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5G is simply another, or rather, the next generation of cellular technology. There will be a 6G, 7G etc. It is important that owners, developers, management companies, etc. understand that if your communities currently experiences poor indoor cellular coverage of 3G or 4G, 5G will experience those same signal issues.
be a future need for coverage or to fill a gap in coverage. There are also rooftop solutions in which a community enters into an agreement with a provider(s) to assist in increasing coverage in a given area. Outdoor Distributed Antennae System (oDAS) and Indoor DAS systems (iDAS) are other solutions. The oDAS is the better coverage solution for something like a city center area. The equipment can be placed on existing utility poles and buildings. An iDAS is intended for stadiums, commercial buildings and multifamily developments. The DAS distributes coverage, internally, throughout a given development to antennae that are installed within the project. The notes of importance here are that these solutions usually require power, backhaul and capital. Additionally, these solutions do not alter the penetration nor distance limitations of the frequencies that support 5G. As a quick aside, a proactive and inexpensive way to prepare greenfield/new construction projects for the future is to place conduit from the roof to each IDF (telecom) room at the least. An even better proactive option would be to run conduit from the roof to each end of each floor and into each IDF room. Conduit size recommendations are usually 2 to 4 inches in diameter with 90-degree sweeps. The infrastructure for 5G is piece-meal at best today. The densest city centers and/or cities will most likely see the first rollouts. Coverage will be best in outdoor dense areas. Rural areas will most likely significantly lack any 5G coverage. Like fiber, there will be gaps in coverage. Those gaps will drive residents to need/request fixed fiber-based providers. True 5G rollouts are still some time away. Initial rollouts will be advancements to existing 4G. Interestingly enough, there is no cohesive strategy from the providers. For example: TMobile plans to use low-band spectrum (600 MHz) as well as mid-band spectrum. Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network uses millimeter
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waves, specifically 28 GHz and 39 GHz. AT&T's plan is to use millimeter wave spectrum for dense areas and mid and low-spectrum for rural and suburban locations while Sprint alleges to have more spectrum than any other carrier in the United States ranging from 800 MHz to 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz. Service Agreements 5G is simply another, or rather, the next generation of cellular technology. There will be a 6G, 7G etc. It is important that owners, developers, management companies, etc. understand that if your communities currently experiences poor indoor cellular coverage of 3G or 4G, 5G will experience those same signal issues. 5G should more appropriately be considered a complimentary (add-on) solution to wireless internet (Wi-Fi), especially in multifamily. Like today where 4G/4G LTE hands off to Wi-Fi and vice versa, seamlessly, so too will 5G. When you consider how ubiquitous Wi-Fi is and given that providers are now making gigabyte speeds available today it’s easy to make the case. Today we have Wi-Fi 5 but Wi-Fi 6 is coming, and it will support multiple users in real time and is supposed to yield 10gbps speeds. The two biggest changes will be that we would move to a new Wi-Fi specification (802.11ax) and residents would need a new modem. WiFi 6 is just as exciting if not more than 5G, there’s just no marketing campaign behind it. I will not go into further detail, suffice it to say that I could write an entire article on Wi-Fi alone after my article on security. Be advised, now more than ever, there is a need for service agreements to contain specific provisions for wireless be it 5G, 6G or even 7G (i.e. marketing language, remuneration language, and protections for our rooftops, easements, etc.). It is imperative that before you enter into any agreement (service, marketing, bulk, fiber, access and the like) it must
be properly reviewed. I have personally reviewed and caught language that made references to wireless (rights, facilities, small cell installation, transport, radio frequency emissions, etc.). The issue is that it was not part of a proposal, never discussed and worst of all not negotiated. The provider’s stance in these cases is “buyer beware.” Instead, an eyes wide open approach is recommended for all owners, developers and management companies. I mean that to say that the appropriate representation and proactive review of any proposed agreement is prudent. The need for marketing, bulk and access agreements, with the providers, still remain and should be considered essential for any portfolio. Why, you ask? Because multifamily, in my opinion, will have even more leverage as 5G is rolled out as providers will continue to desire and value access to your residents. Based in Houston, Marcelino “Tito” Estrada has over 20 years of telecommunication, technology and multifamily experience. He has worked for the largest telecom provider in the country including Cox Communications, Time Warner, Comcast and AT&T. He served in the United States Marine Corps, gaining leadership, courage and integrity. Additionally, he attended the University of New Orleans with a concentration in Communications. As the Regional Vice President for The Multifamily Ancillary Group, he spearheads telecom/cable negotiations, project management, utility billing and business development nationally. If you have any additional questions or are curious about what this all looks like, please email Estrada at tito@magrev.com. You may also visit www.magrev.com for more information.
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