I was told about a young guy that is trying to be a rapper. Common story, right? Well, this guy, Kevin Flum, is 20 and he is the cousin of a climber, Trevor Flum, who died last year when he was hit by a drowsy driver while working in Oklahoma City. Trevor was 36 and his partner, Joshua Oglesby, 22, when they both died in the accident. I thought it would be a good idea if we could support Trevor’s cousin so that we can honor a fallen climber.
Remember that climbers are on the road a lot, we lost around 7 climbers over the last few years to car crashes. They aren’t recognized as a tower fatality because it didn’t happen on a tower, but the industry suffers a loss all the same!
I never met Trevor but from what I am told, was a climber that worked hard to become better and better as a climber. For those of you in the business you know that you must be in good physical and mental shape. Sadly, due to circumstances beyond his control, his life ended, but his legacy didn’t.
You see, I was told that the work ethic that Trevor displayed left an impression on his cousin, Kevin Flum. After the accident, Kevin had a rude awakening. Two things became clear to Kevin. Work hard at your dream because life is short! This inspired Kevin to chase a dream, something that he really wants to do. While it’s not everyone’s dream, it is his dream. He wants to be a rapper. Here is an opportunity. Why don’t we help?
He actually has a shot at his dream. He has been working towards a goal of performing in front of a mass audience for over 6 years. Now he has a real shot. On New Years Eve there is a concert in Dallas called “Lights All Night” where a contest can decide if he performs or not. He is doing very well in the running so far, topping out around #3 but he needs help to win. If he wins, then it is up to him to make or break his career. I think we should help him out! Let’s show him that we support him and how much we appreciate a member of the tower family. He lost a cousin, we lost a fellow climber, let’s help Kevin. It’s a click and a vote, that’s all!
Hey, I am not a big fan of rap music, but I will vote and support this kid. I would hope he remembers to support the tower community when he hits it big!
He is young, he is an artist, and he is growing in popularity. I think we could all help him in this quest, for his cousin’s sake! Let’s show Trevor’s family that we support his cousin, Kevin, in this quest. We can bring a smile to their faces in some way. Whether you like rap or not, let’s vote for him to do this! Let’s make this happen for him. Let’s click on the link below and show the support of the wireless deployment community.
Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
I get asked questions about small cell deployments all the time. The first question is “how can I do the deployments?” and the second question is, “how can we deploy small cells and DAS systems efficiently for less money?” Most people don’t know the end to end process of what it takes to deploy. Once you learn the process you can start to dissect it to build a better process.
All the questions add up. What are the differences between indoors and outdoors? What are all the steps? Why is it so expensive? Do you still need to optimize? Do you need to do e911 with LTE small cells? What can be done to make it more efficient?
Introducing the “Wireless Deployment Handbook for LTE Small Cells and DAS”. Written for the deployment teams.
A document to help the deployment teams understand the end to end process. The handoffs are very important. Covering deployments to make them easy to understand. This will be a living document to be updated as the industry changes, (the great thing about eBooks is that you can update it and send the updates out to the people who bought it). See all the steps that cover end to end deployment. Look at the planning and how it is laid out. This will help the teams that are planning to go from macro deployments to small cells. Look at this as a tool for learning all the steps and how to plan for your part. Why not learn from my mistakes?
For me, this has been a learning process over the past 3 years. The original thought is that it would be a “cell site” but smaller, which it is, but I learned quickly that the model is cost prohibitive. The backhaul is still an issue The process has evolved and I realize now that the models have to be cost-effective to sell. So I thought I would record what I have learned by putting together a book that would outline the end to end deployment process.
A partial table of contents so you can see what’s covered!
Naming Overview (Abbreviations and Acronyms)
A Quick Note on Deployments
What is a Heterogeneous Network?
What is a Small Cell?
Why Install Small Cells?
What is CRAN?
Why Install CRAN?
CRAN Deployment Notes
What is DAS?
Why Install DAS?
iDAS
oDAS
DAS or Small Cells?
Will DAS and Small Cells Work Together?
What is a Mini Macro?
Why Install Mini Macro Cells?
Unlicensed Bands
How Does Wi-Fi Fit In?
What is LTE-U?
Carrier Aggregation
Carrier Aggregation with Wi-Fi, LTE-U, and LTE
Voice
Connections – Backhaul and Fronthaul
Backhaul and Fronthaul Options
Backhaul Planning
CRAN and Fronthaul and oDAS
What is involved in deployment?
Project Management
RF Design
Site Acquisition
Site Survey
Site Design
Network design
Installation
Commissioning
Integration
Optimization
Inspections
Value in Partnerships
Deployment Evolution
Installation Skills for Small Cell, DAS, and CRAN
Fiber Connections
Copper Connections
RF Connections
Mounting the Small Cell or CRAN RRH
Pole Mounting
Strand Mounting Notes
Stealth Mounting Notes
Grounding
Overcoming Challenges: Problems and Planning
RF Coverage versus Offloading
Permitting and Zoning Challenges
Backhaul and Fronthaul Challenges
Power
Mounting Assets
PIM Testing
Tiger Teams
Installation
Planning Overview
Don’t you think it’s about time that the end to end deployment is laid out so that field workers get a good understanding of wireless deployment of small cells and DAS for the carriers? I do, so I took a few months to put together this deployment handbook to give a view of the end to end deployment steps for LTE small cells, DAS and CRAN. Why? Because this will help you make your part of the process easier. Helping you plan and build a price model. You may not be the lowest bidder, but you will be the smartest bidder. Plan ahead for not only the pricing but also the work flow. Handoffs were a problem in the past since the teams didn’t know what was next. When the teams are all on the same page then the process becomes more efficient. Most people think it’s just the installation, but there’s so much more when you look at it end to end
“Plan ahead” is more than a saying, its good business. LTE small cell and DAS can be confusing. This book will help you understand, in layman terms, what is happening out there. The learning process can be costly, so why not get an edge? Knowledge is power and having a reference really helps.
Be Smart, be safe, and pay attention!
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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
There is the reality that tower climbers die on the job. Like it or not, this is part of the job. There are many reasons, stupidity, faulty equipment, and freak accidents. It happens. The Tower Family Foundation, (TFF), is there. They are the group started by NATE, read on to learn more.
These accidents leave a hole in the hearts of all those involved. The industry is affected by these happenings, it extends way beyond the family to all tower workers across the industry. It saddens the tower community. It breaks our hearts to hear about this!
To be clear, the TFF will not judge, they just want to help the family. They just want to make sure that the family gets help as soon as possible. They are committed to supporting the families in this time of crisis. Also, I don’t have names of who they have helped for privacy reasons.
I talked to Ben Littleand Jim Tracy of the TFF. These 2 guys are so committed to raising money and to make sure that the families get taken care of within 7 days of an accident. Like I said, they don’t care what happened or whose fault it was, none of that matters, what’s done is done. They just want to make sure that the family gets the financial support they need within 7 days of an accident. They do all that they can to find out who the family is, usually with the help of the employer, and send them a check as soon as possible. They don’t ask questions, they don’t look for a thank you, they just want to help the family. No judgment.
These guys so all they can for the TFF with no pay, they don’t take a dime for any of the time they work on the TFF fundraisers or spending time with people like me, they don’t take a dime, they just commit to serving the greater cause of helping fallen climbers. It doesn’t matter if the climber or their company is a member of NATE, they work hard to provide support to the family within 7 days, no longer if at all possible. They want to make sure the families understand that there is someone there to provide a hand.
So when I talked to Ben he gets so emotional about this subject. He told me the story about how an accident happened near the holidays and they reached out to the employer to get information about the person so that they could have a check to the family before Christmas. They worked hard to ensure it was in their hands on Christmas Eve so that the family would not worry about finances on Christmas day. This got him all choked up just talking about it. He is seriously committed to make sure that the foundation serves one purpose, to support the families of the fallen without judgment.
They have a very organized fundraising system. So far they have raised close to $1M for the sole purpose of supporting climbers’ families. They are constantly looking for ways to raise money giving all that they can and raising money on fundraisers. They make sure that all the money goes to the families by donating their time to the foundation. That means that there is no overhead going into anyone’s pockets. They work hard and donate their time for this cause. They are always looking for ways to improve. They support the families financially and they are starting a scholarship program to make sure that the kids have all the opportunities they deserve!
Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
Hey, do you know if your certifications are up to date? You know, your certifications, your credentials, your licenses, your hall-pass! What about all the field guys? Which credentials? Well, for most of you, it may be tower training and rescue certification. It may be OSHA or RF Safety certifications. It may be your CCNT qualifications. Maybe you have router, MPLS, OEM, or any other certification that you may need to do your job. Maybe, some of us want to get certified so that we learn new skills. New skills open up new doors in our career, right? It would be nice to have proof that you completed the class. Your company is required to keep proof of that training available at all times for customers and compliance agencies, such as OSHA.
“Credentialing – refers to the granting of a diploma or other certification in recognition that an individual has completed a defined body of work that is required for employment in certain occupations or professions.”
“Certification – is used as a synonym for credentialing or to refer to a program that identifies individuals who have gained advanced skills within a profession”
So credentialing becomes necessary for your job. Customers and/or your company may require proof of certain levels of training and experience, or your next employer may require proof of all those things listed on your resume. All of these are reasons to get credentialed. Let’s look at your driver’s license. This is something that most of you have and keep up to date, why? So you can travel freely. It is most likely the most basic credential you have. You will need to show this to companies so that you can drive the truck, get to work, or just for identification. To climb, you need a cert that says you can climb safely. To work on routers you may need to be certified so that the customer believes that you won’t take the network down or wreck the code in the router. You need certifications to do your job in many areas.
Do you think that you just need to take the class and then it’s done? No, you need to keep the documented credentials so that you have proof. You need to keep them up to date because they often expire; even when the document doesn’t expire your Customer will enforce re-certification every 2-3 years. If you need to keep it up to date, you need to get recertified and you need to keep proof of your most current re-credentialing.
How many of you keep that old binder in the truck only to pull it out when the customer asks? How many of you know how many copies are expired? Most of you don’t care until someone calls you and says update this ASAP.
I was talking to a close friend of mine, Matt, he is managing the safety program for the climbers in his company and a customer stopped by the office and asked for all of the safety certifications. He had them all in one place, not the paper copies but the scanned copies in a shared directory at the office. He spent a few minutes calling them up and the customer’s safety person was so happy. She was so impressed that he had all the certs, all the dates, and could show them to her with no questions asked. He didn’t make excuses, he showed her the certs and the customer left happy and knowing that this is a trustworthy company. Luckily he was at the office on the network able to access the shared directory.
This isn’t the case at the site. You may rely on the binder, if you can find it and it’s up to date. You may have to access the company network to get the files. You may have to call the office and ask them to email it to the Customer. Even if you keep track of all of your company’s credentials at the office it is hard to present them at the site. It could be a showstopper. What if someone didn’t update the binder and they are expired. What if one is missing and the climber is not ‘compliant’ to climb, then what? Someone in the office needs to support you by emailing them out to the customer. Keep your credentials up to date and readily available. Do you see the problem? Updating at the office is easy, getting them quickly retrievable in the field is hard. Most of this should be done up front. Even customers don’t keep up with it until they do an audit at the contractor’s site. Then certifications matter because if you don’t have the right credentials, then the job is delayed or you’re kicked off the site until you show proof! That’s a day of lost wages, delay in the project, possibly one more night out-of-town.
Do you see the pain point? Credentials need to be up to date and available all the time, everywhere, especially where Safety issues are concerned.
Believe it or not I found a way around this, a way that someone can use an app on a smartphone to see all of your credentials in one shot, and it’s pretty cool! I found a website that you can load up your credentials where they can be available to anyone with a QR code reader on their smartphone. It’s really easy to use. First off, a QR reader reads those codes you see.
What is a QR? Well, it is explained here, but it’s a generic box that you see around for people to scan with their smartphones to get more information on a product or service. QR stands for Quick Response code. It was originally used in the auto industry in Japan to track parts and pieces. Then people realized that with smart phones anyone could get any information quickly and easily by just scanning a code. How cool is that?
They look like this and if you scan this code you will see my information. It’s that easy.
All you need to do is download a QR code reader, which I have links, Droidor iTunesthat you can read the code above. If you download
the app, then scan the box and you will see my old certifications. So, if you own a tower service company, work for a business demanding proof of credentials, or if you manage a safety program anywhere, then this is going to make your life easier.
What is this place where you can upload your certifications for customers to see? The company is QREDENTIALS! The site is https://www.qredentials.com/home-page.html. Create an account and then upload your information so that anyone with a QR reader can quickly review all of your credentials. No, it’s not free, but it is currently in BETA, (BETA is only $45), but it’s pretty cool and there are more pricing options. I just did the beta for unlimited access. It is expected to be in full, release mode by January 2016. It’s simple to use and really simple for the customer to use. Here are my certifications on the web. Better yet, scan THIS QR-Code on your smartphone and you will see my certs! I think that it’s really cool. Even though I am no longer required to maintain current credentials, it’s fun to have them available to add to my socialization and it was a blast digging out all my years of credentials for uploading!
So why not have someone in the office track the certifications and have the field guy keep this code on his phone as a picture? Problem solved, simple! We all know that the field people always have their phones, right? This should streamline the work. All the field guy needs is to have the QR-Code either on a sticker, business card, paper or on the smartphone. They may not have their binders up to date. They may change trucks. They may have destroyed their binders, “accidentally”, of course.
Here is a way to clean all of that up. Have the field guys do the field work and have the safety person manage the certifications and everyone is happy! No more nagging the field guys to update their binders, am I right? It looks so much easier. Hey, you tell me, does this make sense?
Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
When a climber falls, who hears the cries? First the coworkers, the people on the scene who work with this person every day, then the foreman or boss who has to inform the family. Then the family. While the company suffers, it does not compare to the family’s pain and loss. The family is left with the loss of a loved one. The family is going to grieve for their loss. The family is left with more than the loss of a loved one, the grief of injury or death. They are also dealing with the financial devastation.
There is help out there for these families that comes from donations from within the industry. Let us never forget the fallen. One more is too many, but it happens. So who will help? The Hubble Foundation.
This group is there to help climbers that have accidents on the tower. There may be lawsuits, insurance delays, no income, and so much finger-pointing to go around. The Hubble Foundation works hard to find out who needs the help and how to reach them. Specifically Dr. Bridgette Hester. She lost her husband, Jonce Hubble, when a tower came down after a truck backed into a guy while he was trying to come down. Now he is dead, and she didn’t have anyone outside of friends and family to support her.
You see, there is an ugly truth that tower climbers die on the job. Many due to poor training, some due to stupidity, and others in freak accidents. They die on the tower and in cars. We lost 7 this year, 2015, in-car accidents, so far. We lost more in tower related accidents. So many more have been hurt and will never climb again. Who helps these people? Read on
The Hubble Foundation! Do you know about the Hubble Foundation? It is named after Jonce Hubblewho died when a tower collapsed and he was on it. He was coming down at the end of the day when a crane truck backed into a guy wire. This caused the wire to break and the tower collapse with Jonce Hubble and Barry Sloan trying to get down. They did not fall, the tower collapsed on top of them. This day changedDr Bridgette Hester’slife forever. It motivated her to create the Hubble Foundation, www.hubblefoundation.org, and she has been helping tower climbers out ever since. From offering them meals, to providing financial support and scholarship money for their families after a tower worker died, she has been the working endlessly to help this part of the industry get over the horrible truth that people die in this job, usually for a little money. Most stay with it because they love it. Some die doing it. All I ask, if you could, go to www.hubblefoundation.organd give what you can. I interviewed Dr Hester which can be found here.
Quick facts:
Founded in 2012
IRS 501c3 organization
Conduct academic research to improve safety
Advocate safety with OSHA, FCC, and other organizations
Assist workers and their families for work related accidents.
Raised close to $200K since 2012
Provided Christmas donation for 37 children of injured and fallen climbers in 2014
The Hubble Foundation has many supporters and is well-known inside the tower industry. Check out the newsletter, 2015 2nd Quarter newsletter, and it shows you what they are up to. They keep a good record of who they have helped and Dr. Hester is very approachable and easy to talk to. I am proud to say she is also a good friend who wrote a book about the accident and what she experienced. It is called “Godwink: On the Wings of Butterflies” and I only recommend reading it if you have a strong will. The first chapter will make you realize what the family goes through when they get “the call” and let me tell you something, my wife is happy she never had to go through that. My wife said, after starting to read the book that she had no idea how dangerous the job really was.
I have a great deal of respect for Dr Hester for all that she has done for this industry. She has done so much by herself that others would seem impossible. It really is amazing how far she got it with the help of the working class people in this industry building it up to provide the Hubble Foundation with the means to support so many family with financial aid, scholarships, and continued support throughout the years. She has been instrumental in helping these families rebuild.
The Hubble Foundation relies on donations from groups, like the Wireless Associations from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, and California as well as people like you and me. Anyone who can help out does. I have given, so should anyone in this industry. She also relies on companies, like Rope + Rescue, to donate 1% of 17 specific items sold. She relies on individual donations as much as groups. Per Dr Hester”We have yet to have a LARGE telecom company step up and support what we do. We have been grassroots since we started and our base following are the climbers themselves, the smaller companies, the families of the fallen, and several wireless associations (whom we adore), that have been with us from the beginning.”
Where the Hubble Foundation could use help is to respond quickly to these emergencies. If you could let all the coworkers know that they can reach out to Hubble for help so that the response time improves, that would be better for all.
Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
What a scare the Sprint employees got! They found out that after working so hard for this company that has been in turmoil for years that they will probably get laid off in January with a lesser severance than expected. Hey, in all honesty it’s better than most tower workers get when they are laid off, they’re lucky to get a ride home! Tower workers usually get nothing, a big empty goose egg! When I was laid off and I got stiffed on expense money, so I left in the hole!
Here’s the rub, Sprint is setting a precedent by announcing that they will be reducing the severance pay for employees that they are going to lay off in January, that’s right, all those hard-working Sprint people are getting screwed over. Hey, I know a few people that work for Sprint and they put in long hours with little gratitude from the higher-ups. At least the ones I know work really hard, they get paid for 40 hours when they really work 60 or more hours, yes, most of them are salary. Sprint made the announcement that when they lay off the people that (worked 60 hours a week for 40 hours pay) were not only going to be let go, but the severance package they expected is going to get knocked down to a week’s pay for each year worked there. That still isn’t bad but it’s half of what they were going to get. Can you believe it? It amazes me that now the solution is to screw the laid off workers out of a decent severance. Click here to read the story. They will get a reduced severance and a good kick in the ass as they are pushed out of the door because previous management could not control spending.
Hey, this Sprint layoff news may not be all bad, remember that Sprint will probably be very shorthanded. So if you are a contractor, I would say it is a good thing. They will need support and they probably want to hire contractors. They may pay a higher hourly rate but they will be able to hire and fire easily and not more benefits. So this is an opportunity for those of you that have a service that Sprint may need, like PM, RF Engineer, or network engineer.
I also see them needing RAN work done when they eventually expand, right? I don’t think that Mr Claure will be going up a tower anytime soon, do you? If he does, I hope I am there to race him to the top, with 100% tie off of course.
What worries me now is that this sets a precedent for all the companies in the future to bully their employees when they downsize. Hey, losing your job sucks, but having them tell you they didn’t appreciate having you there hurts even more! I guess the new CFO, Tarek Robbiati has a better severance planned for when he leaves. Let’s blame him and Marcelo Claure, just because they are the leaders, makes it easy to see who made the decisions here, right? Money first, people last, and the system falls somewhere in between.
My hope here is that Softbank can turn Sprint around. The shareholders are happy to see Sprint cut over $2B out of the budget, way to go! I just thought that laying the people off was enough, I didn’t think that cutting the severance was good PR, but as long as the shareholders are happy, who cares, right? Let’s hope that Sprint can stay out of bankruptcy! I would hate to see that happen for so many reasons!
For all of you Sprint employees about to lose your jobs, my heart goes out to all of you. Its tough being out of work, there is never a good time. There is never enough money in savings. I pray that all of you can find work very soon. I wish you would have a reasonable severance package, so sorry.
For all of you employees at other carriers, look out. The way I see it, Sprint is setting a precedent. Executive pay is first, then profits, then the system, and then maybe the employees. I have to tell you, it seems that the other carriers are taking care of their employees, but then again, they are growing.
I will continue to root for Sprint as a carrier to grow and improve. If they see growth maybe they will hire again. Maybe they will be innovative with the densification project. I guess we shall see.
Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
I think that we often overlook one of the most important steps in deployment. The optimization process. This team finds more problems in the network than you realize to make it a better operating network. They find all the deployment problems that happened. They find mistakes in the original design and installation mistakes. That’s right installers! They find mistakes and problems that force physical changes!
I would like to cover these heroes because they are the ones that take the system from performing “OK” to ranking high in the Root Metrics ratings. These are the groups that make the difference between the dropped calls and the seamless coverage. They are the ones that allow you to download that ever important Facebook page without missing a cat video! Let’s look at what these teams do.
How is in the team? The optimization team is usually made up of:
A project manager, PM
RF Engineer, RFE
Drive Team, DT
These are usually the three components of the optimization. What they do is gather the data to test the performance of the system and make changes to improve performance and coverage. Sound easy? Let’s look at what is involved.
The PM is there to manage the teams, create reports, and guide each team to work together. You don’t want one person going off and wasting time and money.
The RF Engineers are the ones who analyze the data, make adjustments, and make recommendations.
The drive teams are the ones who drive and walk around to collect the live data. They use laptops, software, and usually a type of smartphone connected to the laptop. They track their coverage with a GPS for location, the other devices will capture the data like signal strength, voice quality and handoff, download and upload speeds and handoffs, QoS of the connection, and the ability to connect and make a call and make data connections.
If you take all of this data, it is still not enough. There is also something called PCMD, per call measurement data that is used to analyze the coverage. The RFE teams have to take all of this data and make corrections to the network. What corrections? Let me tell you!
I know that most of you think that it’s a simple change in the eNodeB or the maybe a router. It is not always that easy. The optimization team will find so many problems with the network, more than most of you realize. I made a list below just to cover the surface.
Just a few problems caught in optimization:
Router problems, bandwidth or routing issues
Core issues, setting adjustments in the MME or one of the gateways
Handoff issues, could be in the eNodeB or the core
Radio head cabling is wrong
PIM problems at a site that were missed
Antenna elevation, (up and down), is wrong and needs to be corrected
Antenna azimuth, (left or right), is wrong and needs to be changed
Bad cables on the radio head
Dirty fiber between the BBU and Radio head causing lost data
Power settings in the radio head
eNodeB settings that affect QoS
OEM problems
The optimization team’s goal is to have the network improve to become excellent in user experience. This takes time and a good plan of attack. They can’t just go around and drive the network. They really have to have a plan to concentrate on a problem area and work their way out. This will need to be organized and tactical. The cells and the clusters need to be looked at as a system. They will need to identify the problem with one piece of equipment but the goal is to have a high performing system. Making one change in an eNodeB could negatively affect a nearby cell causing new problems to arise. So this process is not an easy one. The RFE team needs to look at the whole before changing a piece.
When there is a system wide problem, the Tiger Teams are called in to correct the problem. This could be an OEM problem or maybe an issue with the original design or even faulty cabling. It happens.
OK, enough about that. I hope you learned how valuable this part of wireless deployment is to the carrier’s success.
More on RootMetrics found here. They are the group that measures the performance of the cell systems out there. They do the drive testing and package the measurements together to show the carriers how well they are performing. They have a great blog found here.
Pay attention, be smart, and be safe out there whether you are 100 feet up or driving. We need you to make it home alive, safe, and happy.
I am asking you to help the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? The carriers do not support Hubble and neither does NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
A well-known climber died today in a tower climbing accident, a great loss for the tower climbing industry.
I need everyone to pray and say a blessing. I am getting unconfirmed reports from many people in the industry that Ernie Jones, someone who is not only respected in the industry but helped write the standards for tower climber safety, died in a tower accident on October 21st. I’m told he had an accident in the tower elevator of the tower. The crew had found him when they returned. I am still getting the details.
Ernie Jones was well-respected and loved in the tower industry. We will all miss him and we are all sad for his family and all of his friends this day. He will be missed as he was loved.
The News story from Channel 5 in Oklahoma City is here, the Channel 5 tower is where this happened. It was KOCO’s tower and authorities are looking into what happened, there are rumors but nothing has been confirmed.
I am asking you to help the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? The carriers do not support Hubble and neither does NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
FirstNet made the decision to invite companies that can handle a nationwide rollout to the RFP coming out this year. The playing field for bidders just got a whole lot smaller. Did FirstNet hurt FirstNet by doing this? Did they severely limit competition? Hey little guy, better kiss up to the turf vendors, again. That is unless Verizon or AT&T will take this on, but why would they? They don’t need the spectrum and they probably have huge contracts with emergency services already, but let me get back to the point.
Did FirstNet screw over the regional carriers by going nationwide only? Should the CCA, Competitive Carriers Association, http://competitivecarriers.org/, feel slighted? While they would never publicly admit it, I think that they already do, the CCA already feels a little down because the FCC isn’t going to help the smaller carriers out in the auction. They have a lot going against them. They need to rely on leasing the larger carriers for spectrum, so they probably feel like they are under the big boys’ thumbs with no help from the FCC. And now FirstNet.
The way I see it, this decision has taken away, correction, made it impossible for them to take lead roles in the roll out. Do you think it’s justified? There are 2 lines of thinking that are for and against FirstNet.
Against FirstNet. Here you have a group that is willing to work for spectrum but FirstNet implied that they don’t want to deal with small potatoes. They want to go big or go home. Drawbacks? FirstNet will wonder why the really rural areas are not getting built. I see that as a problem, like getting Alaska built. They have a commitment to cover 95% of the landmass. I don’t believe that AT&T nor Verizon do much of that on their own. They need partners, the CCA members that are willing to cover those rural areas that the big boys don’t deem profitable. I get it, they need to make money, but the CCA is doing all that they can to provide coverage where there is none, kudos to the CCA.
The other problem I see is that FirstNet just raised the price of the system. They just said that because they don’t have the resources to manage the full build that they are willing to pay a large contractor to do it for them. This eats at margin on margin on margin. Once again, the installer is at the bottom of the food chain. What else is new?
The pros for FirstNet are that they don’t have to manage the build, they don’t need to hire too much staff to manage this. They limit their risk by putting it all on the company that is willing to take it on. They have one throat to choke. If they are really lucky that could partner with AT&T or Verizon to handle all of this for them. I get it, I see a huge upside by paying one contractor to do it all. It makes a lot of sense to me. So I am not one-sided on this. FirstNet has a daunting task, on that the federal government took away from the states. (The states probably would have something built by now, just saying.) So I see where FirstNet is at, this is the most efficient way to use their resources, just like when the government used one contractor over in Iraq, Halliburton, how did that work out?
Don’t get me wrong, the smaller carriers will be involved. They are needed to make this happen, in my opinion, because they have the coverage, the sites, the knowhow, and the experience to deploy in rural areas. I would want them on my side for wireless deployment. They are the key to construction in rural areas. Here is what I see as an invaluable partner, companies that are in the trenches to make the world of communications better in regions that the big boys intentionally overlook in favor of larger profits.
Rural areas are what FirstNet is required to cover, eventually, but they need to turn a profit first, just like the carriers. So do the big boys see them as competition? Do they see money going out the door if FirstNet is a success? Will they lose all that public safety money if FirstNet takes off? FirstNet’s plan hinges on them signing up public safety groups around the US, then the utilities. What if it works and the groups start signing up? Why would they keep their big boy contracts? Why pay twice? Maybe the big boys see the threat of all those government agencies that relied on them for reliable coverage moving to FirstNet. What if they start leaving those 2 year contracts in favor of a system that is built for emergencies? I see that happening, if the system works, maybe in 2020. Why pay the carriers who have a system that gets overloaded in an emergency for one that is guaranteed to work in an emergency. Good bye crappy contracts and hello integrated public safety system. Is all that government money leaving the carriers, at least the big ones, for a newer system that focuses on public safety?
This is where the CCA and their members are invaluable. They could have used the spectrum and partnered with FirstNet to make the best system out there. They could have seen the opportunity to make it happen together in the areas that are very hard to cover. They could have brought their experience to the table. I see the CCA as a great partner, it’s a shame that FirstNet did not do more to work with them. I think that the experience that the CCA brings to the table is invaluable.
Will the big boy carriers take on the challenge of assisting FirstNet? I can’t wait to see but I think FirstNet should have seen more value in the CCA, that’s all I am saying. This is a daunting task, one that will take time, money, and patience. One that will have a lasting effect on the wireless industry because it will be taking money off the table for the carriers if they don’t work with FirstNet and then keep it in the government’s financial system. It is one that will spark growth in the wireless deployment industry for years to come! Deploy, deploy, deploy! Let’s get building! Well, I guess in 2017 we may get building, sorry, I got ahead of myself.
I am asking you to help the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? The carriers do not support Hubble and neither does NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
What is LTE UE backhaul? It is backhaul that uses the carrier’s spectrum, just like the UE, User Equipment, you smartphone. If you have ever used a carrier’s Wi-Fi hotspot then chances are you have used a device similar to this. One that will use the carrier’s spectrum, like LTE, for backhaul. This is something that is commonly used for internet access when there is no Wi-Fi available. The carriers all sell these units and many of today’s smartphones do something similar. However, they just use the standard signal. Using it for a tiny hotspot and for an eNodeB are 2 different things.
Let’s talk hotspot. Many vendors provide equipment that a user can add coverage quickly and easily. A quick Wi-Fi connection to the internet using the carrier’s LTE. Everyone has Wi-Fi and there are devices that create an instant hotspot. Verizon has the Mi-Fi or you can use your smart phone as a hotspot. Every carrier has a wireless modem that you will provide a Wi-Fi hotspot. I think anyone reading this probably knows about the hotspots. I thought it would be a good example to get started.
I am bringing this up because now there is talk about using the UE backhaul for small cells making it a more powerful cell extender. It sounds like a great idea on the surface. This is a cheap, quick and easy backhaul. However, what are the drawbacks?
What is a cell extender? There is a practice where many carriers will use a cell extender that will have a UE relay backhaul to extend the signal. This is also like a smartphone hotspot or a Mi-Fi unit because it was just to help a few customers but extends the carriers signal instead of Wi-Fi. This is a type of repeater to extend the macro’s signal, a cell extender. This is a way for the carrier to extend the coverage just a little bit farther. It’s a way to provide coverage someplace quickly and easily. These were common in 2G, 3G, and now LTE. It is a simple and quick way to install a repeater to extend carrier coverage down an ally. In the old days of DAS, this is really what they did. They would take the signal where it was strong or use an antenna and amplifier to increase the strength to get it into a dead spot. People paid a lot of money for these systems.
What about using UE backhaul for an eNodeB? You know, like a small cell or a mini macro? I am bringing this up because now there is talk about using the UE backhaul for small cells making it a more powerful cell extender. It sounds like a great idea on the surface. This is a cheap, quick and easy backhaul. However, what are the drawbacks?
It’s not a simple cell extender, and let me tell you why. Now you are talking about putting the small cell in an area where there is a loading issue. This goes beyond coverage. The data and spectrum usage could go through the roof! So if you set it up like a cell extender with backhaul to the macro site, then guess what! You will see an overloaded macro sector! The macro not only has to deal with all of its users but all the small cell or Mini macro users too. This sucks up all the spectrum and bandwidth for that sector. What can be done? Read on!
To break the bottleneck you need to dedicate spectrum in the macro eNodeB that will be feeding the UE backhaul. This will alleviate the spectrum usage for the regular users on the macro sector. We don’t want them to get knocked off if the small cell US backhaul overloads the macro. This will make it so that the users on the macro don’t get shut knocked off if the small cell pulls the entire spectrum for its users. This will allow the small cell UE backhaul to have a dedicated pipe. It needs to have dedicated spectrum for this purpose. Then the small cell will know how much backhaul spectrum it has to available. By the way, not an easy change, changes in the eNodeB and possibly the core need to be considered as well as neighboring sites. This “dedicated backhaul spectrum” needs to be set aside in this sector and others too. It takes some planning and changes.
You could still have the data bottleneck at the macro’s backhaul. That’s another issue that needs planning.
So now you dedicated part of the band to the UE backhaul, which seems OK. Remember that the carrier paid a lot of money for that spectrum and now they are choosing to use it for backhaul. So the pipe is limited based on coverage and availability. It is a quick and easy to add UE backhaul, but is this the best use of the spectrum? Will you lose something in this backhaul? Yes, you have delay issues, timing issues, and neighbor issues. All of this is a problem when building a site for any type of real loading. Go to the links below to learn more.
However, what’s the real issue? Is it all the problems I mentioned above? They are all technical issues that good engineers will resolve. This appears to be a cheap and quick solution. But that’s not the real issue, is it? The carriers paid a crap ton of money for spectrum. Is backhaul a smart way to use this resource? Is that billion dollar investment there to save some CapEx for the company? I thought it was for the customers! Backhaul could have been something in the unlicensed band for a lot less money. It could be a fiber link for more money. Is this an easy out or will it cause problems down the road because the spectrum is only going to get more and more valuable? Do investors want to see that spectrum used this way? I don’t see the auctions being a cheap alternative to providing backhaul.
So just because it looks cheap and easy doesn’t mean it’s a good move strategically. Don’t get me wrong, the UE relays, the repeaters serve an important purpose for coverage and filling holes, I am just saying be strategic and think it through. For more information hit the links below to learn about these solutions.
I am asking you to help the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? The carriers do not support Hubble and neither does NATE, so it’s up to you!What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
you in the business you know that you must be in good physical and mental shape. Sadly, due to circumstances beyond his control, his life ended, but his legacy didn’t.
