Telstra mobile repeater on a trailer extends coverage

Telstra has built a solar-powered trailer that can temporarily extend wireless coverage to mining zones.

The trailer includes a mobile repeater and solar panel. Image credit: Telstra

“From time to time, we’ve had ad hoc requests often from organisations such the mining industry and emergency services for a temporary provision of wireless network coverage in a specific location for a period of time,” Telstra's wireless network engineering director, Max Jennings, wrote on the Telstra blog. “This could be while a community is recovering from an emergency, or when work is being undertaken at a remote site and a permanent solution isn’t warranted.”

After a recent request from a mining company in Western Australia, Telstra developed a NextG wireless repeater that’s mounted on a trailer and powered by the sun. Telstra built the trailer with a company that makes equipment for the mining industry, and the result meets mining industry standards, the telco said.

Another view of the trailer. Image credit: Telstra

The trailer can be commercially deployed and used by emergency services in a crisis, Jennings wrote. So far, Telstra has built eight trailers, and some have already been used commercially in Queensland and Western Australia, he said. Telstra is considering updating its mobile Cell on Wheels using a similar trailer design, he added.

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