Growth in smartphone subscriptions and data-intensive applications is set to drive a steep rise in mobile data traffic over the next few years in the Middle East – the region along with Central Europe is set to experience a 13-fold increase in mobile data traffic between 2015 and 2021, the highest in the world. This, says global leading wireless solutions provider Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Limited, will affect high-density indoor public hotspots in particular and will significantly scale up the need for capacity-extending in-building coverage solutions such as its Polycell (Distributed Small Cell) System.

“If you consider the time the region’s population spends in commercial indoor spaces – such as office towers, malls, hotels and restaurants – efficient indoor coverage becomes non-negotiable. These spaces cannot rely on the heavily congested macro network to provide coverage to all their visitors, which will result in poor connections and severely disgruntled customers. That’s where small cells enter the picture,” explains Eldynero Santos, general manager for the Middle East region at Comba.

One of the main uses of small cells is to provide robust and reliable coverage in weak coverage areas, thus resulting in the solution emerging as a strong, viable solution to augment indoor networks and satisfy the growth in coverage requirements.

“Small cell solutions capably support coverage and capacity needs in high-density indoor hotspots – essentially, the areas where spectrum scarcity will be felt the most with growth in mobile data traffic. The Polycell (Distributed Small Cell) System is best suited to offload traffic in such areas,” further notes Santos.

Small Cell solutions are expected to be dominating indoor solution especially for small to medium venues. It is believed that they are going to play an important role in building future HetNets.