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Three's 3G Switch-Off

Might be just in your area. there are lots of upgrades continuing across the country, particularly on towers.
I didn't do any research at all outside my own area, @jon1 looked at a ton of local authorities and found that this was the case

I looked at my local area and yes there hasn't been any mast applications whatsoever from Vodafone/EE/Three lately, but 3 PoWs have gone up within the last month or so
 
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I didn't do any research at all outside my own area, @jon1 looked at a ton of local authorities and found that this was the case

I looked at my local area and yes there hasn't been any mast applications whatsoever from Vodafone/EE/Three lately, but 3 PoWs have gone up within the last month or so
 
I looked at my local area and yes there hasn't been any mast applications whatsoever from Vodafone/EE/Three lately, but 3 PoWs have gone up within the last month or so
There hasn't been any applications since 2021 at the latest locally here unless the operators are using permitted development in which they don't need to put in a application?

I know that near one church near me, originally it was host to just a O2 mast but about 10ft away Vodafone put up one of theirs and I can't find any applications for that.

Which btw I think is a tad daft having two masts serving two different operators just feet apart, would be far better if they just had the one mast serving both operators but heyho.

Am keeping a eye out on any upgrade work locally to me though.
 
Haven’t seen any evidence of upgrades slowing down to a snails pace.

In the past couple of months I’ve seen phase9 sites go up, phase8 sites get their n78 antennas, n1 deployed in some areas, b28 in more rural locations…
i can only speak for Cheshire, but i have seen no new planning applications since last august, and very few sites gaining any 5G or B28 since then to.
 
There hasn't been any applications since 2021 at the latest locally here unless the operators are using permitted development in which they don't need to put in a application?

I know that near one church near me, originally it was host to just a O2 mast but about 10ft away Vodafone put up one of theirs and I can't find any applications for that.

Which btw I think is a tad daft having two masts serving two different operators just feet apart, would be far better if they just had the one mast serving both operators but heyho.

Am keeping a eye out on any upgrade work locally to me though.

Well with two separate masts both operators can run all their frequency bands at full power on the downlink and improved uplink performance with no antenna sharing. So it's usually preferred in dense environments where capacity/performance is important. It became kinda necessary with 5G in particular to keep with in ICNIRP guidelines for a single site. Rural not so important.
 
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Well with two separate masts both operators can run all their frequency bands at full power on the downlink and improved uplink performance with no antenna sharing. So it's usually preferred in dense environments where capacity/performance is important. It became kinda necessary with 5G in particular to keep with in ICNIRP guidelines for a single site. Rural not so important.
Why not just increase the power available to the single mast than?
 
Why not just increase the power available to the single mast than?

many reasons.
-splitting/combing losses
-additional duplexer loses
-amount of equipment required to work around some of the above issues (multiple RRUs, dedicated panels per operator)
-space and AC power can then become a restriction - i.e. many more cabs.
-antenna performance limitations in general (overdrive causes raised noise)
-antenna performance reduction with multi-carrier.
-radiation limitations
-backhaul congestion
-weight loading of pole/tower

I think you will struggle to find a site with n78 from all 4 operators for example. Such a site would require cranking down the volume so much, it's actually cheaper for both operators to install separate sites and have no compromises.
 
The only site i've seen with N78 on more than 2 operators was this one in Ireland (has been upgraded since, old google streetview picture)
bNG1HkY.png

Seems like it was designed to hold a lot of weight

This is a brand new mast being deployed in Galway, these are equivalent to POWs over here as in they are the main design being used for the rollout of new sites
XeTlg5T.png
It's a bit of a monster compared to a PoW, it makes a PoW look like a needle. 😊
 
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Yep, can't even imagine what would happen if they tried that over here haha. NIMBYs would go crazy

Tbh, I was so used to that kind of design (huge metal poles) when I came to the UK it took me a while to start noticing cell sites, since they were so much smaller
Yeah the NIMBY's sure would love those. 😁
Very practicable though with the antenna platforms. 👍
 
many reasons.
-splitting/combing losses
-additional duplexer loses
-amount of equipment required to work around some of the above issues (multiple RRUs, dedicated panels per operator)
-space and AC power can then become a restriction - i.e. many more cabs.
-antenna performance limitations in general (overdrive causes raised noise)
-antenna performance reduction with multi-carrier.
-radiation limitations
-backhaul congestion
-weight loading of pole/tower

I think you will struggle to find a site with n78 from all 4 operators for example. Such a site would require cranking down the volume so much, it's actually cheaper for both operators to install separate sites and have no compromises.
In hindsight it doesn't make sense but it actually does now you've explained why it's not just a case of increasing the power.

A side note, the location of the two masts I believe enjoys 5G from Three, Vodafone and O2 one of the few areas to have more than one 5G provider locally.
 
The only site i've seen with N78 on more than 2 operators was this one in Ireland (has been upgraded since, old google streetview picture)
bNG1HkY.png

Seems like it was designed to hold a lot of weight

This is a brand new mast being deployed in Galway, these are equivalent to POWs over here as in they are the main design being used for the rollout of new sites
XeTlg5T.png
Wow that actually looks horrendous next to those houses !
 
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Here is my experience with the 3G switch-off:


Driving from Market Drayton to Telford in Shropshire:

  1. Start: Began a call in Market Drayton with 4G coverage.
  2. En Route to Hodnet: As 4G signal weakened, the call smoothly transitioned to 3G (Hodnet 3G only mast).
  3. Approaching Peplow: The call dropped when the Hodnet 3G only mast’s range ended, and the signal bars dropped to zero before returning to 3 bars of 3G.
  4. Peplow to Waters Upton: Reconnected the call on 3G and passed a MBNL mast with both 3G and 4G Band 20, but the call remained on 3G.
  5. Towards Telford: Experienced another call drop just outside Telford as the Waters Upton 3G mast went out of range, with signal bars going to zero and then returning with 4 bars of 4G.
Observations:
  • Calls can switch from 4G to 3G without issues.
  • Calls do not switch back to 4G from 3G, leading to dropped calls when leaving the range of a 3G mast to a 4G only area.
  • This problem may worsen as more 3G masts are turned off, leaving others on in the area.

  • I’m curious to hear if others have had similar experiences with the transition from 3G to 4G coverage?
 
Here is my experience with the 3G switch-off:


Driving from Market Drayton to Telford in Shropshire:

  1. Start: Began a call in Market Drayton with 4G coverage.
  2. En Route to Hodnet: As 4G signal weakened, the call smoothly transitioned to 3G (Hodnet 3G only mast).
  3. Approaching Peplow: The call dropped when the Hodnet 3G only mast’s range ended, and the signal bars dropped to zero before returning to 3 bars of 3G.
  4. Peplow to Waters Upton: Reconnected the call on 3G and passed a MBNL mast with both 3G and 4G Band 20, but the call remained on 3G.
  5. Towards Telford: Experienced another call drop just outside Telford as the Waters Upton 3G mast went out of range, with signal bars going to zero and then returning with 4 bars of 4G.
Observations:
  • Calls can switch from 4G to 3G without issues.
  • Calls do not switch back to 4G from 3G, leading to dropped calls when leaving the range of a 3G mast to a 4G only area.
  • This problem may worsen as more 3G masts are turned off, leaving others on in the area.

  • I’m curious to hear if others have had similar experiences with the transition from 3G to 4G coverage?

This is what I predicted may happen going in/out 3G switch off areas, I have seen it before in many areas (where 4G coverage is often better than 3G).

The sooner the 3G switch off is complete the better.
 
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