Here’s the Real Reason Coverage on Airport Tarmacs Suffers

This article about issues related to the lack of wireless service on the tarmac is not entirely correct. The author alleges that coverage is lacking because airports use DAS only. However, many airports have outdoor macrocells on their terminals or parking garages. We know this because we have done studies for multiple top 20 airports on the value of wireless infrastructure leases including reviewing lease documents from almost all of the top US airports.

There are other ways of improving coverage outdoors besides macrocells such as DAS nodes being added outside. However, carriers aren’t always willing to pay for the substantial cost to do this and airports aren’t always willing to allow nodes outside. Some airports are receiving small cells requests on their terminals and support locations. The predominant factor that influences outdoor airport coverage is the proximity of private property – where carriers can build infrastructure to point in. The coverage and capacity issues that are present today will be more problematic with 5G – whereby cell site or small cell density is more important especially with mid or high band frequencies, yet siting requires the airport to allow more access to more locations on their terminals and support infrastructure. 

 Our findings have shown that airports vary widely in how they approach exterior coverage and capacity. Some have individual macrocell leases and separate DAS leases while others have campus leases which include both macrocells and DAS. Some airports will agree to lower lease rates as an incentive to improve outdoor service while others look to maximize rental income. The result is wildly fluctuating lease terms between even airports of similar size with some airports having leases 3-4 times more expensive than others. Some of this can be attributed to the topography, geography, and private building heights around the airports. Some can be attributed to how old or new the airport is- and how much land they control. Given the security issues at airports, there is some natural reluctance by airport officials to entering leases as the revenue tends to represent a fairly small % of their operating budget and revenue.