Drones in telecom

Drones in the world and Russia

Main article: UAV

2025

Drones have begun to be used to quickly install wireless bridges in damaged internet cables

On February 20, 2025, Vodafone announced the start of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to quickly restore communication in the event of damage to Internet cables. Special drones are capable of forming a wireless bridge - a temporary optical connection over the air. Read more here.

For the first time in the world began to use flying base stations

At the end of January 2025, the Czech division of the operator T-Mobile and Primoco UAV SE announced the start of using mobile base stations based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Such drones can be used to provide cellular coverage in areas where traditional ground infrastructure is not available. Read more here.

2020: Samsung Launches Cell Tower Drone Verification Service

On June 22, 2020, Samsung announced a drone-based base station verification service. Thanks to the new solution, engineers can control the operation of the hardware telecommunications infrastructure remotely - without climbing cellular towers on their own.

The essence of the development is as follows: a specialist on the ground uses a smartphone with a special application for controlling a drone, which, using cameras installed on it, takes photos of antennas located, for example, on the roof of a building. The obtained visual data is available for preview on the phone screen, and is also sent to the cloud server, where the system, using [[[artificial intelligence|[artificial intelligence]] and deep learning, estimates the angles of rotation and inclination of the antennas, determining whether the antennas were installed correctly and at optimal angles.

Samsung introduced a solution to optimize the performance of networks through drones

During the demonstration, it was shown that Samsung's solution allows you to cope with the task within 15 minutes - from launching a drone to issuing measurement results. For comparison, when using traditional methods with the involvement of industrial climbers, solving such problems can take several hours.

Samsung will continue to add new features that allow engineers to remotely adjust the angle of the antennas to achieve optimal position using a mobile device and computer.

Base station antennas are typically mounted at high altitude, such as on cell towers or building roofs, to provide optimal mobile coverage. Field engineering engineers are forced to take heavy and expensive equipment with them, climbing the mast, to measure the configuration.

The safety benefits of the solution will be particularly relevant in the audit and maintenance of base stations, where several field specialists must be sent to the point to check or adjust antenna angles, and the climb to the communication tower must be carried out by certified employees who have undergone advanced safety training.^[1]

2018: Operators use drones to restore communications after natural disasters

In late June 2018, it became known that Verizon, as well as rival company AT&T, began using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to restore communication after natural disasters. Read more here.

2017: Drones to provide communications services

According to a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2015 people around the world did not have access to 57% year, To the Internet meaning two-thirds of the world's population is still not connected. And they will not be connected in the coming years, since the construction of ground telecommunications infrastructure to them will cost more than potential income. The installation of traditional land infrastructure, including land rights, equipment, fiber optic cables/FHC communication and access to power supplies, is unprofitable here. In such regions, there are much fewer potential customers, and even more complex infrastructure will be required to reach them, and despite covering more than 90% of the Earth's population with 2G networks, an increase of this figure to 100% with traditional approaches seems unlikely in the near future, since the investment of operators in creating such traditional infrastructure is unlikely to pay off.

According to Json & Partners Consulting, coverage of the territory of Russia by cellular networks is about 10%. According to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, almost all settlements are covered, but 1343 urban settlements with residents from 10 thousand to 500 thousand are still left without access to the Internet and mobile communications. Another 38%, or 6,725 settlements, are cities and villages where there is voice cellular communication, but there is no both wired and wireless Internet access. Therefore, now satellite communication is usually used to obtain communication services outside the coverage areas of cellular networks, especially in hard-to-reach areas. Tariffs for satellite communication and data transmission are much higher than those of cellular operators, since the design of satellites, their launch and maintenance require huge investments.

To address the need for temporary network expansion, carriers use mobile base stations (COWs) on wheels or mobile base stations (MBSs). The peculiarity of BBS is their high cost (rent can cost 170 thousand rubles/day), the size and limitations of use, usually in places with the presence of roads. Therefore, each of the telecom operators, having tens of thousands of stationary BSs, owns only a few BBSs.

The rapid development of the consumer connected devices market in recent years has stimulated the development of new miniature transmitters, antennas and communication standards that allow solving old problems in a new way. Now, the need for a permanent or temporary expansion of the coverage area of ​ ​ a communication network can be realized not only by satellites or mobile BSs, but also by more affordable solutions, for example, UAVs (drones). Drones can become part of the telecommunications infrastructure of telecom operators, performing the function of relaying telecommunications signals. According to PwC estimates, the global market for the implementation of UAV solutions in the telecommunications industry is $6.3 billion in 2016. UNITED STATES .

Telecom operators do not use drones to relay telecommunications signals (radio, television, Internet) on an ongoing basis, but they are already conducting pilot launches of such services. Large technology corporations (for example, Google, Facebook) buy specialized companies and startups developing new technologies, and plan to launch new telecom services on their basis. The feasibility of using drones to expand the coverage of telecommunications services is associated with a relatively lower cost of such solutions in comparison with traditional base stations, the lack of need for investment in ground infrastructure and greater versatility of possible application.

J'son & Partners estimates that cellular carriers will use up to 3,739 mobile base stations by 2020, an increase of 1,527 units or 69% from 2016. Given the increase in Internet traffic in the networks of cellular operators at the level of 40% for 2016 and its projected increase by more than twice by 2020, operators will need an increase in network capacity and the number of BBS/MBS. Most of the newly purchased MBS will be modern and compact standard stations/, LTE5G including miniature MBS that can be attached to drones. What will depend on the strategy of each operator what will be the share of these miniature MBS in the total number of MBS.

Based on the analysis of global trends, J'son & Partners Consulting identifies the following options for expanding the telecommunications networks of cellular operators using drones:

• using tethered drones
• using drones to relay services in areas not covered by communication networks;
• deployment of communication services based on atmospheric satellite constellations.

The basis for the provision of telecom services based on drones is miniature MBS of the LTE (5G) standard, which will provide cellular communication and the Internet in places where access to the cellular network is limited or the signal of a low-quality network, as well as in remote areas and at special events.

Tethered drones

The use of the so-called "tethered drones" Flying COWs (Cell on Wings), to which electric voltage is supplied from a ground station via a strong but very light cable, which allows them to be kept in the air at a given height and in a given place for almost unlimited time, allows solving the problems of local cellular coverage in any territory. In addition, the cable connects the MBS to the broadband access channel on the ground, which allows using standard serial equipment such as femtocells and repeaters/boosters in the solution.

Facebook announced in June 2017 that it had completed its second test of massive Aquila drones in the Arizona desert. Unmanned aircraft climbed to an altitude of 1 km, although the world's largest social network expects that they will be able to take an altitude of 18 km to 27 km. The weight of the drone is 400 kg, and the wingspan is 43 meters, which is more than that of the Boeing-737. The project is being implemented to organize wireless Internet in rural areas that do not have access to cellular communications.

Atmospheric satellites

Atmospheric satellites can be used both as single drones that relay the signal in reference to a specific area, and as a whole group of tens, hundreds and even thousands of ACs covering individual areas, countries and entire regions with a radio signal. Radio or optical communication can be used as communication and transmission systems.

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