Small cells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum, are operator-managed and feature edge-based intelligence. They provide improved cellular coverage, capacity and applications for homes and enterprises as well as metropolitan and rural public spaces. They include technologies variously described as femtocells, picocells, microcells and metrocells.
The Small Cell Forum is a not-for-profit, international membership organisation, with membership open to providers of small cell technology and to operators with spectrum licences for providing mobile services.
The Forum has 137 members including 63 operators representing more than 1.71 billion mobile subscribers – 33 per cent of the global total – as well as telecoms hardware and software vendors, content providers and innovative start-ups.
The Forum has three main aims:
• To promote adoption of small cells by making available information to the industry and the general public;
• To promote the rapid creation of appropriate open standards and interoperability for small cells;
• To encourage the development of an active ecosystem of small cell providers to deliver on-going innovation of commercially and technically efficient solutions.
The Forum is technology agnostic and independent. It is not a standards setting body, but works with standards organisations and regulators worldwide to provide an aggregated view of the small cell market.