In the march towards technological progress, one big step is taken whenever a town is able to roll out new network nodes known as small cell. Bloomfield, N.J., is one town that is taking this particular step towards better technology by rolling out two new rooftop cellular relay systems that will help support the growing demand for HD voice, or VoLTE. That rolling out will be coming in the very near future, thanks to a green light by city zoning officials.
Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) stands to benefit from the new small cell network nodes, allowing for the company to cover gaps in its coverage in the area. These gaps occur where high traffic has the best chance of suffering from diminished service during high volume times. One of the reasons the company wants to use these small cell nodes is because they take up quite a bit less power. One Verizon tech told the city zoning board that traditional cell towers use 40 watts of power. The small cell nodes use 10 watts.
The Verizon tech added that when they use these small cell nodes don’t require the company to go as high in order to achieve hotspot coverage. Site plan engineer Trevor Whitaker added that these new nodes will definitely leave a smaller footprint. That means people living in Bloomfield won’t have to deal with blight that can be seen by some when it comes to the regular cell towers.
City planners have come up with a plan for the small cell nodes to have low visibility. Two cabinets, which will be made to look like brick, are going to be placed on the Southeast corner of a rooftop near the intersection of Osborne Street and Belleville Avenue. The cabinets will be tucked away above a stairway bulkhead and behind a screen in order to further reduce the ability to be spotted from the street.
Edited by Alisen Downey