Sometimes the highest location in the right area comes with limitations!
At The highest point in Guildford lies Guildford Cathedral. Famous for its role in Omen, it’s also adjacent the rail line, A3 Trunk Road and the university. So a great place to have a mobile site.
In 2000 the highest point of the roof – the Angel Weather Vane – was rebuilt, and the Angel re-gilded at a cost of £20,000, with a very slim tri-sector antenna array sitting underneath the angel resembling a simple column from a distance.
All the Radio Access Network Equipment is 1 floor below for both aesthetics and accessibility. It’s also allowed the site to be upgraded to support 3G and 4G for EE and 3UK. There’s no space for a 5G Massive MIMO upgrade, but the existing bands and radios can support 5G service.
In recent years we have seen many more church buildings used for (mostly) hidden sites where radios and antennas are shielded from view behind replica facades.
So next time someone says ‘mobile infrastructure is ugly’ perhaps point them in this direction!
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