Guarenteed indoor mobile coverage in well-insulated building

A recent survey conducted by Beltug among companies with over 200 employees shows that 39% of them have already invested in optimum indoor mobile coverage within their company buildings. Vincent Desmarets, Product Manager at Orange is not at all surprised by these figures. He states: “I think that with new case files, some 80% of companies are expecting this level of indoor mobile coverage.”

Why the sudden interest?

There are several explanations for this sudden increase in investment and the growing focus on indoor mobile coverage. One reason is modern building material and regulations. Vincent Desmarets of Orange Belgium explains: “In a newbuild, it is often difficult to get the mobile signal through. That is why it is so important now that both clients and contractors take mobile reception into account when designing offices or industrial premises in order to ensure good mobile reception.”

A second reason is that there is simply a greater demand for mobile communications now. Vincent Desmarets elaborates: “Numerous companies are going mobile. Just think, for example, that mobile phones are now replacing the traditional DECT equipment. And if everyone is using mobile telephony, then 100% mobile coverage at the office is absolutely vital.”

A third reason is the rising number of home workers. For example, one fifth of the companies (with over 200 employees) in the Beltug survey already offer all of their employees the opportunity to work from home. Only 11% of those companies do not allow people to work from home. Vincent Desmarets emphasises: “There is a growing trend towards people working from home. And those who do must have adequate mobile reception in order to be able to work efficiently. In a minority of cases, home workers may have less than perfect reception at home.” 

How to ensure optimum indoor mobile coverage?

In many cases this is already happening automatically. Vincent Desmarets explains: “For the larger companies, we often try to bring our Orange network right up to the company premises. We achieve this with the use of aerials right up to the company or with the use of so-called repeaters that boost and transmit the signal.”

For smaller businesses Orange can offer solutions such as Network Extender, which are based on so-called femtocell technology. This provides an access point that only requires an internet connection. Vincent Desmarets explains: “You could compare it to a WiFi hotspot emitting a 3G or 4G signal. These solutions are often integrated into our combined offer for fixed and mobile telephony, which also includes a plug & play internet connection as standard.” In other words, fixed and mobile telephony go hand in hand.

We have also carefully examined the needs of home workers to improve our capacity to cater to their needs through specific solutions. 

Source: BELTUG, Belgian Association of Digital Technology Leaders, ICT Market Trends Survey, 2016