Vantage Towers contributes to the modernization of the digital infrastructure of Eastern Hungary with green-powered info-communication towers, DAS systems and an electric car charging network.
Vantage Towers is one of Hungary’s market-leading tower companies: among other things, Vodafone Hungary’s reliable network is based on the mobile info-communication infrastructure provided by the company. Vantage Towers, which owns and operates nearly 2,300 base stations in Hungary, intends to play a major role in the development of the digital infrastructure of Eastern Hungary in the future, among other things, thus contributing to the digital well-being of the region’s population and businesses.
Distributed antenna systems (Distributed Antenna System/DAS) for maximum service quality
From the mobile service provider’s side, despite the increase in the number of base stations and the network capacity, there are factors that can deteriorate or block the quality of wireless services. These can be physical obstacles, the material structure and thickness of building walls, indoor environments, or even busy junctions. To overcome these, distributed antenna systems (DAS) capable of connecting multiple service providers provide an ideal solution for meeting the growing mobile data capacity needs, by continuously providing maximum service quality inside buildings.
Indoor mobile coverage is the building’s basic infrastructure
Vantage Towers excels in the construction of DAS systems, with which it ensures indoor coverage of office buildings, shopping centers, residential parks, condominiums, sports centers, hotels and even educational institutions.
Among the company’s latest references are the Etele Pláza, the Pick Arena in Szeged, the MVM Dome, and the National Athletic Stadium. Vantage Towers operates more than 130 indoor distributed antenna systems (DAS). These antenna systems are able to broadcast the radio signals of several service providers at the same time. In addition to Vodafone, the other two major mobile service providers, Magyar Telekom and Yettel, are also present at most DAS base stations.
The superpower of DAS raises the user experience to a higher level
Today, the use of mobile phones has become a defining part of our lives, which makes indoor coverage even more justified. In addition, DAS competes with wired systems in terms of data transmission and also provides a more reliable solution than Wi-Fi. The joint operation of the two systems ultimately provides an even better user experience and redundancy.
With the spread of 5G, the construction of indoor DAS systems becomes essential
As time progresses, we can observe the continuous development of technologies and the needs of users. The need to transfer data speed and data volume is increasing, while the delay time must be reduced more and more. Due to these reasons, the bandwidth requirements of the systems have increased, which can be realized at higher and higher frequencies. Since wave propagation results in a smaller cell radius at higher frequencies, i.e. a smaller covered area, or the attenuation of the walls of buildings also increases as a function of frequency, so ensuring indoor coverage from traditional base stations is becoming more and more challenging.
5G technology is introduced by mobile service providers by modernizing and expanding antenna systems. Over time, as the utilization of 5G increases (e.g. smart factories, robotics, smart cities, self-driving cars), so-called small cell base stations will have to be installed. Small-cell or small-coverage base stations are usually operated in densely populated urban areas in order to achieve perfect outdoor coverage, in a way that they do not disturb the cityscape. Thus, it is conceivable that they are installed hidden in benches, fountains or lampposts. Just as outdoor coverage must be perfected for the sake of quality and capacity, ensuring indoor coverage from traditional base stations is becoming increasingly challenging, and this is where the importance of the DAS system lies.
The base stations also operate on a green basis
“The energy supply of the base stations is largely provided by the power grid. Since November 2020, the electricity coming from the network comes entirely from green sources, which is guaranteed by the electricity providers. At the same time, we are trying to install solar panels at as many stations as possible, which cover 10-30% of the annual energy supply – Dr. J. Gergő Budai is the president and CEO of Vantage Towers.
Green energy and electromobility
In addition to the cost-effective sharing of mobile infrastructure, Vantage Towers aims to operate multifunctional base stations that can also be used for other purposes, since these base stations can be used for advertising purposes, for installing meteorological sensors, or for landing and charging drones, but of course, the easily accessible base stations for charging electric cars are also suitable. Vantage Towers is committed to sustainability goals, which is why it obtains its entire energy needs from renewable energy sources and – supporting electromobility – installs electric car chargers connected to its base stations and DAS systems. The company is working to help transport Hungary with e-cars. Most electric car chargers are based on the power supply of base stations and thus contribute doubly to the introduction of environmentally conscious driving, as they cover the necessary power demand exclusively from renewable energy sources.
Vantage Towers currently installs three main types of chargers, AC and Infocharger chargers, which charge an electric car in an average of 4-6 hours – the Infocharger, which is usually located in central areas, can also be used as an advertising surface. The third is the DC lightning charger, where the charging time ranges from only 15 minutes to 1 hour. These are mostly installed next to shopping centers, high-traffic areas, main roads, and highways.
The chargers are already being enthusiastically received on the market, which is also due to Vantage Towers installing them as part of its own investment. The company offers extremely beneficial construction for all its partners.
“Vantage Towers plans, fully permits, installs and operates the charging stations through its partner, Elektromotive, as part of its own investment. In relation to Debrecen, the installation of chargers does not involve investment costs for the city. – stated Dr. J. Gergő Budai.
Creating green islands in the city
In the spirit of sustainability and the use of renewable energy, Vantage Towers has also developed a specific urban development plan. The “Green Island” is a complex project, within the framework of which the company would install bus, scooter and bicycle chargers, as well as solar energy “power plants”. All this requires a suitable place and the possibility of receiving energy.
Conference in the name of sustainability
From the presentations given at today’s conference, we can also learn why the implementation of energy and environmental protection innovations is an essential part of the development of the info-communications sector. Furthermore, we can get a glimpse of the urban development plans in Eastern Hungary by the Debrecen County Municipality.
The event was organized by the two deputy mayors of Debrecen, Ákos Balázs, the deputy mayor who directs and coordinates matters related to the municipality’s tasks of city management and institutional renewal, as well as environmental protection, as well as related to these, the development of settlement relations and the establishment of city management cooperation, and Lajos Barcsa, the municipality’s management, financial processes it is opened by the deputy mayor, who coordinates the tasks related to his control, manages the municipality’s asset management, public education, sports and institutional renovation tasks.
“Debrecen is smart and green, which is why we use both innovative and sustainable solutions in city management. We have made the green area part of city operations paperless, we are replacing traditional street lights with energy-saving and controllable LED lights, we are developing solar parks and we are the only ones in the country to encourage companies and working communities to adopt a green approach with the Sustainable Debrecen award, and we are currently working on the creation of a city management center. Debrecen maintained the free parking of electric cars in a unique way, thereby promoting and encouraging the spread of electromobility.” Ákos Balázs highlighted.
“Between 2014 and 2022, we brought 17,000 new jobs to Debrecen worth a total of 11 billion euros. Among them, several high-tech companies chose our city as an investment location. These investments bring several infrastructure developments to our city. The development of industrial areas results in the appearance of new services in the city, such as 5G technology, which in the long term can serve the needs of not only the industry but also the population.” said Lajos Barcsa, deputy mayor.
Dr. J. Gergő Budai, president and CEO of Vantage Towers Zrt., will also give a professional presentation at the event. Furthermore, the company’s representatives provide information on the role of 5G, the DAS system and the electromobility towers, which support the digital innovation and environmentally conscious operation of the city of Debrecen.
The conference is an excellent opportunity for one of the market-leading tower companies – Vantage Towers – to lay the foundations for forward-looking cooperation with Debrecen’s public administration and business actors in the region, thereby contributing to the creation of more sustainable and livable cities.
– Vantage Towers –
Main Picture: Vantage Towers
