Saint Mary’s University

School of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology

Department of Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering
and Computer Engineering

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Cellular Tower

From

Smart Communications, Inc.

Cauayan Branch (INQI)

Wire Communications
1st Semester 2018

Prepared by:
Mr. Jomel Mark C. Balonkita

Presented to:
Engr. Teofilo M. Sagabaen
Instructor

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 Figure 1: The view of the BTW tower in Minante I

The cellsite tower or base transceiver station that I’m going to discuss is from Brgy.
Minante I, Cauayan, Isabela. This site is owned and operated by SMART
Telecommunications, Inc, a subsidiary of PLDT. The site’s codename is W07 Minante I.
I remember it, it was a hot afternoon last June 20 th, 2018, I went to this cellsite whilst I
was undergoing my OJT (On-the-Job Training). So I was able to take some pictures of
the tower and its facilities. Together with my co-OJT Trainees and our Engineer from
Smart, Engr. Danlex Cagurangan, we went to this BTS because we had to do alarms
clearing, check on the equipment and facilities and update the inventory database. We
mainly checked on the supports, which are the ACU’s (Air conditioning Units), the ATS
(Automatic Transfer Switch), and the GenSet (Generator Set).
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 Figures 2 and 3: The land where the BTS tower and cabin is installed

The site was quite shrubby and full of foliage but we managed to get to the cabin
and did the inventory updating and alarms clearing there.

Figure 4: The GenSet of the cellsite

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 Figure 5: The Automatic Transfer Switch of the Cellsite

The area’s layout was like any other cellsite area, there’s of course a tower, a cabin
(seen on Figure 6 below) which houses the telecommunications modules (2G, 3G, 4G)
or access equipment, a GenSet with its gas tank close in its proximity and an ATS near
the gate or exit of the cellsite. The specifications of the GenSet and ATS are in the figures
below.

Figure 6: The BTS cabin housing the access equipment

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 Here’s the specifications of the GenSet and ATS that was installed in the cellsite:

Figure 7 : GenSet Specifications(right darkened to reveal salvageable data)

Figure 8: ATS Specifications

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As I approached the cabin, I quickly took a picture of the tower, it’s underside.

Figure 9: Feeder Cables on a Wire ladder(Left)/Clearer version(Right)

The feeder cables were unlike any other normal wires, they’re huge. The wire
ladder helps in hoisting the feeder cables up to the top of the tower. The feeder cables
came from the inside of the BTS cabin.

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 Figure 10: Nuts and bolts to secure the tower’s legs.

Figure 11: One of the Cellsite tower’s leg

And I noticed that the tower’s legs were affixed to a cement support embedded to
the ground with very huge industrial sized nuts and bolts.

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 Figure 12: A look inside the BTS cabin with my co-OJT’s and Engr.

In the cabin, the immediate thing that you feel when you come in is the cold air,
the cabin needs to be well ventilated and the temperature inside should keep the
modems/access equipment and telecommunication modules in stable temperature to
avoid overheating and crashing. There was also KRONE multiplexers for the connection
of reception/services.

Figure 13: The optical fiber cables connected to an access equipment

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 The first thing that I noticed when I came inside was the yellow/orange cables
connected to an access equipment (Figure 13), it was a 3G/LTE access equipment, its
brand is FiberHome. The yellow cables as our Engineer said were Optical fiber cables.
Our engineer informed us that when the fiber cable’s color is yellow, it is a single mode
optical fiber cable but if it is orange then it is multimode. These cables are delicate and
may become hazardous to your health because the fibers in these cables are glass fibers,
they are very thin and if it breaks, it may enter inside your bloodstream causing your heart
to be punctured by the said fiber. And it can also blind you if you stare or at least look into
the Optical fiber cable if it is connected to a light source. Otherwise, it is helpful because
it has faster transfer speed than the traditional way of transferring data and signal.

Figure 14: The Main power switch of the access equipments

There was also these switches (as seen above) that acts as the main panel board
for the access equipment of the BTS cabin.

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 Figure 15: Supports (ACU’s and Battery Banks)

The cabin’s temperature is stabilized through the supports, the ACU’s. And if there
was a sudden power outage the Battery Banks and Rectifiers beside the ACU’s (seen on
Figure 15, on the right side) automatically kicks in to keep the access equipment and
radios running for a short period of time until the generator is turned on.

When we were finished for the alarms clearing and the inventory updates we
headed out the cabin. I took a picture of the tower just when we were about to leave the
cell site. (Figure 16 as seen below)

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 Figure 16: The cellsite tower antennas

From what I can observe from this type of setup, the BTS has the capability to
transmit 3G signals because it has a GPS antenna(encircled in red in Figure 16) most if
not all cellsites who have GPS antennas have 3G antennas and radios. The cellsite tower
has a few microwave antennas, WiMax antennas and signal transceivers, this means that
the BTS is not a last mile type of cellsite. The BTS is also capable of 4G/LTE signals. The
BTS is a SUN cellular service provider cellsite but it is already operated and maintained
by SMART communications, inc. because PLDT owns SUN cellular.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

About Smart Communications, Inc.

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is a wholly-owned wireless communications and

digital services subsidiary of PLDT, Inc., the Philippines’ leading telecommunications company.

Smart serves approximately 95% of the country’s cities and municipalities with its combined 2G,

3G, and 4G LTE network, providing mobile communications services, high-speed internet

connectivity, and access to digital services and content to over 58.7 million Filipinos, through its

commercial brands Smart, TNT, and Sun. Smart also offers satellite communication services

under the brand Smart World.

As part of PLDT's massive digital transformation program, Smart has committed to give

more than 90% of the population access to its most advanced LTE network by end-2018, in order

to support the country’s growing digital economy, as well as provide the best customer experience

for an increasingly digital Filipino lifestyle.

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HISTORY
Anticipating the liberalization of the telecommunications industry in the Philippines in 1992,
Smart (then named Smart Information Technology, Inc.) was organized in January 24, 1991 by a
group of Filipino investors led by Orlando B. Vea and David T. Fernando.

The Company obtained its congressional franchise in April 1992 and was granted
a provisional authority to operate a mobile cellular service in May 1993. In December
1993, Smart commenced commercial operations of its cellular service. By then, Smart
had drawn in partners. These were: First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate
through its Philippine flagship Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone of Japan (NTT).
In compliance with the government’s telecommunications program, Smart
established a local exchange service in the cities and provinces assigned to it under the
“service area scheme.” The Company also obtained licenses to provide international
gateway, paging and inter-carrier transmission services.
On March 24, 2000, PLDT completed its share-swap acquisition of Smart, making
Smart a 100%-owned PLDT subsidiary.
Smart Communications became a member of Conexus Mobile Alliance for international
roaming since December 2006.
On February 24, 2016, Smart forged a partnership deal with the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC), to become the MMA brand's mobile carrier service in the
Philippines. Smart will also carry UFC Fight Pass, a video digital platform of the UFC. The
deal coincided with the Manila visit of UFC fighter Stephen Thompson.
On April 13, 2016, Smart introduced the first commercial LTE-A Service at
Boracay, Aklan which they claimed maximum speeds of up to 260 Mbps.

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VISION

Lead and Inspire Filipinos to Create a Better Tomorrow.

MISSION
Empower Filipinos everywhere with customer-focused digital innovations that unlock and

share their infinite potential.

VALUES

1. Deliver awesome customer experiences

2. Take care of our people

3. Collaborate to win

4. Fast is better than perfect

5. Malasakit

6. Humility to listen and learn

CREDO

We passionately believe that we contribute to the convergence of people and their worlds,

and that through our services; we make a real difference to the lives of millions of Filipinos.

We recognize the huge responsibility of our corporate mission and we are energized by

the nobility of our purpose. We commit to pursue this while establishing an environment that is

challenging yet nurturing, stretched yet fun and characterized by interdependent partnering and

individual accountability.

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- https://smart.com.ph/about

- The SMART logo is also found on their website.

- Stock knowledge from the OJT

- Electronics and Comms. System by Wayne Tomasi

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