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Feature Article*
Enabling the Wireless Utility
By
Annette Gieseman, InnerWireless
The New Utility
- Wireless
There’s no doubt that a
growing number of wireless services and applications are becoming
expected inside buildings, just like other standard utilities –
wireline phone, electrical power, heating, and air-conditioning. This
has lead savvy building owners, developers, enterprises, intelligent
building firms and others to address in-building wireless holistically
as a new category of utility. The “Wireless Utility” is made possible
by a single in-building RF distribution infrastructure that enables a
wide range of current and future wireless frequencies, capabilities,
technologies and services to be available throughout a building, serving
a variety of stakeholders and customers.
It’s no secret that
property owners and enterprises have been dealing with multiple
in-building wireless distribution systems for paging, two-way radio and
emergency services for years – multiple systems to install, manage,
operate and maintain from different vendors serving different users.
Recently, the number of wireless users, applications and devices has
started to grow at a rapid pace, raising the in-building requirements,
expectations and table-stakes. Whether it’s a class A office space,
shopping mall, convention center, hotel, airport or corporate
headquarters, PCS and cellular coverage solutions are becoming
commonplace. Tenants and visitors want and expect to use mobile phones
and other wireless devices for voice and data inside these spaces. With
the fast growing popularity of wireless local area networks (WLANs) also
known as WiFi (wireless fidelity), buildings are beginning to support
one or more public WiFi hotspots as well as multiple private WiFi
networks for high speed data and voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN)
applications.
In the not-so-distant
future, we will see wireless building automation, wireless bio sensors
and more, all of which will further require a manageable in-building
infrastructure which consistently, reliably and cost-effectively
distributes RF (radio frequency) signals throughout a building.
Fueling the Demand for the Wireless Utility
Demand for in-building
wireless coverage and capacity is being pushed on several fronts – the
availability of enabling technology, devices, applications and
affordable services.
New tools for property
managers, such as wireless device-accessible building maintenance and
operations applications, are compelling because they can increase
productivity, lower operating costs, improve customer response time and
increase tenant satisfaction. Technologies such as wireless video
cameras and visitor badges that can be tracked wirelessly throughout
buildings will help ensure secure properties.
From a cellular/PCS
perspective, we have become dependent on mobile wireless
communications. Affordable pricing plans and minute buckets that
include long distance and roaming have increased the U.S. market
penetration to over 50%. The widespread availability of new wireless
voice and data devices like BlackBerries®, PDAs (personal
digital assistant) and camera phones, and applications like multi-media
messaging (MMS) and wireless e-mail synchronized with an enterprise
server further drives the use of wireless as the preferred
method of communication. With widespread adoption and use, our habits
have changed so we instinctively call the person (on their mobile
phone), not the place (wired phone). In turn, tenants and visitors
expect in-building coverage and capacity inside buildings as they become
increasingly reliant on mobile communications.
In today’s post 9/11
environment, we are all aware of the need for emergency services to work
effectively and reliably inside buildings. Additionally, many companies
and high-rise tenants are instituting safety policies that demand
specific in-building wireless coverage and service levels to avoid the
kind of wireless communications blackout that occurred in the World
Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.
All of these factors
drive demand for a managed approach to in-building coverage and
capacity, and the need for a single, manageable distribution
infrastructure – the Wireless Utility.
The Challenges and Benefits
Improving in-building coverage and offering dedicated wireless capacity
will help building owners keep visitors and tenants – especially key
tenants – satisfied as companies increasingly look to wireless services
and technologies to drive productivity. Additionally, building
management will benefit from improved in-building wireless voice and
data communications for their own maintenance and security personnel.
And everyone will benefit from improved fire and life safety
capabilities by enabling peer-to-peer use of fire/rescue frequencies
throughout their building.
With these
benefits, what are the challenges? Return on investment clearly is a
high hurdle for building owners, wireless service providers, and
in-building system vendors, all of whom must generate returns for their
respective investors. For all parties involved, required capital is
understandably a concern. In other words, who among the building
owners, tenants, wireless service providers and in-building system
vendors will foot the bill?
The reality is that
developing, installing and maintaining a shared in-building RF
distribution system doesn’t fit the “Build it and they will come” mantra
from the B-LEC days. To make the system viable for everyone, it’s
necessary for players from all teams – building owners, wireless service
providers, tenants, enterprises and vendors – to step up to the plate.
Enabling the
Wireless Utility
Thanks to future-proof,
multi-service solutions, in-building wireless distribution systems can
be considered a core piece of building infrastructure. No one would
sign a lease in a building that didn’t have a built-in fire suppression
system, plumbing, air conditioning, or electrical outlets. Similarly,
having wireless capabilities throughout a building, whether in the
bowels of its underground parking lots, in its bustling public
concourse, or in the towering reaches of its high-rise offices, will
soon become a necessity – a Wireless Utility instead of an accessory.
And we can see the trend turn into reality by looking at new-building
construction where built-in high-tech solutions including in-building
wireless systems increasingly create a competitive advantage over
existing office space.
When choosing an
in-building coverage solution one should weigh a few key
considerations. The first is whether the system is “future-proof,”
supporting any current or future protocol and a broad range of
frequencies so it is not bound to a single service, provider, technology
or protocol. The second consideration is finding a system that is
highly reliable and that minimizes ongoing operational expenses. The
third consideration is the financial options offered by the Wireless
Utility solution provider. Can you get a turnkey solution from one
vendor with performance guarantees and allocate the price of the
solution among the various stakeholders?
Furthermore, an
in-building system is most valuable when it can carry fire/rescue
frequencies, typically in the 400 and 800 MHz range, as well as support
the handheld communications needs of the building’s own maintenance and
security personnel. A broadband capability with frequency extensibility
is a necessary factor in designing a “future-proof” system that supports
known technologies, protocols, and services, as well as those that will
be developed in the future. And, the optimal in-building system will
return more long-term value by being versatile enough to automatically
distribute a variety of protocols and frequencies without delay,
disruptive upgrades, or expensive retrofits.
InnerWireless is an in-building wireless technology, systems and
services company that brings wireless communications indoors to high
traffic public spaces, office buildings, campuses and enterprises. Its
InnerMobile™ system converges wireless voice and data onto a single
broadband in-building infrastructure that provides simultaneous coverage
for multiple services including PCS/cellular, 2-way radio, paging,
Wireless LAN, and emergency services. Visit
www.innerwireless.com
to learn more.
*CRE Partners is
not responsible for the content, validity, technical accuracy or other
claims or information contained in this article. Feature Articles
are often authored by outside sources and do not necessarily reflect the
views or opinions of CRE Partners. Further, publication of
articles in the CRE Partners Newsletter and/or web site is not meant to
represent, promote, or endorse any company, brand, product or solution.
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