Benchmark TelecomTelecom solutions provider Retrofit of a telecom mast

The situation

At every major festival, think of Rock Werchter or Tomorrowland, hundreds of thousands of people use their phones at the same time: posting videos, scanning tickets at the entrance, paying at the bar. Nobody thinks about the antenna that makes it all possible, until the network drops. For visitors themselves: without that telecom antenna, your phone simply would not work at such a festival. Benchmark Telecom, specialized in telecom infrastructure including temporary solutions for events, knows better than anyone how much goes on behind the scenes.

What does this mean for you?

Do you have an older installation you would like to retrofit, or production machines you would rather monitor and control remotely instead of sending someone there every time? CTRL engineering reworks existing controls into modern, remotely monitored and controlled systems, so that you can see and intervene remotely, without anyone needing to be on site.

The challenge

On a field without telecom infrastructure, a full mobile network had to be up and running within days, and taken down again just as quickly after the event. Benchmark Telecom did not want to take any operational risks and decided to retrofit an existing mast: keeping the existing mechanics, but with a modern electrical cabinet and controls, and the ability to monitor the system remotely.

Our approach

CTRL engineering reverse-engineered the existing control of the mast, so the mechanics could be reused, and reworked the control into modern software, integrated into a new electrical cabinet. The system can now not only be monitored remotely, but also operated remotely, even when the mast is standing on a festival field with nobody physically present.

“The PLC control and modernization expertise Benchmark Telecom lacked internally was excellently provided by CTRL engineering, meeting all our expectations and even exceeding them in remote control. We are very satisfied with the collaboration.”

- Bart Rogiers, CEO Benchmark Telecom

The result

A fault is now immediately detected, even if nobody is on site. The network stays up, from the first setup to the final teardown after the festival, without hundreds of thousands of visitors ever noticing. The new control itself is also clearer and more reliable than the original installation, which greatly simplifies future maintenance and any expansions.