Small Cell Forum Announces New Board, Member Intake to Accelerate Work in 5G Era

Small Cell Forum (SCF), the telecoms organization making mobile infrastructure solutions available to all, has announced a new board for the coming year and new members from across the wireless and internet ecosystems, further expanding the organisation’s breadth of expertise in developing 5G Open Small Cell RAN architectures and 5G-era small cell products.

New members include; Analog Device, Askey Computers, Colt, Dense Air, Eurecom, JMA Wireless, New H3C, Radisys, and Senko Advanced Components.

Small Cell Forum also announced its newly elected board, chaired by AT&T’s Dr. Prabhakar Chitrapu. The new board comprises:

· Amit Shah, American Tower

· Prabhakar Chitrapu, AT&T (Chair)

· Piercarlo Giannattasio, Cellnex (New to Exec Board for 2019-20)

· Mark Reudink, Crown Castle

· Paul Coffey, DenseAir (New to Exec Board for 2019-20)

· Randy Cox, Nokia

· Caleb Banke, Qualcomm

· Ravi Sinha, Reliance Jio (New to Exec Board for 2019-20)

· Mark Lipford, Sprint

Small Cell Forum’s new members add expertise and valuable knowledge from across the industry to continue the rollout of small cells, building the foundation for 5G networks.

Under new chair Dr. Prabhakar Chitrapu the Forum will continue to focus on enabling the development of multi-operator and neutral host deployments, monetising and developing edge computing opportunities, and the application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to all aspects of small cell network planning, deployment and operations.

“The addition of new members sends a fantastic message, as developers, operators and innovators from across the industry join forces to help 5G networks thrive,” said Prabhakar Chitrapu, Chair Elect of Small Cell Forum. “To successfully deploy 5G networks, the Forum unites members from across the mobile and internet ecosystems to revolutionize the small cell rollout.”

Small Cell Forum develops the technical and commercial enablers to accelerate small cell adoption and drive wide-scale densification.

Broad roll-out of small cells will make high-grade mobile connectivity accessible and affordable for industries, enterprises and for rural and urban communities. That, in turn, will drive new business opportunities for a widening ecosystem of service providers.

The Small Cell Forum Release Program has now established business cases and market drivers for all the main use cases, clarifying market needs and addressing barriers to deployment for residential, enterprise, rural & remote, and urban small cells.