Maintenance cycle of telecommunications company base stations

Until the end of 2011, growth in infrastructure, seen from the total Base Transceiver Station (BTS), reaching 97,000 BTS. The fact of base stations, nearly 50% of them have an average age above 10 years, 30% of them between 5-10 years old and the rest are less than 5 years (source: APIMTEL).

We distinguish different types of maintenance: corrective maintenance, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance (cf. Figures 1 and 2). The norm EN 13306 also provides a classification of maintenance types. Figure 1 – Overview of all maintenance types

As the telecommunication towers age, maintenance for each site is increasingly important. Often, telecommunication site equipment is used without a planned maintenance approach. Such a strategy results in unplanned downtime which often leads to unexpected critical failures.

Predictive and prescriptive maintenance: This starts with collecting data, monitoring assets, and then analyzing and predicting upcoming failures—which then leads to optimal repairs and the ability to continuously optimize the maintenance cycle. These are just a few ways that telecom companies can improve ROI and ROCE.

Moreover, the emergence of Industry 4.0 has led to the wide use of sensors that have facilitated telecommunication operations and increasing attention to maintenance strategies that can decrease the cost of downtime and increase the availability of telecommunication towers. There are several definitions of maintenance in the literature.

Also, customers can contract-out maintenance services to some companies at the responsibility of themselves. The release of these services to private sector will also promote development of telecommunication industries. ETC, of course, can be best provider if they win the competition.