Over two days during FYUZ 2024, our team engaged in dynamic discussions and panel sessions covering a range of topics, from Open RAN to TelcoAI. During the event, we sat down with Daniel Herb and Lee Dawson to explore how the industry is evolving toward a venue-pays model to enhance in-building connectivity. We also connected with Andy Hobbs and Neil Jackson to discuss the rapid acceleration of neutral host solutions, from initial ambition to refined execution.

Read more below from the TIP website: Posted Nov. 14th 2024: Telecom Infra Project wraps a successful FYUZ 2024

From November 11th to 13th, 2024, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) held its flagship industry event, Fyuz™, at the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) in Ireland. This year’s theme, “Accelerate: Accelerate your deployments, business, and innovation,” set the stage for three days of in-depth discussions and insights into the future of open and disaggregated network technologies.

Fyuz™ 2024 stood out as the only event that comprehensively covers every aspect of open and disaggregated network solutions and Telco AI, attracting a diverse audience of C-Level executives, visionary thought leaders, innovators, and disruptors. The event focused on how the latest developments in network technology can be deployed, scaled, and leveraged to drive business growth and foster industry innovation.

Day 1 zeroed in on accelerating deployments, featuring case studies and updates from the Telecom Infra Project, highlighting practical strategies for implementing open and disaggregated solutions. Day 2 focused on accelerating business growth, with discussions on how organizations can leverage network advancements to unlock new revenue streams and transform their business models. The final day was all about accelerating innovation, diving into how emerging technologies like AI, Open RAN, and other disruptive tools are reshaping the telecom landscape.

Fyuz™ 2024 welcomed 1200 registrants from 51 countries, representing mobile operators and other service providers, vendors, systems integrators, regulators, investors, consultants, analysts, business and trade media, with over 60% of attendees holding senior positions (Director and above). Approximately 30% of all attendees were service providers.

Kristian Toivo, Executive Director of TIP, said, “Building on the positive feedback and recognition we received for Fyuz™ last year, our aim for 2024 was to elevate the event even further for our community, sponsors, and event attendees. We’re thrilled by the level of engagement from our delegates and the meaningful discussions that have taken place here in Dublin. A key focus this year has been on advancing testing and certification across all domains and Telco AI, driving the progress of open and disaggregated networks. Fyuz™ has become the platform where our community can engage in open conversations about these developments, and we’re grateful for their commitment to making this event the industry’s leading forum for innovation and collaboration.”

The success of the hospitality industry hinges on providing the most optimal guest experience, and this means remaining competitive by providing new and innovative guest experiences. To truly stand out, hotels must go beyond the ordinary and create memorable experiences that guests will cherish and share. The industry continues to rebound while relying on technology as the foundation for many enticing and interactive guest services. According to CompassIntel.com, the U.S. hospitality industry is expected to spend an estimated $60 billion (about $180 per person in the US) on technology in 2024, driven by automation and innovation around improving the overall guest experience and improving occupancy.  

Hotels must continuously innovate and evolve to meet and exceed guest expectations, and technology is playing a significant role in elevating the hotel guest experience. Technology, including cellular, IoT, AI, and data analytics, is revolutionizing the hospitality industry, significantly enhancing the hotel guest experience through interactive services and personalization. Continuous connectivity is expected both inside and outside the hotel and serves as a foundational tool for many of these evolving services. In addition, the guest and interactive services riding on top of the network, along with hotel operations require a reliable and proven cellular network.  

It is paramount that today’s hotel owners and leaders not only build their knowledge base of key trends and innovations occurring in the hospitality industry, but to also understand what is driving these key trends. These core trends below are pushing hoteliers and property managers to new heights by focusing on what is core to the business; retention, loyalty, and satisfying guest experiences. 

Below are some of the key trends we will explore: 

• Personalization 
• Tech Integration 
• Human Touch 
• Guest Loyalty 
• Memorable Experience 

Personalization: Crafting Unique Guest Journeys 

Personalization is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Modern travelers expect tailored experiences that cater to their individual preferences and needs, and customized experiences are a growing trend. Hotels use data analytics to gain insights into guest behavior and preferences and track past and future guests in new and meaningful ways. By using customer relationship management (CRM) systems that have added layers of guest data intelligence, hotels are creating personalized experiences, such as customized welcome messages, room preferences, and personalized recommendations for local activities and dining options. 

Technology Integration: Seamless and Efficient Services 

The integration of advanced technology can significantly enhance the guest experience by providing convenience and efficiency. Hotel mobile applications, intelligent building solutions, and streamlined connectivity for interactive guest services are at the forefront for enhancing the guest experience. A comprehensive mobile app allows guests to manage their reservations, check-in and check-out, access room keys, and more. Intelligent buildings provide smart rooms for guest stays by monitoring energy usage and tracking hotel resources in real-time. Implementing IoT (Internet of Things) devices in rooms enables guests to control lighting, temperature, and entertainment systems with voice commands or through mobile apps. All these emerging guest services rely heavily on trusted and proven connectivity. 

Exceptional Customer Service: The Human Touch 

While technology plays a crucial role, the human touch remains irreplaceable. Exceptional customer service is the cornerstone of a memorable guest experience, and supporting a skilled workforce that has available tools and training to support guests with high quality customer care is paramount. Hotels invest in continuous training programs for their staff to ensure they are skilled in communication, problem-solving, and predicting guest needs. Empowering employees to make decisions and resolve issues promptly can turn potential negative experiences into positive ones. Technology can also support employee access, training, tools, and communications. In addition, guests enjoy friendly hotel staff and engaging services that meet their needs efficiently and promptly. Knowledgeable staff can turn a mishap or problem into a satisfactory guest experience. 

Guest Loyalty: Building Long-Term Relationships 

Loyalty programs are a powerful tool for building long-term relationships with guests. Modernizing these programs to offer more personalized rewards, such as exclusive experiences, early check-ins, and room upgrades, can significantly increase guest satisfaction and loyalty. Hotels are also becoming proactive by pushing offers, incentives, and communications directly to their guests’ phones, email, and apps. Incorporating gamification elements, such as challenges and point systems, can also make loyalty programs more engaging and rewarding.  

Creating Memorable Experiences: Beyond the Ordinary 

To compete in this experience-driven environment, hotels must explore new avenues to create unforgettable experiences that guests will love. This could involve offering unique local experiences, such as guided tours, cultural workshops, or exclusive access to local events. Collaborating with local businesses to provide authentic experiences can also enhance the hotel’s value proposition and create lasting memories for guests. 

Enhancing the Mobile Guest 

The mobile guest is intelligent, does their research, and has clear preferences as to how they review, research, and select hotels. Many are also loyal to specific brands, but most will be driven around safety, comfort, price, location, and amenities. Hotels thrive on how to best differentiate themselves and to remain relevant to guests, while providing the best guest experience. In addition, hotels track key metrics such as ADR (Average Daily Rates), RevPAR (Revenue per Average Room), occupancy rates, and their own internal revenue numbers to track progress and benchmark. This healthy competition requires the use of technology for differentiation and supporting interactive guest experiences. While traditional hard-wired connectivity and Wi-Fi options have served guests for key services, cellular is evolving as the most innovative and cost-effective connectivity solution for a host of solutions, and 5G is the catalyst.  

Now, let’s dive into key technology trends. 

Mobile Apps and Digital Check-In/Out 

Modern hotel apps enable guests to manage their entire stay from their smartphones. Guests begin this journey well before they arrive at the hotel. Guests will gather driving directions and more before they even arrive at the hotel. Cellular connectivity is a primary tool as the guest travels, finds parking, pays for parking, and checks in. Hotel mobile apps allow guests to check-in and check-out, bypass the front desk and avoid waiting times, access digital room keys, use their phones to unlock their rooms, make reservations and requests, book dining-spa services, and communicate with staff. While Wi-Fi may be available, it is often not as reliable or secure for guests. This also means that hotels and parking garages will need to solidify their cellular connectivity both indoor and near indoor throughout their entire hotel properties. 

Smart Room Technology 

Hotel rooms equipped with connected equipment and intelligent building systems offer personalized control over various aspects of the room environment. Guests can control and customize preferences around lighting, temperature, and entertainment systems using voice commands. In addition, sustainable conscious guests can manage energy usage, HVAC, and lighting controls with smart energy management systems. Hotels are implementing smart energy systems that know the occupancy of a guest or conference room and adjust lighting and temperatures as needed. Other intelligent building solutions may include air monitoring, UV filtration and cleaning, heated floors, smart access and surveillance, and more. Outside of smartphones connecting to the cellular network, these hotel assets are connecting to the cellular network for real-time tracking, monitoring, and securing. In addition, cellular can further build redundancy in assuring building management systems, hotel equipment, and other assets remain connected and intelligence and critical data is being captured. 

Virtualization of the Hotel 

Virtual and augmented reality (VR & AR) are being used to create immersive and engaging experiences. Guests can explore hotel facilities and rooms before booking. AR apps provide interactive maps and guides, enhancing the exploration of hotel premises and surrounding areas. VR can be used to offer unique in-room experiences, such as virtual art displays or interactive storytelling for children. 

Guest Feedback and Data Analytics 

Technology aids in collecting and analyzing guest feedback for continuous improvement. Digital feedback tools allow guests to provide immediate feedback during their stay through real-time surveys. Text is also being used to push information to the guest, gather real-time feedback, and provide links for guest surveys. Artificial intelligence (AI and machine learning) can also support the analysis of online reviews and social media mentions to gauge guest satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. Data analytics predict guest preferences and trends, enabling hotels to tailor their services and marketing strategies. There is a growing trend in researching, capturing, analyzing, and predicting guest data for continuous improvement and feedback for hotel managers and property owners. 

Enhanced In-Room Entertainment 

Modern entertainment systems cater to diverse guest preferences. The integration of popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in hotel TVs is common. Guests primarily rely on cellular connectivity to review texts and input codes for secure authentication in logging into streaming apps. Guests also want to connect their own devices and content to the room’s entertainment system. Mobile applications, set up, and login make this process easy for the guest and requires good Wi-Fi or trusted cellular connectivity. This reliability on cellular further illustrates the need to strengthen the cellular signal for seamless connectivity inside and outside the building, from parking garages to the pool to the room. 

Integrated Booking and Reservation Systems 

Advanced booking systems simplify the reservation process and enhance convenience. Centralized or a unified hotel and booking platform allows guests to book rooms, dining, spa services, and activities all in one place. An emerging trend is the use of AI for data analytics and intelligence of guest trends and patterns. AI-driven dynamic pricing models offer personalized rates based on demand, loyalty status, and booking patterns. In addition to booking the room, guests are also booking added services including things like pool cabanas, massages/spa services, meeting spaces, etc. Guests will need reliable network connectivity for booking these services wherever they are in the hotel. 

Security and Privacy Enhancements 

Technology enhances guest safety and privacy. Biometrics such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning for secure room access can support more secure access. Advanced surveillance systems are also using AI-powered security to monitor and ensure guest safety. AI can also use computer vision technology to automatically identify key events and alert security or a response. For example, if there is a breach into a back door entry into the hotel, security can be automatically alerted on their smartphone device with location information to quickly respond and prepare for the incident. 

The Foundation of Cellular Connectivity 

Cellular connectivity plays a crucial role in enhancing the hotel guest experience in the U.S. Here are several ways it supports and improves the guest experience: 

• Seamless Connectivity 
• Enhanced Mobile Services 
• Directions and Local Navigation 
• Meetings and Productivity 
• Safety and Security 

Seamless Connectivity 

Reliable Communication: Guests rely on cellular networks to stay connected with family, friends, and colleagues. Strong cellular connectivity ensures they can make calls, send texts, and use data services without interruption. Internet Access: Many travelers use their cellular data plans to access the internet, especially if hotel Wi-Fi is slow or unreliable. Guests may also feel Wi-Fi is not safe or secure, as it is on an open network and open to vulnerabilities and hacking. Public Wi-Fi is known to not be as secure as password protected cellular Wi-Fi. Good cellular coverage ensures that guests can always stay connected online. 

Enhanced Mobile Services 

Reliable cellular connectivity ensures guests can use hotel mobile apps, navigation/direction tools, mobile check in/out services, and even things like setting up an Uber or ordering food by the pool. These services provide added connectivity without the need to rely solely on Wi-Fi. Some hotels also provide digital room keys that guests can access through their smartphones. Stable cellular connectivity ensures these keys work seamlessly, allowing guests to enter their rooms without issues. Lastly, guests can use hotel apps to request services, make reservations, or ask for information. Consistent cellular service ensures these apps work efficiently anywhere on the property. 

Improved Navigation and Local Exploration 

Guests often use GPS and mapping services to explore the local area, find attractions, find parking, or navigate to meetings (inside and outside the hotel or local area). Reliable cellular connectivity ensures accurate location services and navigation. Hotel apps and third-party apps provide local recommendations and reviews, allowing guests to access this information on the go. 

Meetings and Productivity 

Travelers work and play from anywhere these days. Many travelers need to work remotely during their stays, conducting meetings and calls from their smartphone. Reliable cellular connectivity ensures they can access emails, take part in video calls, and complete online tasks efficiently. In addition to guests working, hotel staff use their mobile devices for operations as well, especially when coordinating tasks across large properties. Staff can use mobile devices to receive and update the status of maintenance and housekeeping tasks in real time, ensuring rooms are prepared and issues are addressed promptly. 

Safety and Security 

Reliable cellular connectivity is essential for guests to contact emergency services if needed or call their family and friends. This is particularly important for guests unfamiliar with the local area. In emergencies or for important updates, hotels can quickly communicate with guests via SMS or push notifications, ensuring they receive prompt information regardless of their location within the hotel. 

Analyst Recommendations 

As we evaluate the innovation taking place within the hospitality sector, it is important to follow a few key recommendations to remain relevant and best serve guests in the competitive world of hotels. Compass Intelligence recommendations are centered around infrastructure, technology, and innovating guest services. Whether you are a property manager, a hotel manager, or a resort professional, these recommendations may support you in your overall growth strategy moving forward.  

Below are a few considerations to consider as you build a solid foundation for innovation in hospitality: 

• Perform a Complete Evaluation of your LAN/WAN (Local Area Network/Wide Area Network) infrastructure and mirror that to core guest services and solutions. Ask: Are we offering seamless, easy, flexible, and secure options for back-office, operations, and guest-facing services? 
• Identify Connectivity Requirements or Gaps for guest facing solutions, employee/staff applications and solutions, and system or operation-based activities. Ask: Do we have issues in our network that need refining or optimization? 
• Select and work closely with your Technology Vendor or partner to implement solutions to “close the gaps” around connectivity, infrastructure, and foundational services. Ask: Do we have the right partner or vendor to support us as we modernize and innovate, that also understand our industry and personal priorities? 
• Track, Monitor and Review after you implement technology services, as solutions and services evolve and guest needs change. Ask: Are you tracking and gathering real-time data or guest feedback? Does your investment tie back to key guest and financial metrics? 

To learn more or if you have questions, please contact Stephanie Atkinson, Compass Intelligence at satkinson@compassintelligence.com. 

Wrap Up 

The leading innovations in hospitality, including automation and smart technologies, require seamless cellular connectivity services. Robust cellular connectivity enhances the overall guest experience by providing uninterrupted communications, supporting mobile services, ensuring safety, enabling efficient operations, and offering personalized engagement. As travelers become increasingly dependent on their mobile devices, the importance of strong cellular connectivity in the hospitality industry will continue to grow. By using these technological advancements, hotels can provide a seamless, personalized, and highly satisfying experience for their guests, setting themselves apart in a competitive industry. Improving the hotel guest experience requires a multifaceted approach that combines personalization, technology integration, exceptional customer service, wellness and sustainability initiatives, enhanced loyalty programs, and a commitment to continuous improvement. By focusing on these strategies, hotels can ensure they not only meet but exceed guest expectations, fostering loyalty and driving long-term success in the competitive hospitality industry. 

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Written by Stephanie Atkinson, CEO of Compass Intelligence 

About Compass Intelligence 

Compass Intelligence is a market research and advisory firm specializing in metrics-driven market intelligence and insights for the mobile, IoT, and high-tech industries serving tech clients for more than 18 years. Compass Intelligence offers executive insights, market sizing/forecasting and modeling, competitive analysis, strategic consulting, advisory services, trending analysis, and survey research services. Compass Intelligence helps guide strategic business decisions and supports the success of our clients through delivering content engagement, go to market planning, competitive positioning, and strategic advisory. For more information, please visit https://www.compassintel.com. 

Small Cells World Summit in London is just a day away, and Dense Air is excited to dive into informative discussions and insightful sessions. Our CTO, Andy Hobbs, will speak about the growing ecosystem of services needed for customers and how flexible, small cell solutions meet this expanding expectation. After this speaking session, Andy will be joined on stage with Radisys and Druid Networks to discuss open and inclusive, multi-carrier small cell solutions for in-building enterprise and targeted outdoor use cases such as “connected corridors.” 

As enterprises embrace digital transformation, mobile business solutions become increasingly robust, powered by cloud-native technologies, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Businesses today embrace both in-building wireless and workplace wireless connectivity as the foundation for productivity, connecting assets, and workplace efficiency. Dense Air partners with customers across industries and helps them advance their digital transformation journeys by strengthening their wireless connectivity. In pioneering the development of small cell centric technologies to deploy targeted clusters of small cells, Dense Air is enabling operators to provide pervasive connectivity in areas that were previously economically unviable.  

Why Dense Air? 

Dense Air, a Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP)company, is bridging the connectivity gaps across industries including manufacturing, hospitality, parking garages, healthcare, college campuses, commercial real estate, and multi-dwelling complexes. Our Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) solution augments mobile network operators’ existing networks to deliver optimal experiences to their customers, providing seamless connectivity for productive workplace activities and client engagement. 

Small Cell and O-RAN Basics 

Small cells support the densification of 4G and the adoption of 5G by delivering the flexible, scalable network infrastructure that is needed to bring higher capacity and lower latency services to end users and end devices.  

As mobile network operators adopt higher frequency bands for enhanced user experiences, they are faced with new challenges of shorter range and poor penetration. However, it is not cost-effective for carriers to build out additional coverage within a structure or building. This is where Dense Air steps in. Our solution ensures comprehensive coverage by mitigating the shorter range and poor indoor penetration associated with higher frequencies.   

Leveraging small cells that simultaneously use both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, we deploy clusters of low-power radio access points that are roughly the size of a small pizza box. Targeted deployments of small cells augment the existing macro network to strengthen coverage and capacity, while improving indoor and outdoor connectivity experiences. As the industry transitions to 5G and returns to the office/campus, small cell deployment will expand to improve connectivity where today’s solutions cannot.          

5G innovation and small cell advancements have led to the growth of Open Radio Access Networks (O-RAN), an open architecture that Dense Air has adopted in partnership with Radisys. O-RAN drives interoperability across equipment OEMs and vendors. In other words, radio equipment from varying vendors works together in an environment to enable plug-and-play flexibility and virtualization.  

Enterprise Relevance (The Neutral Host Approach) 

As enterprises shift from a ‘voice and data’ approach to a broader ecosystem encompassing automation, robotics, inventory management, real-time monitoring, critical communications, and immersive experiences, the need for optimized and flexible connectivity becomes critical. These businesses must leverage multi-carriers and dynamic solutions for both wired and wireless networking.     

Many in the industry are familiar with the Dense Air carrier agnostic approach and the ability to augment existing networks by identifying coverage gaps. Dense Air is also providing small cell CaaS solutions to enable enterprises to provide ubiquitous coverage and meet digital transformation goals.   

Dense Air’s advantages include:          

• Ease in complementing existing networks 
• Carrier-agnostic and CBRS-ready “shared wireless” 
• In-building and near in-building connectivity optimization 
• Reducing overall costs  
• Simplified integration and automation 
• Greater flexibility through dynamic and distributed architecture 
• Data-driven and cloud-native 
• Versatile spectrum utilization 
• Equitable and sustainable solutions 
• Expertise in targeting outdoor connectivity gaps 
• Scalability for both carrier and the enterprise 

The future of work depends on equitable, inclusive, and seamless connectivity experiences to work anywhere, optimize operations, deliver engaging customer experiences, and innovate. Dense Air is proud to support the carrier community, while providing the carriers and their enterprise customers with CaaS solutions to advance next-generation connectivity use cases. To learn more about our solutions, please visit our site at denseair.net or connect with us on social channels. 

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Additional Resources and Related Links: 

Dense Air: Bridging infrastructure and the cloud; shaping the ecosystem of shared wireless services 

5G Networks: Revolutionizing the Future

About the deployment  

Dense Air is pioneering the use of Split 6 fronthaul and smart antenna technology for the scaled deployment of small cell clusters to support or infill existing holes in carrier networks, or to provide densified, dedicated private mobile coverage, enabling a range of use cases and applications.  

The development of streetCell was supported through the UK Government’s Future RAN competition. Dense Air led the development, design and trial deployment of small cell clusters which would enhance network resilience and robustness – this project was called CoMP-ORAN, which stands for Coordinated Multipoint – Open Radio Access Networks.  

One key use case for Split 6, an architecture championed by Small Cell Forum (SCF), is in high performance scenarios such as Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV). Using smart antenna technologies like CoMP, Dense Air’s small cell cluster design reduces the frequency of handover, providing contiguous connectivity to the vehicles, minimising the chance of data drops or disconnect.  

Trial deployments and field testing happened in both Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire and at Teesside International Airport in the north of England. However, the technology being developed is versatile and applicable to various global markets. After gaining Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval in 2023, streetCell is currently being deployed at scale across the United States. 

The impact 

The development of streetCell brought together several SCF members – Dense Air, Radisys and Airspan – not only to design and develop the hardware solution but also to deploy an effective end-to-end Open RAN solution, built on industry partnerships. This model, proven at the Millbrook trial, can now be offered as a complete neutral host solution where each cell within a cluster using licensed spectrum can provide densified carrier services or private secure connectivity. Although at Millbrook the use case centred on automotive, Dense Air is now deploying for enterprise and industry and working closely with a number of local government bodies, utilising existing street infrastructure to cost effectivity bring mobile service to areas in need of service. 

This video illustrates a vehicle (represented by the blue dot) driving around the city course at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire at the Cenex Expo event in September 2023. The dynamic white lines illustrate the constant connection to the vehicle from multiple cells within this cluster of 5 cells (represented by the hexagon).  

The technical details  

CoMP takes lead from macro level Multi Input, Multi Output (MIMO) technologies, provides significant advantages, such as: 

• Each streetCell can provide both 360-degree coverage, or multi directional sectorisation with adaptable beam patterns. 

• Enables the remote optimization of streetCell clusters via a Radio Intelligent Controller (RIC) to the targeted coverage and capacity objectives. 
• Multiple Transmit Receive Points (Multi TRP), designed for CoMP, maximise the gains from spatial diversity and spatial multiplexing. 
• Compliments macro cells by providing additional in-fill. 
• Improves deployment robustness. 
• Removes the need for pre-deployment radio frequency (RF) design phase to consider antenna alignment / placement. 
• Eliminates nulls in target coverage area and optimises cell footprint post deployment. 
• Designed to support multi-sector 2×2 MIMO operation. 

The outcome  

To support new 5G use cases, the industry is required to become increasingly innovative in how to reduce cost while at the same time provide enhanced reliability. By augmenting the existing network, identifying, and targeting network weak spots, Dense Air has enabled carriers to tap into seamless, low-cost additional coverage and capacity through a scalable, flexible small cell deployment model.  

Their use of Split 6 fronthaul and switch beam antenna significantly reduces the cost to deploy clusters of shared network infrastructure in supporting diversified use cases. This technology which is an integral aspect of their streetCell product line, initially tested and proven at UTAC Millbrook Proving Ground, has been implemented into Dense Air’s end to end As-a-Service solution with partners Radisys and EdgeQ, currently been deployed to support several CAV use cases across the United States.  

This video provides an overview of the Dense Air small cell deployment at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. 

To read more about this use case click here.