So if you are going to mount small cells outside on poles, there are some things that you should think about. It’s more than what hardware you need. Follow along.
Before going to do the installation, have a good understanding of what you are mounting to. Don’t just grab the parts and go. I’ll go over the common types of mounts and explain. Many lessons learned here were from the Wi-Fi deployments that were done in the past 5 years or so. Many of the same issues creep up over and over again.
This could be a telephone or power pole. Just because you see a power line doesn’t mean there is power at the pole. They still need to install a meter and electric. It also will need to get through zoning and permitting. All still issues with the poles.
Then you need to know what backhaul, or front haul connections you will be working with and make sure that they are at the pole and that they have power. Whether it’s wireless or fiber or cable modems, you need to be sure it’s ready prior to the small cell installation.
Make sure you have all of the parts to mount to a wood pole. You may need to anchor into it or drill through it to mount the equipment. You will need the tools and part. Also, to tie down the cables you probably need screws. Make sure you wear gloves because you could get splinters. It sounds funny to say it but if you ever worked a wood pole, you know it’s no laughing matter.
What about the power and telecom zones? Do you know the height that they want to mount the equipment? If it’s in the power zone and you’re not qualified or certified to be in that area, then it’s a show stopper. Better be prepared to understand the height requirements and what’s on the pole.
Finally, grounding, you will need to ground the small cell if the OEM requires it. That means running copper down the side of the pole and maybe a ground rod. Read the scope, but also question it if they don’t have any grounding requirements before you get on site!
So, you think a lamp-post is easier? Guess again. If you expect to use the power from the lamp then you had better do your research. They may be on a timer, they may run on high voltage, they may be on a dusk to dawn. Do you know for sure? I don’t think the carrier only wants the small cell on-line at night, but hey, it’s your reputation.
You have all the other issues that I mentioned above. You need to be aware of zoning, permitting, power, backhaul, and hardware to mount it.
Make sure that you understand the issues with the metal pole. Do you need to do a structural study on the pole? The owner may require it. It sounds like no big deal but if it topples over in the wind, guess who is to blame?
I want you to be aware of 2 really important things. If you are in a city, where most lamp posts are, then it needs to look good and be quiet. If the small cell is an eye sore, the city or municipality will not be happy and chances are you will need to make it blend in. I painted many antennas and put on red brick stickers to make the antennas look like a pole or building. If the small cell or the cabinet has loud fans, guess what, residents complain. Maybe not in the day, but if it’s residential and people live near there, then it’s complaints to the city or carrier.
Signs
Another place you may be able to mount the small cell and/or antenna is on a sign. There are ways to use signs by extending a pole or mounting the small cell in a cabinet and the antenna up on the sign. This could be a common way to mount in a city. You may need to install a new sign post. If you mount on a stop sign and someone knocks it over, then you will be dispatched to replace it. Just a word of warning.
Remember like all the rest, you must make it look good. You need to be sure the cables are secure. You also need to be sure you have a solid ground. All the same rules but on a sign post.
Deployment
Make sure that you plan out when you need to do the installation. Do you need traffic control? Do you need to alert the city that you will be rolling a bucket truck through the city? Do you need a city employee escort? Do you need to coordinate the installation with the power company? Is the backhaul turned up and tested? Is access an issue? Do you have a copy of the permit?
I remember that one time in Montgomery, Alabama, I was doing Wi-Fi and public safety broadband installations in the city. It was a great setup because we were able to pick poles that had power and data attached! They had a great setup, all of it came from underground where they had lines running up to the poles! So in the 105 degree heat, in the sun, I was happy! Meanwhile the city workers were thinking that this damned Yankee was crazy. The one guy was so hot he said, and I quote, “ I got so much sweat running down my back into my crack that I would run a grain mill!”.
So remember to be smart, be safe, and plan ahead! Pay attention to what you’re doing!
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For the record I have been involved in small cells for the last 2 years, and it has been tough. The numbers didn’t ramp up like we thought they would. However, it looks like 2016 may change all of that. Let me explain.
It appears that the carriers have driven the deployment pricing down to a reasonable price. Originally all the models were based on a normal cell site. Let me put that into perspective. The carriers were going to be charged for site acquisition and installation and backhaul in the neighborhood of $50,000 to install a $5,000 unit. Does that make sense to you? The fact it may only serve 100 people or so at any given time also hurt the model. That is one of the problems they had to overcome. The payback in 3G just didn’t make sense, but now with LTE (4G) coming things are changing. Also, 5G will be higher frequencies making coverage circles even smaller. Plan ahead!
This is probably why AT&T Wireless pulled back on their outdoor small cell deployments, the economics and payback didn’t make sense, but ask them for the real reason. They still deploy indoor small cells from what I see.
Now that we have 4G, LTE, it is making more sense to make sure that the carrier can supply broadband, especially the carrier’s broadband to use up all of that data each month. Wi-Fi is great for coverage at home but in the public it can be hit or miss or sometimes unreliable or not free! So the small cell is a great way to extend coverage as long as the economics make sense. Maybe even collocate it with Wi-Fi, although if they share the backhaul that doesn’t make a lot of sense, so backhaul planning is essential. Give people the coverage they want and need and also provide decent bandwidth for downloads! Stay connected! Now this could be indoors or outdoors, the name of the game here is to keep the customer connected as much as possible.
With LTE-U and LAA, Wi-Fi will become an important part of the Het-Net system and will be key to providing bandwidth. So make sure that they do not share backhaul! Otherwise they will have a common bottleneck.
Now the deployment costs are starting to make sense and the price of the small cell is dropping too, well under the original $5K that it started at. Most of them will be under $2,500 each and indoor units will be way cheaper. Femto cells are already dropping under $500 per unit.
So what has changed that the deployment costs have dropped? Education and planning! Now that all teams are beginning to understand that small cell coverage should be cost-effective, the site acquisition costs have dropped considerable and the installation charges are reasonable. Backhaul, still an issue in the USA, but even that is being resolve. You have more options like DOCSIS, wireless, E band, 60GHz, sub 6GHz, and UE Relays to be used. Suddenly there are alternatives to fiber and copper.
With DOCSIS connections cable companies could really play a big part in backhaul if they want to. Some cable companies, like COX, are already doing testing with some of the OEMs and carriers. This is a great start to helping a mass deployment.
Companies like Crown Castle have also figured it out by offering everything at some of their small cell assets, like power and fiber already at the pole along with an existing box to avoid zoning issues. They really put a lot of thought into it. I think they understand 2 things, speed to market and to have a complete solution. They, along with many other asset providers, are taking this very seriously. They are providing a one stop shop for the small cell deployment. They also understand you can’t go into site acquisition for small cells with the Macro mentality.
So people ask me questions all the time about small cell deployments. They ask where they should start. I tell them to learn what is out there and what they want to deploy. The OEMs train people to properly install their equipment, that is a great place to start. Research what you can about the deployments because it may not be what you expect. For indoor deployments you need ladders and indoor tools and cabling tools. You may need to terminate fiber or CAT5 or CAT6. Make sure you’re teams are qualified to do what is needed. Also, make sure you understand the grounding requirements. Learn what PoE means, (Power over Ethernet). Make sure you know what permissions you need from the landlord and if any permitting is required.It’s a good idea to know the local zoning laws.
If you are deploying indoor systems, make sure the small cell is PoE because if it’s not then you need to run outlets wherever you mount the cell or you need to run extension cords or mount near outlets. Any way you look at it, costs go up without PoE! Also, make sure the router you’re running to has PoE ports available and make sure that they match up to the power required by the small cell. There are high power units and low power units, and the router needs to be able to handle the power rating. Don’t assume the small cell (or the connecting switch) has PoE or you may look very stupid running extension cords at the last-minute.
If you bid the job, are you just installing or are you also required to help commission and test? This could add another 30 to 60 minutes to each visit. If you have 2 guys installing and you didn’t add in the extra 60 minutes, then you are going to lose 2 man hours on every small cell along with the schedule being impacted because you’re losing an hour at every installation. It adds up! Especially in lost revenue and lost time on the schedule. Read and understand your SOW.
What about logistics? Where are you getting the hardware? Where will it be shipped? Do you have to pick it up or will it be shipped to your shop? Did you look over the drawings? Is there any RF Design information you need to be aware of? Do you need a device dedicated to test the cell once it is installed? Who did the site survey? Do you have documentation from the survey?
Make a kit of potential mounting hardware you may need. It is pretty common and keep the kit stocked to the farthest you have to run is your truck or van because there may or may not be a Home Depot or Lowes nearby.
Review the survey and verify the questions that you need to answer. If you have more questions reach out to me, I am here to help. I do consulting for people that feel they need help. Let me know your thoughts. I am also writing some papers and training on the different aspects of deployment.
Interested? Let me know about it. I will add you to my email list for more information.
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.
Small Cell deployments will present you with many issues. Make sure that you have the right partnerships in place. What partnerships do you think you need? Well, I made a quick list to help you deploy. Remember that this is high level but I wanted you to know what to think about before bidding on this work.
Site Acquisition partnerships. Remember that the site acquisition teams will be critical in this industry because they are going to find hundreds to thousands of poles and buildings to hang these things on. You should be clear who you are working with and make sure you know all the details of where you are mounting. If you are mounting on poles it would be great to be consistent with the height and cable runs. This will save you so much time in the long run. More on this in the future.
Original Equipment Manufacturers will be the equipment makers and if you don’t know how to install, ground, and power the unit, things will get ugly. If they have a certification program make sure that you take it. If they have installation documentation make sure you get it and look at prior to the installation. If the installation is done wrong it has serious implications causing you to go back out to repair or the carrier to replace or the warranty to be void. You should know what is expected way before you drive to the site.
Deployment vendors. I know you may think this is crazy because you are a deployment company, but chances are for you to be competitive you will work in a region. So you may have to work with a vendor that interfaces with the customer on a nationwide deployment. You will need to be clear with what territory you cover. Make sure they are clear on what you can install and what you can maintain. Maintenance will be something that you can make recurring revenue if you sign up for it.
End customer. By end customer I mean the actual carrier that you are installing for. Your customer may be a large vendor or a site acquisition firm or maybe the carrier itself. Whoever it is make sure you know all of their install requirements. Remember that each company has different rules for installation and testing and sign. It is nice to get paid for what you have done and if you didn’t follow a proper process they could withhold payment or make you go out to each site again to do something that would have taken 5 minutes the first time. It’s your costs that get hit!
Backhaul companies. This is something that you may not have direct contact with but you should know what they want you to install and how to install it. Know what fiber is expected and where they terminate and what connectors they may want on their end. If you don’t think it matters, you may wind up making a second trip when you need to get more fiber connectors. Also, just because it’s a cable company doesn’t mean that it’s going to be DOCSIS. You really need to make sure you know the backhaul provider and type of backhaul. Remember that it could even be wireless backhaul. You could be in one city connecting up 5 different backhaul companies and 5 different types. Make sure you look it over before you go out to do the installation.
Distributors and suppliers. Make sure you are able to get more connectors if you need them. It’s not likely that Home Depot or Lowes will have fiber connectors that you need, (Graybar maybe if one is close but don’t count on it). If you need RG6 or RJ45 connectors, great. Make sure your distributor of choice will overnight something to you even if you are in a hotel. Make sure you know what to order so you don’t wind up waiting another day when you get the wrong part. You probably have been there and it really sucks.
Lift rental companies. If you don’t have your own bucket trucks or JLG lifts, then you may want to know who the local company is to rent. Look at rates and locations and support. If you can pick it up locally maybe you save some money. Also, if you rent a bigger truck, do you need to have a CDL to drive it? You will look pretty stupid showing up to get it and they ask for your CDL and you don’t have one. I had to get one to drive our trucks and buckets where I worked. Also, know the difference between the CDLs, I had the basic without the air brake certification. By the way, if you’re reading this and asking what a CDL is, maybe you should start looking into other work. You may not need it but you should know what it is. A ladder will only be one of your tools and a bucket truck may be another.
Project managers. I am not sure what project manager you will be working with, it may be a PM company hired to manage the deployment, it may be the vendor who hired you, the site acquisition company, the OEM, or the end customer. Make sure you have a good relationship with the PM because they will be directing you and managing your work. They may control your signoff to get paid. They may be the ones who have all of the paperwork about the sites from the surveys. Remember that the PM wants you to complete all the installations quickly and without errors. So you both are partners with an interest in success.
You can’t do it alone! You need more than you think, just ask Navin from the movie “The Jerk”, (Steve Martin) who didn’t think he needed anything;
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I am working on 2 new projects, a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283
