technologies such as LTE are already very spectrum efficient, SO further site densification of the network is needed. Finding a site location for the macro base station can be difficult, expensive and take a lot of time to get the site permissions. The site lease for the full macro site can be expensive which contributes to the reoccurring radio network operating expenses (OPEX). The compact small cell product can be placed close to the area where higher signal level and more capacity are required. The implementation cost and the reoccurring costs of the small cell can be much lower than that of the macro site. In short, the small cell motivations can be summarized as follows: More capacity specifically in hotspot areas of the network Better signal level and signal quality Lower OPEX in terms of site costs Faster rollout of new sites An example evolution of network topology is shown in Figure 9.1. The starting point is macro-only network with a few traffic hotspots and in-building coverage challenges. Small cells are added to provide more capacity in the hotspots and better indoor coverage. 9.3 Small Cell Challenges and Solutions From an operator's perspective there are several challenges to building, optimizing and oper- ating small cells. Due to their low transmit power, small cells will have a smaller coverage footprint, SO it is imperative that traffic hotspots are identified accurately SO that a small cell capacity solution will yield the intended capacity relief. Further development regarding the accuracy of geolocation of customers will be required to be able to surgically place small cells Learnings from Small Cell Deployments Macro cell network Macro + small cell topology network topology Macro coverage Macro coverage layer - 'fixed grid' layer - 'fixed grid' Small cell coverage and Capacity capacity hotspots enhancement Small cell in-building coverage However, customers are Small cells enable operators enhancement not uniformly distributed to better match the network topology to the customer demand Figu