Freshwave pumps out 4G from all four UK operators in one unit

Freshwave’s Omni Network, developed alongside CommScope, is described as ‘an industry-changing approach’ and is being rolled out at various Freshwave customer sites across the UK.

The pitch for in-building mobile systems is that in many buildings the macro signal is blocked by materials such as thick concrete walls or energy efficient glass. This can be got around by using small cells connected into the operators’ networks, as opposed to technologies which rely on outdoor signal. 

Freshwave says with all four MNOs contained in one box, controlled by engineers in its data centre, Omni Network needs less equipment, cabling and installation which means it’s faster to design and for some buildings can mean up to 65% lower costs than a legacy, traditional distributed antenna system (DAS). The firm also says each access point can provide up to 25% more coverage compared to a traditional small cell and 32% more than a low power DAS.

Freshwave as the neutral host can also provide customers with additional network statistics and visibility of what’s happening on the mobile networks in their building, such as traffic volume, number of users and calls, and data upload and download. 

“Omni Network extends in-building mobile connectivity to a wider range of organisations than ever before thanks to our team’s technical innovation,” says Simon Frumkin, Freshwave’s CEO. “As the only company in the UK able to offer Omni Network, we’re looking forward to the benefits it will bring to our customers across the public and private sector. We’re grateful to all the UK mobile operators for their collaboration which made Omni Network possible.” 

Stuart Holyoak, Director, DAS and Small Cell Business Development – EMEA at CommScope, added: “Neutral hosts such as Freshwave do fantastic work in expanding the accessibility of indoor coverage to a wider range of organisations. We’re thrilled to be part of the inaugural solution, a world first for small cells.”   

To find out more about neutral host infrastructure, check out this Telecoms.com Podcast from August last year featuring Freshwave’s Tom Bennett.