"Good cellular telephone coverage is dependent on high quality antennas on cellular towers," says Dirk Coetzee, marketing manager for the Antenna Division of Saab Grintek. "This is often in conflict with environmentalists and owners of sites who do not tolerate a large amount of mast-mounted equipment and the associated cables. With a combination of good coverage and less obtrusive installations in mind we explored new options. We came to an arrangement with the world leader in tower-mounted technology, Powerwave Technologies, to introduce the Clean Site concept to South Africa."
A conventional cellular tower has a number of elements including the antenna, filters, Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) units, and amplifiers, all of which have to be interconnected with cables.
This large amount of equipment makes these towers an aesthetic nightmare and increases the number of potential failure points. The Clean Site approach integrates all the equipment and the associated cables into a single unit. This integration not only improves the aesthetics of a tower, but also gives better performance leading to a more reliable service for subscribers. The inclusion of RET functionality allows operators to customise coverage by remotely controlling the tilt of the built-in antennas.
"While it is impossible to eliminate antenna structures, Saab Grintek's goal has always been to improve performance, minimise visual impact, and simplify the installation of cellular systems. I believe that with Clean Site we have made major progress in this direction," Coetzee said.
Integrating the various components into one unit has simplified installation and improved reliability by reducing the number of cables to be connected and waterproofed. The integrated product design and flexibility will enable co-siting of networks and systems, reducing space requirements and the number of masts and separate installations.
"Combining the technical expertise of Saab Grintek engineers with the worldwide experience of Powerwave has resulted in opportunities for adding value to imported components with local manufacturing. This means that our Clean Site product range has significant local content," Coetzee said.
Powerwave Technologies' large investment in research and development has brought about a number of innovations such as ultra-linear amplifiers, and high value concepts like the Clean Site and base station co-siting solutions.
Saab Grintek's philosophy is to work with best-of-breed international companies to bring their state-of-the-art products to South Africa. The knowledge and experience of Saab Grintek's local engineering force is added to deliver world-class services and products customised to local conditions.
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Grintek is a leading empowerment technology group and employs 1 300 people, most of whom are engineers and technicians partnership. The company is a privately held partnership between Kunene Bros Holdings (29.7 %) and Saab AB (70.3%) of Sweden. The group specialises in three main market segments, namely telecommunications and selected niche opportunities within industrial and defence electronics. Saab Grintek is a business unit of Saab.
Saab
Saab is one of the world's leading high-technology companies, with its main operations focusing on defence, aviation and space. The group covers a broad spectrum of competence and capability in systems integration.
Saab Grintek Technologies
Saab Grintek Technologies applies the Saab Grintek Group's core technologies in the ICT, transport and energy sectors through the development of its own products as well as partnerships and distribution agreements with world-class suppliers.
The division provides tailored and innovative solutions from initial project and business requirement consulting, through to implementation, integration, ongoing support and training.
The company focuses on providing high-end communications solutions in the following areas: transmission, voice, data, wireless, and convergence services, antennas, RF components, DC power systems, pre-payment electricity meters, electric load management systems and a full range of professional avionics and aeronautical electronics.
The division's solutions have been implemented in over 500 top South African companies and in more than 22 African countries. Over 25 leading international vendors have selected Saab Grintek Technologies as a South African service provider and partner. Saab Grintek Technologies' head office and support centre is located in Centurion, Pretoria, and it has full regional support offices in Cape Town and Windhoek.
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