Telecom towers are increasingly considered a part of critical national infrastructure, and with acts of sabotage reported in Sweden in 2016, securing telecoms sites has never been more important. Tower owners need to deal with this challenge in addition to combating issues such as internal theft, vandalism and the changing shape of their infrastructure in the face of 5G rollout. Aaron Yule, Managing Director of ABLOY UK, shared his experiences in the European market with us, and explained how these challenges can be overcome.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Abloy, your footprint and your offering to the European market
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
ABLOY are the leading experts on high quality door/asset locking and functionality.
Our product range includes electric locking, key cylinders, padlocks, small locks, and associated products to ‘secure’ the door or asset. Together, our solutions offer secure, compliant and lasting solutions trusted by organisations throughout Europe and the rest of the world, across a variety of industries – wherever compromise is not an option. We have the capability to offer a complete security solution; from initial surveys and fact finding, to assessments, problem solving and planning through to specification.
ABLOY has major MNO customers using its CLIQ technology in over a dozen European countries, and an installed base of more than 90,000 locking points utilising the CLIQ technology mechatronic locks and keys.
The high security range from ABLOY is capable of securing applications ranging from large corporate headquarters, network buildings, data and media centres, retail outlets, down to the smaller base stations, gates and equipment cabinets as well as anti-climb hatches, road site cabinets, monopoles, masts, hubs, feeders and chamber pits. All of which have their own unique security requirements and a demand for long serviceable life.
The telecoms sector is a dynamic, highly competitive and fast moving corporate market. Any break or interruption to the services caused by physical attack including vandalism, theft or civil disobedience can cause serious downtime which will inevitably prove costly in reputation and future business. At ABLOY we pride ourselves in being able to offer solutions that not only resolve security issues but can also provide significant benefit to the customer.
Solutions such as the ABLOY Protec2 CLIQ electronic key systems are designed to meet the needs of organisations with many off site workers requiring access to many remote sites – sometimes ‘shared’ remote sites. To maintain the necessary security major organisations are benefitting from the following CLIQ® features:
- Authorised access to restricted areas for staff and contractors
- Ability to enable/revoke key authorisation remotely
- Future proofing capability
- Supports PIN validation
- Contribution towards asset management and asset data reporting
- Improved operational efficiency and reduced running costs
- Time saved and operational efficiencies in key collection, and reduced aborted visits
- Full audit trail reports
- Deletion of lost/stolen keys
- Integration capability (eg. permit to work)
- 100% control of all keys, 100% of the time
- SaaS and mechanical sytems combine to create state-of-the-art Custom solutions
TowerXchange: Can you give us some insight into the threats to security telecom tower owners face in Europe? What are the most common issues?
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
Carriers play a central role in fighting emerging security threats. In the future, securing the entire internet value chain will be an even bigger priority. Carriers can meet these expectations with a wide array of technical and operational innovations.
The pressing need for secure networks and high service levels is a central challenge that determines the suitability of locking solutions for the telecom sector. The locking solutions need to fulfil strict security standards and protocols, while maintaining efficient access control to ensure effective maintenance of the physical network.
In this case, the overriding challenge involves theft, be it materials or information, which can be perpetrated by external and internal parties. While external theft is usually a costly break-in or a serious act of vandalism, internal theft is a real and widespread problem as contractors and other external partners tend to pay relatively small key deposits. Lost keys are rarely reported and the percentage of returned keys is often smaller than unreturned.
Internal theft often involves either leaving doors open or keys ending up in the wrong hands. In the long term, these seemingly minor lapses in security can render mechanical locking systems obsolete. The simultaneous expiration of patents for different locking systems also increases the risk of keys being copied without the system owner’s knowledge. This incurs sizable costs as keys and cylinders need to be replaced in addition to the loss of equipment and wiring. Carriers should also take into account the cost of possible system outages and damage to reputation.
Mechatronic master key systems overcome these challenges by not only providing a high level of physical security in the key mechanism but also full flexibility in the electronic element. System owners can maintain full control of keys, thereby preventing any unauthorised access. The full audit trail, from either key or locking point, enables the owner to narrow down who has gained access and when to counter the threat of internal theft.
TowerXchange: Is tower security in Europe driven by economic factors, or are there regulatory and governmental pressures to meet certain standards?
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
Successfully maintaining telecom networks poses a major challenge to locking solutions. Current requirements may be more economically driven however, in the future carriers may have an imposed set of parameters to ensure they are able to continue providing high quality, reliable and affordable data and voice services.
Communication networks worldwide depend on their ability to deliver services 24/7. Any break or interruption to this service caused by vandalism, physical attack or random disruption in the network will prove costly in reputation and finance. Networks also require continuous upkeep and maintenance, which should be done fast and cost-effectively.
Recent years have seen the importance of the telecoms sector rise to the levels of critical national infrastructure and we soon expect to see various governing bodies start to enforce a certain level of security standard to ensure satisfactory protection of the operator’s assets providing the communication network to society.
Recent years have seen the importance of the telecoms sector rise to the levels of critical national infrastructure and we soon expect to see various governing bodies start to enforce a certain level of security standard to ensure satisfactory protection of the operator’s assets
The locking solutions of today bring with them a host of benefits not just in terms of improved system security but also in financial benefits brought about through the investment from greater efficiency and productivity of personnel, reduced aborted visits, and improved management of contractors on site.
Mechatronic locking systems are equipped with an audit trail functionality that allows supervision of when maintenance staff visit the location and for how long. Particularly useful since contractors usually charge telecommunication companies based on the number and duration of service visits. With mechatronic locking, the time and money that was used before on key distribution can be efficiently used for maintenance. For unplanned visits, access can be granted remotely and in real time, utilising the most local/efficient resource available at the time.
Using mechatronic locks in combination with mechanical ones offers high security levels cost-efficiently. Utilising mechatronic locks to secure tower premises allows for the full security & transparency of mechatronic locking. Costs can then be optimised by using regular mechanical locks within the premises. Sophisticated mechatronic locking systems, allow the same mechatronic key to be used in both the mechatronic locks, as well as the mechanical ones.
TowerXchange: Tell us about how Abloy can help drive efficiencies within telecoms infrastructure.
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
The telecom industry is changing rapidly. The market is becoming more and more fragmented; big remote telecom towers are turning into smaller local cell sites; and, customers want a better return on investment. Today’s data and voice services have to deliver exceptional quality and reliability at an affordable price, and there are a host of challenges from markets, consumers, and evolving technologies. Whether big or small, companies need to reduce costs, improve quality, and build for flexibility and scalability, all of which affects your choice of locking solution. The industry wants suppliers that add value and help them increase efficiency and reduce costs.
For instance CLIQ is not just a key; it’s a technology that not only controls access and can help improve operational processes, but integrates with operators existing H & S, BMS and Telemetry systems.
Remote granting of access rights by using a mechatronic locking system minimises operational costs as technicians can access towers and repeaters more quickly. Indeed, the region based engineer can become a ‘thing of the past’ as due to remote programming of keys the entire team could potentially be granted access to any of the locks required. This reduces downtime and provides transparency of movement throughout the network. The latest app based mobile solution allows for instant access requests being decentralised to enable fast authorisation managed locally. With ABLOY CLIQ REMOTE audit trail functionality it can be seen when maintenance staff visited the location and for how long. For unplanned visits, access can be granted remotely and in real time.
All locking systems require occasional maintenance although it’s rarely carried out. Mechatronic systems allow more effective maintenance management through continual monitoring of lock usage and can provide an audit trail of implemented lock maintenance. This in turn can improve asset knowledge and management.
TowerXchange: What is the role of your solutions in asset data and reporting?
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
We can see that all players in infrastructure sectors have a desire and a need to improve asset management and the operational data that can then contribute towards improved operational efficiencies and asset utilisation. The ABLOY solution can provide a detailed asset database by linking locking solutions per site to a separate asset log.
ABLOY CLIQ provides a range of data that when integrated with other business systems, including HR, H&S, conformance and compliance training, can automate operational decisions using rule based software.
TowerXchange: How do you see the densification of networks as 5G rolls out affecting the security of telecoms infrastructure?
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
With 5G the whole infrastructure would see a new set of needs being addressed - smaller cell sizes, smaller sites, increase in cabinet usage, new potential locations, etc (eg street light poles). The number of locking points will increase dramatically, and nature of locking will move from a site gate or door to securing more enclosures and small cabinets. Access needs will remain similar however our thoughts are that from an access control management perspective there would be a need for more accurate ‘cluster size’ applications to ensure access into the correct enclosure/cabinet. ABLOY has a very long history with enclosure locking and huge co-operation with cabinet manufacturers so potential solutions are already in place – utilising the latest technology electromechanical key system. Having a piece of software that can enable management of these new locking points will be essential.
Similarly, there should be some security requirements put in place by the industry on these new enclosures / cabinets to ensure they reflect the privacy and security of data needs relevant to the comms.
TowerXchange: Can you give us some insight into Abloy’s vision for the future?
Aaron Yule, Managing Director, ABLOY UK:
The ABLOY vision is to continue to be the World-leading locking solutions provider.
To maintain this position we will continue to listen to the end users in our core markets and understand how our solutions can be developed in conjunction with the customer’s ambitions for security and efficiency.
We recognise that this will mean continuing the development path from mechanical keys to electromechanical keys to online keys to the next generation products; and to ensure this journey is successful, will be the integration partner to key telecoms operators and service providers.
