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Telecommunications

Lightning protection, earthing and surge protection for operator sites, towers and broadcast structures.

The protection need

A tower, an exchange and an operator building are both a tall structure and a communications facility that has to keep running. A surge enters on the power line, and also on the antenna and data lines. If the tower body, the equipment room and the cable down-route are not bonded into the same earthing arrangement, equipment can drop out of service even without a power cut. We therefore treat air termination, earthing and surge protection together for the whole site.

Principal risks and design criteria

01
Tall towers and antennas
Because the tower stands higher than the surrounding structures, the air-termination arrangement is built on that mass.
02
Equipment that must stay online
Devices in the exchange and the operator room can drop the service even on a short surge. Power and data lines are protected separately.
03
Long cable down-routes
The run from the antenna down to the equipment room is the path that carries the surge into the building. Screen and earth continuity are required along the descent.
04
Site and building together
If the tower foot, the cabin and the operations building stay on separate earths, a potential difference appears between them.