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The Future of 5G: AT T Release Specifications to Help Build 5G Cell Sites



We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.


Remember when you lost all signal as the elevator doors closed? With the majority of today's cellular traffic occurring indoors, many buildings have upgraded their cellular coverage so that those incidents are now few and far between. DAS and small cells have enhanced cellular in-building and large public venue coverage based on consumer demands for seamless connectivity. In fact, wireless is now often referred to in the industry as the fourth utility, as important to a building as water, electricity, or HVAC. This trend will only continue as the thirst for consumer connectivity continues.




AT T Release Specifications to Help Build 5G Cell Sites



Wireless networks are composed of cell sites divided into sectors that send data through radio waves. Fourth-generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology provides the foundation for 5G. Unlike 4G, which requires large, high-power cell towers to radiate signals over longer distances, 5G wireless signals are transmitted through large numbers of small cell stations located in places like light poles or building roofs. The use of multiple small cells is necessary because the millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum-- the band of spectrum between 30 and 300 gigahertz (Ghz) that 5G relies on to generate high speeds -- can only travel over short distances and is subject to interference from weather and physical obstacles, like buildings or trees.


MmWave signals can be easily blocked by objects such as trees, walls and buildings -- meaning that, much of the time, mmWave can only cover about a city block within direct line of sight of a cell site or node. Different approaches have been tackled regarding how to get around this issue. A brute-force approach involves using multiple nodes around each block of a populated area so that a 5G-enabled device can use an Air interface -- switching from node to node while maintaining MM wave speeds.


Wireless service providers are beginning to install the small cell infrastructure and equipment necessary to move toward 5G, and these upgrades will lead to construction activity beginning soon on streetlights and utility poles in Naperville. Streetlight and utility poles are of adequate height and separation to accommodate 5G antennas without the need for installing additional poles across the City. Using existing streetlight and utility poles helps to minimize the aesthetic impact of the upgraded 5G service.


Even before an application is received, City staff members evaluate proposed small cell locations and consult with wireless service providers through an award-winning pre-application process. This process has been recognized with the Exemplary Systems in Government Award for Enterprise Systems from URISA, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. This early review helps providers choose optimal sites where small cells will not interfere with utilities or public safety communications.


C-band can fix this. The government auctioned off 280MHz of airwaves in the main C-band, and another 100MHz in 3.45, that are likely to go up to about a half-mile from each tower, so plenty of bandwidth for several different wireless carriers to have solid 5G using mostly existing cell sites.


Our first tests of Verizon's C-band show about a 0.37-mile range in very dense Queens, NY. That seems to be limited not by the power of the airwaves, though, but by Verizon not wanting its cell sites to interfere with each other. So half a mile in much of the country still feels good to me.


The toolbox provides functions and reference examples to help you characterize uplink and downlink baseband specifications and simulate the effects of RF designs and interference sources on system performance. You can generate waveforms and customize test benches, either programmatically or interactively using the Wireless Waveform Generator app. With these waveforms, you can verify that your designs, prototypes, and implementations comply with the 3GPP 5G NR specifications.


Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, released in November 2017, is a more globally available version of the Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen). Whereas Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen) is available in US, UK, Germany, Japan, and India, the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition is available outside these areas in more than 100 countries or territories. From a hardware perspective, the specs for Fire TV Stick Basic Edition and Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen) are largely the same (the build model, AFTT, is even the same). However, the Basic Edition doesn't ship with an Alexa Voice Remote, and the UI is simplified with more of an app-centric experience. For example, the "Recommended By Your Apps" rows that is normally populated through Recommendations isn't shown. The tabs on the top row are simplified, and you find apps by browsing the available categories rather than using search.


On average, the total cost to build a cell tower in the United States is $250,000, while in Western Europe it is $135,000, and in Latin America it is $110,000. Cell tower build costs can vary significantly depending on the site location and terrain, as well as the type and height of the tower.


Dgtl Infra provides an overview of the components of building a cell tower, details the cost in multiple geographic regions, and differentiates between monopole, lattice, guyed, stealth, and rooftop structures, while referencing data points from independent tower companies. Additionally, we answer key questions such as How Much Does it Cost to Build a 4G vs 5G Cell Tower? and Can you Build your Own Cell Tower?


As shown above, the tenant, which can be a wireless carrier like Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, places their communications equipment onto the steel tower structure, but the cell tower owner does not own this communications equipment. To specify further, the cell tower owner does not need to build or buy the antenna, microwave, base station, or coaxial cable equipment.


On average, the total cost to build a cell tower in the United States is $250,000, in Western Europe is $135,000, in Latin America is $110,000, in the Middle East is $87,500, in Africa is $90,000, in Indonesia is $42,500, in India is $42,500, and in China is $42,500.


Notably, the table above highlights how, in certain markets, like China, India, and Indonesia, the average cost to build a cell tower is less than 20% of the cost to build in the United States. Factors including land prices, direct materials, and labor costs all contribute to these regional geographic variances.


Cell tower build costs are also influenced by the type and height of the particular tower. To this end, typical heights for cell towers range from 100 to 400 feet, with some towers extending to 2,000+ feet.


Monopoles require the least amount of land area to build and, in terms of height, are the smallest type of cell tower structure. In turn, monopole cell towers offer lower pre-development and direct material costs to build. However, given that monopoles are built in urban and suburban areas, their land prices, on a per square foot basis, are higher.


Guyed cell towers require the most amount of land to build (i.e., multiple acres) and are generally the tallest, involving higher direct material costs to build. However, guyed towers have an efficient design, giving them economical total build costs.


Given the unique physical requirements of stealth towers, they have a higher cost to build. Still, tower companies will offset this higher cost by making their wireless carrier customers pay higher lease rates in these locations where cellular coverage is more difficult.


Because rooftop sites are vertically smaller and take up a lesser footprint, their direct material costs are significantly less than ground-based towers to build. At the same time, given that rooftop deployments are sited on top of buildings, the tower company typically does not own/have to purchase the freehold for these sites.


To support the above-mentioned total cell tower build costs, Dgtl Infra references examples from some of the largest independent tower companies in the world, including American Tower, Crown Castle, SBA Communications, and IHS Holding.


The key difference between 4G and 5G deployments on cell towers is that, with 5G, more and heavier equipment is being placed on towers, which means that cell towers must be capable of bearing a greater load, increasing their build costs. As shown below, this incremental 5G equipment includes additional antennas deployed for Massive MIMO, which can be as large as a refrigerator, and double the amount of fiber strands connected to antennas, which are needed for the purposes of backhaul.


Cell tower construction requires engineering, general contracting, electrical, structural steel, and other specialty licenses. Therefore, you can either secure these licenses first or subcontract out portions/all of the cell tower build process to specialized third-party companies that focus on providing these services.


Prior to construction, you must obtain zoning and permitting approvals from local authorities as well as their national aviation administration, which in the United States is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In most jurisdictions in the United States, you will need a letter of intent (LOI) from a wireless carrier (e.g., Verizon) to secure approval for building a cell tower.


Femtocells are small mobile base stations that help extend coverage for residential and enterprise-level applications. These are mainly used to offload networks when they become congested. Femtocells can extend coverage and enhance building penetration for indoor consumers.


Another type of small cell technology, picocells are small cellular base stations that cover small indoor areas like buildings or aircraft. Picocells are great for small enterprises to provide extended network coverage and large data throughput. Applications include: 2ff7e9595c


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