Rationale – home coverage and capacity

The capacity of any network is determined by the spectrum available, the efficiency of the technology and the number of cells. Historically, the vast majority of the gains in the capacity of cellular networks came from ever decreasing cell sizes. The logical conclusion of this is to implement small cells in each building – indeed, in some cases, in each room. If this were done, many have suggested that there would no longer be a capacity problem since many hundreds of Mbits/s would be available in each room, with only a few people in the room to share it between. For many years the cellular community has been working towards very small cells, partly to realise this vision.

Another reason for small cells is to enhance coverage within buildings. For most, cellular coverage indoors is adequate, but there are some situations where homes are on the edge of coverage or have particularly high building-penetration losses. A small cell in the home would provide high-quality coverage.

A final reason is associated with current business models. Cellular operators in many countries are different entities from the fixed-network operators. There is often competition between the two. When cellular users return home they may switch to the home fixed connection, perhaps because it is less expensive or the quality is better. Providing a home cell with associated modified billing could result in any call revenues from home being received by the mobile operator.