Upgrading 2G sites to 3G
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From: JL on 21 Jul 2010 15:53 As I understand it, 1800Mhz antennas can be used for 2G & 3G transmissions (and is part of the reason why Orange and T-Mobile have been able to roll out 3G faster). The 900Mhz ones cannot though, correct? I have noticed that O2 put up smaller, whiter antennas up next to their GSM ones which I assume are for 3G. I notice a similar design on a lot of their 2G/3G sites. Vodafone's 'dual-technology' sites on the other hand don't look any different to a 2G only one. A local site that has recently been upgraded just has the typical Voda 2G antenna with the curved top/ bottom. Noticed this on quite a few of their installations. Why is this the case? Why aren't they having to use new antennas? Or am I just not looking properly?
From: tony sayer on 21 Jul 2010 16:17 In article <611bbecb-ba03-439b-907b-a8b54613f502(a)d8g2000yqf.googlegroups ..com>, JL <newsaccount(a)mail2web.com> scribeth thus >As I understand it, 1800Mhz antennas can be used for 2G & 3G >transmissions (and is part of the reason why Orange and T-Mobile have >been able to roll out 3G faster). > >The 900Mhz ones cannot though, correct? > >I have noticed that O2 put up smaller, whiter antennas up next to >their GSM ones which I assume are for 3G. I notice a similar design >on a lot of their 2G/3G sites. > >Vodafone's 'dual-technology' sites on the other hand don't look any >different to a 2G only one. A local site that has recently been >upgraded just has the typical Voda 2G antenna with the curved top/ >bottom. Noticed this on quite a few of their installations. Why is >this the case? Why aren't they having to use new antennas? Or am I >just not looking properly? Some aerial designs are multi band i.e. will handle 900, 1800, and other frequencies.. Have a rummage round the Jaybeam site... http://www.amphenol-jaybeam.com/tri-sector-antenna-solutions.php http://www.amphenol-jaybeam.com/base-station-antennas.php -- Tony Sayer
From: R. Mark Clayton on 23 Jul 2010 09:28 "JL" <newsaccount(a)mail2web.com> wrote in message news:611bbecb-ba03-439b-907b-a8b54613f502(a)d8g2000yqf.googlegroups.com... > As I understand it, 1800Mhz antennas can be used for 2G & 3G > transmissions (and is part of the reason why Orange and T-Mobile have > been able to roll out 3G faster). > > The 900Mhz ones cannot though, correct? > > I have noticed that O2 put up smaller, whiter antennas up next to > their GSM ones which I assume are for 3G. I notice a similar design > on a lot of their 2G/3G sites. > > Vodafone's 'dual-technology' sites on the other hand don't look any > different to a 2G only one. A local site that has recently been > upgraded just has the typical Voda 2G antenna with the curved top/ > bottom. Noticed this on quite a few of their installations. Why is > this the case? Why aren't they having to use new antennas? Or am I > just not looking properly? O2 (was BTC) and Voda had 900MHz analogue sites that they turned into 900MHz GSM sites. O2's were omin directional and Voda's covered 120 degree segments. They, Orange and T-Mobile (was 121) all built 1800MHz sites as well. The 900Mhz aerials are unlikely to be suitable for dual use. If you were starting from scratch you probably could design antennas to do both as the frequencies are a convenient harmonic. All four and Three also now provide UMTS (2100MHz IIRC). This is not a convenient harmonic, although with some loss you could use the same aerial as for 1800MHZ. On a large macro cell near me, O2 have all 3 bands and T-Mobile and 3 have UMTS only. Orange and TM and probably 3 have mast sharing agreements with O2 these days as coverage is nearly full, so no competitive advantage is gained from mast exclusivity now.
From: smurf on 24 Jul 2010 09:03 R. Mark Clayton wrote: > "JL" <newsaccount(a)mail2web.com> wrote in message > news:611bbecb-ba03-439b-907b-a8b54613f502(a)d8g2000yqf.googlegroups.com... >> As I understand it, 1800Mhz antennas can be used for 2G & 3G >> transmissions (and is part of the reason why Orange and T-Mobile have >> been able to roll out 3G faster). >> >> The 900Mhz ones cannot though, correct? >> >> I have noticed that O2 put up smaller, whiter antennas up next to >> their GSM ones which I assume are for 3G. I notice a similar design >> on a lot of their 2G/3G sites. >> >> Vodafone's 'dual-technology' sites on the other hand don't look any >> different to a 2G only one. A local site that has recently been >> upgraded just has the typical Voda 2G antenna with the curved top/ >> bottom. Noticed this on quite a few of their installations. Why is >> this the case? Why aren't they having to use new antennas? Or am I >> just not looking properly? > > O2 (was BTC) and Voda had 900MHz analogue sites that they turned into > 900MHz GSM sites. O2's were omin directional and Voda's covered 120 > degree segments. They, Orange and T-Mobile (was 121) all built > 1800MHz sites as well. > > The 900Mhz aerials are unlikely to be suitable for dual use. > > If you were starting from scratch you probably could design antennas > to do both as the frequencies are a convenient harmonic. > > All four and Three also now provide UMTS (2100MHz IIRC). This is not > a convenient harmonic, although with some loss you could use the same > aerial as for 1800MHZ. > > On a large macro cell near me, O2 have all 3 bands and T-Mobile and 3 > have UMTS only. > > Orange and TM and probably 3 have mast sharing agreements with O2 > these days as coverage is nearly full, so no competitive advantage is > gained from mast exclusivity now. There is virtually no 3g coverage in the whole of Cumbria with o2. Most of the urban carlisle is ok, but I travel around cumbria a lot and o2 firmly stays on gprs/2g, even in large urban areas like whitehaven, penrith, workington. Penrith for instance has a population of about 20,000 and doesnt have a single 3g transmitter.
From: R. Mark Clayton on 26 Jul 2010 15:27
"smurf" <smurf(a)smurf.com> wrote in message news:8b06mvFkmqU1(a)mid.individual.net... > R. Mark Clayton wrote: SNIP > > There is virtually no 3g coverage in the whole of Cumbria with o2. Tsk! > Most of > the urban carlisle is ok, but I travel around cumbria a lot and o2 firmly > stays on gprs/2g, even in large urban areas like whitehaven, penrith, > workington. "large urban areas" - is there a street light in your hamlet? OK I'm spoilt see: - The little triangle has five macrocells - three of them UMTS + 900 & 1800 GSM. > Penrith for instance has a population of about 20,000 and doesnt > have a single 3g transmitter. > > 3 has one and Orange and Voda have two each |