CAFM & IT
SHOULD WE STILL CARE ABOUT CABLES?
As the world goes wireless, Indi Sall, Technical Director, NG Bailey’s IT Services division asks whether the days of the wired network are numbered.
In the home environment the wireless smart hub has become the centre of the digital home, connecting smart TVs, wireless speakers, printers, lighting, power and heating controls, and providing a platform for voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa. This wireless environment is also becoming increasingly visible in the corporate world with networks now supporting all of the above in addition to united communications and wireless conferencing solutions.
Wireless networks have had such a positive impact on the user’s digital experience that it is now impossible to imagine life without them. Does this mean that the time has come to abandon wires altogether?
In terms of throughput speed and continuity – two of the pillars by which today’s corporate networks are judged – the answer should be a plain ‘no’. Here, the wired world still reigns supreme. When considering flexibility, however, cables don’t just falter, they fall by the wayside completely. Have you ever seen anyone plug a cable into their smartphone so they could get faster Internet? Me neither.
The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an increase in network connected devices. As sensors gradually appear in everything from the clothes we wear to the chairs we sit on, our already-substantial reliance on wireless data is about to spike.
Couple IoT with today’s increasing business appetites for cloud services and workforce mobility, then combine it with end-users’ insatiable consumption of streamed and social media, and it’s easy to see the growth in wireless connectivity and the need for investment in the latest wireless technologies in order to cope with demand.
Over the next three years, these forces will drive a huge upswing in demand for technologies that can optimise wireless infrastructure performance. Many owners of tenanted and high-occupancy buildings in particular, have to completely rethink their approach to ensure their estate offers state-of-the-art digital connectivity. Not only must building owners consider WiFi technologies, but they must also consider optimising the macro GSM network to ensure excellent 4G coverage. Distributed antenna systems (DAS), which boost 3G and 4G network signals inside a property are starting to gain traction. By enabling greater in-building mobile operator services, DAS signal boosters can offset the ‘blocking effect’ that many buildings’ physical structure has on GSM signal coverage.
WiFi is also evolving; increasingly good quality WiFi is being seen as a utility service within public buildings such as universities, hospitals, shopping centres, hotels, transport estates and town centres. Smart public WiFi systems, like the SSE Arena in Belfast, not only transmit zone by zone high-density WiFi signals that enable entire crowds to connect with 50Mbps plus speeds, but they also offer patrons a personalised experience with the ability to digitally purchase merchandise, targeted advertising and way finding or location services. Services like these, are enabling physical venues and stores to compete with the online shopping experiences offered by the likes of Google and Amazon.
Wireless gets all the attention. And with all these dazzling advances, should we still care about cables? As end users, probably not. As guardians of the large buildings and shared spaces in tomorrow’s smart cities, however, the definitive answer has to be ‘yes’. This is because behind every headline-grabbing wireless solution is an unseen and indispensable structured cable network. These cables might pick up wireless data from miles away (with operator 3G or 4G services, for example). They might also take on your data from right beneath your feet or a few inches above your head. Either way, it takes a tremendous amount of hard cabling to backhaul today’s wireless data – something that isn’t going to change any time soon.
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