Chapter 2 Site acquisition and projects

2.1. Introduction

Projects department is dealing with acquiring proposed location, conducting civil

works, installing telecommunication equipment and Preliminary Acceptance Test

(PAT) in the process of establishing a site or in any other project.  There are Civil,

Electronic and Telecommunication Engineers in the PROJECT team

The main role of PROJECTS division is commissioning of new sites. Other functions

of that section includes site validation, contract of site,   and acquisition of licenses,

site construction, and installation of equipment, site testing and final acceptance.

They are working very closely with the contractors, this department ensures the

project completed within the given time limits. 

2.2. Planning new sites

Before  setting  up  a  new  site  Radio Access Network (RAN) Engineers examine

the area using Planning Tools and Maps (Google Map and Google Earth). They

will obtain coverage predictions with the aid of AIRCOM‟s ASSET tool and

ALCATEL‟s Radio Network Planning Tool. Why new sites?

  Coverage for roads

  Coverage for populated areas

  To overcome Capacity issues (Reduce congestion of nearby sites)

As a company Mobitel want to generate revenue. Therefore to get an approval for a

new site Engineer needs to prove the revenue that can be generated by setting up that

new site. Mobitel will get a feedback from Regional Business Managers and

Marketing section about current status and future growth of that area. Drive test

results and customer complaints are also taken into consideration. Then a suitable

location is chosen. Contractor will try to acquire a land as closer as possible to the

given coordinates. Based on the location and requirement we decide which type of

Site is to set up.

2.3. Site Survey

2.3.1. Roof Top Site Survey

Few steps involved in this process and they are listed below.

Visibility/Availability

Due to nearby buildings some areas may not get covered. When signals gone

through a wall 10 dB loss will be there. And we also note down possible

locations to put our site and cabin of the site.

  Near Field and Far Field obstruction

In order to connect the site to the transmission network, there should be Line

of Sight (LOS) between the existing sites and the proposed new site location.

During the site survey we should check for the obstructions in both near field

and far field.

  Access path

This is important in future maintenance. If there is a proper access path, it will

make maintenance Engineers job easier.

  Power

Whether commercial power is available or not.

  150-200 m clearance from high tension line

  Obstruction from the same building

Then reference photographs of the site location are taken, these photographs

will include:

* Visibility of the area from the site location (including panoramic

photographs)

* Measured land area for the proposed site location 

* Accessibility/Access path to the site location

* Availability of the Commercial power

*Terrain conditions of the land

*Neighboring buildings

Detailed sketch of the location is drawn

This sketch should include: Geo-graphical north referring to the drawing,  Access

to the site location, proposed site location of the selected land, landmarks

(nearby buildings, houses, power lines, trees).

2.3.2. Deviations in a sharing site

In addition to the normal site survey process, in this process the BTS cabins are

planned to install in other operator's site location premises. Therefore a suitable

location with required dimensions (i.e. 16 ft X 12 ft) is measured. In selecting a

cabin location we have to consider the distance from the existing site, cable

ladder of the existing site etc.

2.3.3. Green Field Site Survey

Majority  of  Green  field  sites  are  set  up  in  rural  areas.  There  are  few 

deviations  from  the above mentioned Site  Survey process exists when we consider a

GF site. And they are: need to conduct a soil test, and availability of commercial

power. Also we have to consider the terrain condition. Other things are same as the

roof top site survey.

2.3.4. Technical Site Survey (TSS) Form

After completing the surveying process, TSS form was prepared for each new

site.  And this form is then handed over to the PROJECTS section to proceed

with the project.  TSS  form should include the following details.

 General Data of the site (Site name, Site Identification Code (SIC), etc.)

 Geo-coordinates of the site location

 For Roof Top sites : 

 *Height of the building

 *Microwave planning data: Azimuths and distance to three nearest microwave

points. 

For Green Field site :

*Tower type : self-support / COW

*Tower height : 60 m/ 45 m/ 30 m

Location planning data : coverage objective, coverage area and distances  to 

adjacent sites

BTS antenna related data;

*Antenna model e.g. 90 Dual Band

*Installation height of the antenna

*Antenna azimuths

*Mechanical and electrical tilt

Clearance to the nearest high tension line

Terrain condition (for Green Field sites)

Power availability

Column/beam under pole location (for Roof Top sites)

Site location marked on a map

2.4. Site acquisition

Planning section will decide new site locations depends on the requirement. They

will forward a Site Acquisition Request (SAR) to the projects section . then the

projects section choose a suitable contractor to proceed with the project. For a

particular site contractor will send three possible locations with real coordinates

(X,Y). Then the 3 coordinates will be checked and if they are not fulfilling the

requirements the planning section ask the contractor to send some other locations.

After getting a suitable location projects engineer will visit the location with the

contractor for Technical Site Survey. By examining the actual location the best

position for the tower will be selected

from(I1,I2,I3).

I1(x1,y1) I2(x2,y2)

I3(x3,y3)

Three locations for the planed site

Then the legal section do a legal search on the chosen location. If there is no issue occurs in

legal search the project can proceed with that location. Otherwise a new location should be

selected. Then the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) process begins. An

application indicating the location of the site is sent to the TRC. Then the TRC will get the

required approval from the following authorities. Depending on the location and the land type

new approvals will be needed from following authorities

Ministry of Defense (MOD)

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)

Urban Development Authority (UDA)

Ceylon Environmental Authority (CEA/BOI)

Municipal/Urban Council

If any above mentioned authority rejected the proposal the site may not be able to setup in

that location. Approval of MOD is critical in high security zones, recently cleared areas and

military camps. Approval; of CAA is critical near air ports. Approval of UDA is critical in

UDA declared areas. CEA concerns remain same in all locations (i.e. Tower should be

located 400m away from a school). If all the approvals are given, Local Authority (LA) will

approve as well. But if there are any public objections LA will deny the request, in areas

which have some ancient values such as Anuradhapura sacred town, CEA and LA will ask

for archeological approval. If all the approvals came without any issue the site can be

proceeded. To get all the approvals it may take a minimum of three months

To get all the approvals, land type also important to get the clearance of the land. After

getting the approval of the land we can proceed with the above mentioned TRC approval

process. Time taken to get the approval for a land changes with land type. Following land

types are available in Sri Lanka,

Private lands (30%)

Government lands (70%)

Mahaveli / Forest / Plantation / LRC (Land Reformed

Commission)

To get approval for the government it may take about 1.5 years. Therefore private lands are

preferred

2.5. Overall procedure of commissioning a site

Normally a project starts after getting Note to Proceed (NTP) document. Then an

Engineer from PROJECTS. Main contractor and sub-contractor visits the location for

the Technical Site Survey (TSS). After that TSS Report (TSSR) will be submitted by

the contractor. Projects Engineer will analyze TSSR and if it is accepted Mobitel will

issue Note To Construct. Then the constructions will begin. After construction

completed Project Engineer will visit the site to conduct Preliminary Acceptance Test

(PAT). PAT consists of two sub parts namely Civil Mechanical Electrical (CME) and

TI (Telecommunication Installation). If any part of work is not been done up to an

acceptable level those issues are included in the PUNCHLIST during the PAT.

PUNCHLIST is a critical section in the PAT document. Contractor will have to

complete those incomplete work mentioned in the PUNCHLIST. If more than 75%

of the work is completed in the project. Projects Engineer will issue the work

Completion

Report (WCR) after the PAT. At this moment Mobitel will pay 75% of the payment

to the contractor. Upon the completion of the project we will issue Provisional

Acceptance

Certificate (PAC). To issue PAC we release the total payment to the contractor.

Example of a project: 400 sites (This project is to complete 400 sites).

FIgure project flow 1

2.6. Site / Tower categories

There are few tower/site categories are implemented: Green Field, Roof Top, Mobile

Site (COW) and Monopole. Snapshots of those towers are as follows.

2.7. Site Sharing

In Sri Lanka there are large number of towers located all over the country . To

maintain minimum number of Towers Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

Sri Lanka (TRCSL) prefer operators to share their towers with other operators, When

we submit an application for a new site TRCL will give us suggestions indicating

sites nearby. According to the tower type , required approvals are different. See

following chart to get a basic idea on that.