On 9 February we’ll be holding a face-to-face meeting with leading local carriers in Dubai. So why is this meeting so important?
Well there are many reasons — the innovation that characterizes the MENA market, end user demand, the perceived challenge from Wi-Fi in public spaces, the need for more services in the context of growing prosperity — but two in particular are driving this meeting.
Timing is the first. Release Five work is close to completion. Once it is published the Forum will have put in place guidelines for the deployment of small cells across all the main use cases.
A global audience of operators is now building on this work with real world deployments. However, a term like ‘real world deployments’ is not to be taken lightly. The apparently predictable needs of a shopping mall deployment, for example, will differ greatly depending on the size of the mall, whether it is in an urban or suburban area, potential backhaul needs, what other facilities — like Wi-Fi — are available, user expectations and so on. A city street or village deployment is likely to offer similarly area-specific challenges. This is borne out in numerous SCF case studies — in SCF098, for example, which focuses solely on urban small cell rollout and yet offers a wildly diverging set of case studies and needs under that heading.
So having outlined the mechanics of various use cases it’s time to take them into the real world and see how they need to adapt. The MENA region offers its own very specific challenges. We want to hear about them, discuss them, and help operators to address them.
And that’s the second driving reason for this event: the chance for a face-to-face carrier-only session in which leading carriers in this region can be heard. Along with presentations from SCF leadership and experts, GSMA regional director Peter Lyons will also be on hand to put small cells in a broader context.
If you are a carrier from the MENA region and would like to attend, please contact CEO Sue Monahan – sue[at]smallcellforum.org.