Walking the corridor whilst calling on the phone and … gone is the call. Attempting to make a call from the canteen, yet …. no coverage. Standing close to the window with ones smartphone in order to be able to receive a mail… Familiar situations ? These conditions prevail more and more often in offices and corporate buildings, but equally in shopping centres, event venues, hospitals, etc.
Communication used to be ‘nice to have’ but in today’s world has become ‘need to have’; we can’t function without it any more. Operators of mobile networks are experiencing the same: due to the paramount success of smartphones, PDA’s, laptops and tablets, their networks all of a sudden run out of capacity to cope with the exploding demand for datatraffic. This trend is also visible in developments such as ‘mobile only’ or ‘bring your own device’ that organisations are now witnessing or implementing. The need for always on, always connected communication in today’s trend towards flexible working is eminent both outside as well as inside buildings.
Already now, 50 – 80% of mobile traffic is generated from within buildings.
Buildings however, do not always allow for wireless signals to travel through them all that easily. Often , signals are hampered by steel, thick walls or isolating windows with metal coating on them. Good thermal isolation usually also leads to severe isolation for wireless signals !