Ericsson unveiled a series of towers for wireless base stations and antennas that are more environmentally friendly and better able to blend in with a community than typical communication masts.
The Ericsson Tower Tube, designed by renowned Scandinavian architect Thomas Sandell, takes a new approach to site architecture – the 5m-diameter, 40m-high flexible concrete tower encapsulates all radio base station equipment, including the antennas. The flexible concrete tower can be colored and branded to the operator’s specific needs to either blend in with its surroundings or become an attractive landmark for the local community.
Diverging from standard design, the radio base station is placed at the top of the tower cutting the distance between it and the antenna. This gives capacity and coverage benefits for the cellular network and can together with the fact that no active cooling is needed reduce energy consumption up to 40 percent.
Ericsson also noted that its new design occupies less land — 60-75 percent less than conventional sites — making site acquisition is easier. Being a self-contained structure, operators can also avoid the need for security fences and the cost of maintaining and patrolling them.
http://www.ericsson.com
