Mobile data demand is growing fast. This pressure is making it hard for existing networks to scale. According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, mobile network data traffic grew 20% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025.
Outdoor small cells are helping the industry meet this demand across thousands of sites. They’re the workhorses behind the 5G networks that must be ready to handle traffic increases.
Mounted on streetlights, utility poles, and other structures in the public right‑of‑way, outdoor small cells carry 5G coverage and capacity to wherever people and devices need to connect, whether that’s in a stadium district, on an industrial site, or across a sprawling college campus.
But bringing even a single outdoor small cell online is no easy task. Multiple parties have to coordinate, and each one brings its own requirements and constraints to the job. Successful 5G projects are the ones where all parties agree early on about critical decisions like how outdoor small cells are powered.
Let’s take a look at the parties involved in a typical deployment, what drives their decision-making, and the impacts of the power distribution approach they choose.
The Carrier: Spectrum Owner and Network Operator
Role: Carriers own the licensed spectrum that makes 5G possible. (Spectrum is the range of radio frequencies licensed by the government.) They define network performance targets and are ultimately responsible for the user experience. They also get to decide where new capacity is needed and whether it’s worth the investment based on factors like network congestion, latency, and dropped-call rates.
Priorities: A carrier’s internal team, made up of network planners, RF engineers, and product and operations leaders, is measured on metrics like congestion relief, latency, and coverage, as well as how quickly a deployment generates revenue. Anything that might slow a project down is considered a risk.
Carriers want to:
- Bring sites into operation quickly so revenue generation can begin
- Meet strict network performance metrics
- Reduce installation time and costs so deployments are economically viable
- Ensure compliance with third-party safety codes and internal standards
- Scalable, repeatable designs that can support different deployment sizes and power architectures
Power Considerations: To deploy 5G at scale, carriers are after small cell architectures they can standardize and replicate across many locations. A power design that relies on traditional distribution can extend timelines and limit where outdoor small cells are placed. Digital Electricity® gives carriers more flexibility over site selection so cells can go where coverage is needed … not just where power infrastructure exists. It also offers a repeatable deployment model that can be rolled out across sites without redesigning the power architecture each time.
The 3PO/Neutral Host: Infrastructure Owner
Role: Neutral hosts, which are also called third‑party operators (3POs), fund and operate the shared infrastructure in the right‑of‑way. They deploy and manage assets like poles and attachments, power systems, and backhaul connections. They then lease this infrastructure to carriers, ISPs, or private network operators for a fee.
Priorities: A neutral host or 3PO is focused on the financial aspects of their deployments. Because optimizing utilization of each site is critical for ROI, being able to support multiple radio vendors and host several outdoor small cells plus Wi‑Fi is more viable than building out infrastructure for a single tenant or use case.
Neutral hosts and 3POs want to:
- Add tenants and services over time without having to re-open the right-of-way
- Standardize components so they can be deployed consistently while also supporting the needs of new tenants
- Use remote power monitoring so they can stay ahead of issues and respond to problems quickly
- Manage moves, adds, and changes without permitting friction or construction risk
Power Considerations: Because conventional power distribution often requires conduit, trenching, and new utility hookups, it can turn every new connection into a right-of-way event. When business depends on adding tenants efficiently, this legacy approach can impact financial performance. A centralized Digital Electricity system supports outdoor small cells over communications cabling, making it simple to add or swap them out, support mixed loads, and extend service without re‑opening streets or permits.
The Private Network Operator: Site Owner
Role: Private network operators own the environment that their wireless network serves. These operators could be manufacturers, universities, stadiums, or anyone else who runs a large, complex physical environment. They invest in their own 5G network because Wi‑Fi and macro coverage can’t deliver the connectivity levels they require.
Priorities: These operators care less about the specifics of network components or performance. They just want to make sure the network works, whether that means forklifts stay connected in the yard, autonomous robots can talk to each other across the plant, or thousands of devices can work simultaneously during a major sporting event.
Private network operators concentrate on:
- Systems that are simple and straightforward to manage
- Predictable, cost-effective designs that make it straightforward to expand coverage
- The option to add outdoor small cells without having to disrupt daily activity
- Safety and compliance to align with codes and site requirements
Power Considerations: Traditional power distribution can slow expansion. Adding new loads also typically means construction activity in active environments, such as classrooms, factory floors, or performance areas, impacting the people who use those spaces. Digital Electricity lets private network teams extend coverage and add capacity without the infrastructure work that typically comes with it. Delivering Digital Electricity over Class 4 circuits offers a safe, consistent installation approach that can often be done by in-house teams without much training.
The Integrator and Installer: Field Contractors
Role: Systems integrators and installers bring 5G deployments to life. As they do this, they must balance competing demands: the carrier’s coverage targets, the 3PO’s cabinet standards, the private operator’s campus constraints, and the municipality’s rules about what can go where in the right‑of‑way.
Priorities: Integrators and installers are measured on project execution. Is the project getting done on time, on budget, and without issues? Every variable in the field poses a risk to their success.
Integrators and installers demand:
- Installation processes built around standard drawings, defined material lists, and repeatable steps
- Minimal change orders that derail schedules and budgets
- Lower labor requirements and rework so crew can be trained once to do work across dozens of sites
- Clear compliance with codes and local requirements to people and the project
- Standardized components so replacement parts are easy to stock and swap
- Remote monitoring for fast issue diagnosis and resolution
Power Considerations: When conventional AC power distribution requires conduit runs, utility coordination, and additional inspection steps, it adds variables that are hard to control in the field. Delivering Digital Electricity over Class 4 circuits offers a consistent installation approach that can often be repeated across sites.
Power Is at the Center of Outdoor 5G
Although every party approaches 5G projects differently, they also have something in common: Decisions about power in an outdoor small cell deployment can make or break project success.
Established models that lean on distributed AC are slow, expensive, and subject to local permitting and right‑of‑way rules. These models:
- Increase installation costs
- Stretch timelines
- Limit where outdoor small cells can be placed
- Complicate compliance as different codes and stakeholders get involved
- Introduce variability that makes it hard to standardize designs
Digital Electricity offers the flexibility all parties need so they can hit their goals when deploying outdoor small cells.
- Carriers can place cells based on ideal locations and turn sites up faster
- Neutral hosts/3POs can support multiple tenants and evolving loads without tearing up and rebuilding the street every time a new tenant or service is added
- Private operators can safely manage and extend power as needs change without construction delays or permit cycles
- Integrators and installers can save a significant amount of installation time and pass inspections
Each stakeholder can focus on what they do best instead of worrying about whether the power infrastructure will help or hinder their work and long-term performance.
When Digital Electricity is the power backbone, everyone benefits from a more predictable way to build, expand, and sustain outdoor small cell networks as traffic continues to grow.
