Cellnex has deployed more than 1,500 DAS nodes (Distributed Antennas System), used by an average of three MNOs, across the six European countries in which they operate. One of the primary use cases of DAS is the provision of carefully planned, high capacity, multi-operator, multi-band networks in landmark buildings such as airports, shopping malls and stadia. At the 2018 Mobile World Congress, TowerXchange were treated to a case study demonstrating how Cellnex connects 68,000 fans at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium, and how they future-proofed the deployment for 5G.
TowerXchange: Thanks for taking some time out of your busy Mobile World Congress schedule to meet with us Albert! Please would you start by introducing Cellnex’s business in Spain.
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
8,000 of Cellnex’s current 27,000 sites are located in Spain. Around 40% are rural ground based towers, 60% urban rooftop sites.
In Spain we serve three different business areas:
• Broadcast (DTT and FM services)
• Co-location and transmission services for MNOs, with data transmission all over Spain, supported by fibre backbone or radio link with 10Gbps rings, making it it easy to connect any building with access up to 1Gbps
• Telecom network services, which include public safety networks, DAS, smart platform, data centres and IoT. For example, we operate the first IoT network in Spain, leveraging Sigfox technology, our existing sites, and over 1,500 IoT base stations, covering 93% of Spain’s population to connect over a million devices.
TowerXchange: Please help our readers understand a how Cellnex’s business model compares to, for example, the big U.S. public towercos who make “amendment revenue” when an existing tenant adds more equipment to a tower – how does Cellnex charge for extra space?
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
Consider that a cell site has three limitations of its capacity – physical (space, structure, wind load…), power and EMF, so when an existing tenant needs to take more of that finite capacity, we apply adequacy engineering and the price formation is consistently adapted.
The fee structure is based on physical space occupancy, regardless of technologies. So a tenant pays in terms of racks in the cabinet, a maximum number of RRUs, antennas and parabolas.
TowerXchange: Thanks for explaining that! I’d like to share a case study of your recent project to connect the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, home of Atletico Madrid. Please introduce the project.
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
Atletico Madrid issued an RFQ, which essentially had two main requirements: to install a single infrastructure to be used by all MNOs, and the infrastructure had to be concealed behind ceilings and other structures. The stadium is brand new, so any installation had to be hidden and neat – the fans should not be able to see it. Connecting the Wanda Metropolitano is like connecting the population of a city, given its 68,000 capacity. Except it’s unlike the connectivity requirements of any city given that most of the fans are now using phones, and using them intensively at the same time – the trend is more and more sharing with friends and relatives not just photos but videos of penalties, goals and other major incidents, just when they happen. They don’t wait until half time or full time – the demands on the network at these peaks are substantial!
How do you provide outstanding service, for multiple operators, in such a challenging use case? Before we used Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), we would have had to put base stations with three RRUs all over the stadium: in corners, in corridors. This was analogous to flooding the stadium with signal, but while those seated close to the base station got plenty of ‘water’ (signal), those farther away got very little. In comparison a DAS system is more like a well-designed irrigation system, consistently spreading the right amount of water (data) across the stadium.
In total we have over 250 antennas serving all the sectors and areas. Each antenna emits signal for all MNOs on all bands. It is crucial to provide multi-operator, multi-band coverage so we don’t need antennas for each operator and for each band.
TowerXchange: How did you design the network to achieve this consistent, high quality, multi-operator coverage?
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
Network design is of course very important, and is unique for different sectors of the stadium. For example, we mount one antenna on the stadium rooftop to serve each sector – providing coverage very accurately up to a particular stairway. We divide the ‘grada’ (stadium stand / section of the terraces) of the Wanda Metropolitano into a number of sectors, covering the upper terraces and the pitch too - not for players but for concerts and massive events which will take place at the stadium, and where there are people on the playing surface.
Attending a major sports event is about more than just watching the game – the show increasingly starts earlier and finishes later. You may go early, meet friends to eat and drink something as the outside has a big area with food trucks, so we have covered sectors outside the stadium providing quality coverage in the Fanzone. In total we have over 250 antennas serving all the sectors and areas. Each antenna emits signal for all MNOs on all bands. It is crucial to provide multi-operator, multi-band coverage so we don’t need antennas for each operator and for each band.
Base stations are housed in our technical room (we also call it “hotel room”), which is divided into five zones; one for each MNO, where they house their RRUs (approximately 14 base stations each), plus one zone for Cellnex. We take the output of the RRUs, put it into a matrix / master unit, which gathers all signals for each sector, and connect it to each amplifier and antenna with a concealed “spaghetti” of fibre optics. To reach each antenna we use two strands of fibre for redundancy, and with spare strands of fibres to be prepared for 5G. With dark fibre already deployed, we only have to change the equipment in the technology room and on the antennas, not the interconnection, to be ready for 5G. Sectorisation is very important at today’s frequencies, and we are already sectorised ready for 5G.
TowerXchange: That’s the technical story, now please tell us the commercial story – how does Cellnex monetise the network at the Wanda Metropolitano?
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
Cellnex has a ten year exclusive and extendable contract with Atletico Madrid to provide this service. Atletico Madrid leases us the space, and we charge the MNOs a flat rate to use the network.
Our responsibility is to cover the stadium, how much capacity is provided is up the MNO. We provide coverage for the whole stadia and its sectors, but if an MNO wants to use one RRU for two sectors, they’ll get half the capacity. That’s the difference between coverage and capacity. Cellnex manages all our DAS and small cells solutions end-to-end: site acquisition, design, installation, set-up, operation and maintenance, supervision and quality control of the service.
Cellnex manages all our DAS and small cells solutions end-to-end: site acquisition, design, installation, set-up, operation and maintenance, supervision and quality control of the service
TowerXchange: Great case study – thank you! How do you see the relative merits of DAS versus smaller cells for scenarios like this?
Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex:
We see DAS as the preferred solution for multi-operator coverage in crowded, larger venues such as Wanda Metropolitano. Venues smaller than football stadia are of course more numerous – a commercial centre may only need 2-4 sectors and 10-50 antennas. But we can still deploy DAS in crowded urban areas. DAS is inherently multi-operator, multi-band – once fibre is deployed, it’s easier to upgrade.
Cellnex acquired CommsCon in Italy in 2016, giving us references of several already deployed networks, and we’re deploying in new venues across Cellnex’s footprint in places such as hospitals, stadiums, metro stations, road tunnels, and skyscrapers that have coverage up to the tenth floor, but thereafter the network fills up and devices can’t tell which antenna to link to. You need DAS to tell devices not to hesitate in selecting which antenna is best – it’s a matter of proximity, and reducing the power requirements from handsets.
We’re targeting commercial centres with dense populations, crowded Spanish beaches and cities, centre areas, forging partnerships with municipalities to co-locate on street furniture – or indeed leveraging private street furniture.
We deploy one infrastructure that serves all MNOs, has obvious capex and opex scale economics, and can be technically more complete. Cellnex is neutral, is an operator of operators, this is our aim.
About: Albert Cuatrecasas, Managing Director Spain, Cellnex
Albert Cuatrecasas is Managing Director of Spain and a Board Member of Cellnex Telecom’s investee companies in the country. After starting his career with a large Spanish industrial group, then working for a consultancy, Albert joined Acesa Telecom (now Cellnex) in 2001. Albert has always been one of the senior managers responsible for studying new opportunities, so has been instrumental in the diversification of the business from broadcast transport infrastructure to telecom infrastructure services for voice and data. Albert is a Telecommunications Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and he holds a diploma in General Management (PDG) from the IESE.
