5G Small Cells 

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

To expedite the roll out of 5G, telecom operators in the country will leverage street furniture such as poles, advertisement hoardings and bus shelters for deploying low power base stations called ‘Small Cells’ that will help bring the network closer to the consumers.

Small Cells are needed for deploying 5G as opposed to earlier generations such as 4G, because of the frequency. The higher the frequency, the lower the wavelength, which means that the distance they travel is less.

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also issued a consultation paper on the Use of street furniture for small cell and aerial fiber deployment, wherein it states that Small Cells will play a critical role in success of 5G as these are needed to exploit features of 5G such as low latency (minimal delay times), ultra-high speeds, and massive connection densities.
• Small Cells are low-powered radio access nodes or base stations that have a coverage range from a few metres to a few hundred metres.
• They are portable, easy to deploy and help provide localised coverage. 
• As per the TRAI paper, Small Cells provide coverage for very short distances and therefore they are installed in a large number even more than 200 per sq. km for good geographical coverage to provide highly reliable and high-capacity broadband.

Small Cells

• Small cell is an umbrella term used to describe a miniature radio access point (AP) or wireless network base station with a low radio frequency (RF) power output, footprint, and range.
• These are low-powered radio access nodes or base stations that have a coverage range from a few metres to a few hundred metres.
• They are portable, easy to deploy and help provide localised coverage.
• Small Cells provide coverage for very short distances and therefore they are installed in a large number for good geographical coverage to provide highly reliable and high-capacity broadband.
• Considering the present situation, the fifth-generation (5G) small cell is poised to usher in an era of innovation on a massive scale, ensuring significantly improved signal penetration and superior coverage.