AS the Battle for Mobile Data heats up beating the worst summer heat, Tower companies are busy striking deals across operators to enable 3G / 4G data services on your handsets. In this backdrop, caught up with a Telecom Network Engineer who explained the design and the key components that enable your data services. In the picture shown above the tower houses 3 different tenants (Figure Courtesy of American Tower Company) each marked in different color. For each of the tenants the following components are part of the Wireless Network.
Whip Antenna – A stiff, monopole antenna, usually mounted vertically
Antenna array – A platform (typically three sided) where tenants place equipment to provide signal
transmission and reception to a specific area. The number of antennas necessary per array is determined based on a number of factors including: the number of active subscribers; volume and type of network usage by subscribers (eg, average minutes of use, voice versus data); ype of technology and spectrum being used (eg, CDMA, GSM, LTE, WiMAX);
Panel/antenna Customer equipment which transmits a signal from the tower to a mobile device, or vice versa.
Microwave dish A specific type of antenna, which is used in point-to-point radio, television and data communications. Also used by wireless carriers for backhaul.
Port holes Holes cut into the base and top of tower to allow cables and wiring to pass through the tower structure, from the base station to the antennas.
Coaxial cablingTransmission lines which carry the signal received from the antenna to the base-station, or vice versa.
Reinforcement bars Threaded anchors which are used to reinforce tower sites to add additional capacity to accommodate further tenants
Generator An Array of Inverter Battery backup connected to Auto Start Diesel powered generators provide backup power to keep cell sites operational during power outages.
Key Tower Companies in India Indus with 113k towers; Reliance Infratel with 50k towers; Bharti Infratel (standalone) with 36k towers; Viom Networks with 42k towers; GTL with 29k towers; American Tower Company with 12k towers; IDEA owns around 9,500 captive towers; and BSNL/ MTNL own 65k towers.