Link5G Design in NYC covered in Inside Towers
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Check out this recent coverage in Inside Towers, Digital Infrastructure News: New Link5G Design Looks to Fit in With NYC Neighborhoods
UPDATE Comptek Technologies’ new design suggestion for the Link5G towers, addresses the pushback against small cells in New York City by meshing advanced technology with designs that fit in with each community’s unique character, Jim Lockwood, CEO at Comptek CEO and Founder, told Inside Towers.
The second generation of Link5G small cells had only one design, which measured 32 feet tall, which was three times the height of the original kiosks. The second generation also had bays designated for five tenants. In the redesign, the number of tenants per small cell was reduced to two. “The notion of having five carriers inside one particular small cell is probably a nice idea,” said Mike Hoganson, CTO at Comptek. “But, in New York City, what seems to have happened is that the community wasn’t particularly excited about it.”
Lockwood said he has found his previous experience helpful in the Link5G redesign. In Denver, Comptek facilitated a discussion between the city and the local utility in creating a standard for small cells that could be configured for lighting and future technologies. In that case, the utility would only allow for a single tenant.
“When you are replacing streetlights, there are enough poles out there that you don’t need one giant pole per city block that has five or four different tenants and WiFi,” Lockwood said. “You’ve got plenty of space to position the poles very close to each other in order to accommodate everybody. And then it’s not as imposing as well.”
Comptek’s design suggested placing the majority of the equipment in 18-inch base cabinets, which were sized at less than five feet in height. The base cabinet equipment will vary depending on the poles’ primary purpose at that location. It may include 4G radios (5G equipment is located at elevation on the pole), EV Charging equipment and cabling, an interface tablet to the internet, and edge computing computers. Common optional equipment to all base cabinets include the fiber interconnect, power metering, and a power supply for digital displays.
“We’ve had really good success with putting anything that’s of any scale below five feet,” Lockwood said. “If it’s five feet or lower, it’s not imposing on anybody, but if you go up to 6 to 10 feet, it just seems like something pretty massive.”
Above the base cabinet is a selection of nine different light poles that are commonly in use in the city. The poles also have a display screen and on top of the pole there is an antenna shroud.
“The city has already accepted using the existing light pole standards as support for the 5G deployment,” Lockwood said. “The city has also accepted the antenna shrouds for 5G in many locations. If you’re driving or walking down the street, and you look through the corridor, all you’re really seeing is another pole of a fairly slender diameter.”
Comptek takes a “form follows function” approach to industrial design, according to Hoganson. The small cells were designed on what was already in the streetscape. “Generally speaking, people don’t want their neighborhood to change,” he said. “So we have a systematic approach where we look for ways to make the technology harmonized with what’s already there.”
One of the hurdles small cells face is the need to be customized but in a cost-effective manner. Each of the NYC poles can be configured to complement the individual communities, but they are manufactured from a few common components so they can be reproduced cost effectively, according to Hoganson.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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