Category: News

It can be hard to believe sometimes, but modern mobile telecommunication is one of the greatest – and fastest – technological advances of recent times. In less than a century, we’ve gone from switchboard operators to Siri, transforming all our lives in the process.

With the launch of 5G and its future evolutions, we’re now poised for a period of even bigger change – one that’ll require similarly brave thinking.

We’ve been building mobile telecommunication sites more or less the same way for the last twenty years: we plan and construct compounds or rooftop sites using lattice towers or monopoles, and we build for each operator on site separately, incorporating others as we expand. Compounds are usually similar, wherever they are in the world, and telecoms equipment is typically the same and duplicated for each operator on site. These days, even power supplies are duplicated in some cases.

5G, however, will require major changes to this tried-and-tested system. The new technology means that sites will need to be smaller, cheaper and with greater network densification. This means increasing available network capacity with major upgrades to allow digital users access to faster speeds and higher connectivity, particularly in urban and densely-populated areas such as tower blocks, airports, sports arenas. This requirement for ever-better speeds and connectivity will only increase as our technology evolves to include fully automated manufacturing, self-driving cars and even remote or robot-led surgery.

As a result of these new logistical and financial pressures, TowerCo owners will likely want to share infrastructure as much as possible, with sites eventually becoming completely multi-operator-based, all the way to the core network. This will entail a fundamental shift in the traditional industry mindset, which has been largely based on competition rather than cooperation. Core network sharing can be complex, and challenging to manage, but does allow for significant savings in OPEX and CAPEX. The future might lie in competing on service rather than competing on infrastructure: a network that can reduce its costs through strategic sharing will be able to divert those savings into pursuing lower-priced plans or cutting-edge technologies for its service-users.  

Here at Delmec, we’re exploring how we can adapt our services to better serve the smaller, less expensive and more dense sites that will power our future in 5G. It won’t be easy, but we’re confident that with our extensive experience, quality training and innovative technology will guide us through this transition. We approach changes in our industry in much the same way as we look upon a new site: as an exciting opportunity for development, growth and long-term success.

Until quite recently it was only birds – and some intrepid engineers – who could command the best view of our clients’ towers, but now we have specialist drones, designed to be Delmec’s eyes in the sky.

Ever since our early days of business in the 1970s, we’ve prided ourselves on growing and adapting to our clients’ needs. Whether it’s developing expert engineering skills or embracing new technology, we will always work towards delivering faster, more efficient, and more beneficial services. Drones are just the latest step in this long and exciting journey for Delmec.

Earlier this year, our long-term client Helios Towers Ghana tasked us with dismantling four large guyed masts, ranging from 80m to 150m. The masts were being decommissioned due to their condition, as rectifying them had proven to be uneconomical. Because of the complexity of the operation, Delmec equipped the site’s teams with a drone to help them get a clear picture of the challenge ahead. This reduced time on site validating specific details on the structure, or checking issues with active equipment. For the client, this meant quicker and cheaper site visits to quickly assess any network issues, thus reducing downtime. 

Our DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone captured images of the masts and conveyed them back to our HQ, where engineers could check for any wildlife or climbing dangers, examine the connections for any unknown issues and give the site team an overview of the surrounding area. It was a straightforward task, but its value was crucial, as it enabled everyone to gain visibility of the masts’ condition before tasking the crew with climbing.

Drones have become increasingly useful in our work as we assist our clients while navigating pandemic-related restrictions around the world. They help to facilitate a more COVID-safe working environment, where the drone pilot can capture images for Delmec HQ to review, delivering increased accuracy safely and efficiently. Helios Towers Ghana has 981 sites across the country, and our work with them often draws on resources from Rwanda, DRC, Tanzania and South Africa. However, customs and air freight issues also affected our ability to bring specialist tools in-country, so we had to ensure we were fully apprised of what was needed in advance of the work’s commencement. The drone helped enormously in these planning stages and will be useful going forward as we incorporate roadmaps into live projects.

In Ghana, the task was successfully carried out, removing four high-risk masts from our client’s portfolio. We found that the drone not only facilitated faster, safer work, but also provided the client with better images of the structure and compound post-works. This removes the possibility of failed site visits, thus reducing additional mobilisation costs.

More generally, these types of images also serve to benefit the tower owner’s sales department, who will be given a portfolio of high-quality shots that are far less restrictive than those achieved by a climber. Precise imagery helps our clients ascertain new sales opportunities; they can accurately measure available space for new equipment and confirm the line of sight for microwave installation and space to be allocated. This all helps to reduce administration costs, avoid operator disputes and above all, make the process of selling a smooth one.

The drone’s ability to validate surrounding area for new builds is also of benefit, as it provides tower owners with detail on available compound space and helps them explore the possibility of extension. The data can also be of use in solving any contractual issues with neighbouring landowners.

The Ghana project marked a major step in proving the benefits of Delmec’s drone offering and it will now become a standard part of our tool kit, supplying our clients with an overview of their masts’ condition, an extra layer of visibility on site and a bank of current, accurate data that will greatly assist with future sales. We’re now trialling a more sophisticated drone with mapping capability, which will provide a valuable extra service to our clients at home and abroad. 

For more information on this complex project and exciting new step in towerco technology, check out our short video with spectacular drone footage of the task, our teams’ expert work – and the lush green Ghanaian countryside too.

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.

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.

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.

At Delmec, we understand that synergy shapes success, whether on a site in South Africa, a boardroom in China, or a classroom in Ireland.

That’s why we’re delighted to support The B!g iDea, an exciting new programme that teaches creative problem-solving to transition-year secondary school students. Launched this year, the first phase includes 500 students in three counties, aiming to “inspire our next generation to take on big challenges with confidence”.

The 2021 programme will take place over 15 weeks and centre on five themes: tackling the housing crisis; fighting pandemics; supporting our ageing population; combatting racism; improving our health and wellbeing.

The B!g iDea was founded by the award-winning international product designer Kim Mackenzie-Doyle. A longtime creative advocate, she worked with fellow leaders in her community to bring about The B!g iDea, based on their shared belief in its value to the Irish education system. The students will be assisted by a panel of specially-selected expert judges and mentors – including architect Dermot Bannon, photographer Timi Ogunyemi and designer Róisín Lafferty – who will offer “real-world advice directly to the students, sharing their knowledge and connecting students with their communities and the creative sector”.

Delivered through two classes per week, the programme is designed to complement the existing curriculum and provide students with added skills and benefits such as divergent thinking and collaborative creativity. It also aims to foster an innovative mindset, develop empathy and support positive mental health.

Ever since three Delaney brothers founded our company in 1975, we’ve employed creative thinking to help us meet our clients’ toughest challenges. We agree that “with B!G ideas come B!G solutions,” so we’re pleased to support this great initiative, helping to empower the next generation to devise innovative ways to tackle real-world problems.
The students are busy preparing for their upcoming virtual awards ceremony scheduled for the 21st May. They’ll be competing for category medals and the coveted B!g iDea trophy. We’ll be watching with interest, celebrating the young people of today – and applauding their plans for a better tomorrow.

The world moves fast, and the telecommunications world moves even faster. Keeping abreast of change is important to us here in Delmec, so we’re always undergoing training and development in our field.

Our latest executive education project is Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Enter the Eurozone’ programme, which aims to “open Europe’s doors to ambitious Irish exporters”. It’s delivered by the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), an internationally-renowned business school based in Berlin, Germany. Their lessons are supported by IMS Marketing (IMS), an Irish marketing agency specialising in global markets.

Developed to help companies take advantage of the opportunities within the Eurozone, the curriculum covers five phases, spanning six months. The first stage involves meeting with specially-selected advisors from Enterprise Ireland, IMS Marketing and ESMT. This leads onto market intelligence — key to understanding the chosen market — followed by strategic preparation and execution planning, which involves analysis of the value proposition, sales channels and routes to market.

While we regularly operate in many countries all over the world, our CEO Kealan Delaney wanted to continue to improve Delmec’s systematic, process-driven approach to market entry, and adapt it to specific market requirements. We chose to examine the French market as part of this initiative, and have found the modules very useful for the future. “I’d highly recommend this programme for any SME seeking to expand their business, either into the Eurozone or further afield,” Kealan says.

The Delmec team are now in the fifth and final phase of the ‘Enter the Eurozone’ course. They’ve received their certification and will present their Market Entry plan to Enterprise Ireland, ESMT Berlin, IMS and the other participants on the 25th of February 2021. The advisors, educators and peers will offer their feedback, and then it’ll be onto implementation, moving forward with their plan for market expansion into France.

For Kealan and his team, it’s been a worthwhile exercise. “We’ve gained a great deal of knowledge from ESMT and IMS,” he says. “But some of the most valuable lessons have come from our fellow participants”. As in all things at Delmec, synergy shapes success, and learning alongside other dynamic, forward-moving business leaders means better results for all, in Ireland, the Eurozone and the global market.

It’s been a tough start to 2021, with surging Covid-19 numbers and new strains putting serious pressure on our health system and our safety. Here in Ireland, we’re in Level 5 lockdown, and likely to stay that way for some time to come.

My family isn’t immune; all five of us contracted Covid-19 in early January, but we were very fortunate to get diagnosed early and recover well. Isolating together when everybody’s sick is tricky, of course, but if there’s a silver lining, it’s that we were able to spend time together as a family. In wintry Carlow, this meant watching movies together, eating warm, nourishing suppers and taking gentle exercise in our frosty garden.

My own diagnosis felt like something of a culmination of a challenging but dynamic year. Our industry is experiencing unprecedented demand, with some telecoms operators reporting a 50% increase in traffic volumes. Whether we’re dialling into virtual classrooms, meeting rooms or family get-togethers, telecommunications play an ever more vital role in all our lives. This translates into a busy time for Delmec, with telecommunications network expansion, as well as regular operations and ongoing maintenance, which continued at pace throughout the Pandemic.

Our incredible team adapted quickly during this time, unfazed by their rapidly-evolving working environment, whether in our HQ in Carlow or our offices in Africa, Asia or Europe. I’m thankful that we prioritised online IT access prior to Covid-19, as this became our saving grace, allowing us to work seamlessly across international borders and provide uninterrupted services and solutions to our clients. In particular, our mobile TiMs app facilitated access to our system from anywhere in the world, helping our clients and partners keep their essential services online.

My recovery at home allowed me some time for reflection, and I’ve been thinking much about the old adage about the darkest hour coming just before the dawn. 2021 has already dealt us a few blows, but we’re now just weeks away from spring, bringing with it longer days, warmer weather and, hopefully, increased access to life-saving vaccines.

Our work at Delmec continues unabated, but for now, we’re hunkering down as a country and a company, working hard to keep our colleagues safe and our communities connected. It really does feel that those dark hours are coming to an end, and a bright new day beckons at last.

The tree is up, the presents are wrapped and we’re awaiting the arrival of the big man in red. In many ways, it all feels very familiar, but in others, Christmas 2020 is very different indeed.

This time last year I was returning home from a sales trip around Asia. I’d covered eight countries in 12 days, a whirlwind tour of all the major cities, from Bangkok to Beijing. I spent my days meeting with clients, visiting sites, and learning more about the future of telecommunications in the region. Along the way I heard about rumblings about a SARS-like virus in China, but I had no idea of the impact it was about to have on the world as a whole.

Strength in Adversity

This year has upended our normality and thrust us into a state of constant flux. People have suffered greatly, particularly those who have been affected by this debilitating disease. Others have lost jobs and businesses they’ve worked all their lives to build. The effect on mental health, particularly on the older community, can’t be underestimated.

In times of adversity it’s possible to discover great strength, though, and I’m proud of how my team at Delmec have weathered this storm. Despite great upheaval, staff members continued their vital work, in our workshops, at our sites, and even across international borders. Others adapted quickly to working from home, fulfilling their duties while juggling family responsibilities.

Despite all the obstacles, we’ve continued to grow and expand, signing clients, undertaking assignments and developing our capabilities. I’m particularly proud of HR’s efforts to introduce staff-supporting policies and our engineering teams’ work on TiMs and the ground-breaking Project Eiffel. Our marketing and sales people worked tirelessly to build our business, bringing our new brand to life while the finance department, HSEQ and IT kept crucial cogs turning in the background. We welcomed new employees while celebrating the 20 and 25-year anniversaries of others. Every single member of the Delmec team gave it their all this year, coming together to support each other, protect our livelihoods and serve our clients during this tumultuous time.

On a personal note, 2020 has been challenging, but not without some upsides: like many people, I worked from home for most of the year, running Delmec from my kids’ playroom. Without constant travel, I spent much more time with my wife and children, and the experience really brought us closer together as a family. For the first time in years, I could explore more of my locality, enjoying beautiful runs along the River Barrow in County Carlow. We loved to amble through Rossmore Forest Park, which provided a treasured escape when cabin fever kicked in.

Like most of us, I’ll be glad to say goodbye to 2020, but I’m grateful for the lessons it’s taught us and I know the experience will make us stronger for 2021 and beyond. Our values – Solve Smart, Proactive Partners, Built Brave and Talented Teamwork – were established over 45 years, but they’re more relevant now than ever. We’re looking forward to all the possibilities that a new year brings, with projects to develop and tasks to tackle. No doubt there’ll be other challenges ahead, but the future is brightening here at Delmec, where synergy shapes success.

Inspiring and Innovating at Delmec: Project Eiffel

Here at Delmec, we pride ourselves on being problem-solvers. Ever since we first launched in the 1970s, there’s been no challenge too tough for our people.

Nowadays, we strategise solutions with software rather than a pen and paper, but our approach is still the same: if there’s a way to make our work safer, more efficient and more beneficial for our clients, we’ll make it happen. This is the kind of thinking that led to Project Eiffel, the latest innovation from our engineering design team.

This ground-breaking new application is transforming the way we capture site audit information, saving time, increasing accuracy and delivering a powerful new project management ability that will help us scale alongside our clients.

Striving for Better

When the idea was first suggested, the engineering team identified four key areas in site audits they felt they could improve. First, they wanted to streamline the coordination and scheduling of field-based resources. “Our goal was to provide our project managers with real-time visibility into the field schedule, job progress and the ability to collaborate with field teams in real time,” says Niall Kelly, Delmec’s Head of IT. They also hoped to make the capture of the tower geometry and loading characteristics of each tower site and the subsequent structural analysis more efficient and less prone to error. Lastly, they sought to find an alternative to the complex system of generating a structural analysis report, which involved mapping multiple outputs into a format readable by humans. They knew there had to be a way to make the process faster, more efficient and more accurate too.

Putting Technology to Work

The team came together to propose a solution to these issues. They developed a bespoke mobile-based application that would work hand-in-hand with TiMS (our Telecoms Infrastructure Management System) to enable our clients to access their structural reports alongside their site selection dashboard and reporting suite.

The completed app exceeded everyone’s expectations: not only did it better coordinate Delmec’s field-based operations and structural audit reports, but it also significantly reduced errors and lead-time and improved the quality of the tower audit and design processes. Through the research, the team also developed a new way to transfer data from international locations to the Delmec design office, something that has been of major benefit during the travel challenges of 2020.

A Competitive Edge

The app is now being used in all our operations, across Europe, Africa and Asia. Its unique functionality is proving a game changer, providing real benefits and tangible savings for our clients. By allowing our teams to audit on site — with our design engineers collaborating with field resources in real time — the app enables us to make informed decisions early in the audit / design cycle, saving our clients both time and money.

Project Eiffel has also reduced the time to audit from 9 hours to 3-4 hours, depending on the complexity of the structure. This relates to a saving of $300-$400 per site in some locations. We’ve also witnessed an estimated 30-40% reduction in time to complete the structural design, allowing our teams to attend a site and produce a design within a 48-hour period while ensuring that data is captured in a consistent manner. This has led to an improvement of the quality of the data capture too, with consistently high QA pass rates. Clients are especially pleased with the app’s ability to generate a digital twin of the structure in seconds, which historically took between 4-6 hours.

There are benefits in terms of project management too, as the app facilitates rapid deployment and simplified training of staff and contractors. In the future, this bespoke feature will enable the company to professionally manage large Telecom Network Systems around the world. Over time, Project Eiffel will significantly increase Delmec’s capacity and improve its business processes, providing a strong competitive edge and allowing the company to scale in accordance with the needs of its large, multinational client base. “When I started the engineering path, I always wished to work on something cool, new, and interesting,” says lead engineer Sreto Janic, who participated in the project. He takes great pride in knowing that his ideas “became a part of this new, bright future for Delmec.” Project Eiffel is the result of inspiration, innovation and most importantly, collaboration; synergy shapes success in Delmec, with our clients, our partners and our talented team.