A “Small Cell” is a radio access point with low radio frequency (RF) power output, footprint and range. It is operator-controlled, and can be deployed indoors or outdoors, and is licensed, shared or unlicensed. Small cells complement the macro network to improve coverage, add target capacity, and support new services and user experiences (www.smallcellforum.org.) Small cells are becoming the big wave in rolling out the supposed 5G network. We appear to have a very good strong hold on this type of installation from start to finish.
Brian Ridder & Stacy Markel with their crews and the assistance of Bauer Underground are installing the underground conduit bores, foundations, pull boxes, and poles. Brian and Stacy are also completing the work in the tunnels and basements to utilize existing power to the new pole sites. Jacob Malcom and his crew are getting all the new fiber optic cabling installed and assisting in setting up both new and old equipment rooms. CECM installed new backbone fiber (288 strand) from the head-end to a new centrally-located hub. From this, there are five small cells being served. An existing hub is serving the remaining 10 small cells. Each individual pole location has 48 strands of fiber close by. In total, we will have tested over 335 miles for fiber on this project. The extra fiber leaves a lot of room for expansion for the University. They are already looking to utilize some of this fiber for security cameras and Wi-Fi just to name a few.
