• Cryptocurrency
  • Earnings
  • Enterprise
  • About TechBooky
  • Submit Article
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
TechBooky
  • African
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Gadgets
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
  • African
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Gadgets
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
TechBooky
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Home Research/How to do it

Could Telecom Masts Become A Thing Of The Past Sooner ? – CNBCReport

Paul Balo by Paul Balo
April 22, 2015
in Research/How to do it, Telecom
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Advances in wireless technology could see cell towers become a thing of the past, according to telecommunications experts.

“There’s no reason why your cellphone isn’t the cell tower of the future,” Steve Papa, founder of Parallel Wireless, told CNBC on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Founders Forum Smart Nation Singapore conference, Papa envisions a world where cities will be free of massive cell towers. Instead, mobile phones will be become part of the transmission network, resulting in a decrease in dropped calls, less interference and a fewer “black spots” – areas with patchy signals.

Advances in wireless technology could see cell towers become a thing of the past, according to telecommunications experts.

“There’s no reason why your cellphone isn’t the cell tower of the future,” Steve Papa, founder of Parallel Wireless, told CNBC on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Founders Forum Smart Nation Singapore conference, Papa envisions a world where cities will be free of massive cell towers. Instead, mobile phones will be become part of the transmission network, resulting in a decrease in dropped calls, less interference and a fewer “black spots” – areas with patchy signals.

“We’re just on the cusp of chips coming out where a $300 chip can power an entire cell tower. When you get that far, it’s not that much further to a scenario where when you’re finished with your cellphone, you can hang it on the wall and it adds to the cellular network,” Papa said.

Major players

Qualcomm is already experimenting with technology that allows smartphones to communicate with other mobile devices up to a range of 500 meters, bypassing cell towers altogether. Called LTE Direct, it uses licensed spectrum without draining a phone’s battery life and will become commercially available in 2016, Qualcomm said.

The firm conducted a trial of the device-to-device (D2D) software in collaboration with Deutsche Telekom and Huawei earlier this year. In a white paper released in February, Qualcomm said LTE Direct can offer mobile operators “tremendous value for their licensed spectrum assets with minimal impact on resource consumption.”

Facebook also expressed interest in the technology. Jay Parikh, the company’s vice president of infrastructure engineering, was quoted last year as saying that LTE Direct can enable Facebook to “facilitate user experiences around serendipitous interactions with a local business or a friend nearby.”

Research suggests the technology’s disruptive potential is massive.

“D2D-enabled LTE devices have the potential to become competitive for fallback public safety networks that must function when cellular networks are not available or fail,” said the Wireless Networking & Communications Group (WNCG) in a paper last year.

“In principle, exploiting direct communication between nearby mobile devices will improve spectrum utilization, overall throughput, and energy efficiency.”

The importance of spectrum

Additional spectrum is needed to make this vision of wireless technology a reality, Papa said.

Recent developments in the U.S. point to a bright future for the industry. Last Friday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a landmark plan that allows broadband providers to use and share spectrum that was previously held by the military.

“Since they don’t make spectrum anymore, and since spectrum is the pathway of the 21st century, we have to figure out how we’re going to live with a fixed amount,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said.

Papa believes this plan – called the Citizens Broadband Radio Service– will open an enormous playground for entrepreneurs across the globe and augment cellular networks.

Moreover, increased spectrum will mean no one company will dominate device-to-device technology, Papa noted.

“Who’s going to be in charge is more of a political question than a technology or industry structure question. The reality is that technology will make spectrum less scarce. When spectrum is less scarce, there’s less of a need for a natural monopoly.”

This article was written by Nyshka Chandran for CNBC

Related Posts:

  • telecoms-radio-towers
    Nigerian Govt Plans 7,000 Telecom Towers Through…
  • IMG_6960
    Kyivstar & Starlink Partner to Debut…
  • Starlink Kenya
    SpaceX Secures FCC Approval For Starlink…
  • SpaceX-starlink-satellite-Internet
    SpaceX and European Telecom Giants Clash Over…
  • telecoms-masts-in-Nigeria
    Telecom Providers Form Working Group to Safeguard…
  • all-the-phones-wm
    Make An Informed Decision On Your Mobile Phone Plans
  • MTN Group
    MTN Group Set to Rollout Satellite Internet in Africa
  • Margherita-Della-Valle-and-Tim-Peake-1500-800
    Satellite Video Calls on Apple & Android Devices Coming Soon

Discover more from TechBooky

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Tags: cell towerstelecomtelecom masts
Paul Balo

Paul Balo

Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

Select Category

    Receive top tech news directly in your inbox

    subscription from
    Loading

    Freshly Squeezed

    • Affiniti Raises $17M for AI-Powered Small Business Finance May 22, 2025
    • Absolute Zero’ AI Achieves Top-Level Reasoning Without Human Data May 22, 2025
    • Penfold, a Digital Pension Fintech Company Raises £3.9m May 22, 2025
    • Lagos Introduces Drone Monitoring To Increase Security May 22, 2025
    • Samsung Wallet Adds Tap-to-Transfer for P2P Payments May 22, 2025
    • MTN Launches MoMo Pay for Informal Payments Market May 22, 2025

    Browse Archives

    May 2025
    MTWTFSS
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    262728293031 
    « Apr    

    Quick Links

    • About TechBooky
    • Advertise Here
    • Contact us
    • Submit Article
    • Privacy Policy

    Recent News

    Affiniti Raises $17M for AI-Powered Small Business Finance

    Affiniti Raises $17M for AI-Powered Small Business Finance

    May 22, 2025
    Absolute Zero’ AI Achieves Top-Level Reasoning Without Human Data

    Absolute Zero’ AI Achieves Top-Level Reasoning Without Human Data

    May 22, 2025
    Penfold, a Digital Pension Fintech Company Raises £3.9m

    Penfold, a Digital Pension Fintech Company Raises £3.9m

    May 22, 2025
    Lagos Introduces Drone Monitoring To Increase Security

    Lagos Introduces Drone Monitoring To Increase Security

    May 22, 2025
    Google Adds Anti-Theft Protection to Android Phones

    Samsung Wallet Adds Tap-to-Transfer for P2P Payments

    May 22, 2025
    MTN Launches MoMo Pay for Informal Payments Market

    MTN Launches MoMo Pay for Informal Payments Market

    May 22, 2025
    • Login

    © 2021 Design By Tech Booky Elite

    Generic selectors
    Exact matches only
    Search in title
    Search in content
    Post Type Selectors
    • African
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Gadgets
    • Metaverse
    • Tips
    • About TechBooky
    • Advertise Here
    • Submit Article
    • Contact us

    © 2021 Design By Tech Booky Elite

    Discover more from TechBooky

    Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

    Continue reading

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok