47 New cell sites...

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SteveON

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Topic # 59284 31-Mar-2010 22:05

http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/chris-keall/will-47-new-xt-cellsites-blow-telecom-s-capex

Does this story have anything we really want to know in it? It's not that I am too cheap to pay for the content, it's just that Chris tends to have total rubbish behind the pay-wall.

johnr

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Reply # 313636 31-Mar-2010 22:08

47 new cells its not new that carriers add new cells I wonder how many 2 degrees will build this year.

They will just be infill cells provide extra capacity on 2100mhz and some new coverage cells on 850mhz

SteveON

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Reply # 313644 31-Mar-2010 22:27

Its also talking about their finances and stuff too... It could just be co-lo sites. I mean if a site is 100-150K that's less than 10M I doubt that will hurt Telecom.

scorpiworld

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Reply # 313649 31-Mar-2010 22:44

I have not read it, but gut feeling is nope!

TNZ have a yearly budget for extending coverage and adding infill sites, TNZ have been quoted in the media as accelerating the site builds in response to recent network outages.

Suspect it is picking up on this and adding a bit of spin to grab a headline...

I could be wrong though and it is an unbiased, well written article based on facts! ;)

sbiddle

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Reply # 313710 1-Apr-2010 08:02

They are bringing forward the installation of those new sites and also installing amplifiers on something like 400 sites. These were not installed at the start and will improve coverage in fringe and builtup coverage areas.

The CDMA air interface suffers from cell breathing which means coverage can expand and reduce depending on the number of devices that are connected to the network. This means that on any 3G network (whether it be Vodafone 3G, XT or Telecom CDMA) coverage can become marginal or non existant in an area when the network is under load at peak times, but coverage can be fine at quiet times.

To make a call on a CDMA based air interface your phone needs to be able to transmit with enough power to meet a SNR (otherwise known as the noise floor) that dynamically changes depending on the number of active devices connected to a site. Once this SNR reaches a certain level, handsets in fringe reception areas (typically further away from the cellsite or inbuilding), will find their handset simply can't crank up it's power any more so you'll be unable to make a call.

The amplifier can provide several dB of gain which is very significant and can also compensate for signal loss that occurs between the cabinets and panels themselves if they are some distance away (such as up a tall mast).

People forget that coverage isn't just a case of the location or power of the site but your phone as well as it's a two way system - you may have a 40W cellsite right next to you which will easily be able to transmit through a concrete wall but the little 2W signal from your cellphone isn't quite as good!