Surge Protection Devices In Cell Towers

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Most people using cellular devices do not think much about the technology that goes into making calls and connecting to the internet. They probably think even less about the extreme challenges that the industry faces to make that convenience happen, all the while doing it affordably. For your cell phone to connect a call or retrieve information from the internet, it must connect to the network with which a consumer is registered and contracted. That network equipment is positioned everywhere. A cell tower operating on the average speed technology will be able to serve people for about a mile around it, and the installations that provide higher speeds can only provide service to people with devices within a few hundred feet. Each of these installations has tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, ranging from receivers to transmission devices that relay that signal and data back to the network hub. All this equipment is placed into a pole or installation that is generally higher in position to most other things around it to give a clear signal to the devices on the ground. Being positioned at such height makes them prime targets for lightning strikes, lightning generally seeking the path of least resistance to the ground. When lightning strikes a cell tower, it damages at the point it hits in the form of fire and explosion, but the damage does not stop there. A massive power surge then follows, traveling along conductive surfaces and materials within the tower. This surge will often couple into the power and data transfer lines that interconnect the equipment within that installation, overwhelming and damaging the circuitry of components even great distances from the strike point. These dangers illustrate the extreme amount of installation costs as far as equipment necessary to connect calls but also the amount of cost that goes into upkeep. Any time a component is damaged, it will need to be repaired or replaced before the tower will regain full functionality. This costs the company operating the network as far as equipment but also costs them in the form of potentially lost customers. Patrons who cannot connect to the cell tower near them because it is damaged are forced to rely on the weaker signals of towers further away, reducing their ability to have the experience they expect. All of these issues must be solved in a way that does not increase the customers' monthly bills.

To keep monthly bills low cell network operators rely on surge protection devices installed within their towers and installations. These devices can stop surging electricity and prevent it from coming into contact with equipment downstream. Through this investment, most of the equipment in a tower or installation can be salvaged after a lightning strike, ultimately keeping that tower functioning longer for less money. That translates to a happy customer and a strong signal.