Meadowcells (a.k.a. Rural Small Cells)

Picture Source: Wilson Street

I last remember mentioning a Meadowcell in September when we had our Cambridge Wireless event.

We have the term #MeadowCell being thrown about today at #CWSmallCell - thanks to @simon_saunders :-)
— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) September 19, 2013

and then I forgot all about it till I saw this:

What the hell is a meadowcell? We're talking about it here: http://t.co/evsEwxgz8c via @Light_Reading
— Dan Jones (@Dan_LRMobile) February 12, 2014

So, based on the discussion on Light Reading, Simon Saunders says the following:

However I've found one additional category helpful: "Meadowcell" to contrast rural public access small cells against their "metrocell" urban counterparts. And we've found certain regulators to be enthusiastic about the opportunities they bring. The electronics for 'meadowcells'  may not be so very different from their metro counterparts though issues like backhaul may be. Its a trickier more diverse market, but given government incentives I think there is scope for the market to be comparable in size to the metro market - vendors should leap on it!

In another discussion in Forum Oxford last year, Simon stated the following:

The terms aren’t interchangeable, but likewise they don’t have hard boundaries. Femtocells = typically home and small office/SoHo. Picocells = Enterprise, retal etc (mainly indoors), Metrocells = busy cities, outdoors, “Meadowcells” = rural outdoor application of metrocells.

From what we see above, the big challenge with Meadowcell is probably the backhaul. See my earlier post on Satellite backhaul for Rural Small Cells here.

US Market for LTE Metrocells to Grow at a 240% CAGR Over Next 5 Years

Under iGR's classification, there are three types of metrocells: those that operate on 3G only, 4G only and those that can operate on both. iGR believes that ultimately the bigger potential market will be for 4G metrocells, albeit by a small margin. 

iGR expects that the total addressable market (TAM) for 4G LTE metrocells in the U.S. will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 240 percent between 2012 and 2016. 

The TAM for 3G metrocells will initially grow strongly (CAGR over 99 percent between 2012 and 2014) before the opportunity declines in favor of 4G LTE deployments. 

Overall, the combined TAM for both 3G and 4G metrocells grows at a strong CAGR of 50 percent between 2012 and 2016. 

"By 2016, iGR expects the average consumer's consumption of mobile data in the U.S. to increase by ten times over the level in 2011," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR. "The mobile networks must adapt to this vastly increased demand and we see the metrocell, both 3G and 4G versions, as an important part of the solution. Our new study demonstrates the potential for metrocells in the U.S. and shows that the demand in the next five years will far outstrip the number of macro cell sites currently installed."

Complete article here: US Market for LTE Metrocells to Grow at a 240% CAGR Over Next 5 Years:

'via Blog this'

What is a Metrocell? - by Think Small Cell

Metrocells are compact and discrete mobile phone basestations, unobstrusively located in urban areas. They can be mounted on lampposts, positioned on the sides of buildings or found indoors in stadiums, transport hubs and other public areas. They provide excellent mobile phone service, delivering very high data speeds and capacity, solving the problem of growing data traffic demand cost effectively.



These small cells are usually owned and installed by the mobile network operator themselves, who plan, manage and maintain them in the same way as their larger macrocell cousins. However, the large numbers of metrocells change the way in which the industry operates.


Complete article follow link:
What is a metrocell? | Metrocells | Small Cells:

'via Blog this'

3G and 4G Wireless Blog: Small Cells 'Terminology' and 'Comparison'

3G and 4G Wireless Blog: Small Cells 'Terminology' and 'Comparison': Here is AT&T's attempt in comparing the small cells.

The above comparison is probably based on the assumption that LTE Small cells are n...

More info at 3G4G blog here.

'Metrocells'' or 'Neighborhood Small Cells'

Is 'Neighborhood Small Cells' just another name for 'Metrocells'?

Looks like the Metrocells would be used for the same purpose and does the same functionality.