Getting a mast put up is relatively easy if you’re in a major town or city. The biggest problem, as always, is planning consent and getting the land to build on. However, once you’ve done that it’s just a matter of getting some power, some clever kit and a fast data feed.
Once the equipment is in and the masts are up, you’re done. Customers get a blisteringly-fast 4G connection and everybody is happy.
Indeed, things are so good that – at home – I tend to switch to my mobile connection for uploading YouTube videos or the Coolsmartphone podcast as it’s faster than the upload speeds on my home broadband.
However, if you’re in a rural area there’s going to be problems. Backhaul – which is that fast data feed from the mast to the internet and the mobile network – is tricky when the mast is in the middle of no-where in a field. Traditionally this has been solved by microwave links, but with 5G on the horizon and demand rising, new technology needs to be used.
If you’re interested in how this problem is solved, check out the video by @PedroClarke1 below. He knows his onions and gives us a tour of two new EE rural 4G sites in North Yorkshire. The first is fed by fibre from the ground whilst the second has a satellite feed too.
All of this so you can browse Facebook whilst sheering the sheep…