Implementing Effective Tower Management Techniques

Telecom Business Review | Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The maintenance of a cell tower is different from that of many other infrastructure assets. The tool used to support the maintenance must also account for these needs.

The recent uptick in telecom mergers and acquisitions results in tower inventories and engineering data are only sometimes safe when they move hands. The tower data new owners receive is usually a patchwork of outdated 2D CAD drawings, PDFs listing the equipment installed on towers, hand sketches created by tower climbers, etc. Following the stitching together, many questions arise concerning accurate asset information. It is difficult and expensive to reconcile tower infrastructure, operate it and maintain it since there is no central source of truth to leverage. Many believe the solution is to utilize building information modeling (BIM) workflows using drone images to construct 3D models. Digital twins may be a possible solution, acting as synchronized replicas of assets.

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Before choosing a solution, it is important to consider what is required to maintain modern cell towers.

A realistic view of the as-built status: Tower maintenance and operation personnel can typically access construction document packages and idealized engineering models as tower data. The as-designed models are useful for understanding the intentions of the construction, including the installation of equipment, but they need to be more accurate representations of the current state. An accurate as-built model is essential to optimizing tower tenancy and accelerating important projects such as 5G expansion. The tower maintenance system should provide an accurate view of the asset so owners and operators can make informed decisions.

Change management: The tower infrastructure data constantly changes due to government regulations, technological innovation, increased tenancy, and 5G deployment requirements. A lot of this data goes through various file formats and systems, so keeping track of it can take much work. The risk of inconsistent analysis increases without a central source of reality, and data-based decisions become more challenging. A tower maintenance system must accommodate change.

Context with defects and anomalies: Cell towers serve as a base station for transmitting cellular and wireless signals within the surrounding area. Understanding and evaluating a tower's stability is essential for this purpose. To properly maintain the tower, those responsible must be able to identify, record, and communicate defects and anomalies. Over time, defects and anomalies occur, and they must be identified, recorded, and communicated. A tower maintenance system must consider an environmental context and structural anomalies. This can increase the overall life of a tower.

Accessibility: Maintenance teams at towers are cross-functional and have different levels of experience. All team members, from climbers, construction crews, engineers, and even upper management, require access to critical tower data to perform their role within the tower lifecycle. Collaboration and increased efficiency are possible with a system that provides easy and cost-effective access to all stakeholders. An overcomplicated tower maintenance system requiring extensive training is unnecessary for anyone without engineering responsibilities.

A connected and open environment: Data about towers can come from various sources in various formats. A truly connected data environment can integrate and visualize as many as necessary data sources to reconcile and paint a truly accurate picture of the tower's status. A complete, reality-based model of how a particular tower stands today happens by integrating and leveraging 2D and 3D drawings, valuable BIM data, drone imagery, maintenance and inspection reports, and many others. A reality-based model gives the tower owner and carrier an in-depth understanding of the tower, allowing them to make informed decisions regarding installing new equipment and operational maintenance, reducing the cost and time spent. Various data sources must be connected and available to a tower maintenance system.

Including design and construction processes, a digital twin encapsulates all the data and functionality required to maintain the lifecycle of a cell tower asset. As a result of an evergreen digital twin for cell towers, a single, accessible, automated view of the truth can be made available to operational workflows and provide true insight into profitability and value.

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