The enterprise small cell market is currently only one-third of the major DAS (distributed antenna systems) market today.
This figure is however going to increase in the next few years, with the growing popularity of small cells as a coverage option for SMEs. Analysts from ABI research say small cells could tie with DAS by 2016.
Both DAS and Enterprise small cell equipment will reach the $2 billion mark by 2016. Both markets are growing at a steady pace and DAS is seeing more deployments in large and medium sized public buildings around 150,000 sqft. Enterprise cells are seeing the majority of the deployment in buildings smaller than 100,000 sqft.
Aditya Kaul, practice director, mobile networks at ABI Research says that, "DAS vendors seem more aware about small cells now than they were a few years back. While most DAS vendors don't really see small cells as a threat today, the smart ones are beginning to open up to small cells and realize that small cells are here to stay."
Kaul added, "While enterprise small cells are mostly going to sit separate from DAS in two non-overlapping building segments, the trend of public access small cells which are targeted at public spaces like airports, shopping malls, hotels, and even stadiums could see some revenue moving away from DAS. But most likely we will see an intersection of the two technologies where DAS is fed by small cells especially in medium sized buildings."
Published August 26, 2012
http://www.itp.net/590192-small-cell-market-will-tie-with-das-by-2016
