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Raycap 5G mmWave Small Cell Deployment Update

Q1 2020

Raycap, a leader in 5G mmWave small cell concealment and telecom protection

solutions, has taken the pulse of the wireless industry to see how U.S. municipalities
are moving ahead with 5G wireless deployment in their jurisdictions.

Executive Summary Residents’ fears about small cell towers appearing in their own
front yards were also captured in a report by Governing.com
Recent media coverage documents the current state of on February 11 that cited a lack of colocation as an issue. The
municipalities and utilities as they strive to strike a balance author claimed this could lead to “multiple pole installations
between aesthetics and the ideal location for 5G mmWave in your front yard.” This indicates that some municipalities are
small cell towers. not aware of the possibility to co-locate wireless facilities from
In parallel, municipalities are continuing to resist pressure from different carriers in the same integrated pole.
the FCC and major tier-1 carriers to speed up the pace of the The appearance of 5G small cell poles has come under
5G roll-out and localized small cell deployments. increased scrutiny during debates and consultations
Raycap brings you a recap of press coverage over the between city authorities and resident groups. Indeed, one city
last six months that tells the story of how municipalities are council member in San Clemente, California, claimed they
approaching this seminal time in the development of wireless planned to vote against their installation because they are
telecommunications networks in the U.S. “so damn ugly.”

Architectural and historic preservation is a key issue in many

cases. For instance, in September 2019, the City of New
Residents generally accept 5G if it “blends in” Orleans was reported to be undecided about how
Aesthetics has emerged as a major point of contention to incorporate 5G small cell nodes in the city’s historic
for both city authorities and resident groups. Support has French Quarter; with one proposal suggesting to conceal them
emerged from some sectors for 5G installations – as within lamp posts.
long as the small towers blend into the environment and
retain the historic character of the neighborhood and
You can conceal
surrounding buildings.
5G mmWave
For instance, a report from Inside Towers on January 31, 2020
cited analysis by Axiom, which drew upon a study of 800+
radios Raycap’s InvisiWave®
residents by PWC. The research found that residents were technology conceals 5G mmWave radios in
overwhelmingly in favor of 5G small cell towers – due to the
light pole toppers, surrounds and traditional
benefits of enhanced data download speeds and connectivity.
on-building concealments such as sconces
However, the same research found that consumers are
or panels while minimizing loss of signal
opposed to small cell towers being installed in front of their
own homes. Ironically, residents had no issue with the towers strength. Raycap’s InvisiWave solution has
obscuring their neighbors’ yards, however. been tested and approved for 5G mmWave
frequencies and is fully backwards
compatible with earlier technologies. Its
smooth, hydrophobic surface stands up
to environmental extremes and can be
painted to match existing architecture. With
InvisiWave, municipalities have the latitude to
decide where and how to use concealment,
streamlining the deployment of 5G mmWave
networks while maintaining control over the
urban aesthetic environment.

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Municipalities are rolling out their 5G Municipalities are pushing back against
guidelines and regulations FCC requirements, and carriers aren’t afraid
Municipalities are beginning to adopt their own localized 5G to sue right back
policies, despite the 2018 FCC order that, in theory, means Carriers haven’t been afraid to challenge municipalities in
local governments have little power to stop small court, with Verizon filing a case against the city of Rochester,
cell installations. New York, over an ordinance that would allow the city to
However, the order does allow municipalities to adopt policies charge as much as $1,500 in fees for the use of the public
that set aesthetic regulations. To illustrate how some local right-of-way.
councils are embracing this, Government Technology reported Elsewhere, municipalities, such as Seattle and Bellevue in
how officials in Winchester, Massachusetts, were seeking to Washington State, have continued to express opposition to the
implement a policy that would regulate small cell facilities for 2018 FCC’s requirement that cities charge 5G providers a set
5G wireless services in town. According to Winchester Town fee of no more than $270 per utility pole attachment.
Manager Lisa Wong “the aesthetic regulations could address
many issues like color, placement on the poles, concealment Aside from utility pole fees, much of the opposition has
of cables and wires, landscaping requirements and more.” centered around the FCC’s 2018 order that prohibits
municipalities from denying a small cell site installation based
There are conditions attached, however. For instance, on health or environmental concerns.
the FCC order prohibits municipalities from denying a
small cell site installation based on health or environmental For instance, a U.S. Court of Appeals hearing was initiated on
concerns Wong commented that the regulations it imposes February 10, 2020, in a case brought forward by a collection
“have to be objective and reasonable and cannot be of cities, counties and power company’s opposed to
more burdensome than those applied to other types of the FCC’s 2018 Wireless Infrastructure Order.
infrastructure deployments.”

Some city councils have gone even further and published Existing street poles are seen as
specific guidelines on the distance between individual small
cell installations. For instance, Inside Towers reported how
viable sites, but there are concerns
the San Clemente City Council voted on Tuesday, February 4, As indicated above, current street furniture such as lamp
2020, to introduce an ordinance that will establish regulations posts and existing utility poles have been identified by
and guidelines for proposed small cells within city limits. The some municipalities as the ideal home for 5G small cell
ordinance would restrict telecommunications companies from wireless facilities.
placing small cells within 500 feet of a school or a residence
For instance, authorities in Northwest Arkansas
— which renders nearly all of the public rights-of-way as off-
indicated they would prefer equipment installations
limits — as well as 300 feet from another cell site.
on existing poles or easements along roadways.
Meanwhile, local authorities, such as the City of Virginia This emerged after concerns were expressed
Beach, Virginia, have released very detailed design guidelines about the potential for new small cell poles to
for small cell infrastructure. Inside Towers reported how the interfere with traffic signals or cause blind spots
three key points were summarized as (1) new poles cannot be for drivers.
placed within 20 feet of mature trees; (2) historic buildings are
However, utilities such as Xcel and Southern Company
not appropriate host sites; and (3) wherever possible, small
have raised concerns about the viability of installing
cells are encouraged to co-locate.
small cell transmitters within existing street poles,
specifically their structural stability and the
Integrated poles associated risk of street lights falling over.
are the
backbone of
5G mmWave A new generation of small cell street poles meet 5G mmWave
deployment small cell requirements and support municipality efforts to build
a smart and attractive city. These “integrated poles” combine
and conceal all the electronics needed for 5G mmWave wireless networks as
well as accommodate lighting, monitoring and other functions. They arrive at the
installation site with cabling, radios, and power/fiber equipment pre-installed and
pre-tested. All that is needed for installation is to set the pole on the foundation,
then hook up the feed lines for power and fiber.

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 The potential health
The “Big 3” carriers roll out 5G network effect of
Some city councils have been
expansion plans EMF radiation influenced to adjust small cell
In the last six months, the major carriers in the U.S. have remains a concern ordinances and siting regulations
revealed more details about their planned 5G deployments for resident groups by community groups concerned
in 2020. about the health implications of
5G – in particular the potential risk of high-frequency
At the start of the year, the merger between T-Mobile and electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure.  
Sprint received the green light to move forward. This followed
an unsuccessful case by several state attorney generals who In the same article from February 14th, Governing.
sought to block the deal. com highlighted the contrast between earlier cellular
networks – that use low frequency waves - and 5G
The decision clears the way for T-Mobile and Sprint to merge, networks that use high frequency waves, which
which will impact their efforts to expand 5G coverage. Right scientists have indicated are less hazardous as
now, T-Mobile has the largest 5G footprint of any U.S. carrier, they cannot penetrate the skin.
covering 5,000 cities and 200 million people. However, that
In fact, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
network is built on low-band spectrum, which is only slightly
Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has updated its guidelines
faster than LTE. However, T-Mobile does use faster millimeter
for the protection of humans exposed to radiofrequency
wave technology in parts of seven cities and is looking for a
electromagnetic fields which conclude that, even at
way to boost speeds.
millimeter wave frequencies, 5G in its current form
On January 31, Verizon announced that its 5G Ultra Wideband poses no additional risk to health.
mobility service is available in 34 U.S. cities with seven However, an earlier report on Governing.com claimed
5G-enabled devices and 17 NFL Stadiums. This followed the that medical doctors from 42 countries have appealed
publication in November of the carrier’s first detailed, street- to the UN and European Commission asking for a
level maps illustrating its 5G coverage areas. Light Reading moratorium on the rollout of 5G until the hazards
predicted that because Verizon is using millimeter-wave associated with exposure to EMF radiation are verified
(mmWave) spectrum for its Ultra Wideband 5G rollout, it will definitively.
need to install thousands, or perhaps even millions, of small
cell transmitters every few hundred feet in order to blanket a Meanwhile, in 2019, New Hampshire became the first U.S
major city like Los Angeles with 5G coverage. state to commission a study on the health effects of 5G.

Meanwhile, Fierce Wireless reported that the telecoms analyst

firm Opensignal claimed to know what locations will get
AT&T’s low-band 5G coverage next, based on cities where
the carrier has already retired some of its 4G spectrum to
repurpose for 5G.

In its analysis of the 155 markets of top 200 Cellular Market

Areas where AT&T has licensed 850 MHz spectrum,
Opensignal observed that starting in November AT&T turned
off 10 MHz of that spectrum in a number of markets where it
had been in use for 4G, and subsequently launched low-band
5G in those cities in December.  

What’s more, AT&T stated in January that its 5G service is now

available in parts of 35 cities. This followed reports in October
that AT&T planned to rollout nationwide low band 600 MHz 5G
coverage across the whole of the U.S. in 2020. The
carrier recently conducted a trial at a retail outlet in Waco,
Texas, where it claimed to observe wireless speeds of
approximately 1.2 Gbps in a 400 MHz channel and RAN
latency rates at 9-12 milliseconds.

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About Raycap
Raycap is a solutions provider and manufacturer of
telecommunications infrastructure products for mobile and
broadband networks with operations throughout Europe
and North America. Raycap has a large installed base
including connectivity and lightning protection solutions for
telecommunications infrastructure and RF concealments.
In June 2018, Raycap acquired STEALTH® Concealment
Solutions, the pioneer in concealment solutions for RF antenna
equipment, and in 2019 it acquired APELIO Integrated
Industries, a manufacturer of custom enclosures and mounting
solutions for the next generation of wireless networks. As a
known and trusted vendor for Tier-1, Tier-2 & Tier-3 carriers,
Raycap products can be found in a wide variety of telecom
sites with more than 400,000 site installations across North
America alone.

Raycap has the small cell experience, technology and the

reputation for understanding customer needs and delivering
the right products on-time for smooth product installation.

Talk to Raycap about integrated

small cell poles and all 5G mmWave concealment options.
Contact us today at [email protected]

raycap.com
stealthconcealment.com

STEALTH and Apelio are Raycap brands.

InvisiWave is a registered trademark of Raycap.
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