TELECOMMUNICATION MAST/TOWER AND POWER TRANSMISSION TOWERS

Telecom masts/towers

Telecom masts/towers are structures that house the antennae, dishes and receivers required for wireless communication and data transfer.

The Need for Mast and Tower

The telecom antennas are required to be installed at a height because radio signals are most powerful above ground level. In simple words, the higher the antenna, the better the reception quality. The telecom tower provides a platform to install telecommunication equipment and other accessories used in telecommunications.

Line of sight assumes critical importance in a telecommunication network. The height of the tower for antenna also plays an important role in determining the area that will be covered by the antennas fitted on a telecom tower.  The height at which the antenna is fixed also plays an important role in the efficiency of a telecommunication network.

The Mast or Towers can be employed in the following applications

• GSM/CDMA Equipment
• Marine Radars
• Video Surveillance Equipment
• Air Traffic Control Radars
• Microwave Network Junctions
• Forest Fire Monitoring
• Hub Sites
• Wind Turbines

Radio mast and tower form a very significant part of the wireless backbone network, since they rest at the boundary of the wired and spatial part of the communication network. Well planned placements of these components across the area of coverage are essential to ensure good quality of service and customer satisfaction.

Radio masts and towers have varied designs that fit the exact considerations needed for their throughput, as well as geographic location.

There are two types of designs which are used to hold telecom transmission equipment - masts and towers. Depending on an optimized balance of factors such as cost, available site area and load bearing factors, either masts or towers may be chosen.

Radio Masts: or Guyed Tower:

Masts or Guyed towers are the most economical telecom towers. These do not require a huge foundation, which helps save up on costs. Such a telecom tower is a slim structure that depends on cables or guyed wires for stability. A guyed tower is made of angular, tubular and solid elements. It is optimized to handle medium loads and is preferred for cellular sites, TV stations, and AM/FM radio stations.

The term radio mast implies a 90 degree tall and vertical structure that is usually held in place using guy cables around the structure. These are ideally used when the payload is not too heavy. With a properly designed guyed support, masts can withstand a good amount of wind loads too.

Radio mast is cheaper to construct and requires lesser material as compared to towers. However, the area required for the arrangement, including the guying anchors which are spread out wide, is much more than what is needed for a tower.

Masts are used in places where availability of land and the cost of acquiring it is not a constraint.

Towers:

Towers are usually self-supporting structures that are cantilevered and are usually made using latticed or tubular elements.

Self supporting towers are widely used in telecommunication networks. These towers are freestanding structures and do not require external support for stability. Self-support towers are three legged towers or four legged towers. They are the two types of self-supporting telecom towers.

Three legged self supporting tower- Angular design

Three legged self support towers have a triangular base pattern design which incorporates triangular angular elements. The design of the three legged self-support tower is specifically optimized for medium and heavy loads. This type of tower is ideal for standard cellular sites.