Clear Signals at the Clearwater

Shoppers at the Clearwater shopping mall in Johannesburg, can make calls on any of the country’s networks - thanks to AlanDick's innovative In-Building cellular technology.  

The 60,000 square metre mall, which boasts an internal atrium and a stunning glass and steel construction, is the first site in South Africa to benefit from a Tri-Band In-Building active cellular distribution system.

Even though the site already had a dual-band GSM base station just 500 metres from its front door, the mall’s developers quickly realised that the space-age construction of the building could interfere with cellular signals. AlanDick’s multi-decade cellular expertise was called for, not only in servicing the In-Building needs of South Africa’s existing three GSM networks, but also with the 3G networks planned for introduction over the next few years.

Because of the complexity of the steel and glass building, which houses more than 200 stores, a conventional passive indoor cellular distribution system would not have been enough to ensure staff and shopper’s calls would get through from all mall locations.

AlanDick was called in to develop an innovative signal transmission system capable of carrying not only GSM 900 and 1800 signals from Cell-C, MTN and Vodacom, the three existing South African carriers, but also 3G signals from the then-unlaunched UMTS networks.

AlanDick's engineering staff created an in-depth GSM coverage map for the mall from the architect’s AutoCAD drawings. The result, was a coverage footprint map for the different wavebands involved, quickly allowing staff to draw up a bill of materials required for the project.