HomeMy WebLinkAboutRS_RF Analysis_SunsetWCF_200108_v1.pdf Urban Planner – Strategic Relocation
1220 Augusta Drive, Suite 300
Houston TX, 77057
BUN 830889 A-Team Analysis
Overview:
Crown Castle strives to provide excellent wireless service for our customers with a network of
cell sites that allows our customers to reliably place and receive mobile phone calls. In this case,
we are trying to remedy coverage and capacity challenges in the commercial and residential
areas of the City of Renton.
Decommission of the SEA Sunset tower with no replacement site installed will cause
tremendous coverage issues. In-building penetration, coverage challenges, and continued
growth in our customer base and call traffic in this area has dictated the need for this site.
Coverage:
Coverage describes the existence or lack of wireless service in an area. The request for
improved service often comes from our customers or emergency services personnel that have
no service or poor service.
Coverage used to refer to the ability to make or place a call while in a vehicle, however, as
usage patterns have shifted, coverage is now determined based on whether enough Wireless
Communications Facilities (WCF) exist to provide a reliable signal inside of buildings and
residential areas, as well. Historically, when wireless was still in its infancy, coverage was the
primary means to measure the effectiveness of the network in a given area.
Exhibit C
RECEIVED
01/08/2020
amorganroth
PLANNING DIVISION
Coverage is best shown via coverage maps. RF engineers use tools that consider terrain,
vegetation, building types, and WCF specifics to model the existing coverage and prediction
what we expect to see with the addition of a proposed WCF.
Capacity:
An additional function of some wireless sites is to provide additional capacity in an area.
Capacity is the metric used to determine if sufficient wireless resources exist and is now the
primary means to measure how a community’s wireless needs are being addressed. “Five bars”
no longer means guaranteed coverage and capacity because each WCF has a limited amount of
resources to handle voice calls, data connections and data volume. When these limits are
reached and the WCF becomes overloaded (meaning there is more demand than signal to
service it), the user experience quickly degrades preventing customers from making/receiving
calls or getting applications to run. A WCF short on capacity could also make internet
connections time out or delay information to emergency response personnel. The capacity of
wireless networks is limited by the spectrum availability, the number of available antennas, and
the radios and amplifiers associated with those antennas and spectrum. When a mobile user
attempts to make a call or download data on a wireless network where capacity is limited by
these factors, the resulting delay or busy signal can be very frustrating.
To remedy the reduced capacity, the subject site is being proposed so that surrounding sites
can be “off-loaded”. For this capacity off-loading to be successful, precise placement of the
antennas is required. If the site is too far from the antennas that it is designed to remedy, the
signal will not have adequate strength to work successfully. Similarly, sites that are too close to
one another can provide additional capacity, but do not provide any expansion of the coverage
Figure 1: Propagation Map of existing assets
footprint. It should also be noted that propagation exhibits do not demonstrate the capacity of
a site or the network.
FCC and FAA Certification:
By utilizing only frequencies that are licensed by the FCC, Crown Castle complies with all FCC
regulations which require that Crown Castle’s antenna usage will not interfere with other
adjacent or neighboring transmission or reception functions of other communications facilities,
public safety communications, or the usual and customary transmission or reception of radio,
television or reception of residential and non-residential properties.
Wireless E-911:
Approximately 400,000 Wireless 911 calls are made every day nationwide, and this number
continues to increase. (source: CTIA, the Wireless Association) Wireless E-911 service depends
on reliable signal strength and a dense network of antenna sites in order to function effectively.
Because of our federally-mandated obligation to provide wireless E-911 service, signal reliability
is paramount.