Verizon Small Cell for Comparison
As an addendum to our earlier article about Crown Castle and Mobilitie small cell proposed installations in Orlando, we thought it would be helpful to include a drawing of a Verizon proposed small cell from Massachusetts. In this case, Verizon is installing a Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) with two small cells to augment their coverage and capacity in the vicinity of an existing Verizon macrocell which is collocated on an existing SBA Communications tower. Verizon is expanding the baseband unit (BBU) at their macrocell to support these two small cells. The small cells utilize remote radio heads (RRH) which are connected via fiber to the C-RAN avoiding the need to deploy separate baseband units at each small cell location and shrinking the equipment that is necessary to place on the poles. This allows Verizon to add capacity and coverage to their existing macrocell network on a much cheaper basis overall by pinpointing where they have service deficiencies. See below for an image of their coverage map. Note the item labeled Lowell 9- this is the SBA tower Verizon and the two blue dots are the small cells proposed on existing utility poles.
Below is a screenshot of the small cell installation on the existing pole. Note the large antenna on the top of the pole (12″x28.7″) and the RRH located on the pole.
