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Concealment industry no longer under wraps

Looking out the window of his Los Angeles office, William E. Jackson II can see two wireless sites his company designed, but he hopes nobody else can see them.

Jackson is president of Clock Tower Communications Inc., one of several companies that has emerged to take advantage of what is expected to be a burgeoning site concealment industry. Clock Tower grew out of Jackson’s 18-year-old architectural firm when demand for concealed wireless sites began to grow. Jackson’s companies have worked on several hundred concealed telecom sites during a 10-year period.

Concealment used to be the final card carriers would play when dealing with zoning commissions that repeatedly rejected their proposed sites. Concealment is “usually the result of a compromise after a difficult site zoning battle,” said Jim Ballan, director at CIBC World Markets.

However, analysts and concealment experts alike expect the need for new wireless sites to explode in the coming years with the emergence of new technologies like third-generation networks. Some believe tight zoning restrictions, coupled with an increasing need for sites in residential areas, will give the concealment industry the push it needs to become widely accepted in the telecom industry.

In addition, local municipalities and zoning commissions are becoming more and more educated about the alternatives to traditional sites, and many are writing concealment requirements into their zoning codes.

To hide or not to hide…

Opinions vary widely on whether it is desirable or even necessary to conceal wireless sites.

For their part, carriers and independent tower companies are concerned about the higher costs associated with concealment as well as the potential for longer construction times.

“Their mentality is `Why hide it if I don’t have to,’ ” said Lonnie Naefke, president of Pacific CellSite Systems Inc., which offers materials used in concealment projects. “When they get enough denials, then they come to us and start talking about how they can hide the site.”

Five years ago, Naefke developed a method for making composite materials radio-frequency transparent. The company offers five standard textures-smooth, stucco, concrete, wood grain and corrugated-and is working on several new standard products. If there is a texture out there the company can’t match, Naefke said he has yet to find it.

“In my opinion, there is no need to see these things,” said Naefke. “I believe strongly that the wireless industry should be concealed.”

Another concealment company, however, is comfortable with its role as a last-chance option for carriers.

“We do not compete with traditional towers,” said Wm. Todd Lax, president of Stealth Towers Corp., a one-year-old Florida company affiliated with Acme Towers Inc. Stealth Towers is a tower siting and management company focused specifically on concealed sites.

“We don’t step in until six months to a year after an area has been identified as a critical need, and carriers have been spinning their wheels trying to get into the area,” said Lax.

In that respect, Lax said he sees his company as a white knight that enters the scene and works as a liaison between the city and the carrier.

“Carriers understand that it is our site or no site, and even though it could be a longer construction time and a few more dollars out of their pocket, in the end the system is what is most important.

“When we talk to cities, we are careful to point out that traditional towers are the backbone of wireless networks, but there may be areas that are aesthetically sensitive that they are trying to protect, and as a last option, a landmark structure would work.”

The invisible site

“We’ve come up with a hundred different ways of disguising sites,” said Clock Tower’s Jackson. He said his company has disguised sites as mansard roofs, chimneys, clock towers and even one as a concrete newel post in a historic tunnel in downtown Los Angeles.

Jackson describes the work as fun but sometimes complicated. For example, the company designed a site disguised as a windmill and a small barn for a site near Denver International Airport; but the area’s historical society-concerned people might mistake the site for a historical point of interest-has slowed the approval process.

Other factors complicate the process as well.

Jackson’s company designed a 70-foot clock tower that would hide several wireless carriers’ transmission equipment. He took the design to the city of San Dimas, Calif., which he said loved the site, but carriers were reluctant to lease space on the tower.

“The carriers liked it, but they wouldn’t tell us where they needed us to build it,” said Jackson.

He said he has taken the design to other cities, which have given him instant approval to build the site, whereas companies proposing traditional sites with exposed antennas can wait six to nine months for an approval.

“I think the carriers have come to the realization that if they get knocked down enough times it leads to delays and loss of revenue,” said Jackson. “If they get on line sooner, revenues flow sooner.”

While disguising sites in architectural structures is becoming increasingly popular, the need for concealments in natural settings persists.

The Larson Co. has become a leader in disguising sites as natural objects such as trees and boulders. The company is particularly proud of one of its latest concealment creations-a saguaro cactus.

Larson’s roots are in designing and creating themed environments for zoos, aquariums, golf courses and the like, said Larry D. Hibler, director of the company. Hibler said the need for disguised antenna sites prompted the company into that business about six years ago. In addition to its tree and plant concealments, the company also has worked on projects concealing sites as architectural objects.

Hibler said the company has disguised between 150 and 200 sites.

Some of the emerging independent tower owners also are seeing the need for concealment and are building up their capabilities in the area.

Craig Lekutis, director of business development for Specialty Constructors, a division of American Tower Corp., said his company has done several concealment projects and is hoping to establish itself as a strong player in the concealment industry. The percentage of camouflaged sites is increasing, he said.

Ken Ballow, vice president of WesTower Design, a subsidiary of SpectraSite Communications Inc., said his company also is doing more concealment work.

Carrier concerns

However, carriers and tower owners have legitimate concerns about how concealment will affect their equipment and their buildouts. Concealment generally is more expensive than traditional builds and also is thought to take longer to complete.

Many concealment companies are working on bringing prices down through standardizing products, which also theoretically should speed up time to market.

In addition, carriers are concerned about degradation of signal quality.

“Any material in front or behind antennas creates some loss,” said Pacific CellSite’s Naefke. “Depending on who you talk to that either matters a little or it matters a lot.

“The criteria set forth by the carriers calls for any concealment material to cause 1 db of loss or less,” said Naefke, who noted his company’s product produces between 0.7 db and 0.3 db of loss.

Carriers also worry about the quality of the products used in concealments. Some materials can crack in certain environments or fade in the sunlight.

“A lot of materials being used out there aren’t basic building materials,” said Naefke. “We’ve taken a proven building material and made it RF transparent.”

Gulf Stream High’s flagpole

While carriers, tower companies and
vendors debate the intricacies of concealment, one school district in Florida is convinced concealment is a good thing.

The Santa Rosa County School Board ear
lier this year issued a request for proposals for a wireless site the district hoped to build on the property of one of its schools, said Judson C. Crane, purchasing manager for the school board. The idea was to generate revenues for the school.

Crane said the school district’s objective was not to get the maximum revenue from the tower, but to find an aesthetically pleasing tower design.

“We would have done without rather than have a tower that didn’t fit in with the community,” he said.

Six companies submitted proposals, and a review committee selected a plan submitted by SBA Communications Inc. to disguise a site as a flagpole. Crane said the design is particularly fitting because the community consists of several active and retired military personnel.

The flagpole site, which still must win approval from the city, will be located on the school’s athletic complex on a corner between the softball, soccer and football fields. The school will get 100 percent of the funds generated by the site, which will be divided among 28 different athletic programs as well as the drama and arts department, said Crane. Today, only two programs at the school-football and basketball-pay for themselves.

“When it’s divvied out, it won’t be a whole lot, but it will be more than they had before,” said Crane.

“Once this project is under way, we would like to do it at other schools,” said Crane. “We think it is a win-win for everyone involved.”

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