Temporary sites are a complex issue, be they for mobile (cell) networks or other wireless applications and I thought that I would try and set some clarity round them in this blog.
The first point is that temporary sites are just as likely to not be on a trailer as they are to be on one – Cell on Wheels or Site on Wheels (COW/SOW) is very much the norm for temporary sites in some areas and for some applications they are ideal but in other situations they need not be trailer mounted. The good thing about COW’s is that they have everything in an immediately deployable format – power, tower and base station. Ironically that can make it a bad thing as often an equipment failure in the base station or power generator requires the whole site to be demobilised and taken back to workshop for repairs. It depends on how long the service will be required to run from that site – if it’s for a special event like a festival or an unexpected disaster then a wheeled option is probably a good idea. Town planning is generally the same for wheeled or un-wheeled temporary sites.
What about circumstances where coverage will be required for a longer period but not permanently – and it is probably worth mentioning these circumstances in a bit more detail. Take the construction industry and particularly major infrastructure projects. These will put a lot of people in a concentrated area at one time and there will be large data needs as drawings and specifications are all issued electronically these days. To cope with this bandwidth demand there has just been "ad-hoc" solutions including fibre to the site (expensive) and hoping the mobile coverage is good enough. What is a better approach is to build a dedicated wireless site that does broadband and mobile communications for the site.
Mining is similar but tends to be in existence for a lot longer than most construction projects and, as mine automation increases, there is a need for more quality wireless services in and around mine sites to allow autonomous and remote control of plant. The tower and base station sites that provide this need to be in a location for a while but also need to be adaptable to relocate easily to suit the mines growing needs.
Another area where temporary sites are great is in achieving quick area coverage – temporary sites providing area coverage until the permanent site is brought on line – and it’s also a good way of testing a new technology or a network without doing a full build. Mind you I do know of at least one “temporary” site in London that is still transmitting more than 15 years after it was installed!
So what is the answer – well for short term deployments a COW/SOW is a really good idea – easy to get there and set up and service for only a few weeks – anything more than that in terms of time and you really need to look at alternative solutions – in the old days this used to mean tonnes of steel grillage and a small lattice tower with a big clunky generator running 24/7 – however the good news – and it is good news in terms of ease and speed of deployment – is that with modern materials such as GeoStrut carbon fibre telescoping towers and our unique foundation system you can erect a 20m tower with a tri sectored site and microwave link in no time at all. Combine this with a really effective (and network proven) hybrid power system and a quite genset is only running a couple of hours a day and saving over 80% in fuel and servicing over one running the same time. Clearly these are really powerful and intelligent solutions.
Finally – on the power front you may be able to get a friendly neighbour to allow the site to be plugged into their supply for a small fee – but here is a tale of caution. As a young project manager working in the UK I did this for a temporary site I had build in North Wales – I was feeling very smug as I had the site up on air a week early – however we kept getting an intermittent power fail on the site. Several times we sent technicians out and the mystery fault could not be found. One of our more engaging technicians was there on a cold day and was invited in to the neighbours kitchen for tea and toast and saw “our” precious power cord being unplugged to allow the toaster to be plugged in – mystery solved!!!!
