Excellence as a guarantee of connectivity

Commitment to operational excellence is crucial for managing infrastructures that are as critical as telecommunications.

“We are obsessed with offering the best possible customer experience, which is why we work with operational excellence based on four pillars that guarantee control, availability and permanent services under a single vision,” explains Daniel Andreu, global technical director of operations at Cellnex. “We consider this excellence to be the best guarantee for the future of the service we provide, which is so vital to progress.”

With a presence in 12 countries and a portfolio of 138,000 sites, including forecast roll-outs up to 2030, Cellnex will play a key role in the planned expansion of networks, both in densely populated urban areas and in rural regions where access to connectivity will drive economic and social development.

The four pillars to which Andreu is referring are Smart Access, Service Assurance, Critical Services and Sustainable Sites, which are essential not only to guaranteeing optimal service but also to offering a promising and sustainable future for its customers and users.

With the Smart Access project, already implemented in more than 43,000 sites, Cellnex has revolutionised access management for the different operators to their infrastructures, which is a critical aspect for neutral operators. Imagine all the people, keys, padlocks and permits that were traditionally involved in managing the more than 33,000 authorised users and an average of 85,000 monthly access requests at these sites. The solution, unsurprisingly described as “smart”, has provided greater transparency and sustainability (in more than 73% of cases, batteries are not needed for the locks) by digitalising the actions using smartphones which avoids manual interactions as much as possible and improves efficiency and, of course, security.

As far as guaranteeing continuity of service is concerned, the pillar established under the heading Service Assurance, Excellence is based on an intelligent system that Cellnex has been working on for years, which continuously monitors the slightest problem that the network may register from the telecommunications network control operations centres (NOCs).

“The system works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to detect, react to and resolve any incident that could affect our networks,” explains Andreu, adding that possible events can include everything from power outages to specific connectivity problems. Although the automation and reliability of the system means that users do not detect most of the incidents, the company manages around 20 million events per month from the NOCs.

The third pillar on which security and excellence is based is what Cellnex calls critical services, in relation to the mission-critical communications network that guarantees communication in any circumstance and allows actions to be taken by public security and emergency bodies.

Using an operating model based on end-to-end management of the network that guarantees the continuity of operations, along with the manager’s experience in handling climate incidents, fires, accidents, maritime or high mountain rescues, attacks, etc., Cellnex proves its commitment to resilience and reliability. Faced with these critical challenges, Cellnex “provides support to the population by guaranteeing continuity of communications and supporting the vital mission of the security and emergency forces.”

The commitment to environmental sustainability is the fourth essential element in the strategy for excellence. The company, which has a tried and tested history of environmental commitment certified by its presence in the main sustainability indices, is working on various initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of its sites. Currently, 77% of the energy it consumes comes from renewable sources, with the goal of achieving 100% by 2025 and reducing energy expenditure, which it monitors closely. Cellnex can monitor energy consumption both by site and by individual customer, offering detailed information on their spending so that they can develop their own efficiency plans.

In addition to having term energy purchase agreements to guarantee that the energy it consumes is green, the group has, for example, a photovoltaic for self-consumption energy plan in place —covering between 20 and 30% of total consumption in the sites where it has been deployed— and other pilot projects to advance towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035.

To reaffirm the solidity of these four basic elements, the group is building “digital twins” of its sites to ensure automated monitoring of its assets using a holistic approach. This is a global platform that will be able to remotely monitor the four pillars not only to improve operational efficiency but also to provide information which, once processed and analysed, will make it possible to improve future processes and open up new business opportunities.

With the exhibition that the industry was able to “touch” at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Cellnex attests to its commitment to quality, safety, sustainability and innovation.