Electrical Surge Protection: August 2022

Monday, August 1, 2022

Cell Phone Surge Protection

Nearly every person in most developed countries has a cell phone. Every one of these people connects to a network where their phone can receive and transmit signals to other users also connected to that network. Through inter-network cooperation, these networks can connect users that are on networks different than the one they use. Even though there is competition between carriers, they all understand that not allowing customers to connect to those outside of their network would be bad for business, losing them subscribers. The providers earn customer loyalty by providing superior service and low prices, competing by offering the highest call clarity and the fastest speeds. Outside of the contract periods that customers enter into to receive a discount on purchasing a device, these companies realize that customers are always potentially tempted to switch carriers. The primary method of keeping customers loyal in the last few years has been low prices and the largest network of cell towers. Connectivity is critical to the industry, with customer frustration building through lost or dropped calls and those customers potentially being stolen by competitors offering better connectivity in that area. This competition has led to a race to place as much equipment in the field as possible. Every piece of equipment used for the process of connecting calls is at risk all the time, with power surges and lightning strikes to the equipment being the most damaging event. Because lightning is unpredictable and naturally occurring, damage from direct lightning strikes is difficult to avoid. But damages from the surges that follow lightning strikes can be mitigated using lightning protection systems. That power surge will cause significant damage as it runs through the systems along conductivity lines and materials. This ability to travel effectively allows that surge of power to overwhelm the circuitry of the connected devices, creating outages that need to be repaired to restore functionality. Once the damage has occurred, it is a race to fix the components and restore functionality as quickly as possible to avoid customer frustration and the potential for reconsidering their provider. Because of this ongoing competition, cellular providers have taken steps to minimize the amount of damage that can occur by installing industrial surge protection solutions and systems. These devices are installed to protect the equipment from the electricity that can travel and provide the ability to stop a surge before it overwhelms the next component. By minimizing damage, carriers can stay more competitive through better uptimes and connectivity, while keeping prices lower by ensuring that equipment can be functional for longer periods. Surge protection has become a significant line of defense for nearly all providers, who rely upon it to extend their equipment life span and assist in the retention of customers as a result. Your calls are clearer and cheaper through surge protection, and you are no doubt happier as a customer.

Cell Tower Surge Protection

One of the major contributing factors to high cellular bills is the continual and ongoing repair of equipment in the field. That is not referring to your cell phone, but instead to the network equipment (radios, antennas and other active equipment) that is used to connect your device to the network itself. The number of interconnected devices positioned strategically in the field is staggering. This equipment allows a cellular device to transfer or receive from its position, and the strength of that signal is determined by how unobstructed and nearby the network equipment is. As cellular technology has evolved, we have created more powerful and faster connectivity devices capable of delivering data to the network faster. Still, the signals from these devices cannot be broadcast for the vast distances of slower connection equipment.

For this reason, the desire of customers to transfer and receive data faster has lead to a rush on the part of cellular networks to install 5G or higher devices in more locations than ever. These installations must be closer to the ground and closer to one another to prevent dropped calls as users move through streets around them. While the older structures and technology are still effective and able to pick up the slack if no faster signal is available, the race to create the fastest network with the best coverage is underway by all providers. This creates the situation of hundreds of cellular installations all around us, with every bit of that equipment critical. Damage to network equipment is a very real possibility and can often come as a result of lightning strikes to or near the towers or the equipment itself. This is compounded by the power surges that follow a lightning strike. While the direct lightning strike is brutal and damage from it cannot be avoided, further damage from the lightning surge to equipment in the field can be minimized through the use of specialized lightning protection systems coupled with external surge protection solutions. Operational expenditure budgets can be reduced by this means.

Through the installation of robust industrial surgeprotection devices along the pathways which electricity will follow, damage generally seen after a lightning strike can be minimized. Connected devices at tower tops and base stations form the paths that electrical surges can take to easily flow and damage equipment if external surge protection is not installed. These power surges can overwhelm and damage equipment that will need repair or replacement, all of which cost money. Through the installation of surge protection devices, this subsequent damage can be minimized or avoided altogether by creating a gap or diversion which does not allow the electricity to reach any components downstream. As a result, industrial surge protection helps to conserve equipment repair budgets and ultimately keeps the cellular bills of consumers lower by keeping the networks functioning with less need for repair or replacement. While no system is perfect, our connected world is improving daily thanks to improvements in cell site surge protection.

Cellular Lightning Protection

At the most basic level, cellular technology can be understood as a device in your hand beaming and receiving signals to and from a tower nearby. That tower pushes those signals to a network where they are connected to the correct person or entity on the other side. This may seem simplistic, like the cord stretched between two tin cans you used as a child, but it is far more complex and expensive. Expense is drive by new technology being rolled out and new phone improvements. All of these new features must have the ability to be connected to the network you pay for, or they will go unused on your phone. This means that cellular network providers are in a constant state of expansion and upgrade, all the while attempting to figure out effective ways to minimize the damage that can happen to the necessary equipment that is positioned in the field. Each tower or installation takes hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment to allow for the latest technology on your phone to be utilized, meaning that those carriers are deploying more equipment into the field every day. Every component is at risk from many ways that it can be damaged, the most extreme being lightning strikes and the power surges that follow them. These are so dangerous for cellular providers because the strike itself is usually not the worst of the damage. That comes in the form of the power surge that follows the strike, which travels along conductive materials and power lines that interconnect the equipment in the installation. This excess power quickly overwhelms the circuitry of any component it comes into contact with. The only effective method of preventing damage is to stop the surge before it hits the next component. This is accomplished through lightning protection systems at the cell sites and the integration of high-tech surge protective devices along the pathways that electricity can travel. These devices provide the ability to keep the levels of electricity at range safe to the equipment. If that range is breached they activate to divert the excess energy to the grounding system. Surge protection allows the network provider to potentially salvage equipment that they would expect to be damaged by these naturally occurring events, keeping that equipment functional for extended periods. In addition, it provides the ability for the tower or installation to remain operational for longer, or be restored to functionality faster. This keeps customers happy because they are more easily able to connect and maintain the network, ultimately putting all those features they pay for to use. Even though it could be viewed as an additional expense regarding operating a cell network, external surge protection is critical in today’s competitive climate. This is because the network with the lowest prices, best coverage, and longest equipment uptimes are the winners. Surge protection systems help to facilitate success.

Cellular Surge Protection Systems

The simple act of connecting your calls involves far more than most people understand. While the antique method of childhood communication of stretching a string between two cans has the same basic premise as a corded telephone, the cellular version of communications is quite different. Corded phones essentially connected two users directly, allowing a patch to happen between users on each side of the call, that patch being facilitated through a phone network. Any two numbers can be connected or disconnected this way, allowing the transfer of voice signals while connected. Cellular technology works in this regard only through the specific connection of users, the rest being very different. There is no direct connection of user to user. Instead, the connection consists of digitized signals that are beamed to transmitters without wires, then processed through a network of computers to a different user. This connection without a direct wire from user to user presents challenges, namely, in that you must be within range of a cellular receiver or transmitter for that data to move to the network. The speed with which that data will process depends upon the specific types of signals transmitted by that transmitter or receiver and the device's capability to process that type of signal. This translates to the need for closer proximity to the equipment, the faster the signal speed, necessitating the installation of more and more transmitting and receiving devices all around you. The miles that your signal from your cell phone used to travel now is less than a quarter mile if you are to be connected using the fastest data transfer capabilities. If there is no compensating installation nearby, you will find the signal weakens as you move even a few feet farther away from these devices. This requires a lot of equipment in the field, which can all be at risk of damage from weather events, including lightning strikes.

Cellular lightning protection and surge protection systems are designed to reduce the risk that telecommunications companies must bear to connect your calls. The equipment around you is at risk for damage in many ways, from lightning strikes or power surges. Although many different scenarios could also damage the equipment, these are two situations that cause the most damage and have a valid method of prevention. Installing surge protection devices that will keep lightning surge from flowing along the connected equipment prevents significant damage, ultimately helping with business profitability. By preventing the electrical surges from overwhelming the circuitry the function of the cell site is protected. While the lightning strikes that cause the surge may be impossible to stop, the following lightning surge damage can be mitigated by installing the proper surge protection at the cellular site. The damage is effectively minimized by integrating effective surge protection methods and devices. This helps keep the businesses profitable and calls connected without wires.

How Cellular Towers Are Protected From Lightning Strikes

Most people probably have a basic understanding of how a cellular tower works, and while they might not know the specifics, they understand that they must be near one to connect. Their cellular device has all the latest features and the ability to utilize the latest 5G technology to transfer data quickly over the network, but that device cannot utilize any of those features if they are not available in your region. The rollout of 5G and higher speed access has been aggressively accomplished through the different network providers to lure new customers to their business, offering faster speeds than their competitors. Unfortunately, this involves the installation of hundreds if not thousands of new towers and other setups all around the consumers themselves. The region that a 5G signal can cover is quite small compared to the older speeds, which could place a cellular tower every mile or so and still provide total coverage for users. In high-density locations, the newest network speeds can only be accessed for a few hundred feet around the equipment, meaning that for your 5G phone to receive a 5G signal, these new equipment installations must happen in your area. Because the major metropolitan regions will have more connecting users, those regions have prioritized rolling out the equipment. As the network providers complete these densely populated regions and create blanket coverage, they move on to lesser populated areas. All of this equipment is at risk of damage, and it is all quite expensive. Coupled with the fact that new rollouts of technology cost money, there is also the fact that consumers are generally not willing to pay extra for that technology. They do not want their bills raised, yet they want the latest access, which costs millions of dollars to install. The solution to this issue is to protect the equipment at all costs.

Lightning strikes on cellular towers and installations can be one of the major causes of loss as far as the operational budget of the network provider. Continually updating the equipment, then repairing it when it gets damaged is a continual drain on revenues. This drain would generally be compensated for by raising prices, but the hyper-competitive nature of the cell industry will not allow for this solution. The answer is to invest heavily in equipment that can protect the existing and installed components in the field, protecting them as much as possible from damage. By installing industrial surge protection systems, some of the expected damage from lightning strikes and surges can be avoided effectively. This allows the providers to allocate more resources to rolling out 5G into new areas instead of constantly repairing the equipment that has already been deployed. This ability to conserve budget where it previously could not be is a game changer in the cellular market, allowing for better service at lower prices for consumers.