OpenTower iQ is a newer division in Bentley to focus our digital twin offerings in the telecom sector. I help to manage this group. Bentley’s digital twin platform, known as iTwin is offered as a PaaS (platform as a service) solution allowing our users and partners to develop and customize products to suit their needs and requirements.
OpenTower iQ has been steadily transforming how the telecommunications industry handles tower management, but the digital twin solution didn’t start its life as the best-in-category leader it is today. Hear from Apurba Tribedi, Senior Director of Tower Products at Bentley Systems, about how OpenTower iQ became a powerhouse solution.
A new study verified that the data generated by OpenTower iQ Digital Twins is accurate, certifying it for use in cell tower maintenance. The study, sponsored by Bentley, in partnership with a major U.S. carrier, used OpenTower iQ to mimic the post-construction audit process of recent tower installations by the carrier. The data generated by OpenTower iQ was compared with the best-available, pre-existing data of those towers to establish a measure of accuracy.
Ahead of TowerXchange Meetup Asia 2022, we sat down with Apurba Tribedi from OpenTower iQ to exchange ideas on why towercos need digital twins. To learn more about all the ways that towercos are digitising operations make sure you sign up today.
Telecom towers have been categorized as critical assets as they provide “enabling functions” across all critical infrastructure sectors. Today, there are over 300 thousand cell towers in America alone which are expected to support an increasingly complex set of requirements from stakeholders. As carriers compete to establish the fastest and largest 5G network, existing cell towers will continue to be key infrastructure assets for the secure and efficient transmission of information, and they’ll be required to carry higher loads.
Having accurate data available when you need it can make a huge difference in the realization of revenue for both carriers and tower owners. It can also improve efficiency in managing towers, especially at scale. However, the telecom tower industry is currently plagued with a lack of reliable, accessible data.
One of the priorities of the carriers or mobile network operators is to provide or expand 5G services to their users. 5G is faster, reaching peak data rates up to 20 Gbps and helping millions of people do more with their telecom and data services. It’s bringing the reliability needed to support high-pressure, high-impact industries that need data delivered instantaneously.
The global 5G rollout has put pressure on tower owners and carriers to make equipment changes as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Even without the major push for 5G and the tower upgrades that come with it, cell towers need constant changes. Tower repairs and maintenance – including co-locating new tenants, new equipment installation, updating equipment, coverage optimization, and meeting government regulations – are a constant part of the tower lifecycle, and they’re critical to keeping their networks connected.
With the recent uptick of telecom M&A, cell towers are changing hands faster than ever, but their inventory and engineering data don’t always survive the trip. New owners often discover that all the tower data available to them is a patchwork of outdated 2D CAD drawings, bunch of PDFs listing equipment installed on towers, hand sketches drawn by tower climbers, etc. After stitching it all together, many questions surrounding accurate asset information bubble up. Since there is no central source of truth to leverage for decision-making, reconciliation along with operating and maintaining tower infrastructure becomes a very difficult and costly process.