophisticated Smart Buildings technology initiatives, and more questions than answers for addressing tenant expectations for wireless as a utility.

Even the SEAT Conference, which assembles CIOs from the sports and entertainment industry which has long been a focus of the in-building wireless ecosystem, informs an evolution in which technology infrastructure must be thought of holistically to deliver a connected stadium fan experience; cellular, WiFi and other services should no longer be thought of as silos having a limited lifespan but, instead, architected and integrated as networks that complement each other and scale.  

Act Three  

The in-building wireless ecosystem returns to wireless-focused conferences scheduled from September through the end of the year where new initiatives including product launches, acquisitions, joint ventures, funding models and industry consortiums foreshadow both evolutionary and revolutionary steps in densifying the network edge.

In its swan song before decamping from Las Vegas to San Francisco under its new 2017 moniker (Mobile World Congress Americas), CTIA underscores the toolkit approach required to achieve the HetNet which includes a hybrid of macrocell, microcell, picocell, DAS and small cells – each solution getting progressively smaller and less powerful as it extends closer to the edge. The BICSI Fall Conference demonstrates how quickly the building infrastructure community has become proficient in designing, deploying, commissioning, optimizing and managing both cellular and public-safety indoor wireless networks thanks to both BICSI-led and vendor education efforts, plus hardware and software innovations that dramatically simplify and streamline field deployments. HetNet Expo explores existing and emerging funding models that leverage investments in Tier 1 projects to also light up enterprise and middleprise venues. End of year events that include SCWS Americas, 5G North America and DAS & Small Cell Congress Europe are launch pads for enterprise small cells that enable more than one operator as well as roadmaps for initial hybrid DAS and small cell products that more fully address the enterprise and begin to unlock the middleprise.  

If I’m right about the conclusion of 2016, in-building wireless conferences are going to get very exciting because like that famous line from Casablanca – “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” – I believe the in-building wireless industry is on the cusp of a similarly beautiful and mutually-beneficial relationship with venue owners.

Fin.

Arianna Neri

Managing Director @ Energy Dialogues

7y
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Nice review of this season's theatrical program! Certainly these conferences help us gauge the health of the wireless industry. Thx, Mike

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Great Post. I stole some of the ideas... Speak with you soon.

Ray Hild

(7400+) Founder of Triangle Advisory Group, helping firms succeed in the telecom industry. Advisor and Mentor for ACP, helping our veterans transition from the military to the civilian workforce.

7y

I look forward to watching Act 3 again. Think I missed the part where the problems get resolved.

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