Site Selection Criteria

Site Selection Criteria
Commercial-in-Confidence
Contents

General site selection issues. Good and bad site locations. 1st and 2nd generation cellular legacies.
Session Aims
This session answers the following questions:

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How do I asses a site option? What makes a good cell site? What makes a bad cell site? Can I reuse other radio sites?
How do I asses a site option?
Each site needs to be assessed on several grounds.

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Radio Transmission Access Power Planning
Ideally every site option reported by the surveyor would pass in each of the areas listed above.
Radio
A static calculation of each option and the surrounding sites will
allow the radio engineer to check:
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Will each option give sufficient coverage in the target areas? Can radio emissions from each option be contained? Are there any obstructions in the panoramic photos or on paper maps that might be of concern?
"If an option fails any one of the preceding checks then it should be discarded.
The remaining options should be rated based on their projected

coverage, interference potential and distance from potential traffic hotspots?
The location of adjacent cells site options should be taken into

account to avoid major overlap or coverage holes.
Transmission
The choice of site option often impacts on transmission plans.
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Duct availability for fiber routes. LOS to microwave transmission nodes.
Transmission delays are a major issue in network rollouts. A preliminary evaluation can prevent lengthy delays later.
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Cant check for duct availability. Can check LOS availability.

"Check path profiles. "Check panoramic photographs.
If transmission is to be self provided, a number of transmission high

sites should be acquired.
Access

It sounds obvious but.
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If you cant get equipment to the site you cant build the site. Construction of access tracks takes too long. Helicopters have been used but are expensive.
Greenfield sites must be accessible to trucks and cranes.

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Buildings must have:

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Safe easy access to the roof Crane access to the roof or a goods lift to the equipment room.
Power & Planning
Does the site have a suitable power supply?

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If not, is power available nearby?

" Can wayleaves be obtained? " Operators have been held hostage by neighboring landowners.
What are the planning implications of the site?

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Is GDO type approval applicable or is full planning required.

" GDO much quicker less red tape.
Political and aesthetic issues.

" Near hospitals, schools, homes etc?
What Makes a Good UMTS Site?

Good radio engineering practice doesnt change for UMTS.
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A good TACS/GSM site would make a good UMTS site. A bad TACS/GSM site would make a bad UMTS site. Cause localized interference. Prevent extra capacity from being added to specific sites. Reduce the range of surrounding sites. Reduce the capacity of surrounding sites.
A bad GSM site will:

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A bad UMTS site will:

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As most GSM networks contain a mixture of good and bad sites,

planners must be careful not to inherit TACS & GSM problem sites.
Good UMTS Sites

The ideal UMTS site would
cover its intended coverage area and very little else.
A practical site would be located

so its emissions were contained by terrain and clutter.
The site would be located no

higher than absolutely necessary.
In an urban area, the antennas

would be high enough to clear surrounding buildings and no higher.
Bad UMTS Sites

A nightmare UMTS site would
be located on very high ground overlooking a large city.
Such a site would provide little

or no service in the city but would reduce the capacity of all cells in the area.
Bad UMTS Sites

Another bad site would be a site
positioned on a building in an urban area, where it was significantly taller than the typical building height.
The emissions from this site

would travel much further than the service area and would reduce the capacity of all other sites in the area.
Using Existing Cellular Sites

Most UMTS networks will be built around an existing GSM network. Many GSM networks were built around existing analogue sites. In the early days of analogue cellular sites were often located to
give maximum coverage. No thought was given to capacity issues.
Despite causing problems in high capacity networks, many of these

high sites are still in operation today.
Most cellular networks contain these nightmare sites. When rolling out UMTS around an existing network it is vital to avoid
these sites.
Using Other Radio Sites (1)

Co locating on other operators sites has many advantages.
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Cooperative site owners. Planning permission easy. Power on site. Good access. Transmission is often easy. Shared sites havent been designed to fit into your nominal plan and probably wont give optimal coverage. Possible interference issues. Wind loading/Tower strength
There are some disadvantages however.

!
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Using Other Radio Sites (2)

There are some disadvantages however.
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Expensive. Possible interference issues. Antenna window availability. Wind loading/Tower strength. Shared sites havent been planned to fit into your nominal plan and probably wont give optimal coverage for your plan. Sites planned for other technologies may be unsuitable.
"eg broadcast or microwave nodes might be too high.

Site Selection Criteria

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Site Selection Criteria

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Site Selection Criteria