In-Building Wireless Coverage for Shopping Centers
Large indoor shopping centers house dozens to hundreds of stores, kiosks, and restaurants that all require reliable internet connectivity to transact business and generate revenues. Similarly the tens to hundreds of thousands of monthly retail shoppers who call, text, tweet, and stream video to family and friends need reliable signal coverage to share their shopping experiences in real-time. Ensuring adequate cellular coverage throughout your shopping center is a solid way to boost revenues and positive customer experiences.
Business Overview | Ensuring Reliable EPOS Transactions and Visitor Satisfaction
Major shopping outlets draw in thousands of visitors every single month. All of whom are there looking to spend hard earned money, and enjoy themselves while they do so. As visitors send messages to friends and family, both in and outside of your establishment, and retailers charge point-of-sale transactions from open to close, reliable connectivity to cellular networks is key to continuous revenue generation. Even when cell towers are in close range to your venue, there is no guarantee their signals can penetrate your buildings concrete walls – limiting overall signal coverage and reliability, while also exposing your guests to security risks should they be unable to call for help in parking structures, stairwells, and narrow corridors.
In addition to cellular coverage needs, radio signals must be able to penetrate your structures in order for emergency responders to clearly and concisely communicate over public safety radio channels when responding to distress calls (active shooters, fires, shoplifters, and other events requiring 911-related out-calls).


Current Challenge | Establishing Consistent Cellular and Radio Coverage
Most indoor shopping centers and retail outlets require regular site surveys that test radio and cellular signal strength levels across their entire facilities due to their size, occupancy levels, and the materials used during construction. Site testing evaluates bathrooms, stairwells, parking lots, and hallways as well as primary store and dining areas. When pockets of poor reception exist, venue owners need to invest in solutions that can boost coverage and capacity to keep customer sales, safety, and satisfaction levels as high as humanly (and technologically) possible. To overcome communications challenges, MCA engineers can be brought in to configure and install radio and cellular enhancement systems that eliminate dead spots and enhance clarity across public and private radio, LTE, and 5G frequencies.
Solution Overview | Carrier-Grade DAS for Retail Shopping Outlets
Cellular Distributed Antenna Systems (Cellular DAS) from MCA are specialized signal enhancement systems that boost the coverage, capacity, and reliability of radio, cellular, and Wi-Fi networks across your entire shopping center. After doing so, electronic point-of-sale systems that utilize purpose-built cellular routers (also available from MCA) for primary and backup connectivity can enjoy near 100% up-time, ensuring steady revenues and satisfied shoppers. Doing so also ensures your building will maintain its certificate of occupancy, as it will pass all fire marshal inspections regarding public safety radio coverage levels. At MCA, we pride ourselves in being your trusted advisor for a safe, secure, and efficient workplace. To learn more about the services and solutions we can deploy to enhance your in-building wireless coverage, please contact us today.
Our Team | Solution Engineering, Installation, and Support
For over 30 years, the MCA team has provided expertly tailored solutions and top-tier support to organizations within the retail industry who are in need of two-way radios, cellular back-haul solutions, signal boosting and enhancement systems, Private LTE networks, and more. We can integrate with and add to existing systems, replace inadequate systems, and install brand new systems where none exist depending upon your organizations’ exacting needs.