[3g-g]

It seems 3 have made the first partership with BT to improve their urban built up area coverage with BT's new MDA antennas. Obviously the other mobops will follow suit, but it's good to see that the operators still trying hard to minimise the visual impact of masts and antennas on the general public.


BT announced that selected mobile phone users in Cardiff have become the first in the UK to benefit from a revolutionary new mobile delivery technology.

BT Director Wales, Ann Beynon quoted.

"3 is the first mobile operator anywhere in the UK to take advantage of BT’s new Microconnect Distributed Antenna (MDA) system that allows operators to share small antennas to provide enhanced service in city centres and heritage sites.

The new system is part of BT Wholesale’s growing portfolio of low-power, mobile-coverage solutions for mobile operators, aimed at minimising the visual impact of mobile masts and cabinets in towns and city centres. Together with other solutions being developed by BT, the MDA system will enable mobile operators to offer a greater range of new services including 3G video streaming and information and location-based services.

The new system uses low-powered BT antennas attached to, or housed in existing street furniture such as street signs, lamp-posts and CCTV poles. Each antenna is linked by BT Wholesale's fibre-optic cable network to a BT exchange which houses the mobile operator’s equipment.

BT has worked closely with Cardiff Council to design, trial and implement an MDA network for the city. As the first mobile operator to take advantage of the system, 3 will make use of the MDA network in key locations such as Cardiff city centre and the entrance to the Millennium Stadium".

BT Director Wales, Ann Beynon, said: “BT, 3 and Cardiff Council are leading the way in adopting this collaborative approach to mobile services in city centre and heritage sites and are building on the wireless city concept.”

Beynon continued: “The MDA system saves duplication by mobile network operators such as 3 by using discreet shared, low-power antennas on existing street furniture. By housing mobile operators' equipment in our local exchanges, we will minimise and, in some cases, even remove the need for additional roadside cabinets.”

Rob Crutchley, Director of Network Rollout, 3 said: “The MDA service in Cardiff will enhance the existing service 3 offers to its growing customer base.”

Councillor Mark Stephens, Executive Member for Economic Development & Finance said: "This is a very exciting time for Cardiff. Major IT providers such as BT are looking upon the capital as a key cost-effective city to pioneer technological advances and it's the people of Cardiff who are the first to benefit. This is exactly the type of local partnership we are very keen to support."

BT plans to deploy MDA services in selected cities during 2005 and 2006 in agreement with local authorities and in consultation with the mobile network operators, adhering to the Mobile Operators Association’s ten commitments.

[Hands0n]

" ..............adhering to the Mobile Operators Association’s ten commitments"

What exactly are these then?

[3GScottishUser]

BT have been building 3's network in the Irish Republic. It'll be interesting to see if they make a better job of it than the people who built the one in the UK.

Nice to see BT keeping their skills up to date, you never know a cheap bargain 3G network might just become available that they could maybe salvage and make something worthwile of.

[3g-g]

" ..............adhering to the Mobile Operators Association’s ten commitments"

What exactly are these then?

They are, these are from Orange, however all the UK ops are following the same guidelines;

Develop, with other stakeholders, clear standards and procedures to deliver significantly improved consultation with local communities

Orange has implemented the ‘Traffic Light’ system to help assess the social and environmental impact of proposed transmitter sites and decide on the best way of consulting with the public. This model is used by our community liaison officers to determine how much public consultation is appropriate for different sites. Factors taken into account include how close the proposed site is to residential and community buildings, what the proposed transmitter looks like, and local authority telecommunications policies.

Participate in obligatory pre-rollout and pre-application consultation with local planning authorities

We submit our annual rollout plans to local planning authorities to show the areas where we want to improve our network coverage. We also consult with planning officers before an application is submitted.

Publish clear, transparent and accountable criteria and cross-industry agreement on site sharing, against which progress will be published regularly.

Under the terms of our licence, we are expected to share transmitters or use existing structures and to avoid building new ones wherever possible. In 2002, 58% of our transmitters were shared or placed on existing structures. We have kept transmitter sharing at this level even though our network expanded by 16% and our customer base grew by 6.6% over the same period.

We have also worked with colleagues in the UK mobile phone industry to agree criteria for reporting on site-sharing to government together. These criteria are used as the basis for three-monthly reports.

Establish professional development workshops on technological developments within telecommunications for local authority officers and elected members.

The Federation of Electronics Industries (now the Mobile Operators Association – MOA) co-ordinated a number of workshops aimed at improving the general understanding of telecommunications for Local Planning Authorities in 2001. We have received feedback that local authorities would prefer industry representatives to be present at meetings they have already organised. This means we can address specific issues in a more timely way. The MOA, which represents all five UK operators, makes sure the industry has a presence at seminars, conferences and forums organised by local authorities.

We also ran a roadshow in 2002, which provided information on issues associated with our network and gave local authority officers a chance to air their views.

Deliver, with the Government, a database of information available to the public on radio base stations.

The Radiocommunications Agency (RA) publishes details of all mobile operators’ transmitter sites on a web site (www.radio.gov.uk). This database is called SITEFINDER and provides details of site addresses, height and emission levels.

Assess all radio base stations for international (ICNIRP) compliance for public exposure, and produce a programme for ICNIRP compliance for all radio base stations as recommended by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones.

A typical Orange transmitter site operates at levels many times below national and international guidelines in areas where the general public could have access. All of our sites comply with the public standard. In a Radiocommunications Agency audit conducted in 2002, reported emissions levels for transmitters near hospitals ranged from 1/4433 to 1/9382 of the ICNIRP maximum guideline reference level for public exposure. Reported emissions levels for transmitters near schools ranged from 1/1307 to 1/18008 of the ICNIRP maximum guideline reference level for public exposure.

Provide, as part of planning application for radio base stations, a certification of compliance with ICNIRP public exposure guidelines.

All new Orange sites are designed to comply with ICNIRP guidelines. A certificate confirming this is submitted with every planning application.

Provide specific staff resources to respond to complaints and enquiries about radio base stations within ten working days.

Orange employs six dedicated community liaison officers. They are responsible for consultation with site providers, elected representatives, members of the public and community groups, and for responding quickly to written enquiries. We also have a team of health and safety professionals who can provide information to planning officers and members of the public on technical issues. On top of this, we can commission independent emissions surveys to make sure appropriate standards have been met.

In line with the ‘Ten Commitments’, Orange responds to all letters relating to our network within ten working days. During 2002, our Community Affairs department responded to 2,852 letters. All acknowledgement letters were sent within ten days, at an average time of 1.6 days. Fuller explanations were sent within an average of 12.6 days. The Orange information line handled 2,022 calls. Some 241 of these related to questions about the network's impact on health and/or the environment.

People can contact Orange by email via [email protected], or by calling the Orange information Line on 0800 783 5021. Department of Health leaflets are available in our shops.

Begin financially supporting the government’s independent scientific research programme on mobile communications health issues.

Orange does not conduct its own research into possible health effects of mobile communications technology. However, together with other mobile operators, Orange is providing half of the funding for the Government's Mobile Telecoms Health Research programme. This is in response to the recommendations of the Stewart Report, which Orange and other mobile operators support. The research unit is run by its own management team and is fully independent of the Government and industry. Orange is contributing £507,000 over six years. This programme is expected to be completed in 2004/5. For more information, please visit www.mthr.org.uk

Develop standard supporting documentation for all planning submissions whether full planning or prior approval

Orange complies with, and fully supports, the Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development, which was produced jointly by representatives from central and local government and the mobile phone industry. This code provides advice to make sure there is effective consultation between operators, local authorities and local communities. Standardised procedures will clarify the process.