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Collaboration Key to Coverage Integration at Delmec

Connectivity has never been more in demand. Where once we used our phones or computers to make calls or send emails, now we’re streaming entertainment, attending virtual classrooms and hosting video conferences. All of this means that the greatest challenge faced by today’s telecoms industry is not just coverage, but capacity too.

Getting customers connected requires a collective effort, and that’s proven every day on telecoms site roll-outs. Over the years, as we’ve worked with teams and clients from all over the world, we’ve learned that collaboration is key to transforming concepts into reality. On site, it’s our role to channel the perspectives, requirements and concerns of all direct and indirect stakeholders and manage the process so that the final result is a benefit to all.

On a typical street works deployment, the stakeholders can include the MNO (mobile network operator), radio planning engineering team, transmission connection engineering team, vendor equipment engineers, public relations team and field force maintenance team. Of course, local planning authorities are usually involved too, in addition to an ESB network team, and they’ll work closely with the engineers looking after installation, electrical and cranage requirements.

One very important stakeholder is the end-user of the delivered mobile service. Always-on connectivity is fast becoming an essential part of life for the general population and our insatiable need for data and communication places ever-increasing demand on our wireless infrastructure.

This means that the lonely tower on a hill is no longer sufficient for the capacity we need, and instead, providers need to position broadcast hardware in close proximity to the consumer, which involves a further stakeholder – the local community. Positioning antennas in suburban and typical low-rise residential areas presents a very real challenge, as the visual impact of large towers are not acceptable in these areas. Traditional street works solutions struggle to balance capacity, aesthetics and cost.

This is where Delmec comes in: unlike other companies, we employ engineers, designers and planners with a wide variety of skills who can craft turn-key solutions in-house. Street works solutions are particularly challenging, as they require a simplified exterior design, housing complex capabilities inside. For one stakeholder – the general public – the site must be so basic that it’s almost invisible to passing traffic, while for another stakeholder – the mobile network operator – it must be packed with all the hardware and capabilities of a full macro tower site. 

Our highly qualified, multi-disciplinary teams are experts at striking this balance: the Delmec street works solution has the capability to support 2G/3G/4G & 5G technologies along with a range of frequencies, 12 radio units and 7kW of cooling capacity. We can include Fibre TX, Wireless TX and up to 42 feeders, three calibration cables and three Ret cables, along with 220volt AC network metering containment and connection, an AC distribution board, a 16kW AC/DC inverter and 23U Equipment rack. We are, in effect, a one-stop solution for all the stakeholders involved. We have the technical expertise as well as the crucial management experience. We can coordinate large teams with a variety of independent priorities, helping them to collaborate on site in a way that best serves our client – and their customers and communities. As is always the case in Delmec, better cooperation means better connectivity, just as synergy shapes success.

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Tower Titans: Delmec Appoints Industry-Leading Advisory Board

At Delmec, we believe that synergy shapes success. Partnership has been part of our DNA ever since three Delaney brothers founded our company in 1975. Over the last 46 years, we’ve worked in close cooperation with engineers, manufacturers, towercos and mobile network operators in more than 40 countries. Together, we’ve learned, adapted and innovated, providing comprehensive services and creative solutions to clients, customers and communities all over the world.

Today, we’re proud to continue our long tradition of collaboration by announcing the formation of our advisory board. This panel of industry-leading experts will provide knowledge, skills and expertise, as well as advice on governance and strategy and key networking opportunities.

Over the last number of years, as Delmec has grown, our executive team recognised that a new board structure could help us achieve our long-term goals. In 2020 we adopted a formal company charter and engaged Dirk Bak, a US-based legal executive and entrepreneur who specialises in board-formation in the SME sector. Dirk supported us as we established a formal board of directors, who in turn appointed our advisory board.

Our first appointee is Charles C (Chuck) Green III, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Helios Towers, a leading independent tower company with more than 7,000 sites across multiple African markets. With more than two decades of executive experience at the forefront of global telecommunications, Chuck is a highly revered member of the towerco community; he was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award by TowerXchange in 2016 and named as one of the Top 20 Industry Executives in 2020 four years later. He currently serves as a member of the supervisory board of Vantage Towers and previously for eight years as senior advisor and NED of edotco, the largest tower companies in Europe and South Asia, respectively, as well as Pinnacle Towers, an ASEAN platform backed by KKR.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Chuck while partnering with Helios Towers and edotco, and knew that his lifetime of experience would be of immense value to the Delmec board. As we enter a new era of unprecedented demand for global connectivity, we recognise that we’re on the cusp of a major evolution in the telecommunications industry. “That leads to the need for change by all industry stakeholders, and early adopters will prevail,” Chuck says. “Delmec is already in the critical path of structural analysis and managed services to the industry, at the leading edge of changing demands.”

Like us, he believes in the value of adaptability and innovation, confirming his respect for “Delmec’s enterprising approach to adapting products and services to the inevitably rapidly changing ecosystem occurring in the telecom industry globally, as specifically it has done for Helios over the years.” From our origins in steel manufacturing to our development of new drone technology, we’ve consistently evolved to invent, design and optimise tower infrastructure, always meeting – and frequently exceeding – our clients’ expectations.

Together with Dirk and the other members of the advisory board, Chuck will be advising our management team as they navigate today’s changing landscape. By combining the advisors’ industry experience with our engineering expertise, we can work together to strategise a successful future for Delmec. Together, we will continue our work in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, proudly supporting clients, customers and communities as they grow closer in an ever more connected world.

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Delmec Proud to Partner with Cellnex to ‘Get Connected’

At Delmec, we understand that connectivity matters, now more than ever: it’s how families, friends and colleagues stay in touch, no matter where they are in the world. Whether we’re working to connect homes, offices and classrooms across the African savannah or the Irish countryside, we know that every foot of cable is a step in the right direction for rural communities.

That’s why we’re pleased to support ‘Get Connected’, an exciting new initiative launched by Cellnex, Ireland’s largest independent telecoms infrastructure provider. Cellnex assists mobile network operators as they deliver improvements in mobile connectivity, helping to provide better coverage in villages, towns and cities across the country. Delmec has long been a trusted partner of Cellnex: we’ve worked on their portfolio since 2015, supplying a wide range of services including maintenance, rectification and optimisation.

While many of us take for granted the ability to launch a video call or download a file, mobile coverage remains a serious challenge for some users, particularly residents and business-owners in rural areas. Now, as part of their efforts to improve coverage, Cellnex are seeking to “address mobile blackspots across Ireland and bring the benefits of mobile connectivity to as many communities as possible”. 

The aim of the Get Connected programme is to combine the expertise of Cellnex with the power of local community groups to find cost-effective solutions to problems with coverage and connectivity. By coming together, communities can work with Cellnex and its partners – including Delmec – to support the deployment of much-needed services in their area.

Get Connected is now live in Laois and Offaly, but Cellnex wants to hear from communities all around Ireland as they seek to expand the programme into a “nationwide project supporting communities in all 26 counties, ending the scourge of mobile blackspots.” They’ve launched a ‘Community Call’, asking affected groups to request a review of mobile connectivity in their location, to ascertain if a solution to their coverage issues can be found.

Cellnex Ireland Managing Director Colin Cunningham says: “Cellnex is giving communities the firm promise that we will work with them to try to ensure that they get the infrastructure that they need. I hope that local communities will take this opportunity to seek an improved service and work with us to deliver solutions for their areas.”

If you’re struggling with calls, texts and mobile data, the Get Connected programme might be just what you need. The process is very straightforward: talk to your neighbours to gain consensus on the problem in your area, nominate a point of contact for your group and complete a simple form for submission.

If you’re interested in learning about this dynamic new community-driven initiative, visit the Get Connected website or follow the social media hashtag #Getconnected for more information. Let’s work together to connect our communities, one step at a time.