BT plans to hide Transmitters in Street Furniture

BT Wholesale is working in the northern English area of Cheshire to install low-powered mobile phone network transmitters on lampposts and street signs, after signing an agreement with Chester City Council and Cheshire County Council. The city council says the deal was done primarily to preserve the aesthetics of the city; but it is also vital that local signal quality improves. The micro-transmitters will mean better coverage for users of existing mobile phone services in an area of poor signal strength.

The enhanced network will also enable the introduction of new applications via 3G, allowing mobile operators to offer a greater range of new high speed, multimedia services.

The agreement will allow BT to place low-powered, 15cms transmitters on existing street signs, lamp-posts and CCTV poles. They will be fixed at least 4 metres above ground. At street level, exposure from the transmitters is typically between a thousand and a million times below that of a mobile phone. It is estimated that one per street may eventually be provided nationally.

Councillor Steve Davies, Chester City Council cabinet member for ICT and e-government, said that Chester was fully supportive of the project, because shared use of discreet antennae by different mobile phone companies would help minimise the number of transmitter sites needed to satisfy the ever increasing demand for mobile communications in the heritage city.

BT's plan is to roll out the initiative. However, concern about radiation is mounting and some areas will insist that each transmitter is marked, while a couple of MPs have become involved, calling for a consultation in each area before transmitters are mounted in this way.

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