As part of our work in the enterprise space, Small Cell Forum recently appeared in Housing Technology magazine talking about the subject of delivering reliable 3G and 4G mobile coverage in new social housing complexes.

These new social housing developments are commonly built on the outskirts of towns, in areas without any history of residential usage and using building designs notoriously effective at blocking cellular signal.

In an era where fewer and fewer homes have a fixed landline and instead rely on mobile phones for communications social housing associations cannot rely on households having Wi-Fi access or being able to get online elsewhere – access to online services is essential.

While some tenants may arrange their own Wi-Fi, many in social housing can’t afford Wi-Fi so our article tackles the question of whose responsibility it is to make provision for mobile coverage. The article also discusses the impact of unpredictable 3G or 4G services in terms of limiting social housing residents ability take advantage of the option to work from home or take on part-time or freelance roles.

Mobile coverage is no longer a nice thing to have or something that people can live without – it’s essential. The problem is that the way we use mobile networks has changed, to the point where building planners, architects and local authorities need to work alongside mobile operators to ensure that residents don’t lose out. In small cells the technology exists to make this a reality so it’s now down to the planners and builders to ensure that mobile coverage is something that is considered at the earliest possible stage.

To read the full article click here.