Cellnex will install small cells on the famous Ramblas in Barcelona
European telecommunications infrastructure provider Cellnex has signed an agreement with Urban Service Point (USP) to install small cells in newspaper stands especially in areas with greater population density and high demand for data consumption, the former said in a release.
The first newspaper stand in which small cells will be installed is located on the famous Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain. Both companies plan to expand the deployment to other cities in Spain. USP currently has more than 300 newspaper stands in Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Granada.
Cellnex noted that small cells can be housed in all types of urban fixtures such as newspaper stands, bus shelters, street lights, traffic lights or shop signs. These small cells make it possible to increase the capacity and coverage of mobile networks and will play a key role in the required densification of networks, especially in rolling out technologies such as 5G in large cities, as a complement to the traditional telecommunications towers located on the rooftops of buildings, the company said.
Luis Sancho, director and co-founder of Urban Service Point, said: “The newspaper stand serves citizens and cities. It cannot be imagined in any other way. It has always been like this and it must be the common denominator of all the projects that are betting on its transformation. We are very grateful for Cellnex’s commitment to the transformation model of the newspaper stand sector. This agreement will position newspaper stands as a principal network for the deployment of small cells, helping city councils to advance toward smart cities capabilities and providing an essential service for citizens.”
“We are very grateful to USP for their flexibility and cooperation. As we seek solutions to help our clients, mobile operators, to densify mobile coverage in urban areas, we will continue to forge similar alliances throughout the territory,” said Jordi Sanchís, director of assets and infrastructure at Cellnex Spain.
Cellnex manages a portfolio of around 135,000 sites – including forecast roll-outs up to 2030 – in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. Cellnex’s business is structured in four major areas: telecommunications infrastructure services; audiovisual broadcasting networks, security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management.