Importance of Cellular Connectivity in Commercial Office Buildings

Importance of Cellular Connectivity in Commercial Office Buildings

Cellular connectivity has becoming a critical factor in securing long-term tenants and higher price per square foot in commercial real estate office buildings.

Despite the fact that currently there are more than 2.5 billion smartphone users globally and an estimated 80% of mobile traffic originates or terminates within a building, only 2% of commercial buildings have dedicated technology to ensure robust and reliable mobile coverage and capacity indoors. Seamless indoor or in-building wireless coverage is as important as the availability of water or electricity in that building. Building owners need to have cellular connectivity designed into the fabric of a building like they do for other utilities.

The demand for cellular connectivity has been fueled not only by the adoption of smart mobile phones and office tenants today expect a seamless transition from a smartphone to computer without risking dropped calls and service interruptions and are willing to pay more for it.

Robust indoor wireless coverage could increase a property’s value by 28% on average. Enterprise tenants reported that reliable cellular connectivity increased workforce productivity, supporting the recruitment of more talented individuals and attracting more visitors, according to the survey.Building owners identified significant roadblocks that prevented them from providing dedicated wireless networks indoors. More than 35% indicated that costs of the system were a primary factor while the complexity of the technology (19%) and a lack of skilled workers to manage cellular networks (11% ) were secondary factors inhibiting their adoption (11%).  As more companies depend on seamless internet and cellular connectivity to conduct business, offices building owners need to provide the digital connectivity infrastructure to support them.

Considerations to implement cellular networks in commercial properties.

Select a professional wireless integration company to provide you with the best design and solutions for a Cellular DAS system.

1. Have them conduct a site survey that will enable identification of the weakest and strongest signal areas throughout your property. Signal analysis will detect and display signal frequency, bandwidth, and strength. Once it has been determined your facility’s weaknesses and strengths, a design for a cellular system can adequately address coverage.

2. Owners and their wireless service consultant will consider the best solution for increasing the signal levels in the building.

3. A professional wireless solutions provider should be a product agnostic company who will research and determine the best solution for the building, taking into consideration your budget, understands the needs of your property so the best solutions is chosen to ensure that the technologies you’re implementing are FCC compliant. There is a wide range of solutions available based on the amount of square footage and the type of DAS is required to reach and boost signals should be provided by your wireless solutions provider.

5. The wireless service provider should have an ongoing relations with the Wireless Service Providers so the carrier acceptance and coordination process will be seamless to the building management and ownership.  The service provider will not make a final selection of the technology until a Cellular DAS system has been approved by the major Wireless Service Providers.

6. The wireless service provider selection should be a self-performing company able to design, implement, commission and maintain the cellular DAS to ensure a high quality service experience.  Many firms subcontract portions of the project design, installation or the commissioning process which can affect the system performance and quality of service.

7.  The wireless service provider will coordinate the wireless carrier acceptance and rebroadcast agreement process between the ownership and the carriers and the commissioning process for the DAS with each of the major carriers engineers.

RF Freqs is a product agnostic full service wireless integration firm specializing in cellular and public safety DAS services.

 www.rffreqs.us