Case Study
Designed For Installation: Customized Macro Site Solutions for a Tier 1 UK Operator United Kingdom A Tier 1 UK mobile network operator needed multiple customized macro site components as part of its transition to new OEM infrastructure. What started with customized hybrid jumpers developed into a complete RFS fiber and power solution designed around the requirements of both the operator and its installers.
www.rfsworld.com
The challenge Moving to new OEM infrastructure created different requirements for the power and fiber equipment used across the operator’s macro sites. The operator reached out to RFS based on its strong track record in RF solutions, aiming to increase flexibility and improve supplier choice for its installers. Meeting the technical specification was only part of the challenge. It also had to meet practical requirements. Installers were working across sites throughout the UK, often at height and in difficult weather conditions. Small complications could add time to every installation, while missing components or poor labeling could result in a site being snagged and require a costly return visit. RFS therefore focused on developing a high-quality solution that met the operator’s technical requirements while also being practical and efficient to deploy.
The solution RFS’s involvement moved from initially supplying customized hybrid jumpers into a complete solution covering top and bottom jumpers, fiber and power trunks, and breakout boxes. The breakout box became a particularly important part of the project. RFS worked extensively with the operator to understand its requirements, while also speaking directly with the installers responsible for deploying the boxes on site. This allowed the RFS team to refine the existing breakout box concept around the practical realities of installation. Installer feedback resulted in several important changes: y Pre-fitted mounting brackets removed an installation step that saved time on site. y Pre-applied warning labels reduced the risk of an installation being snagged because required labeling had been missed. y Non-rotating glands and captive gland caps made the box easier for installers to work with. y Future-ready features, including an additional gland, were incorporated at the operator’s request to accommodate potential future requirements. These were relatively simple changes individually, but their impact was multiplied across a large-scale rollout. By designing the breakout box around how it would actually be installed, RFS helped reduce installation time and the potential for repeat site visits. Service also played an important role. RFS had already demonstrated its ability to support installers by supplying RF components directly to site, including on a 24hour turnaround. This established track record helped give the operator confidence to expand RFS’s role from individual products to the complete fiber and power solution.
The result RFS entered the project after other suppliers were already established, but RFS’s approach and initial engagement led to it being approved for the complete fiber and power solution. The customized breakout box was an important milestone in that progression. It demonstrated RFS’s ability not simply to meet a specification, but to work with the operator and installers to improve the solution around the realities of deployment. RFS went on to support approximately 60–70% of the installers working on the rollout, with installers choosing the solution based on its combination of a quality, practical product design and responsive service. The project demonstrated the value of bringing together the operator’s technical requirements and installers’ realworld experience. By listening to both, RFS delivered a complete solution that met the required specification while helping make deployment faster and easier in the field.
“ We spent a lot of time with the
operator understanding what they wanted, but we also spent a huge amount of time with the installers understanding their needs. With the breakout box in particular, relatively small changes could save installers time or prevent a return visit. That combination of product quality, practical design and service was key to the success of the project.
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Jamie Aitken, Area Sales Manager at RFS
Lifetime Connectivity At RFS we specialize in the design and manufacture of premium, future-ready cable solutions for customers across the globe. With over 120 years of heritage in the industry, we build reliable and long service life connectivity systems. Because we care about our collective future. •
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