I want to go over the Large Wireless Network Deployment process. It is something that takes a long time to plan out and there is so much to consider. We often just see one phase of it, out in the field. The planning and preparation that goes into it can be a meticulous process, especially for the government roll outs. The carriers are better at it because they continuously do it and the entire company is on board with it. The challenges that utilities and governments have to deal with are politics and payback because they build their networks for different reasons, not just to generate income but to save money and lives.
So while I was at IWCE I sat in several sessions that they had. There were so many so I had to focus on a few. I attended FirstNet sessions but in addition I wanted to concentrate on the tower work, DAS, and Small Cell. I sat through a session on deployments that were geared to get the states, cities, and other government entities prepared for a large deployment.
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For this scenario I am going to present a large deployment. This is a bird’s eye view of the process. Of course many of you are involved in the specifics. I just want you to see the perspective from the end customer’s vantage point.
So in deployment the plan to be more thorough in the planning of the deployment. I see the way that consultants are going to be more and more involved in future deployments. They will be involved in the deployment planning. This is the initial work up front, usually 1 or 2 years before anyone really has a plan. They will be working with the customer to plan out what they will do. This is something that most deployment people get involved in but business development might be listening for something like this. A great example of this, which you can follow, is the FirstNet deployment. They have been planning the system out for years to make sure it is the system that will be working for years. They intend to have a broadband system to support public safety, utilities and other government entities to have access to.
Next will be the RFI, Request for Information. This is where the people doing the deployment will request information about the equipment, hardware, and timelines. I have been involved in many of these and they are very time-consuming because it’s the customer’s vision, but it may not be attainable or it may be unrealistic or it may be too soon to implement, meaning that they equipment is not ready for prime time. There could be several RFIs to clarify the expectation and to make sure all the contractors and OEMs are synced up.
Then will be the actual plan for deployment and then the RFP, Request for Price, or RFQ, request for Quote. These are where the customer will send out the refined system, the goal, the actual system that is set to be built with the expectations of the customer. This is where the larger contractors will respond with an answer for all of this. Then they will put RFQs out to the contractors to do the work or they will build a budget around your past pricing. Trust me, they don’t always have time to complete the RFQ process. This is where the larger contractors need to have good documentation on past projects. They also need to confer with the front line to make sure that pricing does not change.
Then, the evaluation process happens. This is where the customer and maybe their consultants review everything. This is where they need to decide who has the best answer for the best price. I know all of you think the response is solely on price, but if the customer is smart, they balance the responses out. Then the decision to install a system that meets all (or most) of their needs for the best price. This takes time and based on how they structured the RFP is it may be a long process to get to comparing apples to apples.
Then the award! Oh that sweet award. Actually the award may not be until after a long grueling questioning process to determine if the contractor can actually do what they said they could. It matters to make sure that they are all on the same page.
Just because you won the bid doesn’t mean you will get the work, you need to go through the qualification and then you may move ahead. Big jobs are tough, it’s more about the high level up until now. If the qualification took place and there were no objections, then the next step. Qualifications will take some time because you will need to lay out the plan and provide detail on how you will reach the customers expectations in not only the technical aspects like coverage and loading, but also the timeline for deployment and a plan.
Timelines are an issue. Remember that if you plan to build new sites or acquire new sites, that takes time! The structural may take time, but not always, if you have paperwork from a previous structural, which most tower owners should have, then it doesn’t take long at all, unless you need to improve the structural integrity of the tower, then that will have to be done. Remember to be realistic, set expectations, and allow for possible delays. This is a big step though, you start the design and then you do the surveys and build the BOMs. Here is where the site engineering takes place, oh boy!
Now, when all of that is completed, then the deployment or migration or upgrades. Whatever you may be doing in this case. There is always an opportunity for more work after the win. It’s up to you to decide if it’s what you want to do or not.
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Before I start, let me congratulate Dr Bridgette Hester for the great article she wrote for AGL Magazine,found here,about here research into Carla Valencia’s death, may she rest in peace. It was her first real climb (sound familiar?) and another coworker got hurt as well. The article is great, take some time and read it! This too will have lessons learned about responsibility which is a topic for another day.
I read the story in wireless estimator,link here,if you don’t see it then scroll down until you see the headline “Near electrocution of two techs requires a review of safe practices” posted on April 6 of 2015.I am trying to figure out how these guys missed power lines. Do you know whet I am saying? So I think what we have to do is review what lessons can be learned from this incident.
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First off, thank GOD that they both are alive, although you wonder how they survived, let’s just say that this is a gift that they lived and we can learn from what went wrong! That ans the fact that bucket trucks are supposed to be rated non-conductive up to a certain voltage. I remember that from when we had our bucket trucks inspected, the paint was very important.
They must have been competent on a bucket truck because it didn’t tip and they were able to lower it back down. They did not jump out and the truck apparently is insulated properly. The only injury I read about is the guys arm was burnt from touching the electrical line. Thanks for clarifying this Wireless Estimator.
Let’s review, they were able to operate the bucket truck, let’s hope they were trained properly on using the bucket truck. I want to refer to my posts on a Fisk here, (wait for it), because it’s relevant. Everyone’s response to my Fisk post (orFISK Videos) is that the user must be trained and competent. That applies to more than the Fisk, it also applies to bucket trucks and lifts. In fact it applies to anything anyone is using when working at heights. You should not be winging it, but many do, and you should practice how to use the equipment, especially rescue equipment.
So you should be trained on the bucket truck as well. To be competent is more than just powering it up and leveling it. The operator was trained on using the lift. It is doing a hazard assessment prior to going up, just like you should do before you climb! What these guys did poor job of is hazard assessment and planning. Did they have a plan? Apparently it was to go straight up to whatever they were working on. Did they do a hazard assessment? It doesn’t seem like it.
Do you see now? I find that 20-20 hindsight is very clear. It took shocks and burns and near heart attacks to teach their gentlemen. Please don’t make this mistake but learn from it. Remember what I say, pay attention! These guys were not aware of their surroundings when going up, they were not looking in all directions. He has probably used the lift so many times he took it for granted that it was easy to use and that 99% of the other times everything was OK. He may have been distracted by the other guy. We can only assume that he just didn’t pay attention at that moment.
Ok, let’s play what if. What if someone who did the site survey would have identified the lines and then called the power company to insulate them? Remember that if you are working near power or high tension lines you can call ahead and request that they insulate the, What they do is wrap the lines with a loose fabric or plastic insulator so you don’t get shocked if you touch the line. You have to ask and plan. They will be happy to assist you if you give them the time to do it.
However let’s say this was a service call. Then these guys could have done a few things like they could have identified power lines and came up with a plan to avoid them. If they were paying attention then they would have made a serious effort to watch them as they were going up. Second they could have planned out how the bucket’s path to know where it would go. Finally, and most importantly they should have been paying attention! Simple yet we just don’t do it! Look up, look around, and see what is going on. Maybe they needed a ground guy to watch them go up because it sounds like they had 2 guys in the bucket.
They probably should have paid attention to their surroundings. It is easy to get distracted, seriously, they are lucky to be alive after being so careless. Remember that I say pay attention? It’s not just lip service; it is practical advice in any situation. We are all guilty of being distracted, all of us, especially me!
So learn from this mistake. Be competent on your equipment through training, practice, and reading if possible. If you have someone to teach you that has experience, great, just try not to pick up their bad habits.
What’s easy to do is easy not to do, like paying attention. So make the choice to go home every night healthy and alive! It is your responsibility to be smart, be safe, and pay attention. One act of stupidity can hurt or kill you in this business.
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As you know, I just got home from the IWCE show in Las Vegas. I wanted to go over some of the FirstNet information I found out there. I am following FirstNet because I think it will be a big boom for the industry when it takes off.
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There are so many moving parts to FirstNet. I mean it is not just building out the network but it is also about how to sustain a public safety network for the long haul. It is about the politics of getting the federal and state governments to work together to create a national public network that is nationwide and 4G and ready to be used in any emergency. Something where all governments and utilities will have access to this network daily and especially during a crisis. All this and politics too. Remember that in government they don’t work together for profit, they work together for the greater good. Now, let’s define the greater good! The states and federal governments probably won’t agree on what the greater good is because it is open to interpretation. I don’t’ want to get into that I just want to give you some feedback from IWCE on FirstNet.
Let’s talk FirstNet. FirstNet is taking a long time but the system is huge and very political. The one thing I got from the sessions I sat in is that communication still seems to be an issue between FirstNet and the states. There was a session that had the state’s point of view and it was very interesting. I sat in on the session called “The State of the States: FirstNet and Public Safety Broadband” and it was people representing the states. There was someone from Texas, Todd Early the TxDPS Deputy Assistant Director, Ohio had Darryl Anderson Major the Ohio MARCS/OHIOSWIC/SIEC Administrator. From New Mexico Jacqueline Miller the Deputy State CIO was supposed to be there but I walked in late and may have missed her. They were all discussing the view from the states. Also there was Richard Reed the FirstNet State Plans Director and Robert LeGrand the founder and CEO of The Digital Decision.
Here is what I got from that session, they plan are still trying to understand how the states will work with FirstNet to deploy and how the system usage will be handled. There are still many questions about opting in and opting out. They are still wondering how the public private partnerships will work. Who will have access to the system and how will they be billed. In other words it seems there are many questions. I am not sure if the states feel well-informed. They have had meetings with FirstNet but they are still working through the high level information.
So what I saw was Ohio FirstNet. Mr. Anderson laid out the plan for Ohio where they will reach out to the counties to talk to each of them. The meeting with FirstNet is scheduled for June 11, 2015, and they hope to get more answers. The thing that he showed us is that each state has a daunting task of working within the state to get the counties and cities to work together to share resources and make this all come together.
Everyone there was looking forward to moving ahead, but with that said they would also like a timeline of when things will happen. They also asked that maybe a weekly update from FirstNet would really help them stay informed. I know that there were technical questions on the system but mostly I got the message that communication between FirstNet and the states still need work. There are technical issues that need to be resolved, but that will be worked out moving forward. Right now they need to start to work on simple things like weekly updates.
What updates? Well, I think they want to know the status of what’s going on. I believe the timeline needs to be laid out. We all hear that they can make the date, but in what order, when will they start the core? When will the RAN be rolled out? What year? Is the funding plan laid out?
Texas has a website where they have some information laid out, http://txlte.com/if you are interested.
There were several FirstNet sessions and they were all pretty full. FirstNet is obviously on everyone’s mind. We have been hearing about it for 3 years and we really look forward to the actual construction of something. For something like this it may take up to 5 years to build once they get going. So let’s think about this, will they start next year? So we may have a system built, if we start in 2016, and then you should have a system built by 2021, in time for the 5G upgrades.
I guess I’m just impatient. All I want to do is deploy, deploy, and deploy!
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One thing I have noticed about the large carriers is that the small cell deployments are planned out very differently. Indoor is one division and outdoor is another division and getting them to work together is frustrating! When you work wireless deployment you are always looking for ways to improve, all of you reading this know that. Let’s add our years of experience to this process.
Indoor teams and outdoor teams don’t talk much. So why should they? Really, who cares? Well, if they want to maximize their backhaul and limit expenses they will start looking at the deployment system, not the individual cell. What needs to be done is to have synergies working between the small cells locations and how they can be worked together, unfortunately they are not always located close. Location matters, but first, let’s makes a distinction.
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Let’s compare DAS to Small Cell. One big difference between DAS and Small Cell is that the small cell usually stand alone whereas the DAS may include a full BTS or small cell or repeater and even more. DAS systems are more complicated. However, when DAS is installed, there is a clear goal for coverage and loading. When small cell is installed you are usually alleviating a loading or coverage problem based off data you see or to make a customer happy. DAS is a specific solution to serve a specific audience. Small cell is going to be treated as a fill in most cases, for passing traffic. Small cells are usually strategically located to fill holes where DAS will fill one large hole and provide a large solution. DAS is big bucks and small cell is supposed to be cheaper, (which it is right up to the backhaul). They both are made to work together in on beautiful Heterogeneous Network. Het-Net rules!
So where can companies save in the small cell deployment? By sharing the indoor links with the outdoor small cells. If they would plan the deployment of both indoor and outdoor up front they could run the backhaul to the building then be sure to run a wired or fiber link to the roof, or a data room with a window, and shoot it outside to the outdoor links. The bulk of the price is the backhaul, and the wireless backhaul is a great solution, so take advantage of both. Plan ahead and see if you can work the locations together. From the rooftop you may be able to shoot the links to the poles. Find a solution that works best.
This all takes engineering and planning, but I see so many companies are not looking at the deployment holistically. This is where you, the deployment team, should be ready to offer a solution. If you win the bid in a region then show your value by offering them solutions. They may not listen but if you have a better solution, at least volunteer to improve what they have that will save them monthly cost. The upfront cost, (CapEx) may be more but if you can lower the monthly recurring costs, (OpEx), then it may have a reasonable return on investment, (ROI). Another advantage is that wireless links can speed up the deployment until the fiber “right of way” is ready. If that is the case make a point to offer to remove the wireless backhaul so they can use it in future deployments.
Think through the deployment from a high level, and then focus on the specific tasks. One thing that they are doing is adding the full spectrum up front. I don’t really understand the point unless they know it needs to be ready up front. Remember that bandwidth costs money, so let’s be efficient with the option to grow. Whether its fiber or wireless, plan for growth.
I will tell you from experience that small cells are placed for a need, but usually the need is a best guess. This is very different from DAS because there is a predetermined need usually for specific events like a football stadium where you will have heavy loading over a short period of time. Very specific designs for DAS, that is why they are more complicated. Small cells on the other hand usually are there to fill an “offload” need based on statistics, usually per call measurement data, (PCMD), provided from the carrier.
So if there is a need in a building and you can’t hit it from outside, then start inside and work your way out. It is not easy because you need to work site acquisition with the building owner (that is another story), but if you’re already installing equipment there, then take the time to secure roof rights. Use all your assets. Plan ahead to weigh out the costs so when it’s time to deploy you are ready to complete the system inside and out.
OK, it was high level, but I tried to keep it shorter this week and remember to be smart, be safe, and pay attention to what you’re doing. Planning will help you prepare so plan the deployment, plan to be safe, and plan to be successful!
Tell me, what do you think?? Questions? Agree or disagree?
I will be speaking at theIWCE conferenceon March 17th, 2015!
OK, this is the time of year that you may be slow. If you are then it’s the perfect time to do some planning. What could you do this time of year? Well, I have a list. This is something you should do every couple of months but many companies get slow this time of year so why not now?
First thing you should do is get your vehicles in order. Make sure you have the maintenance and inspection schedules understood. Chances are you know what month they are do but it’s a good thing to look at and know when you will take them in. That way it is not so last-minute.
You should inventory your truck. If you have a day then take everything out. Take inventory of all of your supplies. Anything you use daily, like tie wraps, vapor seal, nuts & bolts, connectors, caulk, anything that you use, stock up. Now is the time. It beats running to Lowes or Home Depot while on site. However, remember that some caulk will freeze and may not be good after it’s frozen.
Inspect all of your safety gear. This is the perfect time to get out your safety gear and look it over. Inspect it. Take inventory, what is missing and what do you need? If you were working in the snow or rain, take it somewhere it can dry out. Remember that the cold and wet are very hard on the gear. Some people do this but if you are traveling all the time it is easy to leave it in the truck. Don’t get lazy, inspect and replace if needed. If you are missing gear, then get it ordered!
Don’t forget to look over your rope, inspect it, dry it out, replace it if you need to. Make the old life lines tag lines. Inspect your steel cables, hardware lanyard, and carabiners. Look them over, make sure they are acceptable for the job you will give them.
Inventory your tools. Tools have a habit of walking away and we may forget about them by the time we make the 4 to 8 hour drive home. Well, now is the time to look over all of your tools. Make sure you have everything and if you don’t then replace it.
Inspect your vehicle, look at the tires and look at when the oil needs changed. If there is a problem you know about that could leave you sitting somewhere, now is the time to take care of it.
Catch up on all of your paperwork, now is the time. If you are a contractor you may need to prepare for tax time. Clean it all up. This is not fun but it is necessary. Make sure you have all of the customer’s paperwork in and ready to send out. This could be tedious and you should have done most of it while on site. Just take the time to clean it all up.
Do you know your deployment schedule for the next month? Then make a plan for the roll-out. Whether you work from a playbook or a maintenance schedule you should start planning who will go where and plan out the duration of each trip. Don’t wait until the last-minute and be prepared to change it last-minute. We know it’s hard to set a firm schedule but it really helps to set a tentative one and remain flexible.
Do you know the on call schedule? This is a good time to update it. Give people plenty of time to make changes if it won’t work for them. That should be planned out months in advance.
One more thing I like to do this time of year is look back and see what worked and what didn’t. This is good to do several times a year but this time of year you may have time to think about what to do better next year. If you are an owner or a lead, take the time to review some paperwork, like the hazard assessments and the close out packages. Not all of them but just randomly pick some. Are they being filled out so they are site specific or does it look like the people are making them all the same just to finish them quickly? It pays to take the time to see if the crew is actually thinking about the work when they do it or if they just complete the paperwork because they have to. There is a big difference.
Do you make the most of downtime? Let me know what you do!
Have a safe year everyone!
Be smart, be safe, pay attentions and follow the plan, then adapt, improvise, and overcome to be successful.
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So many people complain about not getting paid in this industry. One main point of contention is the change order. So how do you get paid for change orders? Well here are some ideas. By the way, I have some dialog in my podcast about the last post, Is It Time to Unionize Tower Climbers? that I didn’t write about here, just in case you’re interested. I had some things to say about the feedback I got.
Planning is key. You need to be sure you understand what your job is going to be. By this I mean the scope of the work. When you submit a bid, read the RFP or discuss the work with the customer. Read the SOW and modify it to match your assumptions and exclusions. You will need to match the desired outcome of the customer with the services you plan to do. Then you may move forward. Remember, you are in this to get paid for the work that you do! If you get paid for 20 hours of work but your crew works 40 hours, chances are good that you’re not making money, or at least making the margin you deserve.
Happy holidays everyone! Make sure you go to my Wade4Wireless products page where I have products to help tower climbers and deployment teams. Want to learn more about the SOW? I would like to give you the free eBook,aSOW Overview. If that helps you out then I have a tutorial outlining how to write and read a SOW in the SOW training package, The SOW defines how you get paid! It may outline how change orders are done. Remember, it’s your bottom line that matters! This is a business.
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For the change order, the first thing you need to do is make sure the work being requested is outside of your scope of work (SOW). I just happen to have a tutorial on how to write and understand aSOW available here. Anyway, what you need to do is understand what work is defined in the SOW, and then you need to decide how far outside the boundary of that work you will go. For instance, if the customer asks you to do an additional 4 hour task, you may do it because they are a good customer and you want to help out, right. Brownie points go a long way in future work. That is if they don’t just put it out to the lowest bidder. If you work with customers that always put the work out to the lowest bidder, then there is no reason to do any work outside of the SOW. Then it will all be a change order.
If you can, put the change order process in the SOW. If not make sure you understand the customer’s change order process. You need to follow protocol so you get paid. If the change is something that is a one-off or very different from what you are used to, make sure that you know what the desired result should be so the customer can sign off on it and you get paid. If it is something that you do all the time then it should be straight forward, like if you need to install or move a dish and complete a link. Simple stuff, right?
I have had customers that really push the limit and ask for so much work that is out of scope. So what happens? If you do it then they expect it on all the jobs. That may be good if they throw you a lot of work. However, suddenly a 20 hour job may be 30 hours and you will lose margin and time on site. All things to be considered if you commit to do the work.
On the other hand, I have seen contractors that have a business plan of going in cheap and then requesting as many change orders as they can to make up the money they lost by being the lowest bidder. Many customers get sick of this, so there is a balance of what you could ask for and what you will get. It is better to prepare the customer up front rather than nailing them along the way with change orders they didn’t expect.
So, define the work and define, to your team, what you will do outside of the scope. That is priority one!
Then, define the change order. If the customer gives you a verbal, ask them for an email or PO so you have some proof that they authorized the work. If they want a paper document, then make sure you know that. You should have authorization. Who may authorize the work for the customer and the contractor. Just because you are on site doesn’t mean that you have the power of authorization. If it is something that they want done while you are at the site, define the work, determine or estimate the pay. Chances are if you need to do it while at the site you know what to do. Just make sure that someone gets more than a verbal authorization. An email is usually enough but a PO is even better. Many customers do not appear on the site for the job except to complete the punch list and inspections. They may pay time and materials, (T&M) this is quick and easy but in today’s world most people want a not to exceed number.
If the customer has a change order process, make sure you and the field personnel understand what that is. Make sure the customer has someone who can authorize the change order! All job site leads should know what the change order process is. If you have a process, make sure they understand what to do for that customer! Each customer may have a different process. It would be a good idea to understand that prior to starting the work.
When the work is completed, how will it be inspected? You will need to determine how to get paid. If you are installing something then they may not pay until the unit is tested and operational. If you are turning up a point to point link, then it is easy, the link is up and tested, then you send a bill. If it is a cell site, you have to wait until they integrate and test it. That may be in a week or in 3 months depending on the roll out. It may be beefing up the tower so they may need to see a complete closeout package. So then you should determine how long you need to wait for your money. Remember that the original Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) may apply. Make sure that when you write the SOW, you include a change order process or if the customer has a change order process get a good look at it and determine how the payment will be made. Making sure how to mark the job complete is how you will get paid, so then you will need to determine what marks the job as completed.
So make sure that you understand the change order process for your company and from the customer. Payment is what keeps you in business! You should get paid for the work you do and you should get paid for the additional work you do. Time is money, change orders take time, and you should get paid for them.
Be smart! Be safe! Pay attention! Make a plan, follow the plan, improve the plan and you should do fine.
Let me know, did this help? What do you think I should talk about next?
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Do you know what efficiencies can be driven from deployments with proper planning? Maybe I am asking the wrong question, let me ask you this, did you ever have a PM (project manager) or foreman call you and beg you to do a job or a task that you didn’t know about at the last-minute? Oh, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Schedules and last-minute changes can kill workers physically and mentally. You know what I mean! Why is it that the customer’s emergency becomes your problem? Probably because something got missed or changed at the last-minute. It happens quite often.
We all complain about how screwed up deployments can get, especially when we are on the receiving end of a schedule change or a last-minute install. We also hope to get paid for these emergencies that are caused by someone’s poor planning. So looking at this up front, what can we do to help the situation out? We can look where we can save time and money with WDE.
OK, planning is very important and most of the time the poor planning is pinned on the contractor when in reality the PM or the customer just missed something or didn’t listen to the people who do deployments all the time. Sometimes the customer pivots to get something done that they didn’t foresee. Other times permitting frees up in one market unexpectedly.
If you pointed something out prior to the deployment, then get over it. Just remember that when you say “I told you so” that it won’t accomplish much except to anger someone. So instead of saying that, why don’t you offer a suggestion on how to improve the situation? You should already know what to do. Make it a discussion, not an argument.
So what do you do? You work with your experience and make sure that your SOW (Scope of Work) has the information in it to make sure you get paid! Make sure that you are a partner in the deployment planning. Have a talk with the PM or customer to figure out the best way to deploy without breaking the budget.
Most of the time this starts up front, with the site surveys. If the survey is done properly and the planning is realistic, then many problems should be avoided. However, what other kinks can happen, like permitting delays, changes to the design post survey, and other factors can ruin efficiency.
If you can, try to make the best out of planning ahead of time. When you are bidding on a job or when you are working on the SOW, make sure you are already thinking of how to improve time to market (TTM) and control costs. What efficiencies can be found? Well, I have notice that in many deployments I have done and planned that there are savings in the following.
If the site survey is done properly and documented well then the installers will have no effort in deployment. This will include not only the installation information but building the proper Bill of Materials (BOM). Documentation really helps. Pictures that can be shared with the installers and equipment vendors can really help out the planning process. Many companies put their most experienced people on the estimating and surveys because they want it done right to avoid problems later.
If the same company doing the installation does the survey, then the transition usually goes much smoother for the actual deployment and BOM building. However, if something is missing then the installers will need to be sure that they can make up the missing parts. There is no excuse when the same company does the survey and then the installation and something is missing, unless there is a change at the last-minute. Also, the deployment team should let the estimator know if they missed something. Feedback is very important.
If the PM plans out the permitting the best they can then the installers should be able to move in an orderly fashion. That is hard to do but it may get better if the permitting process improves. Permitting can be a real problem because of the complexity of the process so the PM will need to keep everyone updated on the status.
Warehousing and staging is very important, make sure that the logistics team is aware of the schedule and works with the customer and the installer to provide constant updates. The warehouse will work with the team to provide updates on what has been delivered and staged. Include the installer on those updates to make sure that they are in the loop.
If the installers and the commissioning team are “connected at the hip”. They need to be talking and working together to schedule properly. It used to be that many PMs did not like different teams talking because they were afraid they would plan around them. Let me tell you, nothing is farther from the truth. When the installers and commissioners work together they become more efficient and deployments move faster than ever.
Deployment planning needs to be shared with the team. If the PM has a priority list then they should make sure that the installer and the warehouse is on the same page. Then let them know that they can move on the top 10 as soon as the site is staged. This is a way to let the installers know that they can move as soon as the staging is completed.
Batch sites by region, this is probably the one thing that can really save costs but the hardest to do. I have mentioned it before that if you can do all the sites in one region or city, then you save so much money on travel. It doesn’t always work, mostly due to permitting and leasing and customer expectations. I have been on projects where the customer wants to see progress and they order the installer to do one site in a region because they want to show the customer/investors that they are making progress in a hot area. They argue that they want you to install for the bulk price even though the installer costs increase when going to one area to do a single install if they are not local. Chances are you will do it to keep the customer happy but this really eats into margin causing you to raise the prices next time because the customer requests irrational planning not thinking of how the cost rolls downhill.
Understand what they big picture is. Sometimes the deployment team will get caught up in the deployment of their priority sites because they don’t think about the system. Sometimes the deployment of the sites may be ahead of either the core/controllers or licensing is ready for the turn-up. So the sites may be deployed and sit for months until brought live. Then when they are brought live problems show up. I have been through many deployments like this. It causes so many problems but this is how many deployments happen. Sometimes the customer will expect you to come back to repair something months after the installation, understand what the agreement is ahead of time, read the SOW and the contract so you can plan accordingly. Customer relationships need to be thought of as well, remember that if you piss of the customer you may lose the customer.
Have the right tools for the job. Remember to plan out the deployment. If you need a bucket truck then get a bucket truck, put it in the pricing and use it! You may need a crane or a welder or more manpower. Plan accordingly.
Plan out the overnight stays ahead of the deployment. You can save money sometimes if you are going to be in an area for over a month by finding an apartment or negotiating with a local hotel for the full month. If you can plan and work on hotel costs, it saves money.
Learn what you’re installing! This is something where you will need proper training on the equipment. Whether its beefing up a tower or installing several RRHs. Sometimes you will be deploying something new, but if this is something that has been GA’ed, (General Acceptance) then it should have a MOP (Method of Process) put out by the OEM. Remember not to confuse the OEM’s MOP with the customer’s MOP. They are usually very different. The OEM will cover the OEM equipment only but the customer’s MOP should cover all of the site equipment. If you know the proper process then it will cut down on the return visits for the punch list. Return visits cost money and time and delay payments. Make sure you do as much right the first time as possible and have the MOP to back it up.
Plan to be on site when the inspection takes place. This is really hard when you have limited people. I used to have a crew or person that would be on site when the inspection took place so that all the issues could be resolved in one inspection. This would speed payment and closure. The PM should be able to schedule this but they need to be aware of how much time this will save. One of the biggest reasons time and money is lost is because the customer and the contractor go back and forth trying to closeout a site. It can go on for weeks or even months. It is very frustrating and can be prevented by some simple planning.
Site prep is very important. If this is a new deployment, for macro or small cells, power needs to be ready. Leasing needs to be completed. Permitting needs to be completed. If you go to install something and something is not ready, it is a major problem. So if you are the PM, make sure everything is complete to prevent the second visit. Verify as much as possible.
I put a few things in here that may help you out. Most of this is obvious, but it seems that there are still problems with what I have laid out, no deployment is perfect. I see all of these problems arise again and again. Problems always arise, there are always delays due to outside issues, like weather or if the customer makes a change or if the contractor will not get paid. We always see problems that can’t be counted for. It happens.
Let me know what delays you have seen derail a deployment.
Want to support an injured tower climber’s family? Here’s how. Support Hubble, they need it now more than ever!! Have I told you lately how much we need to support this cause? Thank GOD for the Hubble Foundation!
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I was reading a book where they mentioned how purchasing is done differently among companies and people. We all want a good price for what we get, right? Well, is the lowest price always the best? Sometimes it’s good enough. What about when getting high-end work done? Is it lowest bidder good enough for a wireless deployment? That is how most of the business is done. Except maybe among broadcast where they usually only put out the bid to people or companies they really trust. They know who is good and who is not, at least they used to. They usually build loyalty into the offer.
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Today’s world revolves around investors, who really have very little loyalty beyond the bottom line. I see it often where a contractor may have a horrible reputation but continues to get work because they are very cheap. It takes awhile before they are found out to be cutting corners or not paying people.
Many companies have lists of contractors that they know are not good, or don’t meet their standards. They also keep lists of acceptable vendors that were pre-qualified. The idea is that they have at least showed their qualifications on paper before getting the work. Then they need to win some jobs and get the work. If they do good work then they can be rated or graded on the work they have done. This is a normal system.
However, what happens when a company gets caught doing shoddy work? It seems some people change company names and they are back in the game. How can we stop this? We will have to do the due diligence by researching the bad seeds. This is why there are some people who are blacklisted in the industry. We just need to make sure that the blacklisting is justified. This is where loyalty and reputation come into play.
So loyalty between a sub and a company is earned, not given. Once you meet the minimum requirements you must do the work and do it well. If a company puts a contractor on the short list, it should be for good reason, either that company does great work or a particular crew really impressed the customer. That often is the case, where there is the “A” team that can really impress. We can’t all be on the A team but if you work harder to care for the customer’s needs then you will make a positive impression. Customers need to have someone they trust to do good work and be honest with them. Is that you?
Now, what about that crew that stinks? You know who I mean, the ones that run out of hardware so they use tie wraps to finish securing the mount because it’s Friday and they don’t want to do a return trip. Maybe you didn’t see the crew that did it but you saw the work. How does that not make it into the close out package? Do you report that to the tower owner? That is one more thing we need.
It’s hard to bring you’re “A” game when the customer might not pay you or if you are working for a customer that may be on thin ice. Sometimes the contractor does not pay its subs. This causes so many problems in the industry. If the customer hires someone they trust then they know the payment terms. If the sub is working for someone new or someone who is a piss poor manager, then payment will be late or not happen at all. The end customer suffers, the sub suffers, and people spend the rest of the time pointing fingers. That is going to destroy trust. If the PM purposely screws a crew by not paying the workers for getting the job 80% done then bringing in a cheaper crew to finish it just to pay the last crew a lot less money. That is just shameful. This is another issue with trust among workers in the industry. Loyalty and trust is a 2 way street not only to be earned by the hard-working crews but by the customer who is supposed to pay them and treat them fair!
Again, trust is earned and it’s a 2 way street. Remember that there are project managers that take pride in cheating hard-working crews because they think they are saving money but it really hurts the industry. When will this stop? Let’s hope today, but let’s face it, there will always be snakes in the industry, or any industry for all that matters. We need to get names of these people so we know who to trust. Names should be on a loyalty list of naughty and nice people to work with.
This industry is small, what comes around goes around like Karma on here we need to play well with everyone. Just because you compete against someone doesn’t mean they are the enemy. You may have to work together on a future job or you may team up one day. So treat your fellow workers with respect and learn from them and teach them something. We all need to learn to work together. Loyalty in the industry among coworkers is just as important as loyalty between customer and contractor.
Loyalty needs to be earned and it is hard to gain back once it’s lost. So many times there are people associated with bad companies. All you can do is work hard to regain trust and respect. It is not easy but it can be done. We all need to learn from our mistakes. The lowest bidder and the layers of subs really can cause problems in any industry. So let’s be fair when we bid and let’s understand the scope of work so we can all be fair to the workers as to not get in over our heads!
So let me ask you something, if you needed brain surgery or a heart transplant, would you put it out to the lowest bidder? Maybe it would be nice to have someone with a good reputation, a name that you can trust, someone who you got to know and someone you can trust. It should be the same in the wireless deployment industry. After all, if they could do the work themselves they would, but they don’t because it is a specialty.
The wireless deployments are not going to end anytime soon. It is time to build loyalty among the players in this industry. Let’s build a wireless industry based on trust. We need good leadership to do that. It is something that will be earned over time. Let’s each start with ourselves, let’s do the best we can for our own sake to make this the best industry to work in. In the wireless deployment industry we are looking at NATE, CTIA, FCC, OSHA, DOL, and each other for leadership. We now have TIRAP. They are the groups working to make sure that there are examples of safety and workmanship. It is up to each person out there working to align with the leadership and become a leader in their company. To become the poster child for quality and safety for fellow workers to follow should be the goal. Just because I say align doesn’t mean we should follow blindly, we all need to point out faults when we see them. Here is your chance to set the example of being the best worker you can be in safety and quality. With enough people working hard to be the example them more people will want to align and follow only to become the future leaders.
I was talking to Richard Bell, the owner of Bell Tower, and he is setting the example of how to act in this industry. He is 73 years old and a neat guy to chat with. He has safety on his mind even now, he knows so much about the industry and he shares all of his information with everyone. Go to his web page and you will see his safety policy. He shares it with everyone, there are no secrets there. This guy is setting a great example!http://www.belltowercorp.com/safety_first.htm
Tell me what do you think?
My SOW training will be out next week. My big release will be soon! Make sure you tune in!
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention.
Soon I will release my training for the SOW and more, to build your library of basic knowledge so you can advance in your job and the industry! My books will help teach someone the basics of tower work.
Hey small cell fans! I was recently looking over what has been holding carriers back for outdoor small cell deployment. I will lay it out for you. But first, a quick overview.
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I know that many people I have talked to are looking to get into small cell deployment. Many of you have already started some indoor installations. This is great! Inside building installations are a good place to start because of the small cell experience. The great thing about buildings is that you are mostly running CAT5 to the small cell. You may need to get creative and pay attention to the cable runs. Remember that core drilling is very expensive.
First, let me describe the small cell options.
Stand alone small cells that would be an all in one unit, it may or may not have the antenna attached to it but the controller and radio would all be in one box. If the antenna is remote then it may have the RF jumper connecting the small cell to the antenna.
Then there are some that have a controller somewhere, like the broadband unit on a macro cell, and then connects to the radio via CAT5 or fiber. The remote radio head will be a smaller unit and will need power, wither from an outlet, from the controller, or from a router via CAT5. The controller probably controls several remote radio heads, and may control them a direct connection or through the network.
For indoor, stadiums, arena, or another controlled smaller venue you could use either one, because it is usually in a controlled environment. For street coverage in a city chances are real good that you would want the standalone unit because of real estate on a pole or in a cabinet that you’re mounting to. For these options DAS is really going to benefit from the small cell options. They still like to have some more power, I mean higher that 1 watt, but they are going to be able to control much more of the power distribution using these units.
So what has been holding back deployments?
Is it the price of a small cell? No, the cost of the small cells is very reasonable, cheap in fact, compared to a macro or even a microwave link.
Is it the antenna, cable, hardware, parts, and pieces? No, much more cost-effective because it is so much smaller.
Is it the rent? Probably not, because leasing on a pole is much more reasonable.
Power? Maybe, smaller circuits but if you need to install power, even the minimum 100A or 200A service, whatever the local zoning permits, it will cost money.
Is it the prep work? Like site acquisition and site surveys? It could be. This may entail a lot of prep work. It may need structural drawings on a pole, power planning, backhaul planning, site survey, and more. I will explain below.
It is not the cost of the install, although the carriers seem to attack the installers because it is something they feel they can control and beat down. It may still take a bucket truck to do the deployments, but in the grand scheme of things, compared to a macro it is very reasonable if it is planned out properly. Planning is the key for efficiency and saving money.
Design, integration, and optimization? It is not the design or the integration or even the optimization, but they will hammer that down to because anything that is a service is something they can beat down. Design and integration can mostly be done remotely and optimization is something that is happening anyway.
So what is it? It appears to be the backhaul. They seem to think that they need >100Mbps fiber at every small cell. Does this make sense? It might! They may need more bandwidth at some sites than others but these stand alone sites probably don’t need anything near what they have at an arena. But the carrier would know better than I would because they have Per Call Measurement Data, (PCMD) that they get and put into a tool to determine where they need coverage based on weak signal and loading. I have to tell you, they don’t really seem worried about weak signal unless it affects a major customer. So the 3G small cells never really took off, did they? The 4G LTE small cells are all about bandwidth and data, so that may be a game changer. Carriers are worried that VoLTE may not be great if they don’t have decent bandwidth. They are also looking at the constraints in the bandwidth they are allocated by the FCC, so they will need to create smaller cells to help target larger data customers. This is something they are already trying to figure out.
Do they really need 100Mbps at a small cell? Who is going to use this thing? Is it something that businesses will rely on for watching video or will you be downloading your movies from these things? Maybe someday, but to get things rolling they should look at all of the options. To put in fiber at every site is quite a bit of money, but once it’s in they never have to go back to configure it again.
So who would need high bandwidth? Any venue like a sports venue – where fans would want to look at video, listen to audio, and share anything going on at the game. No matter what the game is the arena or stadium will have crazy heavy usage. Insane usage! Perhaps at certain businesses or in some malls. Maybe on special streets like Times Square in NYC where a massive amount of people gather every New Years Day. So it makes sense to put high bandwidth backhaul and any location like that.
What about the street coverage that is there so people don’t have a dead zone or a place there customers may need coverage for their business? I don’t think they need 100Mbps but the carriers would know better than I would. This is someplace that they could plan to scale up as needed.
So, back to my point – do they need this at fiber every small cell site? I don’t think so. I think that the hybrid solutions will be the way to go to start out. They could put fiber in a site that has fiber, saving cost on installation and site acquisition. This may be a building where they could use wireless backhaul to shoot down to poles, bus stops, other building, whatever. Wireless could be E-band licensed point to point (PTP), 5.8GHz point to multi point (PTMP), or another solution. I think that the traditional licensed bands, like 18GHz or 23GHz may not be feasible due to bandwidth and physical constraints. You will need something small and easy to deploy.
I think that the PTMP may be a quick solution but it’s in the 5.8GHz shared band. This means that anyone could interfere with you at any time causing serious degradation to your link at any time, and there is little you can do about it. It is cheap, comparatively speaking, and easy to deploy. The bandwidth you get may range from a few Mbps to >20Mbps that I am aware of. This varies but realistically I would not expect much more than this. Vendor dependant. Distance could be an issue and depends on what you are trying to achieve, but I would not recommend going too far, over a mile, just to keep your reliability as high as possible. Again, look over your design, know your OEM, and understand the plan for growth.
The E band solution in the 70 to 80 GHz bands. They have a 60GHz band solution as well. This does need to be licensed but they call it light licensing because it is quick and easy and the link distance is very short, under a mile in almost all cases. It does however, based on design and distance, allow you to pass up to 1GHz of bandwidth between links. It must be line of site (LOS) and weather is a factor. It all has a price!
I think that the hybrid solution of using both wireless and fiber may be the best way to go. When you look at putting fiber at every site it could not be cost-effective. However, if you put fiber there from day one you may never need to go back to upgrade. So the design and growth plan is so important. If you don’t see much growth in an area, then why put the money into it up front? I think there are already many business models to look at cost-effective alternatives.
Some carriers want fiber everywhere without any type of reference. What I see is a team of people who do a great job building out a Macro site trying to find synergies with the small cells. However, on backhaul requirements, you have a large area to cover, 3 to 12 sectors, and real loading with many customers at any given time. On the small cell, outside of a sports arena, you may cover 10 to 50 users, realistically, at one time. It may go up to 128 to 256 is this is a busy area. Will they all be using heavy bandwidth, probably not, but it is still loading.
What can you do as a deployment team? Make sure you understand the needs of the customer. Chances are good that they will need site surveys done prior to deployment as part of with the RF design and site Acquisition. When you do the site survey make sure you are aware of all obstacles. You can make sure you understand where the fiber is located. They should have fiber maps showing where the rings are. Maybe you would recognize that a building would be a better fit than a pole because you could set it up as a hub then connect the surrounding poles using wireless backhaul. Look for obstructions that would block wireless backhaul. Maybe you know where the macro site is and that could be the hub and connect to it directly with wireless backhaul. However, most of this may be wishful thinking and there may not be any path back to anything if the customer does installations across a huge area and not a planned organized deployment.
Remind the customer of the cost savings of planning mass deployments in one area. That is something to make clear, if they do single installations all over a wide area, then there are no savings on installation. If they plan it out very well in one area and do 10 installations in one city or metro area, then they will see installation savings.
Be open to suggest idea to help. If you get the site survey work then you are in an excellent position to offer advice. I won’t’ guarantee that they will take it, but hey, you tried to help.
Let me put the budget into perspective for you. To run fiber, even 100 feet it may cost up to $30K or more, all depending what is involved. Underground will involve trenching, permitting, maybe a planned road closure, or more. Overhead may be cheaper, but I am not a fiber guy, they would know better than I would. If you purchase radios they may be $10K and up, but once you mount it then it should work for a very long time assuming it is of good quality and the installation was done properly. You always have cable modems that would connect you to the internet and the carrier would have to build a VPN tunnel to keep it up, I think this may be the cheaper route up front but then you have the monthly OPEX.
So it will not be cheap or free no matter what they do. So it is up to you in the field to make sure you do all that you can to assist them to make the right decisions. Help them out by offering advice to how they could deploy, after all, you are on the front line and we all know that the front line is where all the good ideas come from, right? Of course! Make sure you think it through and be open to a conversation, and listen to what they are really looking for. If they determine that they need fiber at every site regardless of the cost, then so be it. Give it to them and respect their wishes. Just make sure you offer alternatives that are smart and cost-effective.
My SOW training will be out next week. My big release will be soon! Make sure you tune in!
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention.
Soon I will release my training for the SOW and more, to build your library of basic knowledge so you can advance in your job and the industry! My books will help teach someone the basics of tower work.
Update: The FCC and Department of Labor are teaming up for the Tower Climber Safety and Injury workshop. Read about it here. It will be on the internet live, go here on October 14th at 9:30AM ET. I am really looking forward to this because the standards are being set. I want to get to DC so I can witness history first hand. This will be the day that climbing standards will be well-defined in the US. The agenda is here. I am curious how many actual climbers will be helping out and how many will offer their advice. Some big names in the industry will be there, like Gette Hester, Wally Reardon, Dave Anthony, Art Pregler, and Craig Lekutis. NATE will have Todd Schlekeway representing them. It should be a big day but the real test will be to see what will happen afterwards. Will rigging standards be set, will there be more than 100% tie off promotions? Will there be real standards set that will be enforceable? I know all the chances I took back when I climbed, now the standard regulations will be set. Remember that what happens here will determine how many lives will be saved in the future. This will shape the industry for the better, I hope. With safety, climber’s values will go up, so will billable hours, so will the number of people who live! This may have the ability to make the industry as safe as it can possibly be. I hope they make progress!
Update: Hey, did you hear that Wireless Horizon has contested the fines that OSHA is handing them? It’s true! They think that they have a story to get out of the fines. We’ll see. I would like to hear what the defense is.
Update: RCR did a story on tower climbing job search tips. Find out what they say here. Trust me, you need all the help you can get. I see jobs posting all the time and yet there are so many people looking.
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Feedback Below, remember these are your words!
Thank you all for your comments. I could not post them all here but I will post them!
Feedback on the botched rescue attempt where the FD had to rescue 2 climbers 50′ up! Original post here. Feedback says: “Hi Wade, wow another unbelievable news story about how the FD has had to rescue someone!! There’s something far wrong here. Why do people go to work on towers without a rescue plan and a rescue system? They are not expensive to put together. I wonder if it’s a case sometimes of kit being available but not having the confidence to carry out a rescue. This I know you have asked before, whether people would carry out a rescue. Really, if people work in this industry they should be prepared to rescue mentally and have the physical means available. UK H&S legislation specifies that a review plan and mean of rescue must be in place for activities such as work at height and confined spaces. It specifically states that the emergency services must not be relied upon as part of a rescue plan. What happens if a commercial incident occurs where the emergency services attend and there has been no other rescue provision in place is that the HSE (UK equivalent of OSHA) investigate via the local Police department and people end up with fines? If serious injury or death results, those responsible are in court. It’s not perfect over here either. Despite regular team rescue training, we need to re-certify our rescue every year. The amount of people who find this terrifying despite having passed the annual refresher for years is mind-boggling. Perhaps it’s the training industry paying lip service and just putting bodies through courses that don’t address actual training needs and build people’s confidence or perhaps this is symptomatic of the current worldwide demand for people to work in high places like towers and turbines and there’s not enough time for people to become seasoned. Perhaps there are not enough people who have an aptitude for heights. I don’t know the answers but it’s a good job that the fire departments take rescue seriously!”
My response is that you are correct, do climbers practice rescue? What happened there? Do we take rescue as seriously as we should when we go out to a remote spot to do a very dangerous job?
More feedback on same post, “Good to hear this guy is safe. But…when will people learn, you need a viable rescue plan while at heights, one that is achievable and not just writing on a piece of paper.”
My response, you are correct sir!
Feedback on OSHA fining Wireless Horizons, blog is here. Feedback: “Managers, directors and owners: Please don’t think about compliance with OSHA requirements as a way to avoid fines. Think about being the safest operation possible to protect the lives of sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, all the men who show up to support your business. Don’t they deserve your support in return?”
My response, well said!
Another feedback statement on that same post, “I’m pushing for all climbers to look out for each other at all times and under all conditions, if somebody is doing something wrong and nobody says anything to that person or shows or makes that person do it the correct way that’s their asses that’s gonna get chewed just the same if not fired just the same because we don’t want people who don’t look out for their sisters or brothers! Once we get both our hands and feet on the tower all we have up there are the people working right beside us so we have to depend on each other, all we have is each other and nobody else, so ya better hope you got some trustworthy people by your side That’s watching your back! Or ya just might end up dead just cause nobody spoke up to you or for you! And I hope this sinks into people heads Cause it’s definitely a problem brother, and a deadly problem at that! Thanks for providing a place for a voice to be heard.”
My response, thank you for spreading the word!
Let me know your pain! I have more feedback to post and I will continue next time. Meanwhile, what problems do you see out there? What do you think of the FCC and DOL teaming up? Do you think this is progress? Let me know! Wade4wireless@gmail.com
Soon I will release my training for the SOW and more, to build your library of basic knowledge so you can advance in your job and the industry! So feel free to buy one of my books and maybe they will help you learn something that you didn’t know or teach someone who needs to know.
