Towers Obsolete???

**Marconi** · 02-12-2011, 10:33 AM

Ok, we have all seen the news about towers becoming obsolete. It's all over the web and I look forward to hearing all about it at the next zoning hearing I attend.

But is it real or all hype. Is it vaporware or are we going to see it in the next ten years?

What do you guys think??

**EddieLao** · 02-12-2011, 12:37 PM

Not anytime soon, the top 2 carriers are building NCD everyday in addition to deploying LTE equipment to existing sites.

**Tower Monkey** · 02-13-2011, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by EddieLao

Not anytime soon, the top 2 carriers are building NCD everyday in addition to deploying LTE equipment to existing sites.

I have to agree...Looks like big city stuff to me. A BTS that covers a couple hundred yards would really be great in the congested areas to help with capacity and coverage but as soon as you get out of the city limits you are going to need some height and power.

At any rate, technology changes are good for the industry and job security.

**Marconi** · 02-25-2011, 09:55 AM

Here is another article from the Alcatel Lucent web site.

No mobile gridlock, universal coverage, lightRadio saves the mobile industry billions

Wim Sweldens presents the small cube at the core of the lightRadio breakthrough

[UPDATE: Watch the replay of the lightRadio news conference (London, Feb. 7th)]
By Wim Sweldens, President Alcatel-Lucent Wireless Division
The mobile industry has done a phenomenal job changing the lives of billions of people in the world, bringing them wireless all-around, with education, information and entertainment. By placing smart devices in their hands and providing services, information and capabilities in the cloud, societies, economies and businesses have flourished.

But, with this growth comes some problems. More than half of the world’s population does not have access to mobile broadband data. The industry does not have a feasible path to close this broadband digital divide. Our networks are power hungry and emit 18,000,000 metric tons of C02 per year. Plus, antennas and towers are not very attractive, they obstruct our landscapes and cityscapes. And, who among you has not experienced the network congestion challenge? Time will not fix these challenges, they will grow and grow.

Now what is the root cause of these problems? The base station. It is a fundamental element of the wireless architecture that is large and power hungry. These visual monstrosities are tethered to equally unattractive antennas that block more of the landscape with each new technology. This is the one element of the mobile architecture that is keeping the network from being flexible, responsive and green.
We know what to do. We have discovered an exciting breakthrough innovation that has the capability to make base stations and antennas virtually invisible. Our innovative breakthrough is called lightRadio.

lightRadio has at its core an innovation that is a small cube—a cube invented by Bell Labs which combines a wideband active array antenna with fully software defined radio capability. This, less than 300 g cube, enables an active antenna as small as 2 watts to an array of typical cellular capacity (30-60 watts). It can be deployed in big and small antenna configurations, all-around the city. With this new antenna, base stations and large antenna towers, virtually disappear. Big or small cells, it is one continuum, for these cubes can be stacked to build a macro cell or used singularly in a beam formation for targeted coverage.

lightRadio makes networks significantly lighter, much simpler to deploy and cuts the cost of site rental by 66%. For our planet, we can reduce power by 51%. With this small element, connected to microwave, it is now feasible for people currently not served by mobile data, to have access.

We’re not alone on this journey. We’re working closely with HP on cloud-like technologies and co-creating with Freescale on system-on-chip capabilities. And most importantly, we are co-creating this technology, together with our customers all around the world.

**Tower Monkey** · 02-25-2011, 10:19 AM

Towers ugly? I think they are beautiful.

**rwireless357** · 02-25-2011, 01:23 PM

Don't know if this will happen anytime soon. We shall see. Many of the cell tower sites in the metro ny area are coming up for renewal and the municipalties that signed these lease agreements in 1994 and had no idea the magnitude of wireless. Some of these agreements up for renewal are air tight but many they can come out of or renegotiate. This can also have an affect on which way the carriers go.

**remote** · 02-25-2011, 02:40 PM

Ya know, I'm not the smartest guy in the world. But I am having a hard time understanding how this is going to save any money. Take down a high site and replace it with 40 or 50 low powered sites on light poles? Go from one lease to 50? Somebody has to explain that to me.

I understand that the capacity gains would be fantastic but I just can't see how this is going to save anybody any money.

C'mon, one of you brainy guys, educate me.