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September 2013 Vol. 10, No. 8 contents

Tower Market Report 30 4th Annual Tower Market Survey 2013 52 By Jim Fryer 40 Trends and Forecasts for the Wireless and Tower Industries By Clayton Funk, Jason Nicolay and Ryan Carr Features 52 AGL Tower of the Month Photography by Scott Dolash 54 Alignment Solutions Improve Antenna Installation Results By John Vetter 58 New Guidance Permits Union Reps During OSHA’s Inspections By Mark A. Lies II and Kerry M. Mohan 64 Supreme Court Upholds Antenna-siting Shot Clock By Anthony B. Gioffre III, Andrew P. Schriever, Lucia Chiocchio and Ryan Tougias 68 Site and Tower Information Modeling (STIM) By Jiazhu Hu, Ph.D., P.E. DAS and Small Cells Magazine 80 Soon — It’s All IT By Ernest Worthman 82 Small Cells Enable Enterprise-level BYOD/X By Ernest Worthman 88 How Spectrum Conditioning Benefi ts DAS Network Design By Bill Myers and Ted Myers 92 Unifi ed Communications’ Connection to Small Cells AGL (Above Ground Level) is published By Ernest Worthman 11 times a year by Biby Publishing LLC, P.O. Box 2090, Ashburn, VA 20146-2090, and is mailed free to qualifi ed individuals in the United States Departments of America. 4 Editorial Comment — Dumont Telephone By Don Bishop POSTMASTER: Send address change to AGL Circulation Department, 28591 Craig Ave., Menifee, 6 Publisher’s Note — Never Stop Learning CA 92584 By Richard P. Biby, P.E. 8 Buyers Guide — Quick-Guide to Engineering Companies Interested in advertising with AGL’s magazine, website or e-newsletters or sponsoring AGL’s 20 Guest Opinion — Advances in Wireless Technology Enhance Site Design Regional Conference? For information, contact and Deployment www.agl-mag.com/advertise for information. By Stephen Banks 24 Regulatory Update — New Missouri Law Limits Antenna Siting Requirements from Local Jurisdictions on the cover By Curtis M. Holland The moon rises behind 99 Product Showcase — Lightning Protection and Surge Suppression a TowerCo tower in Haverhill, Fla., near 10178 Advertiser Index the Atlantic coast, in an image captured in 102 Professional Directory November 2011. Photo by Don Bishop.

editorial comment

™™ Dumont Telephone

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publisher’s note Never Stop Learning

Working in Vermont during the past of the deal. My minutes quickly disap- tually coming forward. By the time you year or so has been such fun. And I still peared, although I only placed a couple read about it in The Wall Street Journal, can’t believe I’m just back from England of phone calls in the UK. However, you know the deal is actually already and France where I went for a little R&R the data remained. I was unable to get pretty much done. So who will it be? The with the family. Talk about telecom any customer service help, and I im- usual suspects? American Tower? Crown sticker shock! Taking a CDMA phone mediately tossed the idea of traditional Castle International? It’s probably too from the United States GSM phone calls out the window and big of a deal for SBA Communications, to the United Kingdom scrambled to fi nd a good VoIP client for I would imagine, given what limited un- had a number of really Android. I did, and I was quickly able to derstanding I have of the fi nancial world, unpleasant financial confi gure a U.S. local phone number and but I guess you never know. Old friends options and data rates set up a UK local SIP line for a couple of in Florida may soon be friends again. It that would suggest a bucks. US SIP DID to UK SIP DID and might be interesting to see another non- mortgage may be nec- presto! Essentially free calling! Well, U.S. company take a leading role in the essary just to afford OK, pretty cheap, but the true enjoy- industry. I would imagine, though, that regularly checking your ment was in hacking the system. Truth the buyer will be American Tower. email. Forget the kids be told, I received few phone calls, and being able to FaceTime called few people; however, the point is: Vermont any friends, or trying I could have, if I had wanted to! I’m still lighting up poles and having to keep your Facebook a great time with the small-cell base community up to date. Sorry “friends,” I Global Tower Partners station project in Vermont. We’re head- can’t afford for you to watch this vacation All happy hour events at PCIA are ing toward a completed deployment and in near real time. courtesy of Global Tower Partners! looking at what to do next. Strangely Being a natural cheapskate, I checked OK, I don’t know that, and if I was enough, things have worked out al- out the prepaid options, both in the going to be invited to one, I’m likely most as planned. In my 48 years, I’ve United States and then with what I off the list already. So, I’m offi cially become convinced that nothing works might be able to buy once I landed. The bummed to not have any major scoop out exactly as planned, so survival and ______options all looked so unattractive fi nan- on the proposed sale of GTP. It was something close to planned is success in cially, with pretty high rates to call the no surprise really that the only major, my book. I’m hereby declaring (for the United States and about a $45 minimum non-publically traded tower company second time in this column) success. commitment with very little or no data. is up for sale. I can’t really think of a Next up: Vertical markets? Low- So, with a heavy heart and an unlocked better time for it to happen. The market population areas? High-population areas? GSM phone in hand, I set my sights on is becoming a little mature; most of Updating the DAS model? I’m not sure, Photograph courtesy of mikefosterphotography.com Heathrow and trusted I would fi gure the organic growth is gone in the site but we’ve really had a great time learning something out when I landed. acquisition, construction market. The the details of on-pole deployment and I The airport offered few options, big bucks are now from the modifi ca- have really enjoyed the new-to-me experi- however. I closed my eyes and walked tions and from all of the carriers try- ence of the network operations side of the into the fi rst convenience store I could ing to deploy the same LTE network house. Never stop learning. Never stop fi nd near a tube station. The gentlemen to out-market the other carriers. “The having fun. When you do, hang it up. Until behind the counter were enjoying their tower industry is hereby matured,” is then, be in touch. consultative roles and led me toward a what I say. The siting market Lycamoble SIM, which I acquired for has plenty of life left in it, £5, and with a minimum of £10 (about but I’m taking this as a sign $15) to get a little data. I was supposed to that the traditional tower have 400 minutes of UK calling and some development model has run hard-to-understand rate against my £10 its course, at least here in the for U.S. calling and unlimited data for a United States. month. Not a bad deal it appeared. As for our friends at GTP: At least I got a UK phone number out job well done. There is still a lot to happen between here By Rich Biby, Publisher and there, like the buyer ac- [email protected]______6 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

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buyers guide Quick-Guide to Engineering Companies

As a supplement to AGL’s January Buyers Guide, a list of engineering companies offers more detail to help you choose a vendor for your next project. Each service is coded numerically according to the legend below. Where shown, logos and company descriptions were provided by and paid for by each company.

1. Architectural 5. Geotechnical 9. RF safety 2. Electrical 6. Power systems 10. RF systems design 3. Electromagnetic compatiblity 7. Regulatory compliance 11. Site design 4. Environmental 8. RF propagation 12. Structural

4G Unwired Company description: bandwidth, technology and service perfor- 325 Fifth Ave., Suite 100 Advantage Engineers provides innovative mance. AFL plans, designs, implements Indialantic, FL 32903 solutions for complex telecommunications and maintains communication networks Scott Robinson engineering challenges. The company spe- for service providers, working in all com- [email protected] cializes in wireless site design for cellular, munications markets offering network, cell (321) 726-4183 microwave, public safety radio and DAS site and enterprise solutions. www.4gunwired.com for in-building and wide-area applications. Services: 8, 10 Comprised of more than 120 professionals AM Coordination Services Other: LTE, UMTS, CDMA and GSM DQG¿YHRI¿FHV$GYDQWDJH(QJLQHHUVVHUYHV P.O. Box 6065 design, microwave network engineering government and private clients in the Mid- Martinsburg, WV 25402 Company description: Atlantic region. Butch McBride *8QZLUHG * LVDQ5)FRQVXOWLQJ¿UP See ad on page 74 [email protected] that specializes in wireless system design (304) 264-5941 services for Tier 2 and Tier 4 cellular carri- www.amcoordination.com ers in the United States and the Caribbean. Services: AM broadcast measurements, 4G Unwired also provides RF engineering tower detuning, MININEC modeling services for system integrators, tower com- Company description: panies and infrastructure vendors. The com- AFL AM Coordination Services provides pre- pany also offers 700-MHz and MW design 170 Ridgeview Center Drive DQGSRVWFRQVWUXFWLRQ¿HOGVWUHQJWKPHD- services with deliverables in Google Earth. Duncan, SC 29334 surements, tower detuning, repair of all Dennis Beck manufacturers’ detuning systems, proxim- GHQQLVEHFN#DÀJOREDOFRP______ity measurements to determine whether a (615) 591-0098 tower is reradiating broadcast signals, and ZZZDÀJOREDOFRP______MININEC modeling. AM Coordination Services: 6, 11, 12 also provides intermodulation studies and Advantage Engineers Other: detailed engineering specs related to MPE studies. 7070 Samuel Morse Drive, Suite 150 telco equipment Columbia, MD 21046 Company description: Cynthia Stuber AFL provides installation, material furnish, [email protected] detailed engineering, construction and (443) 367-0003 maintenance solutions allowing wireless AW Solutions www.advantageengineers.com communications companies to maintain sat- 300 Crown Oak Centre Drive Services: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 LV¿HGFXVWRPHUVE\RIIHULQJHYHULQFUHDVLQJ Longwood, FL 32750

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buyers guide

James Partridge savings through reduced deployment time ______MDPHVSDUWULGJH#DZVROXWLRQVLQFFRP DQGFRVW&DOWURS7HOHFRPKDVEUDQFKRI¿FHV H[W throughout the United States. www.awsolutionsinc.com Services: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 Fullerton Engineering Consultants Other: site audits, surveys, OSP, iDAS, 9600 West Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 200 R'$6() , Rosemont, IL 60018 Company description: Ehresmann Engineering Frank Di Vito AW Solutions is licensed throughout the 4400 W. 31st St. [email protected]______United States, Canada and the Caribbean Yankton, SD 57078 (847) 292-0200 providing turnkey site infrastructure de- Eric Heine www.fullertonengineering.com velopment and build-to-suit services to the [email protected]______Services: 1, 11, 12 wireless (towers and DAS), wireline and (605) 665-7532 Company description: ¿EHULQGXVWULHV6HUYLFHVLQFOXGHSURMHFW www.ehresmannengineering.com Fullerton provides superior design and in- management, site evaluations and audits, site Service: 12 novative engineering solutions for wireless acquisition and land planning, engineering Company description: service providers nationwide. The com- design and analysis, regulatory, construction Ehresmann Engineering has been perform- SDQ\¶V¿HOGSURYHQH[SHUWLVHDQGWKRURXJK management, construction, and warehousing ing tower structural analysis since 1983. knowledge of wireless network technologies and logistics. The company’s engineering staff has over LVUHÀHFWHGLQLWVVHUYLFHV7KURXJKUHVSRQ- \HDUVRIWRZHUHQJLQHHULQJH[SHULHQFH sive customer service, a solid commitment %ODFN 9HDWFK Ehresmann Engineering has performed to quality and the professionalism of its 10950 Grandview thousands of analyses on numerous types staff, Fullerton Engineering continuously Overland Park, KS 66210 and heights of towers and various current HQDEOHVLWVFOLHQWVWRH[FHHGWKHLUFXVWRPHUV¶ Patrick Lien and past tower manufacturers. Rely on its H[SHFWDWLRQV [email protected]______H[SHULHQFHIRU\RXUQH[WSURMHFW (407) 401-4706 +DW¿HOG 'DZVRQ&RQVXOWLQJ(QJLQHHUV www.bv.com 9500 Greenwood Ave. North Services: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 Seattle, WA 98103 See ad on page 59 Ben Dawson (QYLURQPHQWH[ [email protected]______1&HQWUDO([SUHVVZD\6XLWH (206) 783-9151 Dallas, TX 75206 www.hatdaw.com Brian McCallister Services: 3, 8, 9, 11 EULDQ#HQYLURQPHQWH[FRP______Company description: Caltrop Telecom (214) 793-7317 +DW¿HOG 'DZVRQSURYLGHV5)HQJLQHHU- 9337 Milliken Ave. ZZZHQYLURQPHQWH[FRP______ing services to clients throughout the United Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Services: 4, 5 6WDWHVDQGZRUOGZLGH8QLTXHO\WKH¿UPKDV Mani Kontokanis Company description: GHFDGHVRIH[SHULHQFHLQ5)HQJLQHHULQJIRU [email protected]______(QYLURQPHQWH[RIIHUVIDVWWXUQDURXQGDQG land mobile and public safety communica- (916) 203-6750 solid dependable reporting. The company’s tions users as well as broadcasting clients www.caltrop.com seasoned professionals have a tremendous DQGWKHUHIRUHKDVXQHTXDOOHGH[SHULHQFHLQ Services: 1, 2, 6, 11, 12 GHSWKRIH[SHULHQFHLQHQYLURQPHQWDOGXH solving inter-service compatibility problems. Company description: diligence and compliance for the tower Caltrop Telecom provides professional civil, LQGXVWU\(QYLURQPHQWH[HQJLQHHUVEL- structural and electrical engineering services ologists, archeologists and historians have to the wireless communications industry. performed thousands of Phase I, NEPA, Its multidisciplinary team of professionals SHPO and geotechnical studies across the DSSOLHVDZLGHUDQJHRIH[SHULHQFHWRSUR- 8QLWHG6WDWHVDQGDUHH[SHUWVLQDGGUHVVLQJ YLGHDVWUHDPOLQHGDSSURDFKWRZRUNÀRZ FCC NEPA regulatory issues fast and within PDQDJHPHQWWKDWJHQHUDWHVVLJQL¿FDQWFRVW budget constraints.

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buyers guide

www.henkels.com pabilities that span 4G rollouts and complex Services: 2, 6, 10, 11, 12 DAS installations to structural analysis and Company description: WRZHUPRGL¿FDWLRQV+HQNHOV 0F&R\ Henkels & McCoy has helped customers wireless network solutions incorporate deal with their changing communications safety, quality, on-time performance, and Henkels & McCoy infrastructure needs from source to end user effective program and cost management. 985 Jolly Road since 1923. The company performs work Blue Bell, PA 19422 for telephone companies, carriers, wireless Bob Dundon providers, government agencies, utilities, [email protected] educational institutions and the private sector (215) 283-7764 on projects of every scale. With wireless ca- Huber+Suhner 19 Thompson Drive Essex Jct., VT 05452 Dick Schmidt [email protected]______(630) 816-4021 www.wireless-infrastructure.com Services: 10, 11 Company description: The Huber+Suhner group is a leading global supplier of components and systems for electrical and optical connectivity. The company’s customers in wireless communication appreciate that Huber+Suhner is a specialist with detailed knowledge of practical applications. Huber+Suhner offers expertise in radio IUHTXHQF\¿EHURSWLFVDQGORZIUHTXHQF\DOO under one roof, thus providing a unique basis for continual innovation that is focused on the FttA, PttA and RF needs of its customers all over the world. See ads on pages 18 and 95

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______2255 Sewell Mill Road, Suite 130 Marietta, GA 30062 Joe Dean ______MGHDQ#LQ¿QLJ\FRP (770) 883-3007 ZZZLQ¿QLJ\FRP______Services: 1, 4, 5, 11, 12 Company description: ,Q¿QLJ\(QJLQHHULQJLVDQLQWHJUDWHGWHFKQL- cal services company that delivers design- driven, turnkey solutions to the wireless communication industry. The company’s mission is to focus on its clients’ business objectives to deliver high-quality, cost- effective wireless solutions that exceed expectations.

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buyers guide

Service: 4 goals in a cost-effective and timely manner. Other: regulatory compliance Company description: IVI Telecom Services offers a wide spectrum IVI Telecom Services of environmental services for nationwide 55 W. Red Oak Lane telecommunications infrastructure devel- Martin Environmental Solutions White Plains, NY 10604 opment ranging from environmental site 8823 San Jose Blvd., Suite 103 Adrian Berezowsky assessments to FCC/NEPA screenings and Jacksonville, FL 32217 [email protected]______Section 106 consultations. IVI understands Thomas Martin

(914) 694-9600 customers’ program and schedule constraints [email protected]______www.ivi-telecom.com and uses its expertise to realize customer (904) 737-1034 www.martinenviro.com Services: 4, 7 Company description: Martin Environmental Solutions (MartinEn- YLUR LVDGLYHUVL¿HGQDWLRQZLGHHQYLURQ- mental services company specializing in the WHOHFRPPXQLFDWLRQV¿HOGDQGRIIHULQJLQWH- grated environmental and health and safety consulting including due diligence (Phase I, II and III assessments), full NEPA compliance consulting with IBAs and migratory bird surveys, and complete environmental project management.

0RUULVRQ+HUVK¿HOG 1455 Lincoln Parkway, Suite 500 Atlanta, Georgia 30346 Shylesh Moras WHOHFRP#PRUULVRQKHUVK¿HOGFRP______(770) 379-8500 ZZZPRUULVRQKHUVK¿HOGFRP______Services: 1, 4, 5, 11, 12 Company description: With over 60 years of experience working ZLWKDOOW\SHVRIWRZHUV0RUULVRQ+HUVK¿HOG has the technical depth and resources that are required. The company’s wide range of tower engineering, environmental and site design services, combined with its geographic coverage, ensures that Morrison +HUVK¿HOGZLOODOZD\VEHDVLQJOHVRXUFH for all of its customers’ engineering needs.

______P. Marshall and Associates (PM&A) 30 Mansell Court, Suite 103 Roswell, GA 30076 Greg Hazlehurst

[email protected]______

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buyers guide

(678) 280-2325 deep, and the company has worked in over David Blaha

www.pmass.com 40 states. [email protected]______Services: 1, 2, 11, 12 (913) 438.7700 Company description: www.ssc.us.com PM&A is an award-winning, multidiscipline Services: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-12 engineering and site development company Company description: that has enjoyed rapid growth while still SSC is a leading provider of services to the maintaining a family-style corporate culture. telecommunications, development and con- PM&A’s highly tuned and experienced SSC struction industries. The company’s range teams can help make its customers’ next 9900 W. 109th St., Suite 300 of in-house services and abilities makes it project a success. PM&A resources run Overland Park, KS 66210 uniquely capable of handling all aspects of the most challenging projects. SSC strives hard to serve its clients, solve their problems, and communicate effectively.

Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants 70 Pleasant Hill Road, P.O. Box 37 Mountainville, NY 10953 Richard P. Kummerle [email protected]______(800) 829-6531 www.tectonicengineering.com Services: 4, 5, 11, 12 Other: site management and acquisition, surveying, construction inspection and materials testing Company description: Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Con- sultants provides a full spectrum of site acquisition, A/E professional services and program management. Tectonics’ staff of 475 is located throughout regional and SURMHFWRI¿FHVQDWLRQDOO\SURYLGLQJVLWHDF- quisition, permitting, zoning, due diligence, NEPA/SHPO, Phase I, civil, structural and geotechnical engineering and tower analysis. See ad on page 72

Tempest Telecom Solutions 136 West Canon Perdido, Suite 100 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Elda Rudd

[email protected]______(805) 879-4829 www.tempestdas.com Services: DAS and small-cell turnkey de- ______sign, installation and project management.

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buyers guide

Company description: V-Comm is a leading provider of integrated network engineering, radio-frequency engi- V-Comm QHHULQJDQGEXVLQHVVVHUYLFHVZLWKRI¿FHVLQ 2540 U.S. Highway 130, Suite 101 New Jersey and Pennsylvania. V-Comm de- Cranbury, NJ 08512 livers the needed expertise and cost-effective Dominic Villecco solutions to wireless operators and public W-T Communications Design Group [email protected]______safety agencies. V-Comm also provides 2675 Pratum Ave. (609) 655-1200 design and build services for in-building, Hoffman Estates, IL 60192 www.vcomm-eng.com in-tunnel and other wireless telecommunica- Dave Guillen Services: 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 tions networks. [email protected]______(224) 293-6333 www.wtengineering.com Services: 1, 2, 11, 12 Company description: W-T Communication Design Group is a full-service engineering company serving the wireless industry since 1996. The company performs structurals, CDs, ZDs, tower PRGL¿FDWLRQDQGDXJPHQWDWLRQGHVLJQVVLWH ground audits and tower-top audits with internal climbers. W-T Communication Design Group also provides construction management services for large rollouts and single-site deployments. The company is licensed in all 50 states.

Waterford Consultants P.O. Box 2090 Ashburn, VA 20146 Tom Ferguson

[email protected] (703) 592-1022 www.waterfordconsultants.com Services: 8, 10 Company description: Waterford Consultants is a professional services organization with unmatched expertise in delivering FCC regulatory compliance, RF propagation and design, and site development services to the wireless, telecommunications and broadcast industries. :DWHUIRUG¶VQDWLRQZLGHWHDPRI¿HOGDQG operational personnel seamlessly reaches from coast to coast, ensuring clients’ project budgets and schedules are maintained — as its slogan says — from “Start to Signal.”

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guest opinion Advances in Wireless Technology Enhance Site Design and Deployment

By Stephen Banks

,QUHFHQW\HDUVQDWLRQDOZLUHOHVVFDU- IURPWKHJURXQGXSDVZHOODVWHFKQRO- HYHQZLWKLQ$XWR&$'LQWKH¿HOG7KH ULHUVKDYHEHHQUDFLQJWRNHHSXSZLWK RJ\HQKDQFHPHQWVDQGRYHUOD\VRIH[LVW- DGYDQFHPHQWRIZLUHOHVVFRQQHFWLYLW\ WKHSXEOLF¶VYRUDFLRXVDSSHWLWHIRUGDWD LQJVLWHVLQERWK(XURSHDQGWKH8QLWHG DQGFORXGFRPSXWLQJRIWDEOHWVDOORZV 'HVSLWHDGYDQFHPHQWVLQWHFKQRO- 6WDWHV,¶YHKDGDXQLTXHRSSRUWXQLW\WR WKH¿HOGHQJLQHHUWRWUDQVIHUFRPSOHWH RJ\WKDWSURYLGHWKHSXEOLFZLWKPRUH VHHDYDULHW\RIHQJLQHHULQJVLWHGHVLJQ VLWHGHVLJQSDFNDJHVWRWKHHQJLQHHULQJ EDQGZLGWKDQGLQFUHDVHGGDWDWUDQV- VFHQDULRVDQGFKDOOHQJHV GHSDUWPHQWZLWKLQPLQXWHVRIZDONLQJ IHUVSHHGVWKHHQVXLQJFRQVXPSWLRQ $OWKRXJK,GRQ¶WFRQVLGHUP\VHOIWR WKHVLWH7KHVHWHFKQRORJ\LPSURYH- TXLFNO\H[KDXVWVWKHLQFUHDVHGFDSDFLW\ EHROGP\¿UVWSURIHVVLRQDOHQJLQHHULQJ PHQWVDQGUHDOWLPHLQIRUPDWLRQDQG $VXVHUVZHKDYHDVHHPLQJO\LQVDWLDEOH H[SHULHQFHLQWHOHFRPVLWHGHVLJQZDV GDWDWUDQVIHUVKDYHGHFUHDVHGWKHPDU- KXQJHUIRUVWUHDPLQJPHGLDDQGXELTXL- FRPSOHWHGZLWKHTXLSPHQWDQGWRROV JLQRIKXPDQHUURUGDWDORVVDQGWKH WRXVUHOLDEOHKLJKVSHHGZLUHOHVVGDWD WKDWQRZDUHFRQVLGHUHGWREHDUFKDLFE\ ERXQGDULHVRIWKHEXVLQHVVGD\WRPDNH IQHWZRUNV&DUULHUVKDYHUHVSRQGHGZLWK PDQ\0\\RXQJHUFROOHDJXHVDW.0% SURGXFWLYLW\VN\URFNHW FRORVVDOQDWLRQZLGHSURMHFWVWRXSJUDGH ODXJKZKHQ,UHFDOOXVLQJPHDVXULQJ $QRWKHUXQLTXHDVSHFWRIWKHVH H[LVWLQJLQIUDVWUXFWXUHWR*DQGPRUH ZKHHOVVWHHOWDSHVDQG\HVDSHQFLO FKDQJHVLQZLUHOHVVWHFKQRORJ\LVLO- UHFHQWO\*/7(FRYHUDJH DQGSDSHU OXVWUDWHGLQRXURZQFRQVXPSWLRQRI ,QGHVLJQLQJWKHVHSURMHFWVRQHQHHG )LHOGQRWHVZHUHJDWKHUHGIURPVLWH WKHWHFKQRORJ\ZHHQJLQHHUWRVXSSRUW UHPDLQVWKHVDPH²speed:KLOHRQDLU WRVLWHWUDQVIHUUHGEDFNWRWKHRI¿FH WKHHFRV\VWHP$VQHZZLUHOHVVGHYLFHV VSHHGWRPDUNHWLVFULWLFDOO\LPSRUWDQWLW DQGWKHQLQFRUSRUDWHGLQWRDVLWHGHVLJQ FRPHWRPDUNHWWKHXVHUGHPDQGDQG FDQQRWEHDFKLHYHGDWWKHFRVWRITXDOLW\ SDFNDJHWKHIROORZLQJGD\)URPWKHUH GDWDXVDJHOHYHOVZLOORQO\LQFUHDVHDQG 7KHLQWHJULW\RIWKHLQLWLDOHQJLQHHULQJ WKH\ZHUHVXEPLWWHGWRWKHHQJLQHHU- IXUWKHUVWUHWFKWKHFDSDFLW\RIH[LVWLQJ GHVLJQVXUYH\DQGWKHGDWDREWDLQHGGXU- LQJGHSDUWPHQWWRGHYHORSWKHGHVLJQ QHWZRUNV)RUH[DPSOHDW.0%ZH LQJWKRVHIHZKRXUVRQVLWH²ZKHWKHULQ DQGGUDZLQJSDFNDJHVIRUUHDOHVWDWH DUHXVLQJWKHZLUHOHVVGDWDDYDLODEOHWR VXQUDLQRUVQRZ²DUHWKHIRXQGDWLRQ QHJRWLDWLRQDQGXOWLPDWHO\FRQVWUXF- RXUWDEOHW3&GHYLFHVLQWKH¿HOGWRDLG RIWKHHQJLQHHULQJGHVLJQDQGGUDZLQJV WLRQGUDZLQJV(YHQDVUHFHQWO\DVWKUHH RXUHQJLQHHUVLQGHVLJQLQJERWKQHZ WKDWXOWLPDWHO\ODQGLQWKHKDQGVRIWKH \HDUVDJRWKLVEDVLFDSSURDFKZDVVWLOO ZLUHOHVVVLWHVDQG*/7(RYHUOD\V SHUVRQEXLOGLQJWKHVLWH WKHLQGXVWU\VWDQGDUG WKURXJKRXWWKHQDWLRQ %XWOLNHDOOWKLQJVWHOHFRPUHODWHG 2QFHD¿HOGGHVLJQYLVLWLVFRPSOHWHG Technology advances to keep pace WKUHH\HDUVLVQRZDJHQHUDWLRQ5HFHQW DQGVDYHGWRWKHFORXGWKHRI¿FHEDVHG 7KHWHOHFRPPXQLFDWLRQVLQGXVWU\ LPSURYHPHQWVLQVXUYH\WRROVKDYH WHDPLVLPPHGLDWHO\QRWL¿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¿HOGGHVLJQVXUYH\V7KHWDEOHW DQGZHDUHDNH\OLQNLQWKHZLUHOHVV LQJH[SHULHQFHGWKHGHVLJQDQGGHSOR\- FRPSXWHUQRZHQDEOHVWKH¿HOGHQJLQHHU GHSOR\PHQWFKDLQWREULQJWKLVLPSURYHG PHQWRIWRWDOO\QHZFDUULHUQHWZRUNV WRVNHWFKVLWHVDVVRIWFRS\3')VRU ZLUHOHVVWHFKQRORJ\WRWKHSXEOLF

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guest opinion

In an industry in which wireless to provide the best quality possible is and in the compound. We are adding technology solutions constantly evolve, not only necessary, it is crucial for sup- remote radio units at the antenna sectors the question remains: Are engineers porting the next stage of infrastructure and equipment cabinets on the ground to supporting their clients and services build outs. squeeze as much out of the site as pos- utilizing the best technology available? There is no doubt that the future will sible. In these situations, the accuracy 2XU¿UPKDVFRQWLQXHGWRLQYHVWLQ only further technology growth and de- of the engineering survey of the tower cutting-edge technology to enable our velopment on the existing wireless sites and ground space is essential for the field engineers to have laser survey with the addition of new site builds to GHVLJQRIWKHHTXLSPHQW¿EHUDQGFRD[ tools, wireless tablet PCs and new ways ¿OOFRYHUDJHJDSVDQGFRQJHVWLRQ$VDQ routes, and utilities. A small margin of to increase our productivity. Having industry, we are pushing to get as much error in design can result in lengthy time the latest engineering and survey tools equipment as possible onto the towers delays and large cost increases during construction.

We want more We continue to embrace the wireless tools and connectivity available that allow us to enjoy the business and social EHQH¿WVRIWKHZLUHOHVVHFRV\VWHPEXW we want more. We have an expectation of wireless connectivity regardless of ZKHUHZHDUHDQGZKHQZH¿QGRXU- selves in areas with limited coverage RUQRFRYHUDJHZH¿QGLWMXVWXQDFFHSW- able. In an industry that appears to have no limitations, what are the limitations? Is our advancement throttled back by the availability of wireless spectrum? The simple answer is yes, and I was therefore pleased to listen to FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon L. Clyburn, during CTIA 2013, announce the upcoming FCC spectrum auctions. The availability of spectrum and the right spectrum is essential for the United States to com- pete and push forward to stay ahead of the worldwide competition in wireless technology deployment.

So what’s next :KHUHZLOOZHEH¿YH\HDUVIURP now? Will it be 6G or something completely different? Regardless of what the technology is called, certain things will remain. First and foremost will be speed to market with regard to technology deployment. This will increase the

______need for professional engineers with the latest wireless and survey tools, TXDOL¿FDWLRQVDQGH[SHULHQFHWRHQVXUH that the technology is designed accu- rately and deployed correctly.

Stephen Banks is a partner and senior vice president of KMB Design Group. His email address is [email protected]______, or telephone ______(732) 280-5623.

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regulatory update New Missouri Law Limits Antenna Siting Requirements from Local Jurisdictions

By Curtis M. Holland

2Q-XO\0LVVRXUL*RY-D\1L[RQ collocate on other support structures trative costs incurred for the review, signed into law HB 331, which is for- instead of constructing a new sup- processing and approval of an ap- PDOO\NQRZQDVWKH8QLIRUP:LUHOHVV SRUWVWUXFWXUHRUVXEVWDQWLDOO\PRGL- plication. In no case should the total &RPPXQLFDWLRQV,QIUDVWUXFWXUH'HSOR\- I\LQJDQH[LVWLQJVLWH charges and fees exceed $500 for a ment Act. Ɣ'LFWDWLQJWKHW\SHRIZLUHOHVVIDFLOL- collocation or $1,500 for an applica- The Act will have a dramatic and WLHVLQIUDVWUXFWXUHRUWHFKQRORJ\WR tion for a new support structure or positive effect on the wireless telecom- EHXVHGE\DQDSSOLFDQW IRU D VXEVWDQWLDO PRGL¿FDWLRQ RI D PXQLFDWLRQVLQGXVWU\$PRQJRWKHU Ɣ,PSRVLQJ HQYLURQPHQWDO WHVWLQJ support structure. WKLQJVWKHQHZ$FWVLJQL¿FDQWO\OLPLWV sampling or monitoring require- Ɣ/LPLWLQJWKHGXUDWLRQRIWKHDSSURY- what have long been considered to be ments or other compliance measures al of an application. RYHUO\EXUGHQVRPHDQGWHGLRXVDSSOLFD- IRU5)HPLVVLRQVWKDWDUHFDWHJRUL- Ɣ,PSRVLQJ PRUDWRULXPV IRU DQ\ SH- tion requirements that local jurisdictions FDOO\H[FOXGHGXQGHUWKH)&&UXOHV riod longer than six months. IUHTXHQWO\UHTXLUHIRUQHZWRZHUVFRO- Ɣ3URKLELWLQJWKHSODFHPHQWRIHPHU- ORFDWLRQVDQGVLJQL¿FDQWPRGL¿FDWLRQV JHQF\ SRZHU V\VWHPV WKDW FRPSO\ 7KHUHDUHDOVRDI¿UPDWLYHREOLJDWLRQV DVWKRVHWHUPVDUHGH¿QHGLQWKH$FW7KH with federal and state environmental imposed on local jurisdictions for deter- Act is intended to streamline and sim- requirements mining the completeness of and taking SOLI\WKHDSSOLFDWLRQSURFHVVE\OLPLWLQJ Ɣ,PSRVLQJVXUHW\UHTXLUHPHQWV DFWLRQRQDQDSSOLFDWLRQ*HQHUDOO\ consideration of applications for these Ɣ&RQGLWLRQLQJDSSURYDORQWKHDSSOL- WKHVHREOLJDWLRQVDUHGD\VIRUDQHZ facilities to traditional land use and cant’s agreement to provide space WRZHUGD\VIRUVLJQL¿FDQWPRGL¿FD- ]RQLQJSULQFLSOHV7KH$FWPDNHVFOHDU for local governmental services at WLRQVDQGGD\VIRUFROORFDWLRQV²RU WKDWORFDOMXULVGLFWLRQVPD\FRQWLQXHWR less than market rate. WKH\DUHGHHPHGDSSURYHG H[HUFLVH]RQLQJODQGXVHSODQQLQJDQG Ɣ,PSRVLQJ DQ\ UHTXLUHPHQWV RU RE- 7KHUHDUHPDQ\RWKHUJRRGDVSHFWVWR SHUPLWWLQJIRUWKHVHW\SHVRIIDFLOLWLHV ligations regarding the presentation this bill. For a complete understanding but among other things it prohibits local or appearance of facilities, including RIKRZWKHELOOZRUNVDQGKRZLWPD\ jurisdictions from doing the following: WKRVHUHODWLQJWRWKHNLQGRUW\SHRI DIIHFWDQ\DSSOLFDWLRQV\RXDUHSXUVXLQJ Ɣ5HTXLULQJLQIRUPDWLRQUHJDUGLQJDQ materials used and those relating to UHDGWKHELOOIRU\RXUVHOIDQGFRQVXOW applicant’s business decisions with arranging, screening or landscaping ZLWK\RXU]RQLQJWHDP respect to its designed service, cus- facilities if such regulations or obli- Special thanks to Craig Unruh at WRPHUGHPDQGRUTXDOLW\RIVHUYLFH gations are unreasonable. $7 7IRUKLVZRUNDQGWRHYHU\- to or from a particular area or site. Ɣ&KDUJLQJ DQ DSSOLFDWLRQ IHH FRQ- one who supported this bill through This means a jurisdiction is prohib- sulting fee or other fee associated SDVVDJHE\WKHOHJLVODWXUHDQG exited from requiring an applicant to with the submission, review, pro- HFXWLRQE\WKHJRYHUQRU provide propagation maps, dropped cessing and approval of an applica- call data, signal strength data or tion that is not required for similar VLPLODUW\SHVRILQIRUPDWLRQLQFRQ- W\SHV RI FRPPHUFLDO GHYHORSPHQW Curtis M. Holland is a member of the Missouri- Kansas Wireless Association. An attorney QHFWLRQZLWKDQ\DSSOLFDWLRQ )HHVFKDUJHGE\DQDXWKRULW\IRURU ZLWKWKH3ROVLQHOOLODZ¿UPZLWKDQRI¿FHLQ Ɣ(YDOXDWLQJDSSOLFDWLRQVEDVHGRQWKH GLUHFWO\ E\ D WKLUG SDUW\ SURYLGLQJ Overland Park, Kan., Holland concentrates on DYDLODELOLW\ RI RWKHU SRWHQWLDO ORFD- review or technical consultation to real estate development, zoning and land use entitlements, administrative permitting and tions for the placement of a support DQ DXWKRULW\ PXVW EH EDVHG RQ DF- government regulations. His email address structure, including the option to tual, direct and reasonable adminis- is [email protected]______.

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AGL 4th Annual Tower Market Survey 2013 By Jim Fryer

The following survey results reﬂ ect answers given by technologies, increased government 150 AGL subscribers. Some open answers were edited regulations, and new and challenging or eliminated because of irrelevance or incoherence. barriers to entry. Although conclusive empirical data points cannot be derived from a small sampling, this work nevertheless Are you a tower owner or manager? represents the largest known survey of tower owners. (yes/no) Yes: 63% No: 37% Non-tower The varied responses reﬂ ect an industry struggling owners were asked to respond to a later to cope in an environment of slowed growth, new question.

Yes

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

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tower market report

September 2013 31

How many towers do you own x Capital for expansion x Finding qualifi ed climbers or manage? x Capital to quickly grow x Forest service fees Comment: More than half of x Carrier budgets for new builds x Funding the respondents, even though x Carrier consolidation and fi nancial x Getting lessees to get their ducks in a they have been considered viability of non-top-tier carriers row prior to leasing to be a vanishing breed, are x Carrier consolidation x Government regulations “mom & pops.” But we also obtained x Carriers are not committing to new x Growth good representation from the middle- and site builds or new site collocating. x Increase income on existing sites upper-tier towercos. x Carriers subcontracting their work x Increase our tower inventory when 1 to 10: 54% to subs that are either incompetent, most carriers are more focused on 11 to 100: 21% not knowledgeable or just dishonest LTE deployments Over 100: 25% x Changes in load calculations x Increased tower maintenance fees, but not really that much x Keeping the site running x Keeping tower techs trained on new equipment technology, fi ber on towers, proper install methods. Tower- mounted radios, troubleshooting failures, with power and fi ber to the radios. PIM testing and resolution. x Keeping up with customer activity x Land use entitlements x Larger antenna sizes being used in a joint venture between two carriers 1 to 10 x Lighting x Loss of Sprint x LTE modifi cation volume x Making certain funds for inspections 11 to 100 and maintenance are kept in our budgets x Managing growth >100 x Monitoring tower and shelter activity x NEPA, SHPO, zoning x New business in a declining two-way 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% market x Quality installs of PCS and cellular systems x Regulations x Changing regulations and increas- x Remote monitoring, tower lights, What is the biggest challenge your ing client base security tower company will face in the com- x Competition x Rev G building code (towers failing year? x Continued wireless upgrades and ing structural requirements), public Comment: Surprisingly, no one issue necessary tower capacity safety grants and building own facili- dominated. The usual suspects were all x Customer upgrades to 4G ties, aging facilities mentioned multiple times — consolida- x Dealing with tenants’ upgrades x Site acquisition tion, government regulation, fi nding ten- x Deciding when and if to sell x State of North Carolina taking my ants, structural capacity — but because x Ensuring towers are upgraded for property by eminent domain the responses were spread over the additional loading due to 4G/LTE x Stopping unauthorized work on tow- entire United States and over different antennas and feedlines ers or at tower sites levels of site ownership, the challenges x Federal permitting — tribal re- x Structural failures due to overloading differed. sponses and age; availability of trained and x Adding subscribers x Fighting increased tower assess- experienced tower crews x Businesses not renting repeater space, ments x Structural loading with LTE antennas moving to their cell phones instead x Finding additional tenants and equipment 32 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

tower market report

x Structural modifications and up- radiation centers and not having an What is your average rental rate for grades aggressive build program for new broadband? x Subcontractor insurance, getting a and additional collocation tower sites. < $1,000 per month: 20% certifi cate from them and the cel- The introduction of LTE is going to $1,000 to $1,500 per month: 19% lular company. A lot of the time the be a long, drawn-out process. $1,501 to $2,000 per month: 21% contractor works under the cellular x Unrealistic carrier expectation of $2,001 to $3,000 per month: 25% company’s insurance and does not market rates for collocation rent $3,001 to $3,500 per month: 4% let you know which one that is, or x Upgrading our lighting system OTHER: 11% (please specify) Do when they are going to do the work. x We are a county government. We will not care to disclose. Do not normally I went to a tower site and found a be renewing leases on some of the lease space. No broadband. Public company doing work for a cellu- towers we do not own. safety. We are a broadband company lar company and not using safety x We are an electrical utility that man- and our towers are for our use only; aged PCS collocations on our trans- we don’t rent. mission towers. x Weed control—it’s hard to fi nd reli- Are you a member? Our sites able companies to spray the sites and Comment: State wireless associations, have been radio sites keep weeds down. which barely appeared in our fi rst survey x Working with AT&T and the com- four years ago, now are the dominant for over pany’s new turf vendors group while the mom & pops clung 20 years, and they x Zoning and entitlements, especially ferociously to their independence by migratory bird protection measures remaining unassociated. are still trying versus the ability to build guyed CTIA 8% to fi gure out towers in rural areas PCIA 13% what impact our sites NAB 3% have had on the environment.

equipment or wearing hard hats. I kicked them off the site and called <$1,000 per month the tower company and the cellular company. I should have taken pic- tures and called OHSA. $1,000 to $1.500 x Tenant loss due to governmental per month changes in regulation. Lack of Wi-Fi frequencies, because most of the growth appears to be in that $1,501 to $2,000 per month area. Consolidation of cellular providers; however, we haven’t lost any because our sites are $2,001 to $3,000 unique. Continuing adaptation to per month local county regulations, which are really make-work projects for $3,001 to $3,500 county employees. Our sites have per month been radio sites for over 20 years, and they are still trying to ﬁ gure out what impact our sites have had on Other, please the environment. specify x The wireless carriers’ boosting 2013 network deployments by increasing 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% additional LTE antennas to their existing TDMA and CDMA antenna September 2013 33

NATE 8% x Chief engineer for radio stations. We x IEEE APCO 2% use towers and have various services x IUOTA SWAs 25% on our towers other than broadcast. x NSPE None of the above 41% x County government x UTC & UtiliSite Other (please specify) 5%: x DAS Forum x We will soon be members of NATE. x AOWA x Enterprise Wireless Association, x WWLF x ARRL IEEE How do tenants ﬁ nd your sites? Comment: Relatively unchanged from four years ago. Finding sites is hard work, requiring a variety of resources and using good old-fashioned shoe leather. Few sites are leased strictly and solely from a virtual source and in CTIA almost all cases are combined with a personal inspection of some sort. PCIA x Drive by 23% x Word of mouth 19% x Our website 7% NAB x Internal resources 5% x Site acq consultant 13% x Media advertising 4% NATE x Tower database (commercial) 3% x FCC database 16% APCO x None of the above 5% x Other, please specify 5%

a state wireless association What is your biggest maintenance cost? Comment: Lighting takes the prize as none of the above the biggest cost, followed by utilities, and then ground maintenance such as Other, please specify weed control and mowing. Inspections received a few mentions. No single item dominated the list, showing the diver- 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% sity of the tower operations polled. The taller the tower, the more lighting be-

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tower market report

x Snow removal x Software 25% x Strobe light failures and resulting costs. Parts, travel, tower crews and 20% technician troubleshooting. x Strobes and monitoring, and generator maintenance 15% x Taxes and insurance x Tower inspections, lighting, mowing, snow plowing and tree trimming 10% x Tower paint and replacing tower members x Tower reinforcement for LTE up- 5% grades x Towers failing Rev G and having to 0% modify or rebuild x Until a recent change to LEDs, it was

drive by

our website FCC dtabase Lighting takes word of mouth

internal resources media advertising none of the above site acq consultant the prize as other, please specify the biggest cost,

tower database (commercial) followed by utilities, and then ground maintenance such as

comes a cost factor, whereas for short x Labor weed control and towers not subject to FCC lighting x Landscaping and snow removal mowing. Inspections regulations, general site maintenance x Light monitoring is cited as the leading cost. x Lighting received a x Beginning to do inspections x Lights and painting few mentions. x Building air conditioning x Mowing, cleaning and general upkeep x Electric power to keep standby gen- x Outdated existing xenon and incan- No single item erator warm for quick start descent lighting systems as required dominated the list, x Electricity and taxes by the FAA, and maintenance x FAA compliance x Painting, lighting and insurance showing the diversity x Generator maintenance x Painting and structural soundness of the tower x Generators and fuel review x Grounds maintenance x Pole repairs operations polled. x Improper equipment installations and x Power safety violations that other tower and x Regulatory and jurisdictional com- equipment owners fail to comply pliance lighting. Now, it’s groundskeeping — with. Our company resolves these x Rent mowing, weed killing, road grading issues and prevents them from hap- x Restoring site after theft or vandal- and snow plowing. pening again. ism x Utilities, brush control, tower paint x Inspections, plumb and tension, and x Road maintenance on top of a moun- and lights painting tain x Vandals x Insurance x Safety equipment x Vegetation control x Interacting with county officials, x Site cleanup x Was lighting repairs, but did away diesel fuel for the generator during x Site vegetation, generators, road with lighting as state changed re- power outages maintenance quirements to match FAA September 2013 35

Do you plan on building more sites in the next 12 months?

Yes, planning on building new tower sites: 37% Tower and DAS build out planned: 11% Just DAS build out planned: 5% Yes, planning on building new tower sites

What is your main reason for expanding? Yes, just DAS build out planned x Fill in and new builds x VHF SMR x Convention center x Carrier expansion and capacity towers Yes, tower and DAS build out planned x Have to rebuild existing sites to accommodate current users x Main emphasis is on collocations to existing tower portfolio and only No plans to build this year constructing a new tower site when an anchor tenant has been identiﬁ ed and lease executed. No, I plan on selling my sites x Size of company is good. x System capacity coverage x Building new macro tower sites 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% x We commit to incremental growth

Wireless Turnkey Solutions for Every Project

Wedesign,construct,andmaintainwirelessͲinfrastructuresystemsforthelargestcellularproviders.

To Partner With Us Call: 1.866.545.1782

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tower market report

year over year. though the comments indicate that crews x Our internal tower crews cannot ser- x I anticipate growth at the end of this are working at capacity and increased vice our sites and work. We end up year as LTE and Sprint Network Vi- build out may deplete both the quality doing the work, and it gets us behind sion wind down and carriers will need and quantity of tower hands. on all aspects of the business. to add sites to their networks. YES: 95% x Shortage of qualifi ed crews x We anticipate building some macro NO: 5% x Some are good and others are not. and DAS sites and nodes in 2013. Comments on “If NO, how do you ad- x Tower will not support expansion dress that problem or how does it affect x Two crews — one local for small jobs, No plans to build this year: 43% you? If YES, do you use various crews or the other from the tower manufac- Plan on selling their sites: 4% have a dedicated service provider?” turer for bigger jobs Reasons? x Use various crews x Want to sell because of loss of rev- x All timing-specifi c, although there are x We establish and maintain relation- enues at current site a few that I trust to complete jobs. ships with local tower crews for faster x Consolidation by carriers x Approved vendors and usually better service. x Leases have been negotiated down by x I pay too much. Tower bulbs used to x We own our own tower company. When third parties last over 24 months; now, I’m lucky we are busy, we hire others to help. to get a year. The last time I had the x We have a list of qualifi ed techs, but Are you able to fi nd qualifi ed tower bulbs changed, the price jumped from the industry is stretched thin with the technicians to service your sites? $500 to over $600. quantity of work. Comment: This question was added x Internal tower crews this year because there seemed to be a x Our company has its own tower tech- IF YOU ARE NOT A TOWER OWN- general grumbling, heard in casual con- nicians who are certifi ed and trained ER: How do you service the tower industry? (Engineering services? Le- gal? Maintenance?) Do you anticipate growth in the coming year? If so, from what? If not, why not? Comment: Most service and equipment providers to the industry seem to anticipate growth in the coming year mostly because of LTE and DAS build out along with general expansion demands by the carriers.

Random replies and comments x Acquisition and real estate: Growth? Yes. x All of the above: Growth? Yes, do anticipate growth. x Analyst: Growth? Yes to growth from Yes DAS. x Offering consulting and examina- tion services to the legal profession: Growth? I am anticipating growth No in the industry because of the vast amount of users and cases involving 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% digital phone forensics and cell tower forensics. x Carrier: Growth? Not much growth in new tower builds. versations with tower owners, about the for every aspect of the tower facility x Carrier: Allow collocations in our quality of tower techs in the market and maintenance and management. towers. their availability. The survey showed x Our electrical linemen are the only x Civil engineering this to be more bark than bite as an crews allowed on the transmission x Consulting: Growth? Yes, from LTE overwhelming 95% answered “yes,” al- towers to upgrade PCS sites. x Construction September 2013 37

x Contractor Fi. Broadcasters at our site are leav- tower installation and maintenance: x Do inspections for a branch ing because we are in a poor market Growth? I’m anticipating growth from of government: Growth? They for broadcasting. Growth? Very all sectors of the tower industry. want to get away from towers heavy cable penetration. The days x Monitor tower lights and go to leased lines. of high-power TV and radio stations x Network services through vendor x Engineering (RF, telecom, are over, along with their high rental company site), project management, site audits rates. We have to adjust to the new x New construction, upgrades, col- and zoning assistance environment. Fortunately, we own locations, maintenance, fi ber install x Engineering and construction ser- our sites, so our overhead is low. on towers and removal of towers: vices x I am an attorney for a number of tower Growth? Growth because of LTE x Engineering and maintenance owners. I do enjoy and value AGL. installations x Engineering and surveying x I need to rent two towers or sell them. x No, don’t want to x Engineering services: Growth? Ex- I ran ads in the third quarter last year x No expected growth, no contacts pect minimal growth and received no response. I’m game regarding possibly using my tower x Engineering services: Growth? Yes, for anything that works. site for cell site growth from redeployment of spec- x I rent tower space and help tower com- x Outsourcing to qualifi ed engineer- trum panies fi nd better ways to operate. ing, environmental and maintenance x Engineering services: Growth? From x I work with rural wireline and wire- services Wi-Fi product line to take your indoor less providers that are building towers x Owner: Growth? Growth is coming access point outdoors, from UPS for lease to other wireless carriers. from 4G and LTE. systems for broadband radios Also, my clients lease towers from x Pre-construction development, site x Engineering: Growth? Very much of other providers. acquisition, zoning, permitting, and an increase x Industry association (CTIA) architectural and engineering work x Engineering, construction, tower x Informational service for Ericsson x Product supplier to various customers ownership x Infrastructure development, op- ranging from carriers to general con- x Engineering, site acquisition and erations and management: Growth? tractors: Growth? Tessco anticipates construction management: Growth? From continued 4G deployments growth in advanced wireless service Yes, we expect growth from services and lifecycle management of existing (AWS) build outs, tower modifi ca- surrounding new site builds and cov- infrastructure tions, DAS and small cells. erage expansion. x Infrastructure owner x Property manager — more towers x Engineering, tower manufacturing, x In-house x Provide 12 to 15 build-to-suit op- tower construction and modifica- x Interested observer portunities for tower companies each tions x Land lessor to AM radio station year for a regional carrier x Engineering, construction, sales, de- tower x Provide RFR safety certifi cation train- sign, collocation and service x Legal. Also, I sell a book (Antenna ing and EME hazard assessments: x Environmental consulting Zoning – Professional Edition). Growth? Definitely anticipating x Expect normal lease growth of 3 per- x Maintenance: Growth? LTE, small growth because the industry is grow- cent and maybe a new tenant for the cells and mergers ing by leaps and bounds local electric utility x Maintenance, engineering services x Provide tower space and lease tower x Financial services, and mergers and and installation space. acquisition advisory x Maintenance, FCC services and en- x Real estate and valuation consulta- x Full service: Growth? Slow but con- gineering tion sistent growth x Maintenance: Growth? I believe x Rental of excess space: Growth? Cel- x Government solutions. Network engi- growth will be the norm for the com- lular companies expanding. neering for all Department of Energy ing year(s). x Rental space: Growth? From FM telecommunications x Management and maintenance radio, wireless radio and LoJack x Grounds maintenance: Growth? I x Management, engineering, installa- x RF engineering, site acquisition, hope for more growth. tion, service and maintenance expert witness testimony, health and x Growth in licensed microwave x Managing tower sites for a commu- safety issues. We also acquire and sell x Growth with many different ser- nity college towers, but at this time we have no vices, i.e., phone, data, two-way and x Manufacture towers and rooftop sys- sites under ownership. broadcast tems (concealment) x Safety training, certification and x Hopefully, more microwave and Wi- x Microwave backhaul and broadcast rescue

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x Service provider, engineering and small-cell and DAS projects. broadcast towers. installation services to carriers x We are wireless communications (fi xed x We do site builds and also sell mono- x SMR systems and engineering ser- and mobile) consultants for public poles and power systems. vices safety, local government, industrial x We do tower erection and mainte- x Some site acquisition and consulting and commercial clients. Our clients nance. x Systems upgrades, construction and generally lease towers and sometimes x We perform the structural analysis contracting construct their own towers. We develop and construction for all PCS sites on x Telecom utility, provide backhaul, the wireless system design and speci- our transmission towers. carrier services and tower colloca- fi cations. We identify existing suitable x We provide coverage maps, lease tion structures to meet system design re- negotiations and marketing services. x Telecomm general contractor quirements or prepare specifi cations for Growth? We’re experiencing growth x Tower vertical space use is growing. construction of private towers by our and expect more this coming year. x We are a tower manufacturer and we clients. Growth? Some small growth in x We provide utility collocation. expect a good year, as Verizon and North America, but typically stagnant x We service via maintenance. Growth? AT&T, among others, seem to be compared with last year. We are anticipating growth as more and building again. x We built towers for our own use and more clients or end users need to swap x We are a wireless infrastructure, lease space from other tower compa- out old equipment for new equipment. multifaceted construction company. nies to deliver broadband, SCADA Even quarterly preventive maintenance We install eNode equipment in cell and AMI for our members is offered. towers for Verizon Wireless in the x We develop needed tower locations Indiana and Kentucky markets. the vast majority of the time with our Growth? We are a growing company secondary source of site locations Jim Fryer is on the board of the Pennsyl- expecting growth in iDAS, oDAS, coming from the carriers. vania Wireless Association and is president of Fryer Marketing & Media, a tower mar- cell site installs (LTE) and cell main- x We do not serve the industry per se. ket consulting fi rm. His email address is tenance. We are looking forward to We only lease space on our existing [email protected].

______

Trends and Forecasts for the Wireless and Tower Industries By Clayton Funk, Jason Nicolay and Ryan Carr

As carriers focus on enhancing their subscribers’ experience by providing consistently reliable service throughout their networks, shared wireless infrastructure will continue to be the rule. Demand for cell sites continues to ﬂ ourish, as carriers actively seek to modify and amend their existing leases and seek new sites to collocate on in order to meet the rapidly growing need for capacity and ubiquitous coverage.

The wireless industry and its related shared wire- buildings for antenna placement in stra- less infrastructure subsector continued to witness tegic locations. A third niche, distributed signifi cant changes over the last year. However, much antenna system (DAS) networks and has also remained the same. The shared wireless infra- small cells, historically a technology of structure industry continues to be well positioned for last resort, is now viewed by most carri- future growth as data and mobile video use increase ers as another method in the toolbox for and continue to strain network capacity. Projected data achieving desired coverage and capacity. usage on wireless networks, according to Cisco, is A fourth niche, backhaul, includes wire- forecasted to grow by more than 66 percent annually less backhaul (microwave) and wired from 2012 to 2017 (see Figure 1). We’ll examine what backhaul (fi ber-to-the-tower). has changed over the last 12 months and discuss some Originally, almost all of today’s developments that probably will affect the shared wire- shared wireless infrastructure niches less infrastructure and the wireless industries. started as single-use facilities. However, Several specifi c niches, collectively, make up the speed to market and consumer demand shared wireless infrastructure industry. The fi rst niche, for wireless services are the catalysts for towers, includes vertical real estate for wireless car- installing more shared facilities. Niches riers and broadcasters. A second niche, rooftops, uses such as small cells (femtocells, picocells, existing commercial, retail and multi-unit residential etc.) have gained popularity in the wire-

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AGL Video Extra

A Close-up of Media Venture Partners

September 2013 41

less infrastructure industry for a provide stability. The barrier to entry themselves in these niches, a deeper pool of coverage and capacity solution represented by zoning approval and ac- potential acquisition targets results. These as carrier networks continue to cess to capital helps to keep the churn rate targets attract entrepreneurs with private evolve and adapt to consumer among tenants low. Access to both debt equity funding who can foresee an exit to needs and demands. and equity capital for tower owners tends a larger consolidator at a future date. to be easier and more abundant when The abundance of capital to invest Attractive to investors compared with many other industries. is favorable for entrepreneurs, who are Over the years, one fact remains Fragmented ownership in the various encouraged by the fact that the wireless in- unchanged — the shared wireless in- shared infrastructure niches typically industry’s fundamentals continue to be sound. frastructure industry attracts investors cludes two or three larger companies and because of the following factors: a large number of smaller entities. With Macroeconomic conditions more and more companies establishing Over the last year, the U.S. economy x Investment-grade customers (i.e., AT&T and Verizon) and other tenants Extraordinary Growth of Mobile Data is Driving commit to long-term contracts that pro- Demand for Spectrum duce a steady recurring revenue stream x Infrastructure owners can ﬁ nancially Global Mobile Data Trafﬁ c by Region and operationally leverage their assets x The businesses are capital-intensive, 12 11.2 requiring investors to continually North America commit capital that will ideally earn 10 Rest of the World an attractive return on investment 8 x The industry has barriers to entry 7.4 x Ownership remains fragmented 6 4.7

Carriers and tower owners publicly 4 CAGR 2012-2017 2.8

decry difﬁ culties with zoning approval for Exabytes* per month 2 1.6 antenna sites and changes to existing sites. 0.9 They both chafe at the limited access to 0 prime locations to serve as coverage sites, 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 capacity sites or both. However, for investors in shared wireless infrastructure, those same barriers to entry assist in protecting Global Mobile Data Trafﬁ c by Device asset value by restricting competition. Meanwhile, carriers themselves have 12 11.2 to overcome their own barriers such Smartphones 10 Laptops/Notebooks as access to spectrum often acquired Tablets through Federal Communications Com- 8 Non-smartphones 7.4 mission auctions and are required to M2M meet established FCC license build out Other Devices 6 4.7 deadlines. Those expensive and lengthy processes limit the carriers’ competition. 4 2.8

Simply building out a network, even on Exabytes* per month 2 1.6 a limited scale, can cost millions and into 0.9 the billions of dollars, so access to and 0 the availability of capital is yet another 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 factor that limits who owns spectrum Sources: utilized for commercial services. Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast, February 2013 American Tower investor presentation, March 2013 Tower owners have an ability to lever- *Exabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to quintillion bytes age their assets because of the recurring, contractual revenue the towers generate. Figure 1. Customers’ insatiable demand for wireless access to mobile Internet, data The long-term agreements with invest- and other information will drive an increase in mobile data trafﬁ c by 13x over the next ﬁ ve years. ment-grade, national wireless operators

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has continued to slowly and steadily as tower and DAS owners. lion of its wireless revenue is derived improve, while Europe remains in a Wireless carriers continue to see from data services, an increase of nearly recession and China’s economy has their own headwinds in growing their 21 percent from the prior year. Verizon softened. In June 2013, consumer con- businesses as relates to voice com- reported that over 61 percent of its retail fi dence remained strong, at a near six- munications. With the mobile phone postpaid subscribers used a smartphone year high. As a result, retail spending market nearly completely saturated in device, an increase of 14 percent over a is anticipated to keep on pace and grow terms of voice-only subscribers, price year, which has assisted with Verizon’s between 4 and 5 percent during 2013, cutting has intensifi ed for voice plans. total fi rst-quarter service revenue increas- and unemployment is remaining steady However, data plans continue to remain ing by 8.6 percent year-over-year to at approximately 7.5 percent despite stable with ample growth opportuni- $16.7 billion. These metrics indicate that federal spending cuts and higher taxes. ties. Less-expensive, prepaid wireless both AT&T and Verizon continue to shift Another positive factor in the U.S. services that do not require contracts away from their dependence on voice economy is that interest rates remain have been increasingly in favor, at the for revenue, which is further supported low. Regardless of recent increases in expense of the postpaid sector domi- by the fact that more than 57 percent of 30-year mortgage rates and 10-year nated by Verizon and AT&T. Given Verizon’s total network traffi c goes over Treasury notes, Kiplinger believes in- the continued explosion in the usage its LTE network. terest rates will remain low in the near of smartphones as well as the increased Over the last 12 months, merger and future and it has little reason to believe number of consumers turning to tablets acquisition activity among wireless the Federal Reserve will increase the and e-readers, carriers who can offer carriers has been extremely active and federal funds rate any time soon. consistently reliable, fast networks for robust. During that time, there are fi ve So what does an improving econ- data usage have been able to grow their deals to highlight that are driving con- omy mean for tower owners? Strong respective market share. Given that solidation and resulting in an infusion consumer confi dence should translate AT&T and Verizon are the two largest of capital into the carriers. into wireless subscribers continuing wireless companies, their operational x T-Mobile/MetroPCS: T-Mobile USA to demand a faster and more consis- and fi nancial performance is a good entered into a reverse merger with tent consumer experience, motivating barometer for the wireless industry. MetroPCS, which valued the deal at wireless operators to continue their First-quarter 2013 results had AT&T $33 billion for the combined company. process of upgrading and enhancing adding 365,000 net subscriber connec- This transaction provided T-Mobile their networks. Access to inexpensive tions for a total of 107.3 million connec- with access to highly desirable spec- debt should allow tower companies to tions, while Verizon, with 720,000 net trum in urban markets and a signifi cant continue to secure new credit facilities adds, had 98.9 million retail customers. number of subscribers. This deal closed and debt issuances, allowing tower own- AT&T reported postpaid net adds were in May 2013. ers to pursue growth through organic just 296,000 to reach 70.7 million, while x Sprint/U.S. Cellular: U.S. Cellular development and acquisitions. Verizon reported 677,000 retail postpaid divested its Chicago and St. Louis net additions during the quarter, growing operating markets and sold the opera- Wireless trends its postpaid subscriber base to 93.2 mil- tions and related subscribers to Sprint Although the U.S. economy con- lion. Connected devices such as tablets, for $480 million. This transaction tinues to steadily improve, there are e-readers and others continue to boost closed in May 2013. still key areas to watch as one attempts both AT&T and Verizon’s net additions x Softbank/Sprint: Softbank agreed to forecast where the shared wireless and served to attract new subscribers to acquire 70 percent of Sprint for a infrastructure industry is headed. First, desiring access to the hottest consumer $20.1 billion valuation, which will continue to watch the performance and wireless devices. provide an $8 billion capital infusion projections of the wireless carriers. Key Carriers will continue to focus on into the third-largest wireless carrier. metrics include subscriber growth, aver- growing revenue from sources other than Despite Dish Network’s attempt to age revenue per user or account (particu- voice-only customers as they work to acquire Sprint, Softbank prevailed by larly the growth of revenue from data maintain and grow their average revenue sweetening its offer to shareholders. plans) and capital expenditures. Second, per user or account. The good news is that This deal has received shareholder watch the credit markets and take note of 45 percent of AT&T wireless subscrib- approval and is awaiting the FCC’s the availability of credit and the pricing ers are postpaid smartphone subscribers fi nal blessing. of that credit. Solid cash fl ow from high- as of March 31, 2013, an increase of x Sprint/Clearwire: After multiple quality tenants who are under long-term 17.4 percent year-over-year. In its most offers and counteroffers, Sprint contracts underpins the trends for shared recent quarterly report, AT&T said that received shareholder approval to wireless infrastructure companies, such approximately 31 percent or $5.1 bil- acquire the remaining interest in

September 2013 43

Clearwire it didn’t already structure industry differ widely when what’s next for the carriers? In the past own. Despite multiple efforts compared with fundamentals from over 12 to 18 months, all Big Four wireless by Dish Network to secure the a decade ago (see Figures 1 and 2). operators have indicated their intent opportunity to acquire a sig- All of the Big Four wireless operators to further upgrade their networks to niﬁ cant stake in Clearwire, have selected LTE technology for their LTE-Advanced in coming years. LTE- Dish was outbid by Sprint. 4G networks. Since last year, the wire- Advanced is focused on higher capacity This deal closed in July. less carriers have been busy deploying with increased peak data rates, higher x AT&T/Allied Wireless: AT&T agreed LTE equipment to upgrade and expand spectral efﬁ ciency, an increased number to acquire Atlantic Tele-Network’s current networks. Verizon is leading of simultaneously active subscribers and Allied Wireless operations (former the pack because it has substantially improved performance at cell edges. Alltel assets) for $780 million. AT&T will receive attractive 700-MHz spec- Wireless and Towers: 2000 versus today trum, an operating network covering 4.6 million people and approximately THEN TODAY 585,000 subscribers. This deal is December 2000 December 2012 pending. Wireless

In addition to several carriers acquir- Subs (in millions) 109 326 ing other notable carriers or wireless operations, most of the Big Four wireless Penetration 38.9% 102.0% operators (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) have been busy securing addi- MOUs/Month/Sub 309 586 tional spectrum. Most recently, T-Mobile announced a $308 million purchase from MBs/Month/Sub NA 694 U.S. Cellular of AWS spectrum covering ARPU $52 $49 the Mississippi Valley and its population of more than 32 million. In January 2013, EBITDA Margin 26.7% 35.3% Verizon successfully exited its 700-MHz B Block holdings through a series of Towers divestures, which concluded with AT&T agreeing to acquire 39 markets covering Cell Sites 104,288 301,779 42 million people for $1.9 billion. While these were two of the most signiﬁ cant Tenants per Tower 1.5 2.2 and sizeable transactions announced, the secondary spectrum market has remained EV/EBITDA* 28.6x 19.4x active with more than 70 transactions closed or pending FCC approval since Leverage 10.4x 5.7x the beginning of the year.

Figure 2. In comparing today’s wireless and tower industries with the way they were Consolidation in 2000, it is important to keep in mind that there are large fundamental differences Given the flurry of wireless and between the characteristics of the industries today and the characteristics of the spectrum transactions over the last industries more than a decade ago. (Source: Media Venture Partners, CTIA company year, it is not unrealistic to assume there ﬁ lings and industry news.) will be further consolidation among the Big Four wireless carriers, national completed its rollout to cover 298 mil- These achievements will be realized pay-as-you-go operators and local lion people with its 4G LTE, then AT&T through carrier aggregation, enhanced wireless carriers. Future consolidation with 292 million people, Sprint with use of multi-antenna techniques and will provide carriers with additional 100 markets now covered with a target support for relay nodes. Further network access to much needed spectrum and of 200 million people to be covered by improvements that deliver a more con- support the need for additional capacity year-end, and T-Mobile with 24 million sistent customer experience probably in urban markets especially. people covered. will result in tower owners receiving The overall good news is that today’s With a couple of the 4G LTE net- additional modiﬁ cation requests from fundamentals for the wireless infra- work deployments nearing completion, their existing tenants and possibly new

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collocation interest as the networks current supply-demand imbalance, the closed. Figure 3 highlights fi ve larger continue to become denser. deal environment remains extremely tower transactions that were publicly Consistent with the last few annual competitive with more buyers trying to announced and closed between June market reports Media Venture Partners acquire towers than there are sellers. 2012 and June 2013. has completed for AGL, the merger Every deal is different, and various and acquisition market for shared types of towers will be valued uniquely Trading multiples wireless infrastructure, especially tow- depending on a variety of factors. Public tower companies were trading ers, has shown incredibly robust valu- Although circumstances will vary for at over 20x forward EBITDA (earnings ations. Nearly every tower company is each transaction and not every tower or before interest, taxes, depreciation and expressing strong interest in acquiring tower deal is the same, in general most amortization) as recently as the fourth good-quality assets ranging from tow- deals for telecom towers are being com- quarter of 2012. Although publicly ers to DAS networks to portfolios of pleted at historically high multiples of traded multiples have declined slightly underlying ground leases. The last tower cash fl ow, roughly between 16x from those recent highs, private tower half of 2012 was fi lled with a large and 19x, and upward of 20x or more in transactions continued to receive strong wave of tower transactions because many instances. Broadcast, government multiples at or above where the public many sellers wanted to lock in lower and microwave towers tend to trade at tower companies have been trading re- capital gains rates. As a result, 2013 to multiples below where telecom towers cently (see Figure 4). For tower compa- date has provided tower buyers with are bought and sold, but nevertheless nies, despite their high-teens valuations, limited acquisition opportunities. The are achieving historic highs. low-twenties EBITDA multiples have limited supply, along with the desire Over the last 12 months, several continued to be acquisitive. to deploy capital into tower assets, is headline tower transactions with more driving strong demand for nearly all than 100 sites were reported, but dozens Tower index stock price types of tower portfolios. With the of smaller acquisitions have also been Since last year’s Tower Market Re-

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Large Tower Transactions from June 2012 to June 2013

Wirelss and Towers: 2000 verses today ($ in millions) TCF Price per Closed Date Seller Buyer Towers Price Multiple Tower

Sept 2012 T-Mobile Crown Castle 7,200$2,400.0 ~19.0x $333,333

Oct 2012 TowerCo SBA Communications 3,252$1,450.0 ~15.5x $445,879

Oct 2012 iWirelessSubs (in millions) TowerCo 119$45.5 NA $382,353

Dec 2012 Skyway Towers American Tower 318$169.5 NA $533,019

Dec 2012 Diamond Communications American Tower 340$322.5 NA $948,529

Figure 3. The tower merger and acquisition market during the last four months of 2012 was extremely busy, with the ﬁ ve largest deals in the past 12 months having been completed during this period.

port, public tower company valuations American Tower, Crown Castle In- riers for any signal of decreased capex have continued to experience an increase ternational and SBA Communications spending. Publicly traded wireless op- in their per share price. Despite increased have “buy” or “overweight” ratings of erators are projecting capex in excess market volatility in June 2013, public 87 percent, 73 percent and 89 percent of $25 billion during 2013, which will tower stocks are trading at 88 percent of from stock analysts, respectively. largely support the carriers’ continued their 52-week highs as of June 28, 2013. 4G network build out and anticipated On average, public tower stocks have Wireless capex upgrades to LTE-Advanced. As a re- seen their valuation grow by 32 percent Capital expenditures by wireless sult, tower companies, both public and since last year’s report and by more than carriers continue to drive growth for private, continue to receive an increase 58 percent since Jan. 1, 2012. As of June shared wireless infrastructure com- in the number of amendments and 28,2013, public tower companies traded panies. Both public and private tower modiﬁ cations to their sites, especially at an average of 19.4x 2013 estimated companies as well as the general market in urban and suburban markets where EBITDA (see Figures 5 and 6). are consistently watching wireless car- carriers are focused on building their

Historic Enterprise Value to EBITDA Multiples (12 Months Forward)

26x AMT CCI 24x SBAC GSL 22x Average 20x

18x

16x

EV/EBITDA Multiple EV/EBITDA 14x

12x

10x

1Q012Q013Q014Q011Q022Q023Q024Q021Q032Q033Q034Q031Q042Q043Q044Q041Q052Q053Q054Q051Q062Q063Q064Q061Q072Q073Q074Q071Q082Q083Q084Q081Q092Q093Q094Q091Q102Q103Q104Q101Q112Q113Q114Q111Q122Q123Q124Q121Q132Q13

Figure 4. The historical enterprise value to EBITDA (12 months forward) shows how the multiples for the public tower companies have ﬂ uctuated during the past decade. Companies represented are American Tower (NYSE: AMT), Crown Castle International (NYSE: CCI), SBA Communications (NASDAQ: SBAC) and defunct Global Signal (NYSE: GSL).

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Trading Multiples for Public Tower Companies ($ in millions, except share price)

% of Enterprise Value/ Stock Price 52-Week Equity Enterprise 2013E 2014E 2013E 2014E Company 6/28/2013 High Value Value Revenue Revenue EBITDA EBITDA

American Tower $73.17 86% $29,052 $37,569 11.4x 10.4x 17.8x 16.1x

Crown Castle $72.39 89% $21,966 $31,955 11.0x 10.5x 18.3x 17.1x SBA Communications $74.12 90% $11,733 $16,974 13.5x 12.7x 22.1x 20.1x

TOWER AVERAGE 88% 12.0x 11.2x 19.4x 17.8x

CiG Wireless $3.59 72% $72 $81 5.3x 2.1 x NA NA

Sources: Consensus estimates and company reports Figure 5. Tower stock prices have grown by more than 58 percent since the beginning of 2012. As of June 28, 2013, shares of publicly traded tower companies were, on average, trading at 88 percent of their 52-week highs and 19.4x 2013E EBITDA.

4G networks and securing additional wireless capital expenditures or 55 percent capacity and expansion and for the capacity. Tower companies are also of the company’s fi rst-quarter capex total. company’s 4G LTE deployments. The beginning to develop new coverage and Verizon’s wireless capex dollars largely carrier has used these capex dollars to capacity sites again as carriers’ initial went to enhance its current network and to cover more than 292 million pops with deployment of LTE nears completion complete the expansion of its LTE technol- its 4G network, which includes a mix in the core population centers. ogy throughout its entire 3G footprint. of both LTE and HSPA+ services. Ź Verizon launched its fi rst 4G LTE Ź AT&T also announced in its Ź T-Mobile announced that its mi- markets in December 2010, and on June fi rst-quarter results that the company gration of MetroPCS customers onto its 27, 2013, it announced its 4G LTE build plans to spend nearly $21 billion on 4G HSPA+ and LTE network is ahead out, covering more than 298 million pops capital expenditures during 2013. As of schedule. During the fi rst quarter of in more than 500 markets or 99 percent of of March 31, AT&T had already spent 2013, the company spent $1.1 billion its existing network footprint, is substan- nearly $2.2 billion or 53 percent of its in capital expenses and said that it had tially complete. In its fi rst-quarter 2013 total capex on wireless-related capital launched 4G LTE in seven major metro- results, the wireless carrier announced expenditures. AT&T’s wireless capex politan areas. T-Mobile expects to cover it had spent approximately $2 billion on dollars are being used for network approximately 200 million pops with 4G

Composite Value

Public Tower Companies’ Composite Value Compared with S&P 500 220% 200% 180% 160% 140% 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09Jul-09Jan-10Jul-10Jan-11 Jul-11 Jan-12 Jul-12 Jan-13 Jul-13

Sources: Yahoo! Finance and Media Venture Partners

Figure 6. The value of shares in public tower companies has signiﬁ cantly rebounded since the most recent recession, which hit bottom during the fourth quarter of 2008. As of June 28, 2013, the value of public tower stocks has completely rebounded and signiﬁ cantly exceeded pricing from mid-2008 prior to the credit crunch.

September 2013 47

Carriers’ Network Upgrade Timeline

LTE Spectrum Choice 2012 2013 2014 Ɣ 700 MHz Lower B & C Ɣ AWS LTE build ahead of schedule with 292 milliom people covered in more than 200 markets. Focus on completing LTE AT&T Ɣ WCS Ɣ 700 MHz D & E rollout by the end of 2013.

Plan to deploy LTE-Advanced over owned 800 MHz in Sprint Ɣ 800 MHz 4Q 13. LTE also over G-Block and likely bidder for for H-Block. Ɣ G-Block

Deploying LTE network with $600 million. Milestones Clearwire Ɣ BRS/EBS include 2,000 sites by June 2013, 5,000 sites by the end of 2013 and 8,000 sites by the end of 2014.

Deploying LTE service in 2013 with $4 billion investment in T-Mobile USA Ɣ AWS its network. Moving HSPA+ to PCS and launching LTE on AWS. Ɣ PCS

Nationwide LTE buildout substantially complete with its network covering 298 million people in 500+ markets. Verizon Wireless Ɣ 700 MHz Upper C Ɣ AWS

Launched LTE over PCS in October 2012 covering 1.2 million people with plans to cover another 1.2 million in C Spire Wireless Ɣ PCS 2014 in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi by the end of 2013.

Cover 21 million pops with LTE as of Q1 2013, anticipate buildout costs of $100 million in 2013 to continue its LTE Leap Wireless Ɣ AWS buildout.

Over 58 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE U.S. Cellular Ɣ 700 MHz Lower B & C and 87 percent will have access by the end of 2013. Ɣ 700 MHz Lower A

Figure 7. The Big Four and other large wireless carriers are rapidly deploying their 4G LTE networks. Many of the carriers are expected to have a complete nationwide 4G network footprint by the end of 2013. LTE by the end of 2013. The company’s the purchase of the remaining shares $26 million in capital expenditures most signifi cant focus and progress has of Clearwire. During the fi rst quarter, so far in 2013. The company esti- been on its $4 billion network modern- Sprint spent nearly $1.3 billion in wire- mates it will spend between $250 and ization and 4G evolution effort, which less capex, which was 92 percent of the $300 million in capex for the full 2013 will improve the carrier’s voice and data company’s overall capex for the period. calendar year. Leap is using its capex as well as push them toward LTE. Ź Clearwire, which fi rst built out a dollars to maintain and develop its cur- Ź Sprint continues to be focused WiMAX network in conjunction with rent operating footprint. The company on its Network Vision project, which Sprint, has begun its deployment of a currently provides 4G LTE coverage consolidates network technologies while TDD-LTE network with approximately to approximately 21 million pops and also reducing the overall number of sites 1,300 sites commissioned as of March anticipates covering an additional the company uses. The company’s LTE 31, 2013. Clearwire has ambitions to have 10 million pops by the end of the network, which launched in 2012, cov- 2,000 sites commissioned by the end of year. At an estimated cost of less than ered nearly 90 cities by the end of the June 2013. The company, which provides $10 per covered pop, Leap estimates it fi rst quarter of 2013. Sprint will launch wholesale services for Sprint and Leap, will cost approximately $100 million to an additional 170 cities covering more expects to expand deployment of its LTE continue to build out its LTE network. than 200 million people by year-end. and VoLTE equipment to 5,000 base sta- Ź U.S. Cellular during its first- Sprint’s coverage and LTE build out will tions by the end of the year. quarter earnings announcement stated it be further enhanced with Sprint’s access Ź Leap stated in its first quarter anticipates spending $735 million dur- to Clearwire’s LTE network through earnings announcement that it spent ing 2013 on capex. It spent $118 million

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tower market report

during the fi rst quarter. The company companies have secured $3.13 billion munications priced $500 million of covers approximately 58 percent of its in asset-backed securities, another 5.625 percent in senior unsecured notes subscribers with 4G LTE and expects $5.45 billion in senior debt capital due in October 2019. Most recently in to expand LTE to 87 percent of its sub- and $1.75 billion in completed and April 2013, SBA Communications sold scribers by the end of 2013. announced credit facilities and term $1.33 billion in asset-backed securities ŹC Spire, a regional wireless opera- loans. priced between 2.24 and 3.722 percent tor in the South, began its LTE upgrade Ź American Tower secured $1.8 with maturity dates from 2043 to 2048. in the summer of 2012 and covered billion through asset-backed securities, SBA Communications used a portion of approximately 1.2 million pops in 20 $1 billion in senior unsecured debt and the proceeds to fund acquisitions, repay markets by year-end 2012. The company $750 million in an unsecured term loan existing revolving credit facilities and plans to expand its LTE offerings to over the last 12 months in domestic pay down existing term loans. 500,000 people in Mississippi and an issuances. In June 2012, American An improving economy and an at- additional 700,000 people in Alabama Tower received a $750 million unsecured tractive asset class — shared wireless and Florida throughout 2013. term loan with a rate of approximately infrastructure — have meant public Although several more spectrum 3.5 percent (LIBOR + 250 basis points) tower companies are continuing to re- owners have sold a signifi cant amount and maturing in fi ve years. In January ceive favorable interest rates and excel- or all of their wireless assets —Spec- 2013, American Tower released $1 bil- lent credit ratings. Despite recent public trumCo (made up of Comcast, Time lion in 3.5 percent senior unsecured notes concerns about increasing interest rates, Warner Cable and Bright House), Cox due in January 2023. In March 2013, public tower companies are continuing Communications, CenturyLink and American Tower completed a $1.8 billion to take advantage of their access to the many others — there is potential to see offering of AAA-rated asset-backed secu- capital markets to issue new notes and a new wireless entrant emerge. Dish rities priced between 1.55 and 3.07 per- repay older ones nearing maturity to Network, the most likely new entrant, cent and maturing in March 2043 and extend maturity dates. has been busy making headlines in recent March 2048, respectively. Most recently, months. Dish successfully lobbied the American Tower announced in June 2013 The future FCC to allow the company to utilize its its intent to raise approximately $1 bil- Consumers continue to view wireless 40 megahertz of former satellite spec- lion in a new unsecured revolving credit as an everyday necessity instead of a trum for terrestrial use (AWS-4). Most facility to replace its current facility. luxury or option. The tower market was recently, Dish had been eyeing a potential American Tower utilized the proceeds and will continue to be a direct benefi ciary acquisition of both Clearwire and Sprint, to repay certain senior notes, replace of the wireless industry’s strong staying offers for which it subsequently withdrew credit facilities, fund acquisitions and for power and as a result, the tower market after Sprint and Softbank, respectively, general corporate purposes. has proven to be fairly insulated from increased their offers for each wireless Ź Crown Castle has issued over macroeconomic issues. The tower deal en- operator. Dish, with its various spectrum $3 billion in senior notes over the last vironment, although slightly sluggish the holdings, continues to exhibit an interest 12 months. In December 2012, Crown fi rst few months of this year in terms of the in becoming a major player in the wire- Castle issued $1.0 billion in 3.85 percent volume of deals, could see some sizeable less industry but has not yet acquired or senior secured notes due in 2023 as well transactions come to market the last half of developed such a platform. as another $500 million in 2.38 percent 2013. Similar to the past couple of years, Overall, rapid growth of data use senior secured notes due in 2017. Most tower owners considering selling some or is forcing carriers to upgrade network recently in February 2013, Crown Castle all of their assets in 2013 have the benefi t capacity and start planning for the next completed its offering of $1.65 billion in of being in a sellers’ market because of the generation of networks and its deployment 5.25 percent senior unsecured notes due in limited inventory on the market and the timeline. Towers are the direct benefi ciary 2023. Crown Castle used the proceeds to depth of the interested buyers. The wire- of any build out. See Figure 7 for a time- repay certain notes, to fund recent acquisi- less industry, overall, continues to have line of select carriers’ 4G network build tions and for general corporate purposes. the underlying characteristics of being a out timelines. Ź SBA Communications over the long-term winner as wireless voice, data last 12 months has secured $1.3 billion and mobile video use do not show any Credit environment in senior unsecured debt and $1.33 bil- signs of decline. With the U.S. economy improving, lion in asset-backed securities. In July Trends continue to show a move albeit at a slow and steady pace, public 2012, SBA Communications priced toward everything wireless. There tower companies are continuing to $800 million of 5.75 percent senior is a robust market for companies receive robust access to the credit mar- unsecured notes maturing in July 2020. developing products specifi cally for kets. Since June 2012, public tower Again, in September 2012, SBA Com- wireless users, including mobile apps

September 2013 49

and dynamic mo- facilities and small cells become more bile web content. of a neutral-host business like towers. Popular smart- The tower industry as a business niche phones, tab- emerged in the mid-1990s as carriers lets and other realized they could save both time handheld de- and money on the front end by having vices are being designed third parties invest their own time and for multiple networks. money to develop sites while the carriers Demographics show younger adults focused on network design, marketing choose wireless over wireline with ap- and subscriber growth. proximately 36 percent of households If it makes fi nancial sense for both now being wireless-only. Wireless is carriers and third-party owners, shared an everyday part of life for the future infrastructure will continue to become of our country and does not seem to be the rule, rather than the exception, as car- going away, nor is it threatened to be riers respond to consumer demands. The replaced by any new modes of commu- macro cell site build out will continue to nication. We are quickly headed toward fl ourish while being complemented more a day when many people will only ac- and more by alternative sites, like fem- cess the Internet via mobile devices. tocells, picocells and distributed antenna Although subscriber penetration is systems. Backhaul demand, whether via completely saturated with an over-102 fi ber-to-the-tower or microwave, will percent penetration rate, minutes of use remain high and data as a percentage of revenue has been growing by approximately 20 percent at the two largest If it makes fi nancial wireless operators over the last year. sense for both carriers Upcoming FCC auctions for AWS-2 and 600-MHz spectrum (Broadcast and third-party owners, Incentive Auction) could see new en- shared infrastructure trants emerge into the wireless world, and these companies could be potential will continue to new tower tenants. Although during become the rule. the past couple of years several companies with large spectrum positions or operating business have exited the business or have gone through bank- continue to increase significantly as ruptcy restructurings — SpectrumCo, wireless subscribers use mobile devices Cox Communications, Open Range for more and more data-intensive appli- and LightSquared — there are several cations, such as mobile video streaming prospective new tenants to keep an eye and data services, rather than just voice. on, most notably Dish Network. Despite Overall, the shared wireless infrastruc- the industry losing a few tenants that ture business continues to be a robust and were previously viewed as potential viable business niche, complementary to tower tenants, new and healthier ones and providing mission-critical solutions have sprouted in their place. for the wireless industry. It will be interesting to watch over Clayton Funk is a managing director, Jason the next several months to a year to see Nicolay is a vice president and Ryan Carr whether the increased use of small cells is an analyst with Media Venture Partners, by the various wireless carriers con- a division of Financial Telesis. MVP is a telecom-focused investment bank. Funk can tinues to be primarily end-user driven be reached at cfunk@mediaventurepartners.______and utilized by single customers or, in ___com or (816) 977-2822. Nicolay can be a fashion similar to the way the tower reached at ______jnicolay@mediaventurepartners. ___com or (816) 977-2823. Carr can be reached ______industry evolved, whether the carriers at [email protected] or (415) end up relinquishing control of these 391-4877. 50 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

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site technology Alignment Solutions Improve Antenna Installation Results

Antenna alignment solutions eliminate site revisits and re-climbs by ensuring antenna installation matches the RF design.

By John Vetter

When deploying towers, crews have effect will occur if antenna misalign- person using it and the user’s knowl- historically relied on compasses along ment is greater than 3 degrees on mul- edge of magnetic deviation from true with their keen eyes to determine if WLSOHWRZHUV7KHUHZLOOEHVLJQL¿FDQW north. It is also adversely affected by antennas were properly aligned. Back performance and quality problems nearby ferrous objects, such as rebar or in the days of voice, these options, because of the slight antenna tilt varia- piping in the ground, fencing or even which can best be described as less than tion as both coverage and quality gaps precise, were passable. In today’s world increase by up to 100 percent with of high-bandwidth 4G LTE networks, ±3 degrees of tilt error. If similar con- The effects of antenna a more accurate solution is necessary ditions exist at additional nearby sites, misalignment are seen because a 2- or 3-degree variation can the effects are further compounded degrade performance, depending on because the antennas’ changed radia- in more ways than Whorizontal antenna beamwidth, and can tion patterns infringe on the coverage network performance. force costly site revisits and re-climbs area of their neighbors, increasing to be conducted. co-channel interference and degrading Slight variances in antenna beam tilt performance of their receivers. and azimuth from a tower site’s origi- jewelry worn by the technician. nal RF design can dramatically reduce :LGHVSUHDGSUREOHP Using a compass will lead to in- coverage in some areas of the footprint Problems caused by failure to consistencies in setting up antenna while increasing coverage overlap in precisely align the antenna system azimuth and tilt during tower installa- others. The result is decreased data DFFRUGLQJWRLWVVSHFL¿FDWLRQVGXULQJ tion, thereby reducing overall network rates on all affected networks. Com- installation or an upgrade occur fre- performance. However, the degree of pounding the problem is that antennas quently. The antennas in each sector degradation depends on the amount of in more than one sector often are mis- should obviously be precisely aligned the discrepancy between the designed aligned, which can create exponential to produce the desired results, but if and installed parameters. Further, problems. the crew relies on a compass, troubles inconsistencies in establishing these Depending on the site and initial arise. That’s because a compass is a parameters during installation vary the coverage area, an adverse cumulative basic tool that relies on the skill of the network coverage and capacity.

&UHZFRVWIRUDQWHQQDSRVLWLRQUHYHUL¿FDWLRQ $1,500 6LJQL¿FDQW¿QDQFLDOHIIHFWV (with travel time and expenses) The effects of antenna misalignment Cost for site acceptance RSSI/coverage re-drive $2,500 are seen in more ways than network performance. Carriers, turf vendors and Total revenue lost by doing rework rather than new site $5,000 general contractors will all notice it on their bottom lines. Table 1 outlines the Table 1. The true cost of site antenna revisits. costs associated with sending a three-

54 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

man crew to re-climb and re-verify an existing site. The out-of-pocket costs total approximately $1,500, but the real expense is nearly $6,500 when lost revenue is factored in, because that crew can’t move forward to install or upgrade a new tower site. If you add the multiple that nearly 40 percent of all sites are misaligned to the level in which they need to be corrected, these ¿QDQFLDO¿JXUHVEHFRPHDVWURQRPL- cal.The obvious solution to reducing the number of site revisits so carriers and contractors can focus on new work rather than rework is to replace compasses with more modern align- PHQWVROXWLRQVGHVLJQHGVSHFL¿FDOO\ for antenna alignment. Crews can use these simple-to-operate tools to help broadband LTE networks meet their designed capacity and ensure the best possible return on the multibillion- dollar investment associated with 4G LTE networks. Photo 1. The AntennAlign alignment tool uses a unique design that integrates advanced accelerometers that allow it to capture downtilt and roll to the ±0.25 degrees mandated by carriers. It also incorporates a two-GPS system to produce real-time azimuth mea- Selecting the right tool surements of up to ±0.3 degrees RMS and ±1.0 degrees R99. Not all antenna alignment tools are

created equal, and certain performance 1 specifications must be considered. 0.99 To maximize bandwidth of 4G LTE 2DRMS networks, as well as their investment, 0.9 (95%) many carriers are specifying an antenna 0.85 tilt of ±0.25 degrees. To meet this 0.8 0.5m separation 1.0m separation stringent requirement, as well as oth- 0.75 2.0m separation ers, antenna alignment solutions must 0.7 be highly accurate. 0.65 RMS (68%) The solution shown in Photo 1 .06 utilizes a unique design that integrates 0.55 advanced accelerometers that allow it to capture downtilt and roll to the 0.5 0.45 ±0.25 degrees mandated by carriers. Probability It also incorporates a two-GPS system 0.4 to produce real-time azimuth mea- 0.35 surements of up to ±0.3 degrees RMS 0.3 and ±1.0 degrees R99. An internal 0.25 gyroscope is integrated into the tool to 0.2 maintain alignment when GPS satellite positioning is not available. The 0.15 system also includes a drop-tape kit 0.1 for accurate AGL recording of antenna 0.05 radiating center height to ±1 foot. 0 Figure 1 shows the expected prob- 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 ability versus heading error of the Heading Error (degrees) antenna alignment solution shown in Figure 1. This is the expected probability versus heading error of the antenna alignment Photo 1. A 0.5-meter antenna spac- solution shown in Photo 1. A 0.5-meter antenna spacing was used that resulted in a ing was used that resulted in a ±0.53 ±0.53 degrees R95 (95 percent) instantaneous heading accuracy.

September 2013 55

site technology

Table 2. A key factor in working with antenna-site auditors is to have comprehensive reporting. Antenna alignment solutions can provide detailed reports that include site name, sector name, antenna serial number and antenna position. Crew members can also W\SHLQQRWHVZLWKLQUHSRUWVIRUDGGLWLRQDOGHWDLOVRQDVSHFL¿FWRZHU7KLVFDSDELOLW\DOORZVRQHPDVWHUGRFXPHQWWREHFUHDWHG IRUPRUHHI¿FLHQWUHFRUGNHHSLQJ&RPSUHKHQVLYHUHSRUWVVXFKDVWKHVHVLPSOLI\VXEPLVVLRQRIVLWHGRFXPHQWDWLRQWRFDUULHUVDQG eliminate audit disagreements.

degrees R95 (95 percent) instantaneous were maintained at ±1 degree R99, well eliminate audit disagreements. heading accuracy. The expected instanta- within the recommended tolerance. Site revisits and re-climbs associated neous performance of the solution should The use of GPS satellites for antenna ZLWKDQWHQQDPLVDOLJQPHQWKDYHDVLJQL¿- be along the 0.5-meter red line. Because alignment is vastly superior to a compass. FDQW¿QDQFLDOHIIHFWRQJHQHUDOFRQWUDF- of the complexity of the cellular antenna It is also the same method used by most tors and carriers. Selecting the proper third-party auditors, many antenna alignment solutions can ensure Maintaining proper antenna alignment of whom use the identical towers are installed to the original RF solution shown in Photo design and maintain their alignment to will allow networks to maintain their 1. Another key factor in reduce costly site revisits and re-climbs. designed capacity and coverage, working with auditors Additionally, maintaining proper is to have comprehen- antenna alignment will allow networks bringing a greater return on the sive reporting. Antenna to maintain their designed capacity and multibillion-dollar investment. Antenna alignment solutions can coverage, bringing a greater return on the provide detailed reports multibillion-dollar network investment. alignment optimizes the precious RF (see Table 2) that include Antenna alignment provides another spectrum, which ultimately will allow site name, sector name, important advantage. It optimizes the antenna serial number and precious RF spectrum, which ultimately carriers to maximize the number of antenna position. Crew will allow carriers to maximize the num- services they offer. members can also type ber of services they can offer. in notes within reports for additional details on a John Vetter is vice president of sales and marketing, Sunsight Instruments (www.sun- environments (in-band RF, physical ob- ______VSHFL¿FWRZHU7KLVFDSDELOLW\DOORZVRQH sight.com______). An RF engineer, Vetter has been struction, high-multipath possibilities) master document to be created for more involved in deploying and installing wireless and the proximity of the GPS antennas HI¿FLHQWUHFRUGNHHSLQJ&RPSUHKHQVLYH networks in North America, South America and the Caribbean during his career, which to the GPS receiver in the antenna align- reports such as these simplify submission includes positions with Ericsson, Clearwire, PHQWVROXWLRQWKHDFFXUDF\VSHFL¿FDWLRQV of site documentation to carriers and MetroPCS and Lucent.

56 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

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safety New Guidance Permits Union Reps During OSHA’s Inspections

OSHA’s new interpretation may provide unions with unprecedented access to private property and non-unionized employees. Employers should be prepared to confront a union representative or activist.

By Mark A. Lies II and Kerry M. Mohan

Private-sector union membership re- Field Operations Manual authorize In nonunionized facilities, the em- mains near record lows, forcing unions employees to select an “employee ployee walkaround representative may to devise new and creative ways to ac- representative” to participate during be a senior, well-respected individual cess employers’ facilities to organize the walkaround portion of an OSHA who is part of the employer’s safety employees. Unions have long used inspection. During the inspection, the committee, or no employee at all. How- OSHA safety and health complaints as walkaround representative is permit- ever, in practice, it has long been under- a tool to pressure employers into recog- ted to follow the OSHA inspector, ask stood that the employee representative nizing a union at a nonunionized facil- questions, talk with the inspector and had to be an actual employee and not ity or to affect collective bargaining at identify potential hazards. In union- somebody from the outside. Although a unionized facility. However, a recent ized facilities, the union typically has VRPH26+$RI¿FHVKDYHDWWHPSWHGWR OSHA letter of interpretation from for- a designated individual for all OSHA permit non-employees to participate in Pmer Deputy Assistant Secretary Rich- inspections. inspections at nonunionized facilities, ard E. Fairfax has potentially made it easier for unions to organize nonunion facilities. Under this recent guidance, nonunionized employees can select a union organizer or community activist to be the employees’ walkaround representative during OSHA inspections. In light of this development, host employers can expect unions to use this interpretation to attempt to access employer facilities, and OSHA to support employee requests to have unions as employee representatives during an OSHA inspection.

Employee reps during inspections The Occupational Safety and Health Act, its regulations, and OSHA’s

58 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

______

safety

they have almost always withdrawn this be their employee walkaround repre- behalf of nonunionized employees and request when questioned about their sentative, including a union representa- remain in contact with OSHA until the authority to permit the non-employee’s tive, a community representative, or a inspection occurs. Then, when OSHA access. technical person. This re-interpretation representatives show up at the facility, of the Occupational Safety and Health the employees may request that the Letter of interpretation Act, OSHA’s regulations, and OSHA’s OSHA compliance safety and health In OSHA’s new letter of interpreta- Field Operations Manual potentially RI¿FHU &6+2 DOORZWKHVDPHXQLRQ tion, OSHA states that where employ- provides union organizers unprec- representative, who is not an employee, ees are not represented at a workplace edented access to a nonunionized to come into the plant and be their by a union, one or more employees employer’s facility. For instance, a employee walkaround representative. may designate anyone they choose to XQLRQFDQ¿OHDQ26+$FRPSODLQWRQ Similarly, a community representa- WLYH DFWLYLVW ZKRLVQRWDQHPSOR\HH could be designated. Such an individual could have economic, social or political interests that are adverse to those of the HPSOR\HU7KH&6+2GRHVQRWKDYHWR allow this individual if he believes the person might disrupt the inspection.

Dangers of non-employees The participation of a union representative or community activist in an 26+$LQVSHFWLRQFDQOHDGWRVLJQL¿FDQW issues. First, the non-employee’s participation will almost certainly lead to increased citations. Many large unions have sophisticated health and safety of- ¿FLDOVZKRPD\EHPRUHNQRZOHGJHDEOH WKDQWKH&6+27KXVWKHXQLRQUHSUH- sentative probably would identify any

The participation of a union representative or community activist in an OSHA inspection can lead WRVLJQLÀFDQWLVVXHV

potential citation or hazard he sees to WKH&6+2LQFOXGLQJPDQ\WKH&6+2 may have not observed or recognized. Second, the union’s involvement gives the union an immediate presence within the employer’s facility to communicate with employees at the facility about the union’s interest in employee safety and WKHEHQH¿WVRIDXQLRQWRIRVWHUVDIHW\ The union representative may wear pro- union clothing or buttons, which will ______attract attention and cause employees ______to question why a union is there. Third, it provides unions and activists the op-

60 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

portunity to take video or photographs can challenge the non-employee’s permits a union representative or of an employer’s operation that can be health and safety credentials to activist to be the walkaround repre- XVHGIRUXQLRQSURPRWLRQDOSXUSRVHV show that the non-employee’s sentative, the employer can require participation would not only be the union representative or activist Recommendations worthless, it would actually be to go through the same administra- To limit the potential of a non- disruptive and confuse issues tive burdens as any other visitor to employee union representative or during the inspection because the WKHIDFLOLW\$OWKRXJKWKHVHDGPLQ- community activist participating in an LQGLYLGXDOLVXQTXDOL¿HG istrative tasks may not prevent the 26+$LQVSHFWLRQDQHPSOR\HUVKRXOG Ɣ5HTXLUH WKH XQLRQ UHSUHVHQWDWLYH non-employee from participating, consider taking the following precau- or activist to follow administrative LWPD\VLJQL¿FDQWO\OLPLWWKHH[WHQW WLRQVRUDFWLRQV UHTXLUHPHQWV ,Q WKH HYHQW 26+$ RI WKH SHUVRQ¶V SDUWLFLSDWLRQ )RU

Require the union representative or activist to follow administrative requirements.

Ɣ+DYH HPSOR\HHV LGHQWLI\ DQ HP- ployee walkaround representative SULRU WR DQ\ SRWHQWLDO LQVSHFWLRQ $ QRQHPSOR\HH UHSUHVHQWDWLYH probably couldn’t be named if the employees have already designated WKHLU UHSUHVHQWDWLYH 7KH HPSOR\- ees’ selection can be done via an employee safety committee or an LQIRUPDOHPSOR\HHFRQVHQW Ɣ3URYLGH DQ\ GHVLJQDWHG HPSOR\HH UHSUHVHQWDWLYHVZLWK26+$+RXU RURWKHUHQKDQFHGVDIHW\WUDLQLQJ$ EDVLVIRU26+$¶VQHZJXLGDQFHLV that employee walkaround representatives may not be sophisticated enough to represent employee in- WHUHVWV GXULQJ WKH LQVSHFWLRQ 7R challenge this belief, the employer should offer to provide the em- SOR\HHUHSUHVHQWDWLYHVZLWK26+$ +RXU RU RWKHU HQKDQFHG VDIHW\ awareness training to ensure they are knowledgeable about health and safety issues to be able to meaning- IXOO\SDUWLFLSDWHLQWKHLQVSHFWLRQ Ɣ&KDOOHQJH WKH QRQHPSOR\HH¶V FUHGHQWLDOV 26+$ PD\ EHOLHYH that a non-employee representative may be able to better represent the employees’ interests because of his ______superior knowledge of health and ______VDIHW\ LVVXHV 7KXV WKH HPSOR\HU

September 2013 61

safety

instance, the employer can require HQJDJH\RXURZQH[SHUWWRSDUWLFL- UHTXLUHGWRJREHIRUHDMXGJHWRJHWD the non-employee individual to: pate in the walkaround. Consider ZDUUDQWZKLFKPD\FDXVH26+$WR ż6LJQ D GRFXPHQW LQGHPQLI\LQJ UHWDLQLQJDQH[SHUWZKRFDQIROORZ UHFRQVLGHULWVSRVLWLRQ$QHPSOR\HU WKHHPSOR\HUIRUDQ\LQMXU\WKDW VKRXOGFRQWDFWOHJDOFRXQVHOEHIRUH PD\ RFFXU LQ WKH IDFLOLW\ DQG WDNLQJWKLVDFWLRQWRGLVFXVVWKHULVNV ZDLYLQJ DQ\ SRWHQWLDO FODLPV Employers should be DQGEHQH¿WVRIWKLVVWUDWHJ\ DJDLQVWWKHHPSOR\HU prepared to confront a ż$JUHHWRSURYLGHDQGZHDUDOOUH- Conclusion quired personal protective equip- union representative or :LWKRXWTXHVWLRQ26+$¶VQHZLQ- PHQW 33( LQFOXGLQJUHVSLUDWR- activist at their terpretation potentially provides unions U\SURWHFWLRQDQGÀDPHUHWDUGDQW with unprecedented access to private FORWKLQJ front door. property and non-unionized employees. ż6LJQDFRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\DJUHHPHQW Thus, employers should be prepared SURKLELWLQJ WKH LQGLYLGXDO IURP WRFRQIURQWDXQLRQUHSUHVHQWDWLYHRU WDNLQJ DQ\ YLGHR IRRWDJH RU WKH QRQHPSOR\HH DQG FKDOOHQJH DFWLYLVWDWWKHLUIURQWGRRUZKHQWKH\ SKRWRJUDSKV ZLWKLQ WKH IDFLOLW\ any statements or observations he DFFRPSDQ\WKH26+$LQYHVWLJDWRUDQG DQG GLVFORVLQJ DQ\ LQIRUPD- makes VKRXOGKDYHDSODQWRFKDOOHQJHWKHQRQ WLRQ REWDLQHG GXULQJ WKH LQVSHF- භ6D\³QR´DQGUHTXLUH26+$WRREWDLQ HPSOR\HH¶VSDUWLFLSDWLRQRUWROLPLWWKH tion a warrant. Ultimately, an employer participation as much as possible. භParticipate in any orientation pro- DOZD\V KDV WKH ULJKW WR WHOO 26+$ JUDPVWKDWDUHUHTXLUHGRIDOOQRQ that it will allow a non-employee Mark A. Lies II is a partner in the Chicago of- employee visitors union representative or activist to ¿FHRIWKH6H\IDUWK6KDZODZ¿UP+LVHPDLO භ2EWDLQ\RXURZQH[SHUWIRUWKHLQ- SDUWLFLSDWHLQWKHLQVSHFWLRQRQO\LI address is [email protected] .HUU\ 0 0RKDQLVDQDVVRFLDWHZLWK6H\IDUWK6KDZ spection. One way to silence the 26+$ REWDLQV D ZDUUDQW UHTXLULQJ LQWKH&KLFDJRRI¿FH+LVHPDLODGGUHVVLV non-employee representative is to LW $W WKDW SRLQW 26+$ ZLOO EH [email protected]______.

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regulation Supreme Court Upholds Antenna-siting Shot Clock

,W¶VFDOOHGGHIHUHQFHDQGWKDQNVWRDUHFHQW6XSUHPH&RXUWUXOLQJ federal courts may have to extend more of it to U.S. regulatory agencies DIWHUDUXOLQJLQDFDVHLQYROYLQJWKHDQWHQQDVLWLQJVKRWFORFN

By Anthony B. Gioffre III, Andrew P. Schriever, Lucia Chiocchio and Ryan Tougias

In a case having potentially far-reaching UHVSRQVHWRDSHWLWLRQVHHNLQJFODUL¿FDWLRQ ZULWLQJIRUWKHPDMRULW\DQG¿QGLQJWKDWLQ implications for the level of deference of Section 704 of the TCA, which requires this instance, courts are required to defer that courts are to afford federal admin- a municipality to “act on any request to the FCC’s interpretation of a statutory istrative agencies charged with im- for authorization to place, construct, or ambiguity in the TCA. The opinion ap- plementing congressional legislation, modify personal wireless service facilities plied the now-canonical formula derived the United States Supreme Court re- within a reasonable period of time after from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural cently confirmed the FCC’s author- WKHUHTXHVWLVGXO\¿OHGZLWKVXFKJRY- Resources Defense Council, Inc., which ity to interpret the Telecommunications ernment or instrumentality.” [Emphasis set forth the criteria to be applied when a Act of 1996 (TCA), recognizing that added.] In its declaratory ruling, the FCC court reviews an agency’s construction of “[s]tatutory ambiguities will be resolved, interpreted this provision to hold that it a statute that the agency is charged with within the bounds of reasonable inter- is presumptively unreasonable when a DGPLQLVWHULQJ$FRXUWPXVW¿UVWORRNDW Ipretation, not by the courts but by the municipality exceeds 90 days in consid- ZKHWKHUWKHIHGHUDOVWDWXWHKDVVSRNHQWR administering agency.” (See Arlington the precise question at issue, in this case, v. FCC, 11-1545, slip op. at 5, 2013 WL the meaning of what constitutes a “reason- 2149789 [May 20, 2013]). Prior to this FCC ruling able period of time” under the TCA. If the In Arlington v. FCC, the Court af- statute is silent or ambiguous on the issue, ¿UPHGWKH)&&¶VDXWKRULW\WRLVVXHLWV [the antenna-siting shot as was the case here, the court reviewing Declaratory Ruling to Clarify Provisions clock], many wireless an agency’s interpretation must decide of Section 332(c)(7)(B) [see 24 F.C.C.R. whether the agency’s answer is based on @WKHVRFDOOHGVKRWFORFN facility-siting applicants a permissible construction of the statute. ruling whereby the FCC established guidelines for what constitutes a reason- H[SHULHQFHGLQGHÀQLWH Entitled to deference able time for municipalities to review and municipal review delays. The Supreme Court found that because act on wireless facility-siting applications. Congress delegated general authority to Prior to this FCC ruling, many wireless the FCC to administer the TCA through facility-siting applicants experienced ering a collocation application and 150 DGPLQLVWUDWLYHUXOHPDNLQJDQGDGMXGLFD- LQGH¿QLWHPXQLFLSDOUHYLHZGHOD\VDQG days in considering other wireless facility tion, Congress permitted the FCC to issue they asserted that such delays frustrated applications. WKHVKRWFORFNUXOLQJWRDGGUHVVWKHVWDWX- federal communications policy by thwart- Arlington resolved an inherent tension tory ambiguity and clarify exactly what ing the rapid development of wireless between a court’s authority to interpret constitutes “reasonableness,” and because infrastructure and the goal of providing acts of Congress and the authority vested the FCC stayed within the bounds of its wireless data access to all Americans. in an administrative agency charged with statutory authority, its interpretation of the 7KH)&&LVVXHGWKHVKRWFORFNUXOLQJLQ WKHVDPHWDVNZLWK-XVWLFH$QWRQLQ6FDOLD TCA was entitled to deference.

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Justice Scalia’s opinion lends strong carrier’s ability to enter a market where cate in the administrative and federal regu- support to the argument that in a case that market is already served by another. latory arena with a useful tool with which in which a court’s interpretation of an Under this approach, if Carrier A sought to resolve tensions arising between the ambiguous federal statute is at odds with to build a wireless facility, but Carrier B courts and administrative agencies when the interpretation of an administrative already served the targeted area, then a it comes to which body’s decision should agency charged with administering the municipality could deny Carrier A’s ap- be controlling, with the governing rule statute, the agency’s interpretation should plication because Carrier B already pro- now being that the agency’s interpretation control even if that means departing from vides service. In its declaratory ruling, the of an ambiguous federal statute, if made prior court precedent. )&&UHMHFWHGWKDWDSSURDFK¿QGLQJ³ZH within the scope of its authority, should be construe the statute to bar State and local given deference even if the interpretation District court authority authorities from prohibiting the provision is at odds with court precedent. In the By way of illustration, in addition to of services of individual carriers solely on short term, this approach may exacerbate WKH³UHDVRQDEOHQHVV´LVVXHWKHVKRWFORFN the basis of the presence of another carrier tensions between administrative agen- ruling also addressed a disagreement in the jurisdiction.” In light of Arlington, cies and courts that might be reluctant to among federal Courts of Appeals as to WRWKHH[WHQWDGLVWULFWFRXUW¿QGVLWVHOI depart from their own precedent. In the ³ZKHWKHUD6WDWHRUORFDOSROLF\WKDWGHQLHV FDXJKWEHWZHHQFRQÀLFWLQJLQWHUSUHWDWLRQV long term, Arlington’s clear mandate as personal wireless service facility siting ap- as between its governing circuit court and to when an agency’s interpretation should plications solely because of the presence the FCC, the Supreme Court now provides be controlling will lend itself to a more of another carrier should be treated as a a district court with authority (and one predictable, uniform approach across the siting regulation that prohibits or has the could argue a mandate) to treat the FCC’s federal circuits as courts apply and defer effect of prohibiting such services.” In interpretation as carrying the force of law, to lawfully issued agency interpretations other words, some jurisdictions have held as opposed to viewing the FCC’s decision of congressional legislation. For the that a municipality does not effectively as merely persuasive authority. telecommunications industry, the ruling prohibit the provision of personal wireless Arlington’s effect probably will be probably will result in greater certainty VHUYLFHVXQGHUWKH7&$E\GHQ\LQJRQH VLJQL¿FDQW7KHGHFLVLRQSUHVHQWVDQDGYR- in how federal courts as well as state

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September 2013 65

regulation

and local administrative agencies across IXO¿OOWKDWPDQGDWH infrastructure can be deployed in a timely the country will apply the TCA with due Arlington also provides the wireless manner. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), respect to the FCC’s binding interpreta- industry with another tool for use in the in support of Section 6409, explained tions. Because the FCC is charged with on-the-ground application process and that it “streamlines the process for sit- ensuring the rapid deployment of wireless implementation of Section 6409 of the ing of wireless facilities by pre-empting infrastructure to provide greater access to federal 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief the ability of State and local authorities all Americans, we can expect that courts and Job Creation Act for the expeditious to delay collocation of, removal of, and build-out of critical wireless replacement of wireless transmission Arlington gives advocates in the infrastructure. Section 6409(a) equipment.” His statement appears in the provides in part: “Notwithstand- Congressional Record for Feb. 24, 2012. administrative arena a powerful ing Section 704 of the Telecom- Although Section 6409 is intended to tool with which to persuade munications Act of 1996 or any promote the expeditious build out of wire- other provision of law, a state or less infrastructure, like most new federal municipalities, as well as courts local government may not deny laws, its intended effect has not yet been reviewing municipal decisions, to and shall approve any eligible realized in many communities. IDFLOLWLHVUHTXHVWIRUDPRGL¿- In addition to requiring many com- adhere to FCC and other cation of an existing wireless munities to revisit their local zoning and administrative agency tower or base station that does land use regulations for compliance with not substantially change the the federal law, Section 6409 created some interpretations. physical dimensions of such ambiguity among the industry and state tower or base station.” and local governments regarding its appli- and administrative agencies that will be Section 6409 effectively pre-empts the cation and interpretation. As the industry required to apply lawfully exercised FCC use of a discretionary approval process sought implementation of Section 6409 interpretations with the force of law will for modifications to existing, eligible for rapid infrastructure build out, many issue more and more decisions that help wireless facilities so that critical wireless questions arose about the meaning of the

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SKUDVH³ZLUHOHVVWRZHURUEDVHVWDWLRQ´ that constitutes part of a base station” as Arlington provides the industry with a le- DQGWKHGH¿QLWLRQRI³VXEVWDQWLDOFKDQJHV´ well as a distributed antenna system and gal framework to argue for the consistent to existing facilities. In some cases, the small cells. application of Section 6409 on the local result of these uncertainties undermined So, how can Arlington be a useful and state level as the industry seeks to the purpose of Section 6409 by delaying regulatory tool for the industry in apply- build out its infrastructure. administrative review of eligible facility ing Section 6409 and its intended effect In sum, Arlington gives advocates in requests while the applicant and munici- of promoting timely deployment of wire- the administrative arena a powerful tool pality debated the meaning of the terms less infrastructure? Simply put, Arlington with which to persuade municipalities, as in Section 6409. gives stronger weight to the FCC’s guid- well as courts reviewing municipal deci- In response to inquiries from the indus- ance in interpreting provisions of Sec- sions, to adhere to FCC and other admin- try and state and local governments about tion 6409 because the Supreme Court’s istrative agency interpretations. The effect these uncertainties, on Jan. 25, 2013, the reasoning can be used to resolve the will be to reduce, and in many cases elimi- FCC offered guidance on the interpreta- uncertainties and ambiguities of Section nate, legal wrangling over statutory con- tion of Section 6409 in a public notice, 6409 that may arise as it is implemented. struction issues that have been resolved ³:LUHOHVV7HOHFRPPXQLFDWLRQV%XUHDX When faced with questions about whether by the administrative agency and, for the Offers Guidance On Interpretation Of DSURSRVHGPRGL¿FDWLRQLVDQ³HOLJLEOH telecommunications industry, to promote Section 6409(a) Of The Middle Class Tax facilities request” afforded pre-emption greater uniformity in municipal decision- Relief And Job Creation Act Of 2012.” In from local discretionary review under making, furthering the federal goal of rap- this document, the FCC explained what Section 6409, applicants can point to the idly deploying wireless infrastructure. LWPHDQVWR³VXEVWDQWLDOO\FKDQJHWKH )&&JXLGDQFHGRFXPHQWIRUFODUL¿FDWLRQ physical dimensions” of a tower or base and use Arlington to support the decision Anthony B. Gioffre III, Andrew P. Schriever, VWDWLRQDQGGH¿QHG³ZLUHOHVVWRZHURU that a municipality is bound by the FCC’s Lucia Chiocchio and Ryan Tougias are EDVHVWDWLRQ´WRLQFOXGH³DVWUXFWXUHWKDW interpretation. Thus, similar to its effect PHPEHUVRIWKH&XGG\ )HGHUODZ¿UP¶V telecommunications department. They can currently supports or houses an antenna, in the litigation realm creating a more be reached at (914) 761-1300 or email transceiver or other associated equipment uniform approach across federal courts, [email protected].

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September 2013 67

engineering Site and Tower Information Modeling (STIM)

A quality-improving, cost-saving and value-creating solution for the telecom industry brings the advantages of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to site and tower information management.

Jiazhu Hu, Ph.D., P.E.

Tower owners and tenants face having a 10-year period. The turnaround time design and construction. It continues to pay for recurrent engineering studies for certain engineering services could during a facility’s operational life and during a tower’s lifetime. Many engi- be reduced from an industry average of eventual demolition. neering studies have redundancy that one to two weeks to as little as a couple Building information modeling is could be avoided through the use of a site of hours. transforming the way buildings are de- and tower information modeling-based signed, constructed and managed. Since solution. A site and tower information BIM and STIM the birth of the concept in the 1970s and model represents a tower’s physical The National Institute of Building particularly since Autodesk published and functional characteristics digitally. 6FLHQFHVGH¿QHVDEXLOGLQJLQIRUPDWLRQ the white paper “Building Information The use of a site and tower information model as a digital representation of the Modeling” in 2003, building informa- modeling-based solution could reduce physical and functional characteristics of tion modeling technology has gained Tengineering cost and speed the delivery a facility. Building information modeling momentum. It has changed conventional of antenna site and tower-related proj- (BIM) is a process that involves gener- design and construction and has begun to ects, much to the advantage of tower ating and managing such a model. The create a new standard for the industry. “A owners and those who rent antenna space building information model becomes a basic premise of BIM is collaboration by RQWKHLUWRZHUV$¿QDQFLDOVWXG\VKRZV shared knowledge resource to support different stakeholders at different phases that the savings on engineering spend- decision-making about a facility from of the life cycle of a facility to insert, ing would be more than 50 percent in the earliest conceptual stages through extract, update or modify information LQWKH%,0WRVXSSRUWDQGUHÀHFWWKH roles of that stakeholder,” said Dana K. “Deke” Smith, executive director of the BuildingSmart Alliance, a council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. The revolutionary building information modeling technology will improve TXDOLW\SURGXFWLYLW\FRVWHI¿FLHQF\DQG safety for the building construction industry. Because of the intrinsic similarity in most aspects of the engineering work — planning, design, construction and PDLQWHQDQFH²WKHVDPHEHQH¿WVWKDW building information technology brings to the building construction industry can be achieved in the telecommunica- Figure 1. A site and tower information model serves as a base for engineering decisions. tions industry. Instead of a building,

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the facility becomes the antenna site munications industry. then perform the new analysis. Retaining and the tower. Instead of the building Figure 2 shows a typical process the analysis model can save much effort information model, the model becomes of data communication for civil and in subsequent structural analyses. the site and tower information model. structural engineering service projects The analysis model of a tower is a The process that involves generating for antenna site and tower development great value to any company that needs and managing the model becomes site with a traditional solution. Look at the to perform tower structural analysis. and tower information modeling. The structural analysis project, for example, The more work there is to be done, the site and tower information model would to see problems related to the traditional greater the value of the tower analysis serve as a shared knowledge resource for solution. model. However, the fact is that a tower information about a site and tower, form- owner usually does not own the coming a reliable basis for decision-making STIM for engineering projects puter model of the tower, and for various during their life cycle from earliest Many companies use software in- reasons, engineering service vendors are conception to demolition (see Figure 1). stalled on stand-alone computers to not sharing the models and information. Well-developed site and tower infor- perform tower structural analysis. For So tower owners and carriers are wasting mation modeling software would serve the initial structural analysis, engineers money on re-creating an analysis model as an information center for all site-re- need to collect all the information from of the same tower when they select dif- lated and tower-related projects, includ- all kinds of documents. They have to ferent vendors to perform work on the ing site and tower design, construction download, copy and print the documents, tower during the course of its service and maintenance, along with wireless read and interpret the documents, manu- life. The more tenants on the tower and network design and deployment. The ally input the data to create the analysis the longer the tower stands, the higher following information examines typical model and then perform the analysis. For the number of engineering companies civil and structural engineering services subsequent analyses done by the same that will become involved and the more for site and tower development to show service vendor, engineers can pull out money tower owners and tenants will how the site and tower information mod- the previous saved analysis model, make waste on redundant engineering work. HOLQJFRQFHSWFRXOGEHQH¿WWKHWHOHFRP- QHFHVVDU\PRGL¿FDWLRQVWRWKHPRGHODQG The traditional solution for engi-

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September 2013 69

engineering

neering work is characterized by the paced market. The outdated interface PDWLRQPRGHOLQJEDVHGVROXWLRQLVFKDU XVHRISDSHUDQGHOHFWURQLF¿OHEDVHG of the software and tools for structural DFWHUL]HGE\GDWDEDVHEDVHGLQIRUPDWLRQ documentation and requires engineers to DQGORDGLQJGH¿QLWLRQDGGVLQDFFXUDF\ modeling. It starts with the concept of read and interpret data from documents and uncertainty to the tower structural creating a site and tower information with scattered site and tower engineering model, slows the process and reduces model associated with the asset for its information. The traditional solution has the quality of structural evaluation and lifetime regardless of any change of these disadvantages for managing the other engineering tasks. ownership, tenants or loading. Using site and tower information: These disadvantages could be avoid the latest information technology greatly Redundancy — The work of col ed using a site and tower information improves cooperation and collaboration lecting project information, reading and among stakeholders. With the shared interpreting the same data from the same information model, any authorized user documents for each round of service Using the latest can access the desired information and work by different service vendors is retrieve it from a single source. Accord repetitive. information technology ingly, any information updates made by Inconsistency — There can be greatly improves the user would be updated to the single ZLGHO\REVHUYHGTXDOLW\GHWHULRUDWLQJ source as well. Figure 3 summarizes the discrepancies among the various engi cooperation and process of the site and tower information neers’ interpretations of the same project collaboration among PRGHOLQJEDVHGVROXWLRQ information such as tower structural The repetitive work of reading and model and loading data, and geotechni stakeholders. interpreting the same data from the same cal information. documents would be mostly eliminated. Low efficiency — The repetitive The serial service work would see high nature of the work can cause lengthy PRGHOLQJEDVHGVROXWLRQWKDWLQWHJUDWHV consistency. The interface would be deliverable turnaround time, making the the latest engineering and information intuitive and straightforward so that WRZHUDVVHWOHVVFRPSHWLWLYHLQWKHIDVW technologies. The site and tower infor users with minimum knowledge of the

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Figure 2. The process of a traditional solution for engineering work.

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September 2013 71

engineering

discipline could perform certain tasks in services. high level of clarity the content and re- accordance with industry requirements Value creating — Site and tower liability of a site and tower information and standards. Because the site and assets with a site and tower information model for various design and construc- tower information modeling-based solu- modeling-based solution would have a tion purposes. tion would be on a platform with shared higher resale value and other competi- There are numerous differences be- information, the task execution and veri- tive advantages for tower space leasing. tween the telecommunications industry ¿FDWLRQSURFHVVZRXOGEHPXFKIDVWHU and the general building construction in- OHDGLQJWRHI¿FLHQWSURMHFWH[HFXWLRQDQG STIM software development dustry regarding facility components and delivery. A site and tower information The development of site and tower their attributes, design and construction modeling-based solution could provide information modeling-based software SURMHFWVDQGH[HFXWLRQSURFHVVHV6LWH flexibility for model update scenario would not be easy. To develop software and tower information modeling would evaluation for users to optimize designs for implementing the concept, the tele- have specific requirements not com- (see Figure 3). Altogether, this would monly seen in general building informa- be a value proposition for tower owners tion modeling. For example, antenna and tenants, not only reducing spend- Antenna sites and towers sites and towers need frequent, rigorous LQJEXWDOVRPDNLQJSURMHFWH[HFXWLRQ structural integrity checks because of easier and smoother. Here are some of need frequent, rigorous loading changes that occur when systems the advantages: structural integrity are upgraded. As more and more carriers Quality improving — There would collocate on one tower, the tower may be more consistency and accuracy for checks. undergo rounds of structural reinforce- engineering services through improved ment, including foundation strength information communication and col- enhancement. This type of situation is laboration. communications industry needs stan- not commonly considered in the building Cost savings — Tangible savings GDUGVDQGVSHFL¿FDWLRQVIRUSUDFWLWLRQHUV information modeling software, so the would be achieved on most engineering to use to specify and articulate with a general building information modeling

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Figure 3. The process of a STIM-based solution for engineering work.

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September 2013 73

engineering

Figure 4. The relationship between the site and tower information model and services.

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software could not be directly adapted to agement is a startup company that has engineers, wireless carriers, tower own- the telecommunications industry. been formed to develop a site and tower ers, industry leaders and others with an However, the rules and principles for information modeling-based solution interest in joining it for the venture. building information modeling software for telecommunications infrastructure development (BIM Handbook by Chuck development. The company works Jiazhu Hu, Ph.D., P.E., is the founder of Site Eastman, et al., 2011) could be referred with tower owners, original equipment and Tower Information Management. Jiazhu’s research and development focuses on engi- for site and tower information modeling manufacturers and wireless carriers in neering collaboration improvement. Among his software development. The site and tower an effort to provide a quality-improving, many technical articles is “A Study on Cover information model would be composed cost-saving and value-creating solution Plate Design and Monopole Strengthening Application,” Thin-Walled Structures (Vol. 49, of objects with intelligence in support of for the telecommunications industry. No. 9, 2011). His email address is______jiazhu.hu@ functional analysis in addition to graphic The company welcomes comments from siteandtower.com. visualization. The objects would be described with both physical and functional attributes. In consideration of site and tower information modeling and data exchange among different versions of site and tower information modeling soft- ZDUHFHUWDLQVWDQGDUGVDQGVSHFL¿FDWLRQV similar to building information modeling industry foundation classes need to be established to promote data interoperability. Studies show that inadequate interoperability among different versions of software for building information modeling DGGVVLJQL¿FDQWFRVWWRWKHEXLOGLQJFRQ- struction industry, which is a precaution

Certain standards and VSHFLÀFDWLRQVVLPLODU WREXLOGLQJLQIRUPDWLRQ PRGHOLQJLQGXVWU\ IRXQGDWLRQFODVVHVQHHG WREHHVWDEOLVKHG

for site and tower information modeling development in the telecommunications industry. Both building information modeling and site and tower information modeling are intended to facilitate collaboration among various industry stakeholders. Figure 4 shows the primary service tasks around the site and tower information model that could be saved in the cloud. Each disciplinary task has an Internet-based connection and interface to interact with the site and tower information model. Obviously, developing the site ______and tower information modeling system itself is a task that requires close collaboration among the stakeholders. Site and Tower Information Man-

September 2013 75

When you join the Wisconsin Wireless Association, you help to make a difference. Through donations to the General Federation of Women’s Club’s Wisconsin chapter, the Wisconsin Wireless Association helps to purchase pediatric jump bags for use by Wisconsin ambulances. Pediatric jump bags help to save the lives of small children because medical requirements for small children often differ from those of adults. The right equipment optimizes the care that the responding team is able to provide.

Wisconsin Wireless Association

Promoting awareness The Wisconsin Wireless Association helps to promote positive awareness about the wireless infrastructure industry by ACTIVITIES representing the industry at the Municipal Treasurers Association Annual Conference and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Sept. 19 AGL Wireless Infrastructure Annual Conference. Conference in Chicago The Wisconsin Wireless Association is participating in the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin’s development of a statewide Oct. 16 League of Wisconsin broadband plan, “Wisconsin’s Playbook for Broadband Progress.” Municipalities in Green Bay

Dec. 5 Holly Jolly Trolley Tour W Fundraiser in Milwaukee W A Wisconsin Wireless Association

A public service ad from AGL wisconsinwireless.org Photo courtesy of R&B Fabrications

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september 2013 vol. 1, no. 3 contents DAS and Small Cells Magazine

on the cover Shopping malls offer big opportunities for neutral-host DAS and for Wi-Fi systems installations. Cover design by Scott Dolash

DAS and Small Cells Magazine is published four times a year by Biby Publishing LLC, P.O. Box 2090, Ashburn, VA 20146-2090, and is distributed for free to qualiﬁ ed individuals. Features

POSTMASTER: Send address change to AGL 05 Small Cells Enable Enterprise-level BYOD/X Circulation Department, 28591 Craig Ave., By Ernest Worthman Menifee, CA 92584. 12 How Spectrum Conditioning Beneﬁ ts DAS Network Design By Bill Myers and Ted Myers Interested in advertising in DAS and Small Cells Magazine, in AGL magazine, AGL’s website or 16 Uniﬁ ed Communications’ Connection to Small Cells e-newsletters, or sponsoring AGL’s Regional By Ernest Worthman Conference? Visit www.agl-mag.com/advertise for information. Department 46 Editorial Comment: Soon — It’s All IT By Ernest Worthman

advertiser index

Huber+Suhner ...... 19 Tessco ...... 5 Larson Camouﬂ age ...... 11 U.S. Dept. of Transportation ...... 15 OSHA...... 21 U.S. Forest Service ...... 21 Solid...... 9 Wireless History Foundation...... 22 — back cover Stealth ...... 2 — inside front cover

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 79-3

editorial comment Soon — It’s All IT

Small cells supported by distributed sion of huge amounts of data has been www.agl-mag.com antenna system (DAS) networks will the motivation behind technology in- KDYHDWUHPHQGRXVLQÀXHQFHRQZLUH- novation for some time now, but what less voice and data networks of the 21st will change is that the same network ,QIUDVWUXFWXUHUHJXODWRU\DQG¿QDQFLDO information for the antenna-siting community century. Research that built for data will be called upon to deals with that market FDUU\YRLFHWUDI¿FWRRLQWKHIRUPRI PUBLISHER/CEO Richard P. Biby, P.E. segment reports that voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). (540) 338-4363; [email protected] small cells will carry Eventually, analog voice and cellular EXEC. EDITOR/ASSOC. PUBLISHER upward of 70 percent digital packet data (CDPD) on licensed Don Bishop all wireless network carrier networks will fade. Carriers and (913) 322-4569; [email protected] WUDI¿F±ERWKGLJLWL]HG WKHLUWUDGLWLRQDOWUDI¿FDUHQ¶WJRLQJWKH EDITOR voice and normal data. way of the dinosaur yet — they still rule Ernest Worthman I generally find that the licensed macro infrastructure — but (303) 290-9700; [email protected] number believable. VoIP will become the voice component ART DIRECTOR Because much of used in small cells, and unlicensed Wi-Fi Scott Dolash (913) 961-7501; [email protected] this is still in either will become the small-cell information development, beta test or simply on the transmission medium for VoIP and data. ADVERTISING MANAGERS Mercy Contreras drawing board and because technol- Macro networks will become the (303) 988-3515; [email protected] ogy develops so quickly, there is room transport medium for data sent between Phil Cook (951) 301-5769; [email protected] for prognostic error. There is no doubt small networks and what remains of the Mary Carlile in my mind what is going to happen. global voice infrastructure. No matter (485) 453-8126; [email protected] There is some doubt as to when and what compression schemes may be CIRCULATION MANAGER exactly what it will look like in 2020. GHYHORSHGPDFURQHWZRUNVGRQ¶WKDYH (951) 301-5769; [email protected] 7KHUROORXWWLPHWDEOH¿QDOSURGXFWDQG the bandwidth to handle the impending CORPORATE OFFICE predicted revenue will differ from what data tsunami that the next few years will Biby Publishing, LLC P.O. Box 2090 is predicted, but small cells will be the bring, and small cells do. Ashburn, VA 20146-2090 core infrastructure of the next wireless (540) 338-4363

platform. Steep ramp-up angle PRESS RELEASES and The potential revenue for small-cell Small-cell opportunities will rival ADVERTISING MATERIALS technology, fueled by the bring-your- those of the early days of cellular, but [email protected] own-device (BYOD), bring-your- with a much steeper ramp-up angle and a STATE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION own-anything (BYOX) and unified much smaller window of opportunity for NEWS Send updates about state wireless association communications (UC) deployments, is getting a piece of the pie. Once BYOD/X meetings, golf tournaments, fundraisers and in the multiple tens if not hundreds of and UC gain traction, the small-cell other events to: [email protected] billions of dollars. The revenue is fore- revolution will spread everywhere. This ______casted to start in the next couple of years. WLPHWKHZLUHOHVVLQGXVWU\ZRQ¶WEHWKH SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: DAS and Small Cells Magazine is distributed OHDGHUDOWKRXJKLWZLOOEHDVLJQL¿FDQW HOHFWURQLFDOO\IRUIUHHWRTXDOL¿HGSHUVRQVLQ Targeting resources player. Why? Because wireless technol- the distributed antenna system industry, to state DQGORFDOJRYHUQPHQWRI¿FLDOVDQGHQWHUSULVH How do you position yourself to best ogy is mature. Whether it is in small cells executives, managers and others who use DAS. FDSLWDOL]HRQ\RXUH[SHUWLVH":KHUHGR or macro cells, the wireless technology Copies also are included inside AGLPDJD]LQH \RXKDYHWRH[SDQG\RXUKRUL]RQVWR is the same. It is just a matter of scal- To subscribe online, go to: PDNHVXUH\RXDUHLQWKHEXOO¶VH\HRI ing the technology and integrating data www.agl-mag.com/signup the technology? Where do you target platforms, mainly Wi-Fi. To subscribe by mail: \RXUUHVRXUFHVWRPD[LPL]HUHWXUQRQ This time the leaders will be en- DAS and Small Cells Magazine investment (ROI)? terprise IT experts who will be asked Circulation Department 28591 Craig Ave. Small cells will present an antipodal to implement and manage both the Menifee, CA 92584 metric — data, rather than voice, which RF segment and the communications COPYRIGHT ©2013 Biby Publishing, LLC LVWKHPDFURQHWZRUN¶VEUDVVULQJZLOO network. Members of the IT team ALL RIGHTS RESERVED reign. The need to support the transmis- will be the ones getting their hands dirty, and wireless will be asked to ™ By Ernest Worthman, Editor provide the hardware and make the

[email protected] GHSOR\PHQW$IWHUWKDWLW¶VDOO,7Q

80-4 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

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bring your own device Small Cells Enable Enterprise-level BYOD/X Platform neutrality will enable the mobile workforce of the future. Mobile devices and Wi-Fi hotspots will arm the future workforce. Small-cell technologies will play a big role in this workspace realignment.

By Ernest Worthman

Forward-thinking orga- “Bring your own device” refers to Remote work reduces or eliminates com- nizations improve em- employee-owned communications hard- PXWLQJRI¿FHVRFLDOL]LQJDQGSHHULQWHU- ployee productivity by ware. It can be anything, a simple big- action. When left to their own preferred arming workers with button cell phone for visually impaired devices and settings, mobile workers can smartphones, tablets and workers, a basic 2G voice/text device, be much more productive. The operative F other portable devices the latest and greatest tablet PC or any- word here is “can,” because the remote used according to well- thing in between. The nightmare for IT sites are beyond the organization’s con- managed connectivity plans. This should is how to manage and support all of the trol. It is left to the worker to make the come as no surprise to information tech- platforms and software such as GSM, most of such liberties. The job has to get nology (IT) departments and wireless CDMA, CDPD, multiple computer/ done, and results make the difference. If systems providers, whether licensed or tablet operating systems, Wi-Fi, 3/4G, results don’t support employees working unlicensed. The untethered workplace LTE, public safety and WLANs that the remotely under BYOX policies, then KRUVHOHIWWKHJDWHZKHQWKH¿UVWFHOO deep well of hardware requires. employers revisit traditional options. phone was offered for sale in 1983. IT departments also must consider The largest BYOX problem is con- According to a 2013 report released document and application collaboration. trol, exacerbated by worker attempts to by iPass, 70 percent of all employees Enterprise applications will need to be ¿QGHDVLHUDQGPRUHFRQYHQLHQWZD\V worldwide are under some sort of bring DJLOHDQGÀH[LEOHWRDOORZZRUNHUVWR of doing their jobs. Finding new docu- your own device (BYOD) policy at move work among devices and groups. PHQWFROODERUDWLRQDSSOLFDWLRQVÀH[LEOH their workplace. Seven out of 10 work- Application collaboration was fairly easy enough to move work among devices ers are empowered with mobile access to administer when the application plat- DQGJURXSVLVHYHQPRUHGLI¿FXOWZLWK to their job functions and can use their form was uniform. Now collaboration in- BYOX. IT departments must find a GHYLFHVZLWKHTXDOHI¿FLHQF\LQDQGRXW volves managing applications written for sweet spot between meeting the needs of the workplace. By all indications, different operating systems — Windows, and requirements of the consumerized the trend shows no sign of abating and Mac and Android currently — and any employee and having the worker out of the norm may well be that a workplace new platforms, applications and devices. sight and perhaps beyond the control of will be wherever and whenever the IT, while nevertheless keeping corporate worker wants it — and the employer BYOX data secure.The answer for enterprise supports it. With “bring your own anything,” mobility management (EMM) involves Soon, BYOD will be BYOX (bring mobile workers will push the envelope mobile device management (MDM) your own anything). Although BYOX to make their jobs easier and more strategies, which in turn require poli- is still only a concept, savvy IT and convenient. Workers using devices and FLHVWKDWWDNHDGYDQWDJHRIWKHVSHFL¿F wireless frontrunners should be bracing applications with which they are com- capabilities of smartphones and tablets themselves for problems that BYOX fortable and working from nontraditional for using applications. EMM suppliers will bring. locations show increased productivity. will need to understand the demands

82-6 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

MNO

INTERNET

ENTERPRISE FEMTOCELL

BROADBAND ROUTER

The enterprise BYOD/X small cell takes internetworking to the next level by integrating user-owned devices within the cell. BYOD/X LPSURYHVSURGXFWLYLW\E\JLYLQJZRUNHUVWKHFRPIRUWRIXVLQJWKHLURZQGHYLFHV0HDQZKLOHWKHVPDOOFHOOLQFUHDVHVWKHHI¿FLHQF\ of the communication and ties it to the macro network.

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 83-7

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DQGRIIHUDÀH[LEOHPHQXRIRIIHULQJV WKHZLGHVWUDQJHRIDSSOLFDWLRQVDQG WUDQVLWLRQWR%<2';ZLOOEHDELWRID DFFRUGLQJO\7KHVHQHZIURQWLHUVZLOO %<2';GHYLFHV,7GHSDUWPHQWVZLOO UXGHDZDNHQLQJIRU,7DQGSDLQIXOIRU KDYHWRHQFRPSDVVFXUUHQWDQGIXWXUH EHFRPHPRUHOLNHEURNHUVRIWHFKQRORJ\ VRPH$VWDWLVWLFIURPWKHL3DVVUHSRUWLV PRELOHGHYLFHV WKDQNHHSHUVGHYHORSHUVRUFRQWUROOHUV WKDWSHUFHQWRIDOOUHVSRQGHQWVVDLGD RIWHFKQRORJ\7KHLUUHVSRQVLELOLW\ZLOO FRPSDQ\¶V%<2'SROLF\FDQVZD\WKHLU Follow the money EHWRXQGHUVWDQGWKHWHFKQRORJ\DQG HPSOR\PHQWFKRLFHV,IDQRUJDQL]DWLRQ $OWKRXJKLWPD\VHHPWKDW%<2'; GHSOR\LWLQZD\VWKDWEHQH¿WWKHZRUN- KHVLWDWHVWRPRYHLQWRWKH%<2'VSDFH RIIHUVQRZLQIRUWKH,7GHSDUWPHQWWKHUH HUVDQGWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQ)RUWXQDWHO\IRU LWFRXOGSRWHQWLDOO\ULVNGHSOHWLQJLWV LVDUHDVRQ,7VSHFLDOLVWVZRQ¶WKDYH ,7GHSDUWPHQWVYHQGRUDQGLQKRXVH WDOHQWSRRO WRORFNWKHLUGRRUVZKLOHH[DVSHUDWHG UHVRXUFHVFDQEULQJWKHPXSWRVSHHG ZRUNHUVDUHWU\LQJWRUXQWKHPRXWRI $ORQJWKHZD\,7FRQWURORIZKDWWKH The path to BYOD WRZQRQDUDLO'HYLFHDQGDSSOLFDWLRQ ZRUNHUXVHVZKDWLWZLOOEHXVHGRQDQG %<2' FDQQRW EH LPSOHPHQWHG FRPSDWLELOLW\ZLOOFRPH+DUGZDUHDQG ZKHUHLWZLOOEHXVHGZLOOORRVHQIDLUO\ ZLOO\QLOO\2UJDQL]DWLRQVPXVWIROORZ VRIWZDUHGHYHORSHUVNQRZWKDWWKH\ TXLFNO\,7KDVEHHQEOHVVHGRUFXUVHG DVWUDWHJLFLQLWLDWLYH7KH\FDQQRWUHO\ KDYHWRIROORZWKHPRQH\DQGWRGD\¶V ZLWKWKHMRERIPDNLQJWHFKQRORJ\ZRUN RQGHDOLQJZLWKSUREOHPVDVWKH\DULVH PRQH\LVRQ%<2';DQGLQWHURSHU- UHOLDEO\,7VSHFLDOLVWVDUHDWWKHERWWRP )RUHQWHUSULVH,7D%<2'SURJUDPKDV DELOLW\&RPSDWLELOLW\ZLOOEHFRPHOHVV RIWKHIXQQHOZKHQVRPHWKLQJGRHVQ¶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¶W7KH 7KHQXPEHUVLQGLFDWHWKHSHUFHQWDJHRI

Figure 1. The results of a poll taken of some enterprises that are on the BYOD path indicate the percentage of respondents who see the value in BYOD for improving productivity and reducing an organization’s expenses for hardware and IT support.

84-8 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

respondents who see the value in BYOD all stakeholders to obtain inputs and considered. During this step, employee for improving productivity and reducing opinions that will shape the program. access protocols and related risks to each an organization’s expenses for hardware Examples of stakeholders include group are determined. Most organiza- and IT support. the human resources (HR) department, tions have departments and functions 7KH¿UVWVWHSLVWRFKRRVHD%<2' the IT department itself, employees and ZLWKSRWHQWLDOFRQÀLFWVRILQWHUHVW)RU strategy. In taking this step, the orga- their representatives, attorneys and the example, a company that sells high- nization conducts a high-level assess- ¿QDQFHGHSDUWPHQW+5KDQGOHVWHUPV tech devices would have proprietary ment of the ultimate goal and potential of employment, employment contracts technologies. The sales force would roadblocks. The assessment defines and the company’s rights to its data want to have all the tools they can get goals and timetables and how universal when employment terms change or end. their hands on. Meanwhile, the research the organization’s BYOD capabilities IT handles application delivery, deploy- and development department would be should be. It crafts responses, solutions ment and support. Employees may have cautious about giving access to sensi- and workarounds to the roadblocks. The representatives such as unions that exam- WLYHFRQ¿GHQWLDOGDWDWKDWLILWZHUHWR ¿UVWVWHSGH¿QHVWKHVWDNHKROGHUVDQG ine employee BYOD equipment rights. fall into the hands of competitors, could the effect the BYOD strategy will have Lawyers analyze and draft contracts. The harm the company. Thus, during the sec- on them. finance department handles accounts ond step, security layers are determined Meanwhile, stakeholders will have receivable, accounts payable, payroll and DQGGH¿QHG an effect on BYOD, too. In the long other accounting functions. Third-party The third step addresses planning and run, stakeholders and employees will enterprise architects and contractors may implementation. During this step, tools KDYHWKHPRVWVLJQL¿FDQWHIIHFWRQWKH be involved. The organization receives and technologies are selected. Infrastruc- chosen platform because it must work HPSOR\HHIHHGEDFNGXULQJWKH¿UVWVWHS ture hardware, applications and wireless for them, not the organization. Problems In the second step, the organization components on all levels are analyzed, range from technical to strategic, ad- is segmented into however many groups chosen and integrated. The third step lays PLQLVWUDWLYH¿QDQFLDODQGOHJDO%<2' are required. The needs of each group out the process and procedures to install strategists should identify and contact are analyzed and potential solutions are WKHLQIUDVWUXFWXUH,WGH¿QHVQHWZRUNLQJ

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SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 85-9

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strategy and the applications that will run 7KHUHLVDOZD\VFRQFHUQDERXWWKH EUHDFKLVIULHQGVDQGIDPLO\DQGVRFLDO across the enterprise. Another function of GDWDRXWVLGHRIWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQ2YHU QHWZRUNLQJ$OWKRXJKPRVWRIXVKDYH this step is to address the internetworking WKH\HDUVRUJDQL]DWLRQVKDYHIRXQGLW OLWWOHWRIHDUIURPOHDYLQJGHYLFHVXQDW protocols and application management, much more secure to keep the data on tended in our social circles, a small GH¿QLQJZKRKDVFRQWURORIZKDWIURP WKHLUVHUYHUV7KLVNHHSVHPSOR\HHV percentage of people we know may take hardware to application access. ZRUNLQJLQ,7FRQWUROOHGVSDFHYHUVXV DGYDQWDJHRIXV 1H[WFRPH¿HOGWULDOVRQDEHWDOHYHO downloading data, modifying it and 7KHJUHDWHQDEOHUIRU%<2'SUROLI DW¿UVWZLWKWKHORZHVWULVNJURXSVDSSOL uploading it. That control will extend HUDWLRQLVVPDOOFHOOWHFKQRORJ\&RQ FDWLRQVDQGKDUGZDUH7HVWLQJXQFRYHUV to BYOD. VXPHUH[SHULHQFHZLWK:L)LVLWHVOHDGV KRZZHOOWKH%<2'GHYLFHVIXQFWLRQ $QH[DPSOHRIDQRXWVLGHLQYHFWRU workers to expect the same in the work with the organization’s infrastructure, and ZRXOGEHDVHFXULW\KROHIURPDQH[ SODFH(QDEOLQJDVXFFHVVIXO%<2' LWUHYHDOVDQGGRFXPHQWVEXJVVHFXULW\ ternal site that downloads and installs user experience in the workplace re LVVXHVDQGURDGEORFNVZKHWKHUH[SHFWHG PDOZDUHRUYLUXVHV2Q$QGURLGEDVHG TXLUHVVRIWKDQGRIIVDQGVHOIRUJDQL]LQJ RUXQH[SHFWHG2QHWKLQJ¿HOGWULDOVPXVW VPDUWSKRQHVDQGWDEOHWVWKLVSUREOHP QHWZRUNVGULYHQE\ORQJWHUPHYROXWLRQ accomplish is to implement a compre LVEHFRPLQJDODUPLQJEHFDXVHWKH$Q (LTE) communications technology. KHQVLYHDFFXUDWHDQGFRPSOHWHGRFX droid application market has exploded. 7KHVHWHFKQRORJLHVZLOOEHLPSOHPHQWHG mentation system. If only one potential By some estimates, there are nearly a in the form of heterogeneous networks. SUREOHPLVLJQRUHGEXWLWWXUQVRXWWREH KDOIPLOOLRQDSSVIRU$QGURLGEDVHG )RUDGULOOGRZQRQKHWQHWVVHHWKH-XQH important, the result of a full roll out can KDUGZDUH7KHELJVHFXULW\KROHZLWK issue of DAS and Small Cells Magazine. EHFDWDVWURSKLF2QFHWKH¿HOGWULDOVDUH Android is that apps are not screened, FRPSOHWHGDQGLIHYHU\WKLQJJRHVZHOO compared with Apple, which does IT department options the doors are opened and the system is VFUHHQVXEPLWWHGDSSV$Q\ERG\FDQRI To manage the wireless infrastruc up and running. IHUDQ$QGURLGDSS(YHQVRWKHPDMRU WXUHWKH,7GHSDUWPHQWKDVDQXPEHU ,IDOOZRUNVZHOODQGDQ\EXJV LW\RIVHFXULW\EUHDFKHVDUHPDGHXVLQJ RIRSWLRQV7KHGHSDUWPHQWPD\KDYH IRXQGFDQEHUHVROYHGWKHQWKHV\VWHP GXDOXVH:LQGRZVEDVHGQHWQRWHERRNV UHVSRQVLELOLW\IRUWKHHQWLUHLQIUDVWUXF LVFORVHO\PDQDJHGE\WKHDVVLJQHG and laptops. The reason is the same as WXUHRULWPD\KDYHUHVSRQVLELOLW\RQO\ department, which is almost always IRUQRQ%<2'GHYLFHV²XVHUVWHQG IRUWKH:L)LVHJPHQW7KHZLUHOHVV ,7,WLVDJRRGLGHDWRKDYHDUHDOWLPH WREHOD[LQVHFXULW\YLJLODQFHEHOLHY telecommunications carriers such as IHHGEDFNSURJUDPVRSUREOHPVFDQEH LQJWKHGHYLFHKDVEXLOWLQVHFXULW\)RU $7 70RELOLW\DQG9HUL]RQ:LUH immediately addressed. WKHDYHUDJHZRUNHUVLPLODUWKLQNLQJ OHVVPD\PDQDJHDQGEHUHVSRQVLEOH SUHYDLOVZLWK%<2'GHYLFHV for the wireless interface. IT may or BYOD and organizational security To try to get a handle on security, PD\QRWEHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUWKHVHUYLFH ,QDUHFHQWSROORIVHQLRUOHYHO,7 BYOD strategies use security policies nodes, depending on the architecture H[HFXWLYHVQHDUO\SHUFHQWH[SUHVVHG that address potential risks with mul and preferences. If IT is to handle the FRQFHUQVWKDW%<2'GHYLFHVFDQFUHDWH tiple layers of security software that VHUYLFHQRGHVWKHQH[SHUWLVHLQFDUULHU DVLJQL¿FDQWVHFXULW\ULVNIRUWKHRUJDQL KDYHWREHEHWZHHQWKH%<2'GHYLFH architecture is necessary. If IT doesn’t zation’s data, policies and procedures, DQGWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQ¶VGDWD7REHHI ZDQWWREHWKHSRLQWJURXSIRUHYHU\ VRPHRIZKLFKDUHEH\RQGWKHLUFRQWURO IHFWLYHSROLFLHVKDYHWREHIROORZHG WKLQJWKHQWKHPRELOHQHWZRUNRSHUD 7ZRYHFWRUVIRUPSRWHQWLDOVHFXULW\ ,QPRVWFDVHVZRUNHUVDUHUHTXLUHGWR WRU¶VHQWHUSULVHPRELOLW\PDQDJHPHQW ULVNVLQVLGHRXWDQGRXWVLGHLQ$W\SL install policy software or apps on their FDQEHHQOLVWHGWRKDQGOHWKHOLFHQVHG FDOLQVLGHRXWVFHQDULRLVRQHLQZKLFK GHYLFHVDQGWKHQ,7FDQPRQLWRUWKH segment and interface. In the end, in all WKHGHYLFHLVORVWRUVWROHQ7KLVLV,7¶V %<2'LQDQXPEHURIZD\V$OWKRXJK EXWWKHODUJHVWRIRUJDQL]DWLRQV,7ZLOO ZRUVWQLJKWPDUHEHFDXVHWKHGHYLFHLV WKHPRYHWRKDYHDQXQUHVWULFWHG%<2' EHFRPHPRUHRIDEURNHURIVHUYLFHV EH\RQGDQ\RQH¶VFRQWURO$VLPLODUEXW HQYLURQPHQWLVWHPSWLQJIURPWKHZRUN WKDQDPDVWHURIWKHP7KDWZLOOEHWKH QRWVRGHYDVWDWLQJVFHQDULRLVRQHLQ HUV¶VLGHWKHUHZLOODOZD\VEHFHUWDLQ EHVWZD\WRPDQDJHFRVWVSODWIRUPV which employment terminates under policies and procedures that employees and technologies, and will optimize the KRVWLOHFRQGLWLRQVDQGDQH[HPSOR\HH ZLOOEHUHTXLUHGWRIROORZZKHQZRUN YDOXHSURSRVLWLRQRI%<2'RZQHUVKLS DWWHPSWVWRXVHDGHYLFHLQDKDUPIXO ing with BYODs. Mature workers tend +RZHYHULWSOD\VRXWVPDOOFHOO PDQQHURUWKHGHYLFHFRQWDLQVFRPSDQ\ WREHPRUHFRRSHUDWLYHDERXWDGKHULQJ VROXWLRQVZLOOEHFRPHWKHEDFNERQHRI intellectual property. When IT still to BYOD policies. Younger, especially WKH%<2'FDPSXVEHFDXVHWKH\RIÀRDG FRQWUROVDFRPSURPLVHGGHYLFH,7FDQ *HQ<ZRUNHUVDUHODUJHO\GLVPLVVLYHRI WUDI¿FWRXQOLFHQVHG:L)LQHWZRUNVDQG LPPHGLDWHO\EORFNDFFHVVWRFRPSDQ\ such restraints. A report from Workforce strategically placed small cells, and they GDWDDQGNLOOWKHGHYLFHEHFDXVHJHQHU LQGLFDWHVWKDWPRUHWKDQSHUFHQWRI DUHVFDODEOH:L)LKDVVRPHSUREOHPV DOO\DOOVPDUWGHYLFHFRQQHFWLRQVXVH *HQ

86-10 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

it will be problematic to replace it with will see networks and small cells with of the technology means that there is some yet-unknown solution. Wi-Fi is higher levels of RF congestion than it no common BYOD platform for hard- universally implemented and accepted, would in macro cell environments. It ware OEMs, software developers, IT, and it is well understood by the user isn’t unreasonable to expect up to a workers and organizations. That causes and the provider. Although it is likely dozen or more handovers per minute in problems for corporate executives be- that other Wi-Fi-type technologies will multistory, multiple-building campuses. cause BYOD’s momentum slams up develop and become part of the infra- Thus, both the devices and the small- against the lack of standard platforms. structure, in the near future, Wi-Fi is cell infrastructure must rely on hetnets The existence of so many untried and the only realistic solution available that to manage the intelligence that handles untested offerings has corporate execu- ZRUNVIRURIÀRDGLQJDQGURXWLQJORFDO the hardware and software platforms tives on a slow, cautious adoption path. data. It is the only realistic solution that to support self-organizing and multi- Nevertheless, the BYOD movement FDQRIIHUVXI¿FLHQWFDSDFLW\WRKDQGOH access 3G, Wi-Fi and LTE/4G small has traction. It is an unstoppable behe- all of the devices while allowing work- cells using the enterprise-Ethernet local moth. Organizations have little choice ers to roam within the enterprise just as area network as a managed service. This but to embrace BYOD — it’s a matter they do outside of it. hardware will then connect backhaul of when, not if. The fact that technol- and macro-cell networks to the mobile ogy is an unforgiving teacher and has 7KHVXSSRUWLQIUDVWUXFWXUHÀ\RYHU network operator’s core network. dished some unforgiving lessons is not The underlying technology that lost on corporate executives. They have will enable intelligent networking will Conclusion learned that some of these lessons, and be hetnets. Indoor RF environments With a moving target such as the go-slow mentality on the platform become increasingly complex and chal- BYOD/X and with little real-world side of BYOD will, inadvertently, be lenging as the density of the deployment experience on which to rely, it is dif- EHQH¿FLDO,WPHDQVWKDWZKHQ%<2' increases. In multistory buildings where ¿FXOWWRSUHGLFWZKDWWKHODQGVFDSHIRU is finally rolled out ubiquitously, it mobile devices experience a three- enterprise mobility management will will be a solid platform that will re- dimensional RF environment, BYOD look like in 10 years. The immaturity GH¿QHKRZWKHZRUOGZRUNVQ

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SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 87-11

spectrum conditioning How Spectrum Conditioning Benefits DAS Network Design Indoor and outdoor distributed antenna systems can recover lost FDSDFLW\WRFDUU\PRUHWUDI¿FLPSURYHVSHFWUXPXVHDQGGHOLYHU improved performance with spectrum conditioning.

By Bill Myers and Ted Myers

The air interface is be- the influence of the near-far effect a much larger geographical area. coming more polluted and co-channel interferers. All types Neutral host versus private opera- with random, unpre- RIV\VWHPVFDQEHQH¿WIURPVSHFWUXP tor: A neutral-host DAS network pro- dictable interference on conditioning, including neutral-host, vides coverage within its domain to all a daily basis, and dis- private, over-the-air donor, dedicated service providers in the supported fre- T tributed antenna system eNode B, node B and base transceiver quency bands, regardless of air interface (DAS) operational qual- VWDWLRQ¿EHUIHGVSHFLDOYHQXHV\VWHPV or operator. A private operator network ities make them especially vulnerable. indoors or outdoors. is implemented by a single operator to To overcome the challenges of depleted provide service to its customers over its radio-frequency spectrum, operators are The DAS dichotomy own network and does not support other packing more carriers into their existing Wireless network operators are chal- types of connections. licensed spectrum, squeezing the guard OHQJHGWR¿QGWKHPRVWFRVWHIIHFWLYH Active versus passive: Active bands between carriers to their limits. way to provide continuous service as QHWZRUNVXVHUHSHDWHUDPSOL¿HUVWRUH- Although the idea of a DAS is to pro- callers move indoors. Many technolo- broadcast the carried signals through the YLGHVSHFL¿FFRYHUDJHDQGFDSDFLW\WRD gies provide indoor coverage, such as DAS. Passive networks are simpler, us- GH¿QHGDUHDGRLQJVRPHDQVGHSOR\LQJ overbuilt macro networks, over-the-air ing only cabling, splitters and antennas more antennas than traditional systems repeaters, DAS, microcells, picocells to distribute the signal to the antennas use. That means more antennas to pick DQGIHPWRFHOOV'$6ÀH[LEO\LQWHJUDWHV of the DAS. up interference that can impede network VSHFL¿FLQGRRUFRYHUDJHZLWKEURDGHU 7KHVH'$6FRQ¿JXUDWLRQVYDU\LQ performance. By actively conditioning wireless networks. design but all bring multiple antennas the physical layer of the DAS, opera- Indoor DAS types include active or LQWRDVSHFL¿FDUHDWRSURYLGHFRYHUDJH tors can prevent RF problems and use passive, neutral-host or private, over- that would not be practical with a macro spectrum to maximum effect, ensuring the-air or dedicated enodeB/nodeB/ solution. customers the best quality of service. BTS equipment either local to the The following information details DAS deployment or in a BTS hotel. The bad with the good DAS architectures and offers an ex- Figure 1 illustrates the complexity of The good — Indoor DAS systems ample to explain how spectrum con- '$6FRQ¿JXUDWLRQVDQGOHDGVWRWKH provide a high level of coverage and ditioning improves network reliability type of system. service to the “great indoors” without and performance by improving handset Indoor versus outdoor: Indoor suffering the building penetration losses battery life and network capacity. networks are typically deployed in that affect macro wireless networks KLJKWUDI¿FEXLOGLQJVVXFKDVDLUSRUWVRU with outdoor transceiver equipment. Spectrum conditioning convention centers, with remote anten- However, the indoor DAS system has 'LJLWDOVLJQDOSURFHVVLQJLGHQWL¿HV QDVFRQQHFWHGYLD¿EHUWRDFHQWUDOKXE to contend with the interior environ- and minimizes unwanted adjacent- 2XWGRRUQHWZRUNVVLPLODUO\XVH¿EHUWR PHQWDOIDFWRUVVXFKDVZDOOÀRRUDQG channel RF in the network’s air in- connect the system of antennas back to ceiling types and makeup, partitions, terface, or physical layer. It reduces a central hub, but typically must cover furniture and various types of interior

88-12 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

effect and co-channel interference. The problems caused by any of these phenomena degrade performance in DAS NETWORK SYSTEMS numerous ways, including a reduction LQFDUULHGWUDI¿FDQLQFUHDVHLQGURSSHG calls, lower data transfer rates, reduced coverage areas and reduced handset battery life. INDOOR OR Interference in DAS networks OUTDOOR In an ideal world, there would be no competing wireless service providers INDOOROUTDOOR operating in adjacent frequency bands. There would be no near-far effect because all carriers would use the same SAME DECISIONS air interface, and power control would AS INDOOR behave in the same way for all users NEUTRAL being served by a single cell site. If HOST OR there were competitors, they would all PRIVATE be operating with the same air interface OPERATOR with cell sites at the same distance as yours with ample guard bands separat- NEUTRAL HOST PRIVATE OPERATOR ing carriers. In the ideal world, there also would be no random co-channel interference to steal capacity available SAME WRFDUU\WUDI¿F DECISIONS In the real world, however, opera- AS PRIVATE PASSIVE tors experience all three problems of OPERATOR OR adjacent-channel RF, the near-far ACTIVE effect and co-channel interference. These problems affect the path loss INDOOR INDOOR plan, propagation coverage models and PRIVATE PRIVATE reverse-link channel power. Figure 2 OPERATOR OPERATOR shows RF interference captured in an PASSIVE ACTIVE actual DAS network as seen on a spec- SYSTEM SYSTEM trum analyzer. The display shows the presence of )LJXUH7KHFRPSOH[LW\RI'$6FRQ¿JXUDWLRQVOHDGVWRWKHW\SHRIV\VWHPVHOHFWHG co-channel interference that unneces- active or passive, neutral-host or private, over-the-air or dedicated enodeB/nodeB/BTS sarily increases channel power, steal- equipment either local to the DAS deployment or in a BTS hotel. ing capacity and reducing data transfer rates. It also shows adjacent RF affect- materials, along with path losses from and for handoffs to and from the sur- ing the adjacent-channel interference infrastructure components such as rounding macro network. ratio, which further increases the noise cables, splitters and attenuators. The The bad — Although indoor DAS rise, disrupts link planning and reduces insertion losses and their effect on the networks typically use shorter distances throughput and capacity. QRLVH¿JXUHQHHGWREHFDOFXODWHGZKHQ between access points or antennas and The near-far effect from competing the indoor system is designed, which the user equipment, the proximity of operators or adjacent Global System leads to highly complex, carefully bal- users to access points exacerbates the for Mobile Communications (GSM) anced designs that come with problems. near-far problem. Users close to access operations also affects signal quality. Zones of operation within indoor DAS points are under power control from 6SHFL¿FDOO\FRQVLGHU8QLYHUVDO0RELOH networks resemble macro networks but the DAS while users not served by the Telecommunications System (UMTS) with unique properties and problems DAS are under power control from a users being serviced by an in-building including handoff coordination, cover- macro site but are as close to the DAS DAS with adjacent GSM users being age, pilot pollution and link balancing. access point as the DAS users. All types serviced by an external macro cell The DAS system has to be carefully of DAS networks are susceptible to site. Even at its lowest level, the GSM engineered for handoffs within itself high-power adjacent RF, the near-far handset transmit power will desensitize

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 89-13

spectrum conditioning

1 1 1 ACIR =+ ACS ACLR UMTS node B GSM UE

The ACIR then represents a composite quantity that includes the effects of both out-of-band power blocking and in-band power leakage, and the net loss in capacity can be evaluated. To optimize performance, network operators should strive to optimize ACIR. Equation 2, which calculates the effect of adjacent RF on the node B, restates that relationship and clearly indicates that ACIR will improve as both ACS and ACLR increase. 1 ACIR = 1 1 ACLR + ACS Figure 2. As seen on a spectrum analyzer display, RF interference includes adjacent- channel RF, the near-far effect and co-channel interference. These problems affect the Mathematically, it is straightforward path loss plan, propagation coverage models and reverse-link channel power. to demonstrate that if either ACLR or ACS is arbitrarily larger than the the adjacent UMTS receiver, degrading provides comprehensive network other, ACIR becomes dominated by performance. This is the real world, simulation results on the compatibility the smaller quantity, thus limiting per- and deploying spectrum conditioning of UMTS and GSM operating in the formance to the weakest link. At the to counter these effects will restore the same frequency band. In the study, the base station, the ACIR of the uplink DAS to the originally designed capabili- limiting scenario was determined to be can thus be improved by improving the ties and deliver the desired subscriber Case 3, with the UMTS uplink as the Node B receiver ACS, but only to the experience. victim and the GSM user equipment point at which the ACIR is dominated as the interferer. In this situation, the by the user equipment ACLR. Table 1 DAS and GSM/UMTS coexistence GSM handset in the adjacent band is represents information compiled from In a DAS network, four interference powered up and being serviced by a dis- 3GPP technical standards, TS25.104, cases can affect the performance of a tant macro cell site that overwhelms the TS25.101 and TS45.005, and provides coordinated UMTS/GSM collocation near-in UMTS DAS node B. Even in the typical ACLR and ACS performance. deployment. These cases are related most favorable conditions, the limited Given the constraints of ACLR of the to transmit and receive characteristics power control of the GSM user equip- GSM handset and ACS of the node B, of the base transceiver stations and the ment (typically +5 dBm minimum) spectrum conditioning offers an oppor- user equipment for both air interfaces. KDVDVLJQL¿FDQWHIIHFWRQWKHDGMDFHQW tunity to improve performance in two Ɣ*60XSOLQNDVYLFWLP8076XVHU UMTS network operation. complementary ways. First, additional equipment as interferer The effect of adjacent-channel inter- ¿OWHULQJFDQEHG\QDPLFDOO\DVVLJQHG Ɣ*60GRZQOLQNDVYLFWLP8076 ference on a UMTS system is typically to provide additional selectivity at the node B as interferer parameterized by the adjacent-channel band edge, improving upon the ACS Ɣ8076XSOLQNDVYLFWLP*60XVHU interference ratio (ACIR), the ratio of of the node B’s receiver. Second, at equipment as interferer power from the desired signal to the the same time, spectrum conditioning Ɣ8076GRZQOLQNDVYLFWLP*60 power from interference from adjacent is applied to reduce the effect of GSM BTS as interferer channels. The ACIR itself is a com- transmissions either adjacent to or co- posite quantity based on the perfor- channel with the UMTS band being A report on a sharing study issued by mance of the UMTS Node B and user used. Spectrum conditioning provides the Electronic Communications Com- equipment (UE) transceivers. The re- pure spectrum for the UMTS channel in mittee within the European Conference lationship between ACIR and adjacent- both cases, reducing the amount of RF of Postal and Telecommunications Ad- channel selectivity is shown here in power from interfering signals that can ministrations (CEPT), “Compatibility Equation 1, where ACLR is the trans- reach the Node B radio cards. In a DAS, Study for UMTS Operating Within mitter’s adjacent-channel leakage ratio the situation is further exacerbated be- the GSM 900 Band and GSM 1800 and ACS is the receiver’s adjacent- cause of the minimal distance between Frequency Bands” (ECC Report 82), channel selectivity: the GSM user equipment and the DAS

90-14 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

Parameter UTRA-FDD BTS GSM UE ACLR (dB) NA 33 ACS (dB) 46.3 NA Table 1. Adjacent-channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and adjacent-channel selectivity (ACS) for wideband code-division, multiple-access Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA-FDD) base stations and user equipment.

antenna. Spectrum conditioning readily silience to both known and unknown addresses this difference. sources of co-channel interference, preventing degradations in system per- DAS antennas formance before the network is affected. The problems for DAS networks do not end with adjacent-channel interfer- Conclusion ence. Distributing antennas throughout *OREDOPRELOHGDWDWUDI¿FLVJURZLQJ a building or event site brings the at rates over 10 times faster than voice. system closer to potential sources of 'DWDWUDI¿FLVUHDFKLQJKXQGUHGVRI interference such as ID card readers, petabytes per month, and soon will be wireless routers, wireless microphones, LQWKHWKRXVDQGV7KLVUHTXLUHVZLUHOHVV two-way wireless communications RSHUDWRUVWRVTXHH]HDVPXFKFDSDFLW\ systems, poorly designed RF ampli- as possible from the existing spectrum ¿HUVDQGRWKHUHOHFWURQLFHTXLSPHQW they own — maximum utilization is a together with environmental passive must. Yesterday, networks had the band- intermodulation (PIM). The many width and could afford, and compensate unpredictable sources of co-channel for, the loss of capacity to guard bands, interference can drastically affect net- interference and unpredictable environ- work performance, reducing capacity ments. Today, that is not the case. Idle and disrupting the carefully planned capacity rarely exists, competition for DAS network coverage. These types EDQGZLGWKLV¿HUFHDQGFULWLFDOKLJK of interference cause the network to in- WUDI¿FSHULRGVVLWHVDQGHYHQWVGHPDQG FUHDVHXVHUHTXLSPHQWWUDQVPLWSRZHUWR WKDWHYHU\ELWRIHI¿FLHQF\EHVTXHH]HG overcome the interfering signal, which out of available bandwidth. can further cascade and affect adjacent Now, with spectrum conditioning DAS antenna zones. This phenomenon through RF digital signal processing has been studied well and can be dem- (DSP), smaller guard bands and offsets onstrated to affect data capacities and to increase spectrum available for carri- zone coverage. ers are possible. Mitigating co-channel interference, whether random or self- The takeaway induced such as GSM, can recover vital Spectrum conditioning provides capacity being unnecessarily wasted, re- a robust and dynamic response to sulting in improved data transfer rates. these sources of interference. Known, 3URDFWLYHO\FRQGLWLRQLQJKLJKSUR¿OH constant interference at a particular KLJKWUDI¿FVLWHVVXFKDV'$6HQYLURQ- IUHTXHQF\FDQEHVSHFL¿FDOO\EORFNHG ments from high-power adjacent RF enabling the network to operate at lower can maintain capacity, performance and power levels, intrinsically reducing throughput, all while improving battery interference. With lower power levels life for the end user by keeping user and less interference, even better signal HTXLSPHQWWUDQVPLWSRZHUORZQ conditioning results can be achieved because the automatic deployment of G\QDPLFQRWFK¿OWHULQJEHFRPHVPRUH Bill Meyers is director of business development and product management at ISCO In- effective at selectively rejecting nar- ternational. His email address is ______bill.myers@ rowband interfering signals while leav- iscointl.com. Ted Meyers is the company’s ing the rest of the signal undisturbed. vice president of technology. His email address is [email protected]. The com- Together, these spectrum conditioning pany offers digital signal processing solutions capabilities combine to provide re- for 3G and 4G LTE spectrum conditioning.

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 91-15

technology viewpoint Unified Communications’ Connection to Small Cells 6PDOOFHOOVDQGXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVZLOOEHWKHSODWIRUPIRUWKH next generation of fully integrated communications.

By Ernest Worthman

As their use of increas- easier among all participants. deployment will include Wi-Fi. The ingly advanced modes 8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVZLOOEHWKH unified communications market will of communications killer global communications platform closely align with the small-cell market. grows, businesses will of the future, a conclusion supported Those who understand the economic seek ways to integrate by research. Transparency Market DQGWHFKQLFDOSULQFLSOHVRIXQL¿HGFRP- A communications with Research forecasts the worldwide munications will be the front-runners. various business pro- market for unified communications 7KHYRLFHFRPSRQHQWRIXQL¿HGFRP- FHVVHVWRPDNHWKHPPRUHHI¿FLHQWDQG and collaboration services to hit almost munications will be voice-over-Internet less costly, and to improve operations, $62 billion by 2018. protocol (VoIP). Because VoIP is a data customer service and sales. With Wi-Fi 7KHXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVWUDQV- platform, unified communications’ as the data platform of the future, small port layer will use the transmission con- voice component will be tightly inte- cells are viewed as the best solution to trol protocol and Internet protocol (TCP/ grated with small cells. Because Wi-Fi manage local data and move it in and out IP) stack. Thus, anything that can use is expected to be the pre-eminent data of the macro wireless mobile commu- WKH,QWHUQHWFDQEHSDUWRIXQL¿HGFRP- platform, small cells are viewed as the QLFDWLRQVQHWZRUNLQVXSSRUWRIXQL¿HG PXQLFDWLRQV7KHPRVWGLI¿FXOWDVSHFWLV best solution to manage local data and communications (UC). how to integrate voice communications. move it in and out of the macro network. +HUH¶VDGH¿QLWLRQRIXQL¿HGFRP- Small-cell deployments have promis- munications that’s a mouthful. It comes Small-cell primer for UC ing applications and they seem to have IURP:LNLSHGLD³8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFD- At the center of the small-cell radar XQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVVRPHZKHUHLQ tions is the integration of real-time screen is Wi-Fi, so expect Wi-Fi to be the equation. More about how the pieces communication services such as instant WKHGHIDXOWGDWDSODWIRUPIRUXQL¿HG FRPHWRJHWKHUOLHVDKHDGEXW¿UVWWKH messaging (chat), presence informa- communications. In the next few years, following information will identify the tion, telephony (including IP telepho- data is expected to outpace voice at a SOD\LQJ¿HOGVZKHUHXQL¿HGFRPPX- ny), video conferencing, data sharing frenzied pace. By 2020, 70 percent of nications and small cells will team up. (including web-connected electronic, DOOXVHUJHQHUDWHGWUDI¿FZLOOEHGDWDDF- Small cells will be ideal for the interactive white boards (IWBs), call cording to a report by IDC. And much of consumer to use to create networks in control and speech recognition with WKHWUDI¿FZLOOÀRZZLWKLQDORFDOZLUH- homes. Home networks have better real-time communication services such less network — for example, coworkers communications reliability because the DVXQL¿HGPHVVDJLQJ LQWHJUDWHGYRLFH FRPPXQLFDWLQJZLWKHDFKRWKHUVXU¿QJ base station is closer to the user equip- mail, email, SMS and fax).” Perhaps the net and using BYODs. That’s short ment, improving the air interface for a DPRUHGRZQWRHDUWKGH¿QLWLRQPLJKW for “bring your own device(s),” mean- better consumer experience. A small be that unified communications is a ing employees bring their own smart- cell ensures better voice quality and combination of presence and availabil- phones, mostly, and sometimes tablets higher data throughput for all devices ity — which lets users see the location and laptops to use at work. That’s where that use it. of colleagues — with voice, media and small-cell technology is being directed. Small cells will solve the problem messaging that makes communication AT&T says all of its small-cell of poor in-building wireless coverage

92-16 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

ADMIN INTERFACE BUSINESS USER PROCESS INTERFACE INTEGRATION

APPLICATION INTEGRATED COLLABORA- ACCESS TION

PRESENCE UNIFIED VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM

CORPORATE MESSAGING PROVISIONING (ONE WAY)

HOSTED FAX PBX SERVER

IP CENTER MEETING

8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVFDQSOD\KRVWWRPDQ\VXEVHWFRPPXQLFDWLRQVPRGHV

or performance for enterprises. The top multiple interconnects, power manage- centers, resorts, museums, zoos, large three reasons for deploying enterprise ment and autonomous self-organizing hotels and streets are prime targets for small cells are to optimize in-building network (SON) options. Enterprise VPDOOFHOOVLWHV¿OOHGZLWKORZSRZHUHG coverage, to optimize high-data-usage solutions will integrate variable grades data devices that operate on unlicensed areas and to offset an inability to expand of service and higher levels of expand- frequencies and small cellular network the macro network. Installing one or ability and upgradeability. Compared devices that need to be routed to macro more small-cell networks solves those ZLWKFRQVXPHU¿[HGRSWLRQVLWHVFRP- sites. The so-called “metrocells” are problems. mercial installations will be more pay- ideal for covering selected venues and Commercial deployments are scal- as-you-grow systems with unlimited IRU¿OOLQJ5)YRLGVZLWKLQWKHPDFUR DEOHDQGÀH[LEOHDQGRIIHUKLJKHUWLHU potential. network. They also can be used to ex- options. The options include frequency- City centers, stadiums, music venues, tend coverage to rural locations where agile and more powerful transceivers, malls, convention centers, transportation macros are not cost-effective.

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 93-17

technology viewpoint VIRTUAL

IMPROVED BOTTOM LINE

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY

BETTER OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

LOWER COMMUNICATION COSTS PHYSICAL

TACTICAL STRATEGIC

Figure 1. The relationship of company motivators and how they serve the organization as they move from physical to virtual.

Whether private or carrier-owned, and collaboration services with business tions will be the way we communicate. the small cell market seems to be on processes. This convergence will enable Cloud-based networks will become the the verge of explosive growth. Idate real-time presence awareness for these host for the majority of data, and hosted Research Reports expects the femto- services and make them accessible to services will proliferate over managed cell market to reach 23 million units end users through a consistent, familiar services. Mobile clients such as tablets worldwide by 2017. The Dell’Oro interface. and netbooks will be the preferred user Group puts the number at 62 million The future UC-capable ecosystem interface and will become smarter and units by 2015. That’s a wide disparity, will be global and omnipresent; it will more agile from one generation to the but most of the statistics indicate that encompass a wide breadth of vendors. next. Unified communications will widespread small-cell deployment will No single vendor will have the depth integrate with social software, contact begin in earnest in late 2013 and ramp to supply all of the elements for a com- centers, embedded presence, vendor up dramatically in 2014. By 2015, most SOHWHXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVVROXWLRQ specialization and an evolving supplier RIWKHGHQVL¿FDWLRQRIZLUHOHVVFRYHUDJH Key UC players include the switch and channel. will be accomplished with small cells. telephony vendors, desktop application vendors such as Microsoft and IBM, 8&SDLQSRLQWV 8&À\RYHU mobility vendors, unified messaging VoIP —7KH¿UVWDQGSHUKDSVWKH 8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVVHHPVOLNH vendors, and conferencing and collabo- ELJJHVWVWHSWRZDUGXELTXLWRXVXQL¿HG WKH¿QDOIURQWLHURILQWHJUDWHGFRPPX- ration vendors. communications is to update the tele- nications. In theory, it sounds awesome. Successful solutions must span phony infrastructure to VoIP. However, Everything from voice to data to video multiple convergence points, bringing VoIP makes a lot of people nervous. and audio, real-time messaging and together multivendor networks. Many Although wireless phones are the norm, collaboration, live web conferencing companies will forge alliances and share the way they are used in voice commu- and more will be on a single, integrated resources to bring complete solutions to nications is much the same as the wired SODWIRUP8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVDQG customers. This approach will lead to infrastructure. Wireless phones are not collaboration solutions are touted as standard platforms for all vendors to use. as reliable as plain old telephone service being able to converge communications Eventually, unified communica- (POTS), yet they are much more reliable

94-18 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

than VoIP, which is neither regulated nor IURPWKHVWDUWXQL¿HGPHVVDJLQJKDV LQIRUPDWLRQ%HFDXVHXQL¿HGPHVVDJLQJ standardized. Today’s VoIP offerings growing pains for some of the same will be a real-time, universal platform, it are not particularly compatible with reasons as VoIP (multiple platforms and is expected that information will become each other, and to function, they have to VRIWZDUH )RUXQL¿HGPHVVDJLQJWKH much easier and quicker to access. have certain software and hardware in universalization curve is not nearly as Collaboration — Web conferencing place. For universal VoIP implementa- steep because it doesn’t have as many and video conferencing are all over the tion, support must be at the operating options as voice, and there are estab- map. Many components have to be in system level. lished technical platforms to which all place for conferences to succeed. Mul- Nevertheless, VoIP is gaining trac- PHVVDJLQJSURWRFROVDGKHUH8QL¿HG tiple platforms, software and hardware tion quickly because today’s business messaging addresses one of the organi- make this segment of communications environment is so keenly cost sensitive ]DWLRQ¶VWRSSDLQSRLQWV²ZDLWLQJIRU HUUDWLF8QL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVZLOO that implementing VoIP can, once the initial investment is recaptured, lower organizational and enterprise telephony and other voice communications costs VLJQL¿FDQWO\²VFRUHDSRLQWIRUUHWXUQ on investment (ROI). Nothing moves an industry like the smell of a new opportunity to make big money. The aroma is bringing the VoIP industry to the table and motivating it to innovate platform- independent solutions. In the enterprise, VoIP deployment opportunities vary. Some organizations KDYHJUHHQ¿HOGRSSRUWXQLWLHV LHDQLQ- frastructure into which they must deploy an entirely new set of communications technology). There are any number of reasons, but the bottom line is that there is no path to upgrade or integrate the present infrastructure. For other organizations, moving to VoIP may take place in stages. Hybrid options include VoIP computer-to- computer-only connections, computer- to-any-phone connections, mobile softphones and apps and landline phones using an analog telephone adapter. Hy- brid options allow organizations to more gradually morph to software-centric communications at a pace they are more comfortable with. In all deployments, IP-based voice communications are considerably less expensive, and there is a direct correla- tion between software- and hardware- based platforms for any technology. The softer the management protocols, the lower the operational costs become, once the initial investment is made and the hardware is deployed. Messaging — Unified messaging (UM), including a subset, instant messaging (IM), is becoming at least a blip on the radar screen. Although it is much ______easier to implement because it is digital

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 95-19

technology viewpoint

JLYHQWDVN CONFERENCE AND The converged solutions will even- TRADE SHOW tually span the continuum of platforms “VIRTUAL” and seamlessly integrate into all exist- ATTENDANCE ing business processes and business DSSOLFDWLRQV7KHNH\ZLOOEHWKDWWKH\ must accommodate multiple-vendor INTERACTIVE WHITE SOFTPHONES FOR MORE technological environments deployed BOARDS EFFICIENT TRAVEL in the enterprise and must be innovative enough to enhance internetworking beyond simple collaboration to a virtual ZRUNHQYLURQPHQW,ILPSOHPHQWHGLQ- WHOOLJHQWO\VXFKVROXWLRQVFDQGUDPDWL- INTEGRATED REAL-TIME VIDEO CONFERENCING FDOO\LPSURYHEXVLQHVVSHUIRUPDQFH BUSINESS PRACTICES RATHER THAN SITE VISITS )RUHQGXVHUVWKHVWUDWHJ\GHOLYHUVÀH[L bility with an integrated business communications infrastructure that allows HPSOR\HHVWRUHVSRQGPRUHTXLFNO\

INTEGRATED VOICE The takeaway UNIFORM DOCUMENT AND IM PLATFORM No technology is worth implement- LQJLIWKHUHLVQ¶WDYDOXDEOHWDNHDZD\ UNIFIED )RUXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVLW¶VWKH MESSAGING convergence to a unified common FOR EASIER platform for communications and col- MESSAGING MANAGEMENT ODERUDWLRQ7KHFRQYHUJHQFHLVVHHQDV being a measurable metric for reducing capital expense (capex) by bringing )LJXUH(OHPHQWVRISURGXFWLYLW\WKDWXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVLQÀXHQFHV together communications and collabo- UDWLRQVHUYLFHVZLWKEXVLQHVVSURFHVVHV improve this type of collaboration and communications platform used by Capabilities such as real-time presence productivity and make it work right the motivated workers can save anywhere DZDUHQHVVZHEFRQIHUHQFLQJYRLFH ¿UVWWLPHHYHU\WLPH from 30 minutes to a couple of hours YLGHRXQLILHGPHVVDJLQJWHOHSKRQ\ SHUGD\SHUZRUNHU)LJXUHUHSUHVHQWV and voicemail capabilities will be ac- The real result of convergence the elements of worker productivity that FHVVLEOHWRZRUNHUVWKURXJKDFRPPRQ Converged technology may be excit- XQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVFDQLQÀXHQFH FRQVLVWHQWDQGIDPLOLDUH[SHULHQFH7R LQJEXWWKHERWWRPOLQHLVWKDWXQL¿HG 7RKDYHWUXHFRQYHUJHQFHWKHIUDPH- EHWUXO\HIIHFWLYHVROXWLRQVPXVWVSDQ communications bring communications ZRUNRIXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVDQG PXOWLSOHFRQYHUJHQFHSRLQWVLQFOXG- and collaboration services together with FROODERUDWLRQPXVWEHFRPSUHKHQVLYH ing bringing together multiple-vendor EXVLQHVVSURFHVVHV3URGXFWLYLW\JDLQV \HWÀH[LEOHHQRXJKWRDGMXVWWRH[LVWLQJ QHWZRUNVOHYHUDJLQJ,3WHOHSKRQ\DQG and cost savings from real-time com- and future computing and telephony IXOO\VXSSRUWLQJXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFD- munications and collaboration platforms LQYHVWPHQWVDQGWRFRUHEXVLQHVVSUR- WLRQVSODWIRUPV WUDQVODWHGLUHFWO\WRWKHERWWRPOLQH FHVVHV$OWKRXJKWKLVPD\QRWEHWKH 0RUHRYHUDFRQYHUWHGIUDPHZRUNRI )LJXUHUHSUHVHQWVWKHUHODWLRQVKLS FDVHIRULQLWLDORIIHULQJVDVXQLILHG XQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVDQGFROODERUD- The solutions enable real-time presence communications solutions mature and WLRQPXVWEHFRPSUHKHQVLYH\HWÀH[- DZDUHQHVVZHEFRQIHUHQFLQJYRLFH RUJDQL]DWLRQVXSJUDGHSODWIRUPVWKH8& LEOHHQRXJKWRDGMXVWWRXVHUVH[LVWLQJ YLGHRXQL¿HGPHVVDJLQJDQGWHOHSKRQ\ framework will become more and more FRPSXWLQJDQGWHOHSKRQ\LQYHVWPHQWV and make them accessible to users XQLYHUVDOO\GHSOR\DEOH7KDWWUDQVODWHV and core business processes beyond WKURXJKDFRQVLVWHQWFRPPRQLQWHUIDFH LQWRD8&IUDPHZRUNWKDWZLOORIIHUD MXVWFDSDELOLWLHVDQGVROXWLRQV(IIHF- Any number of charts break out how ZLGHVHOHFWLRQRIFDSDELOLWLHV7KHQH[W tive solutions must be agile enough to much time is saved by implementing a generation platforms will offer collabo- adapt to user preferences by integrating XQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVVROXWLRQLQDQ ration solutions that are agile and that into the environment within which us- RUJDQL]DWLRQEXWPDQ\DUHIURPVROXWLRQ adapt to user preferences by integrating HUVDUHPRVWFRPIRUWDEOHRSHUDWLQJRU providers and may be optimal only in into the environment within which users into the environment that’s best suited DSHUIHFWZRUOG5HDOLVWLFDOO\UHVHDUFK DUHPRVWFRPIRUWDEOHRSHUDWLQJRULQWR IRUDJLYHQWDVN6ROXWLRQVPXVWVSDQD VHHPVWRFRQ¿UPWKDWDVROLGXQL¿HG the environment that’s best suited for a continuum that includes environments

96-20 DAS and Small Cells SEPTEMBER 2013

centered on documents, email, real time, XQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVFDUULHUVZLOO applications and the web. come to the table, albeit begrudgingly. There is just too much money at stake, as UC and carriers evidenced by the commitment to Wi-Fi The wireless telecommunications made by AT&T. FDUULHU¶VUROHLQXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFD- tions remains a bit murky, but Verizon Conclusion and AT&T are sensing opportunity. The 6RRQWKH,QWHUQHWZLOOEHDQHWZRUN focus is on control and responsibility, RIWKLQJVQRWFRPSXWHUV6RPHPD\ DORQJZLWK52,%HFDXVHXQL¿HGFRP- be virtual beyond our imagination. For munications will be married to Wi-Fi, that to be possible requires a single there is a lot of posturing over who will platform that can play host to whatever control this segment of small-cell sys- the mind can imagine and the tech- tems. Contributing to the uncertainty QRORJ\FDQFUHDWH7RGD\LW¶VXQL¿HG is that small cells and small networks communications — who knows what it FRPHLQYDULRXVÀDYRUV6RPHZLOOEH ZLOOEHWRPRUURZ0HDQZKLOHXQL¿HG Wi-Fi only; others will combine Wi-Fi communications soon will deliver a DQGOLFHQVHGVSHFWUXP6RPHPD\XVH single user experience across business only licensed spectrum. Most will be applications and across communications some combination of 3/4G, LTE and and collaboration tools to allow a user Wi-Fi. to access the same interface whether it Carriers like the control they have is to place a call through a softphone, over their spectrum and abhor the fact send an IM, look up customer infor- that they cannot control Wi-Fi. Because mation in a business application, or ______Wi-Fi is the de facto data network within collaborate on a complex project. Q

______

SEPTEMBER 2013 DAS and Small Cells 97-21

______

product showcase — lightning protection and surge suppression

Low-PIM, DC-short Coaxial Protector PolyPhaser’s TUSX series consists of DC-short, ultra-low-PIM coaxial RF protectors and is engineered for high power of combined signals operating between 300 MHz and 1.4 GHz. Features include a maximum surge current of 40 kA, a 26 dB return loss, a DIN female protected side connector, a DIN male surge side connector, an insertion loss of less than 0.1 dB and an RF power capacity of 2.5 kilowatts for the combined signal. The protectors are weatherproof when installed. Equipotential Grounding Bars www.protectiongroup.com The value of metals in today’s market makes copper-based grounding bus bars regular targets for theft. The theft of such hardware generally means that the site must be brought down for repair, which directly translates into a company’s bottom line. Alltec’s series of TerraBar bus bars are designed to mitigate such theft in the electronics-based infrastructure. This series of busbars has engraved and cut messages to deter theft by identifying the busbars’ owners, making them harder to turn over and identifying them as stolen property. Typically, messages can say, for example, “ABC Steel Bar – Do Not Recycle” RURWKHUVSHFL¿FPHVVDJHVDQGIHDWXUHFXVWRPKROHSDWWHUQV7KHVHEXVEDUV KDYHKHOSHGWRVLJQL¿FDQWO\UHGXFHDQGRIWHQHOLPLQDWHEUHDNLQVDQGWKHIWRI critical equipment. Alltec can apply this custom program to the unique needs of energy, telecom, manufacturing, and many other installation’s engineers, contractors and owners. www.alltecglobal.com

Varistor-based Lightning Arresters The VAL-MS-T1/T2 lightning arresters from Phoenix Contact offer a higher level of surge protection in an affordable package. The arresters are rated for Type 1 lightning strike events with

a measured 10/350 μs test current (Iimp) of 12.5 kA or Type 2 surge events with a measured 8/20 μs maximum discharge surge

current (Imax) of 50 kA. The varistor-based Valvetrab T1/T2 provides maximum surge protection in an easy-to-use DIN rail- mount base. All arrester plugs, including the N-PE spark gap, are pluggable and have a thermal disconnect device triggering the visual and the integrated remote monitoring contacts, allowing continuous monitoring of the varistor’s health. The lightning arresters can be used in DC applications such as FTTA/telecom, Wi-Fi networks, photovoltaic industries or AC single and multi- SKDVHQHWZRUNV²HYHQZKHUHVLJQL¿FDQWYROWDJHÀXFWXDWLRQV are to be expected. A unique locking mechanism reliably keeps the connector in the base element, even when subjected to high lightning currents or vibration. The locking mechanism can be released with single-handed operation to perform isolation measurements or other checks. www.phoenixcontact.com

September 2013 99

product showcase — lightning protection and surge suppression

Lightning Surge Protection Raycap has enhanced the performance of LWVÀDJVKLS6WULNHVRUEVXUJHSURWHFWLYH device product line, which protects vulnerable electronic equipment against electrical damage caused by overvoltage events and lightning VWULNHV7KHPD[LPXPLPSXOVHFXUUHQW VSHFL¿FDWLRQWKDWWKH63'VFDQZLWKVWDQG has been increased to 12.5 kA (10/350 μs) direct lightning, per the IEC 61643-1:2005 standard. All products in the Strikesorb 40 product Surge Protective Device VHULHVKDYHEHHQVXFFHVVIXOO\WHVWHGDQGFHUWL¿HGDV The Liebert SS Series surge protection Class I surge protective devices per the IEC 61643-1:2005 device uses SAD/MOV array technology standard. www.raycapsurgeprotection.com for transient suppression voltages. The unit incorporates Liebert’s interceptor technology for safety and performance Remote Radio Head Lightning Protection coordination of all surge and fuse Raycap’s IS product series, which protects the mobile networks using a components. The device’s modular design GLVWULEXWHGEDVHVWDWLRQRUUHPRWHUDGLRKHDGFRQ¿JXUDWLRQVIHDWXUHVWKH DOORZVIRUÀH[LELOLW\DQGHDVHRIVHUYLFLQJ DC-based Strikesorb 30-V1-HV, which is a Class I surge protective device The device also features 160-kA surge capable of withstanding multiple direct lightning strikes and operating safely current capacity for increased reliability in 48-volt DC systems, diverting the current to ground and away from sensitive and real-time system monitoring. The equipment on the tower or in the base station. The unit features a lightweight, series meets product performance and DHURG\QDPLFGHVLJQWKDWFRPELQHVHOHFWULFDOSURWHFWLRQZLWKSRZHUDQG¿EHU VDIHW\VWDQGDUGVGH¿QHGLQWKH$PHULFDQ optic cable management for outdoor installation on rooftops or tower-tops. It National Standards Institute’s ANSI/ is recognized to the UL 1449 3rd Edition safety standard. UL 1449 3rd Edition and the UL 1283 www.raycapsurgeprotection.com standard for electromagnetic interference ¿OWHUV7KHSURGXFWLVF8/OLVWHG,WPHHWV standards Motorola published in 2005 in the book Standards and Guidelines for Communication Sites, also known as the Motorola R56 manual. Two different units are available, one for Type 1 hybrid surge protection that offers 20 kA of SAD protection and 160 kA of MOV protection, and one for Type 2 MOV- only surge protection that offers 160 kA of MOV protection. www.liebert.com

DC Pass Lightning Protection 7KH7LPHV3URWHFW/3*75VHULHVRI'& pass RF lightning and surge protection products from Times Microwave Systems KDVEHHQIXUWKHUH[SDQGHGIRUKLJKHUSRZHU Surge Protection Solution handling needs. With the addition of the Emerson Network PowerRIIHUVWKH3RZHU6XUH&0VHULHVVXUJHSURWHFWLYH /3*751VHULHVWKHHQWLUHSURGXFW device to combat electric power line disturbances such as high-voltage range with either the type N or 7/16 DIN transients that can disrupt or damage sensitive electronic equipment. The unit interface will now handle 50 watts, 210 can be installed in any location within the AC power system. It is rated for UL watts or 550 watts. Designed to pass direct Type 1 locations and is housed in a weather-resistant enclosure. Available in current for applications requiring power to voltages from 120 volts to 480 volts, the device comes in single-phase and EHVXSSOLHGWRWKHHOHFWURQLFVWKH/3*75 three-phase versions. An optional DIN rail-mounting bracket is available. series protects DAS and tower-mounted 3URWHFWLRQVWDWXVLQFOXGHV/('VDQGVWDWXVUHOD\FRQWDFWVIRUUHPRWHLQGLFDWLRQ electronics. www.timesmicrowave.com www.emersonnetworkpower.com

100 above ground level www.agl-mag.com

Surge-suppression Lighting Gas-discharge arrestors SPX offers the advanced Flash Technology Vanguard LED The SurgeGuard PTR T1 series VHULHVRIREVWUXFWLRQ,QFRUSRUDWLQJDQHZÀDVKKHDGDQG from Nextek Lightning is based control box and designed with surge suppression in mind, on a multiple gas-discharge the unit exceeds the FAA’s required 3 kA rating of surge tube design with serviceable protection by being built and tested to withstand replacement elements. The surges up to 20 kA. The system is available in white arrestors measure 119 millimeters or red formats and can be equipped with onboard x 45 millimeters. They have Wi-Fi. It is also available to meet avian protection DIN 7/16 female to DIN 7/16 compliance regulations. www.spx.com female connectors and can protect against a maximum of 100 kA of lightning energy. The T1 Broadband Lightning Protectors VHULHVSURGXFWVFDQEHVSHFL¿HG Complementary to existing LTE lightning protectors that have been designed to serve with a range of GDT voltages partial LTE frequency bands only, Huber+Suhner has introduced from 90 volts to 1,000 volts three protectors that cover the LTE bandwidth of 698 MHz to 2690 to accommodate various RF MHz. Features include hybrid quarterwave gas-discharge tube power levels. Additional features WHFKQRORJ\GLUHFWFXUUHQWFRQWLQXLW\EDQGSDVV¿OWHUWHFKQRORJ\ include RF performance, a typical and quarterwave shorting stub technology, return loss and high low return loss of 1.20 and a stability against lightning pulse incidents. All three connectors typical insertion loss of 0.10. The can be installed via bulkhead or with extra screws. The SurgeGuard T1 series provides a frequency range includes traditional cellular, public 100x multiple-strike capability at safety, WiMAX, WLAN, ISM and GPS bands. 10 kA and more than 100 kA (8 x www.hubersuhner.com ȝV RQHWLPHVXUJHFDSDELOLW\ www.nexteklightning.com

advertiser index

Advantage Engineers ...... 74 Pepro...... 45 Advantage Funding ...... 102 Radio Frequency Systems ...... 51 AGL Bulletin...... 66 Raycap ...... 23 AGL Regional Conference...... 26, 27 Sabre Industries ...... 25 Allstate Tower ...... 102 SBA Communications...... back cover Alltec...... 71 Shulman Rogers...... 102 American Camp Association...... 73 Slatercom-WCD...... 102 American Council on Education ...... 75 Solid...... 85 American Tower...... 7 Southwire...... 62 AnchorGuard ...... 102 Specialty Tower Lighting...... 70 Anritsu ...... 21 Stealth ...... 17, 78 AT&T...... 11 Subcarrier Communications ...... 5 BB&T – Atlantic Risk Management...... 12 Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants...72 Black & Veatch ...... 59 Telewave...... inside front cover Charles Industries...... 50 Telmar Network Technology ...... 70 Deus Rescue...... 14 Tessco ...... 81 Dynamic Environmental Associates ...... 39 Times Microwave Systems...... 15 Engineered Endeavors...... 72 TowerXchange...... 63 FieldSense...... 9 Trojan Battery ...... 13 GME Supply ...... inside back cover TWR Lighting...... 65 Hanson Pipe & Precast ...... 16 U.S. Dept. of Transportation...... 91 Huber+Suhner ...... 18, 95 U.S. Forest Service ...... 97 Hughey & Phillips ...... 22 Unimar...... 69 ITL ...... 66 Utility Service Communications...... 67 /DUVRQ&DPRXÀDJH ...... 87 Valmont Structures ...... 61 Mastec...... 36 Waterford Consultants...... 60 Media Venture Partners...... 19 White Buffalo Environmental ...... 102 National Association of Tower Erectors ...... 57 Wireless History Foundation...... 98 OSHA...... 74, 97 Wisconsin Wireless Association ...... 76

September 2013 101

professional directory

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TURN YOUR INVOICES STOP WAITING 30, 60 DAYS INTO IMMEDIATE OR LONGER TO GET PAID t/PUFSNDPOUSBDUTUPTJHO t#BOLUPCBOLXJSFUSBOTGFST t$BTIJOBTMJUUMFBTIPVST t8FBTTVNFUIFDSFEJUSJTL 'PSBDPOmEFOUJBM OPPCMJHBUJPOEJTDVTTJPO Call: Email:JOGP!BEWBOUBHFGVOEJOHDPN______Online: XXXBEWBOUBHFGVOEJOHDPN______CASH We are the ﬁnancial specialists in the We buy your account Cell Tower Industry. receivables when you’re ready to bill your clients. Advantage Funding Corp. ______

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Put the power of AGL to work for you with a professional card ad. Call Mercy Contreras at (303) 988-3515. [email protected]______

102 September 2013

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