I visited the Royal Welsh Showground to benchmark the temporary and permanent network infrastructure deployed to handle the massive amounts of visitors. Below is the technical breakdown of the sites found.
Site Details & Spectrum Analysis
| Operator | eNB / Site ID | Vendor | Height | Spectrum Configuration (Bands & BW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE | 32257 | Nokia | 15m | 2G: GSM 1800 4G: LTE 2600 (20MHz) + LTE 2600 (15MHz) + LTE 2100 (20MHz) + LTE 1800 (20MHz) + LTE 1800 (20MHz) 5G: NR 3500 (40MHz) |
| Three | 53404 & 53405 | Ericsson | ~20m | 4G: LTE 1500 (20MHz) + LTE 2100 (15MHz) + LTE 1800 (20MHz) + LTE 800 (5MHz) + LTE 700 (10MHz) 5G: NR 3500 (100MHz) + NR 3500 (40MHz) |
| Vodafone | 13238 | — | 19m | 2G: GSM 900 4G: LTE 2600 (20MHz) + LTE 2100 (15MHz) + LTE 900 (10MHz) + LTE 800 (10MHz) 5G: NR 3500 (50MHz) |
Operator Deployments
EE — Fixed Installation
EE has a fixed installation located adjacent to the main ring. It is a very high configuration site using Nokia RAN. Site backhaul appears to be Optical Fibre due to the lack of microwave presence. The site appears to utilise 3x Andrew RRZZHHTT-65A-R6H4 passive antennas and 3x Nokia AirScale AEQQ active antennas.
Maximum: 384 Mbps ↓ / 102 Mbps ↑
Average: 195 Mbps ↓ / 78 Mbps ↑
Lowest: 62 Mbps ↓ / 36 Mbps ↑
Three UK — Cell on Wheels (CoW)
Three UK are operating a CoW (Cell on Wheels) positioned on the edge of the showground near the A470. Backhaul appears to be relayed from the Cilmary car park via a temporary lattice tower with two microwave links. Antennas appear to be 3x RZVV-65A-R4, 3x Andrew 6V-10M-F6, 4x AIR 3278 & 1x AIR 3258.
Maximum: 612 Mbps ↓ / 71 Mbps ↑
Average: 425 Mbps ↓ / 56 Mbps ↑
Lowest: 345 Mbps ↓ / 45 Mbps ↑
Vodafone & O2 — Shared Mast
Vodafone and O2 share a mast located at the top right corner of the showground, close to the A483. Backhaul appears to be Optical Fibre for both operators due to the absence of microwave links. Vodafone's antennas consist of 1x CCI MBA9F-K3A and 1x CCI MBA9F-KE3A with unidentified active antennas. O2 uses identical passive antenna hardware.
Maximum: 104 Mbps ↓ / 6 Mbps ↑
Average: 11 Mbps ↓ / 3 Mbps ↑
Lowest: 0.20 Mbps ↓ / 1.5 Mbps ↑
Antenna Overview
| Operator | Passive Antenna(s) | Active Antenna(s) |
|---|---|---|
| EE | 3x Andrew RRZZHHTT-65A-R6H4 | 3x Nokia AirScale AEQQ |
| Three | 3x RZVV-65A-R4 + 3x Andrew 6V-10M-F6 | 4x AIR 3278 & 1x AIR 3258 |
| Vodafone | 1x CCI MBA9F-K3A + 1x CCI MBA9F-KE3A | Unknown |
| O2 | 1x CCI MBA9F-K3A + 1x CCI MBA9F-KE3A | Unknown |