WASHINGTON-The U.S. Postal Service and UniSite Inc. are planning a major rollout of huge flagpole antennas in the East and Midwest, a development representing a technological breakthrough in antenna co-location technology and aesthetics that will test the willingness of communities to embrace 150-foot structures bearing America’s stars and stripes.
According to an internal Postal Service memo in early February, a screening process is underway to identify locations for 100- to 150-foot flagpole antennas in Atlantic City, Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Rochester, San Antonio, St. Louis and Detroit.
The wireless industry is pushing for legislation in Congress to further remove impediments to antenna siting on federal land and at the same time to fund upgrades to emergency 911 operator centers with siting fees paid by wireless carriers to federal agencies.
The 150-foot flagpoles are 36 inches around; 100-foot antennas are two feet in circumference.
UniSite, based in Tampa, has an agreement with the Postal Service to market wireless antenna sites on its 35,000 properties across the country.
However, not all post offices are expected to be used. About 2,300 postal locations have been targeted for use so far, according to UniSite.
Omnipoint Communications Inc., a provider of personal communications services in the eastern United States, has a master lease agreement with UniSite. But John Grotland, an Omnipoint spokesman, said that doesn’t mean the firm will be concentrating on post-office sites. “We’ve done a couple flagpoles … It’s pretty rare,” said Grotland.
“The flagpole concept is something we’ve been working on for the past several years,” said Terry Peters, vice president of sales and marketing at UniSite.
UniSite said Stealth Network Technologies Inc., of Charleston, S.C., and Pirod Inc., of Plymouth, Ind., have developed new designs for flagpole antennas.
Peters said the flagpole-antenna approach works well because the flagpole is part of a post office’s existing structure.
A 150-foot flagpole can accommodate up to six wireless carriers, a 100-foot pole up to three.
“The biggest engineering challenge is the perception that exists among operators that you can’t use anything but a standard monopole,” said Dr. Robert Mawrey, vice president of systems and technology at UniSite.
Mawrey said much effort went into eliminating potential interference from multiple wireless carriers on the flagpole antenna.
There are a handful of oversized flagpole antennas today, including a 100-foot one in Cleveland for a system operated by AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
But there are some downsides to flagpole antennas. Peters believes they far outweigh by the benefits.
First, flagpole antennas cost more than traditional monopoles.
But that would be expected, given their greater technological sophistication.
Second, though Postal Service flagpole antennas would be on federal property, local zoning approvals still will be required.
Indeed, a dispute between the city of Schaumburg, Ill., and UniSite several years ago over a 100-foot tower behind a post office, put the firm and Postmaster General Marvin Runyon on notice that 1996 telecom act provisions on antenna siting on federal property were not enough.
It is also necessary, both for political and public relations reasons, to consult with local officials.
Moreover, the taller-than-normal flagpoles will be out of scale relative to post office buildings and require larger U.S. flags.
“Car dealerships would be a more appropriate setting since they (large U.S. flags) are a typical fixture and dealers sometimes are located on highways in areas with high-capacity demand,” said Paul Rosa, an antenna siting consultant who specializes in aesthetics as head of Digital Landscapes in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.Rosa said historical preservationists rejected a giant flagpole antenna in Harpers Ferry.
