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Inside a Vodafone cell tower: photos

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  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    The site located in Artarmon just north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a joint venture with Vodafone and Optus.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Optus' equipment is housed in the shed on the right-hand side, while Vodafone's equipment is contained in the left-hand shed.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Vodafone's antennas are kept on the higher triangular platform, while Optus' are on the lower square platform. The two companies share 3G equipment.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    A peek inside Vodafone's control room shed.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Remote monitoring equipment ensures everything is running smoothly.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    This cell site router connects to the backhaul and also keeps in contact with Vodafone's three other towers located in Chatswood and Lane Cove.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Vodafone's 2G base station transceiver systems, currently supplied by Ericsson.

    Equipment in the control room will soon be replaced with Huawei kit. Huawei's cabinet is slightly larger than the Ericsson cabinets, but will be able to use spectrum bands for 2G, 3G and potentially Long Term Evolution (LTE).

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    The company has three of these units for each of the spectrum bands utilised by the company. The 2100MHz 3G system is housed in Optus' control room.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    This is a digital distribution frame, which is used to manage incoming and outgoing transmissions.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Battery backup for the Ericsson 2G equipment. Vodafone said this would provide up to four hours of power in the event of a power outage.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Battery backup for the racks. Four hours backup is all that is required for the metro towers, as power outages tend to be shorter in length compared to regional areas.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Upgrading each tower from the old Ericsson equipment to the new Huawei equipment will take a number of days, the company said, to ensure minimal disruption for customers.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    On the night of a tower upgrade, a team of two will move in and switch on the new Huawei equipment and perform tests before the morning traffic peak to ensure everything is running as planned. The upgrade of all of Vodafone's towers is expected to take a year.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    It is vital to ensure that the control room remains at a cool temperature.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    Grounded cables run from the control room to the tower.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

  • (Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

    The tower is hidden behind a baby supply store in Artarmon.

    Caption by: Josh Taylor

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(Credit: Josh Taylor/ZDNet Australia)

Battery backup for the Ericsson 2G equipment. Vodafone said this would provide up to four hours of power in the event of a power outage.

Caption by: Josh Taylor

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