As distributed antenna systems have provided a business model for some infrastructure suppliers and service providers, at least some firms believe 5G indoor coverage provides a new opportunity for neutral host infrastructure and indoor or venue access services.
Dense Air, a U.K. firm, plans to offer wholesale neutral host services in Australia and a few other markets.
Dense Air says it will offer commercial services in 2019, including in the recently acquired spectrum in New Zealand, and plans to offer 5G service in Australia in 2020.
To support its efforts in Australia, Dense Air spent AUS$18.5 million on 5G licenses in the 3.6 GHz band.
Winning bidder
|
Winning price
|
Dense Air Australia Pty Ltd
|
$18,492,000
|
Mobile JV Pty Limited
|
$263,283,800
|
Optus Mobile Pty Ltd
|
$185,069,100
|
Telstra Corporation Limited
|
$386,008,400
|
Dense Air provides a fully managed service to both mobile and fixed network operators by the targeted mass deployment of small cells. The acquired spectrum assets in Australia enable Dense Air to start operations when the licenses are issued and handsets for the 5G ecosystem, are available, the company says.
By some estimates, the prime market for neutral host small cell facilities are venues ranging in size from 100,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet. The reason is that the largest venues (larger than 500,000 square feet) generally are candidates for distributed antenna systems or other solutions.
The potential services market for neutral host small call services depends on the cost of such systems, mobile operator willingness to pay to use them and venue tenant willingness to build and operate (as they use Wi-Fi, for example). Some portion of the market is services (neutral host), but some part might follow the Wi-Fi model, where tenants or building managers see neutral host as an amenity more than anything else.
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