The thing about running any type of equipment is more than the cost of the equipment and installation. It's all the other stuff that most magazines and articles won't cover. It's the delays, permitting, acquisition, and approvals needed to be managed. These are necessary evils for any deployment. Just ask any carrier. Therefore they are adamant about fighting local jurisdictions for the small cell costs of permitting and rent. This is all before you deploy one thing, pay for one piece of equipment, or even design the backhaul. It needs to be worked through, and chances are it will be around 10% to 25% of the cost. If you're talking small cells, then it could be 50% to 75% of the cost. The other thing that has helped the carriers is automation. While they still rely on drive teams for testing, for the most part, they have automated RF engineering and optimization. This has dramatically reduced the cost and effort put forth. The labor of any deployment adds up. However, as the work becomes a commodity, the costs go down. So far, the carriers can't replace the tower climber, but they have been offshoring and automating other services to save costs. Utility power is another cost. If you need power at the site, which you do, running utility to a site costs money. It could also add delays. You need a licensed electrician to work with the power company to make sure you have the power in properly. Then the permitting and inspections that go along with it. It adds delay and cost to any project. You will need power, whether at a pole or in a building or at a tower site. It all adds up. Before you mount anything, this is generally a 3-month wait. It's similar to fiber. Fiber deployments have all the costs of permitting, permissions, and more. They often run into a dig once policy with cities. This is good for the city because they don't want the streets dug up again and again, but the company running the fiber may have to wait until one or more companies are also running fiber. This adds delays, costs, and competition. If you're deploying first, you have a chance to lock up accounts, but if you must wait for the competition to go alongside you, I am pretty sure they are going to go after the same customers you thought you had locked up. It is a dog eat dog world out there. The thing about running fiber everywhere is not the fiber itself. It is the costs associated with running the fiber. In fact, anything you deploy has high costs. Building towers and adding a radio to a pole has a high cost. While you may think it's the installation and design, that is a small portion. It's all the civil work and the acquisition paperwork that needs to be done to make it happen.
