When building mobile network towers and antennas, how do we balance design outcomes with factors such as site context, land availability, visual impact, engineering requirements and cost constraints?

This was a challenge set by the Mobile Carriers Forum Design and Innovation Programme Project Taskforce, recognising that the increased demand for access to mobile phone coverage will result in the deployment of more mobile phone infrastructure and the continued visual effect on our urban and rural landscapes.

The key response involved developing an interactive planning matrix known as the Mobile Phone Base Station Design Guide that generates unique design recommendations which respond specifically to site context and character. The Guide can be found at the MCF’s website www.mcf.amta.org.au/

The Guide was launched this month at the MCF National Road Show which attracted more than 250 industry participants in five capital cities.

The aim of the MCF Design and Innovation Program Project was to identify techniques and guidelines which can be applied and supplement everyday mobile phone base station site design processes and assist telecommunications Carriers and their consultants to determine “what to do where” when deploying mobile phone infrastructure in order to achieve better visual outcomes.

The Design Guide was produced with the assistance of Adelaide based consultants Urban & Regional Planning Solutions and Wax Design, and has recently been endorsed by the four Carriers that are members of the MCF.

“When designing and siting mobile network base station towers and antennas the Design Guide provides a method for achieving greater compatibility between mobile phone base station design and its landscape context. It responds to a range of landscape characteristics, creating design recommendations that are contextually specific and environmentally sensitive” said MCF Program Manager Matt Evans.