Techno-economic analysis of ultra-dense and DAS deployments in mobile 5G

Ultra-dense and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) technology consist fundamental means for achieving the data rates and round-trip times promised by future mobile networks, because they promise to assure excellent indoor coverage and offer the potential to meet the target key performance indicators at a lower cost. In this paper, we study the techno-economic aspects of ultra-dense and DAS deployments. Apart from the presentation of their architectures and advantages, we present a techno-economic modeling of these deployment types. The defined models are used for the investigation of the upper technologies from an economic perspective and therefore, they provide an insight in the future financial and price aspects of these technologies by consisting a useful tool for the definition of financing and pricing policies towards an economically viable ultra-dense femtocell-based or DAS deployment. Finally, it is confirmed that the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is lower for the femtocells compared to the DAS.