Subject: [NEXTEL-1] 30 new rail tunnels get cell phone coverage

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 12:50:07 -0500

30 new rail tunnels get cell phone coverage

Posted to the site on 21-Feb-03

Andrew Corp.’s Wireless and In-Building Products Group has developed a new multi-band
wireless infrastructure for giving commuters clear wireless phone reception in tunnels
along the newly-opened ICE (Inter-City Express) high-speed rail link between Frankfurt and
Cologne, Germany. The ICE’s new frequency-optimized slotted communications line supports
all three European mobile communication bands: GSM 900, GSM 1800, and UMTS. The
communications project began in late 2001, and was completed in late summer 2002. The ICE
high-speed rail line between Cologne and Frankfurt ran its first service in August 2002
and became fully operational on 15 December 2002.

Trains on the high-speed rail link travel at speeds of up to 330 kilometers (205 miles)
per hour, and in response to requests from mobile operators T-Mobile, Vodafone, and
E-Plus, Andrew developed and supplied over 47 km of wireless infrastructure for multi-band
communications distribution covering the 30 new tunnels along the ICE line.

At the heart of the tunnel communications systems is Andrew Corporation’s RADIAX
RCT7-CPUS-2-RN radiating coaxial cable. This cable has specially-designed slots in the
outer conductor that effectively radiate and receive the wireless signal along the entire
length of the cable, creating uniform RF coverage that supports mobile communications in
tunnels. An earthing and installation concept – created specially for the ICE – minimizes
signal interference caused by high current fluctuations associated with high-speed train
operation.

Development and delivery of the RADIAX cable, earthing and installation materials was
completed in May 2002. Installation of the various phases of the new communications system
has been ongoing since then, with Andrew coordinating to ensure that scheduled supplies
were delivered to multiple construction sites at the same time.

"With the RADIAX cable developed for the ICE line, we now have a sophisticated multi-band
Andrew product which is setting new in-tunnel communications standards,” commented Manfred
Barton, General Manager of Andrew GmbH in Germany. The multi-band wireless infrastructure
solution, deployed in the 30 tunnels on the new Cologne-Frankfurt ICE line, has also been
used in tunnel projects as diverse as the USA’s Lincoln and Holland Road Tunnel, the
Washington Metro, and Amtrak’s New York-Boston line. In China, a similar system is
installed in the Guanghzou Metro and for tunnel communications on the Kowloon-Canton
Railway. “In Germany, we are now also working on a new application for Berlin’s S-Bahn
City Railway,” added Barton.

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