The proliferation of base stations and transmitter masts needed to serve
cellphones could make planning authorities reluctant to grant permission for new
sites. The simple solution, says British cellphone company Vodafone, is to use
the support posts for the CCTV cameras installed for crime control and traffic
surveillance (WO 99/50926). These posts already have a power supply that could
be shared by a cellphone transmitter. And the cameras are controlled by
telephone signals, so underground ducts are already in place to carry phone
lines to the transmitter.
Technology
Phone posts
By Barry Fox
12 February 2000
