WQ India - Dhananjay Group & Southco: Securing the Integrity of India's Largest 4G Network
Introduction
WQ India - Dhananjay Group manufactures and supplies a range of high-quality products for the telecommunications industry, including floor standing racks, wall-mounted boxes, server racks, outdoor units and kiosks. From early on, they were a pioneer in deploying environmentally-controlled street cabinets and high-tech precision sheet metal components for telecommunications. WQ India - Dhananjay Group is also closely associated with creating an infrastructure for a range of service providers during the next phase of the development of telecommunications in India by through the use of Code-division multiple access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies. They have worked with organizations such as the government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and with private operators including Tata Tele Services, R-COM, Hughes, Vodafone and AirTel. This contribution has continued with their leading role in the recent 4G roll-out of the Jio Network in India by Reliance Industries.
The Challenge
WQ India - Dhananjay Group were asked to design, develop, manufacture and install 20,000 25m transceiver station towers, each with an internal racking system, to expand 4G network capability in India for the expansion of the Reliance Jio network, the largest 4G network in India. This unique project featured steel tubular towers that were specifically designed to contain all of the required equipment internally to reduce the amount of space required for construction.
WQ India - Dhananjay Group designed two full-sized 45U, 19-inch format racks to fit internally within the mast body. It was an innovative approach in which all of the equipment and batteries were kept mounted within the mast on the racks to ensure that they were protected from environmental hazards such as India’s monsoon season. The equipment is protected from the outside by two doors, one at ground level and one higher up. With so much valuable equipment being contained in a setting potentially vulnerable to the elements,
WQ India - Dhananjay Group needed to identify a secure door latching solution with an IP66-standard seal to protect against the ingress of dust and moisture.
They were also looking for a solution with a high level of security that would protect against vandalism and theft, while providing easy access for maintenance and repairs. Finding the right supplier and latching solution was made even more challenging by the shape and profile of the tower doors. In addition to being designed in a convex form to match the rounded shape of the mast tower, at a weight of 40 kgs they were also extremely heavy. This added to the challenge of finding a solution that was robust enough to secure the doors effectively and could also be integrated with an access control system. WQ India - Dhananjay Group was initially unable to identify a supplier capable of meeting all of these requirements.
The Solution
WQ India – Dhananjay Group recognized that global access hardware leader Southco had the proven design expertise that they needed to meet their complex requirements. They relied on Southco’s global network and local engineering
to identify a latching solution which could provide the sophisticated but robust standard of security required for the mast tower doors. Southco developed a concealed latching solution combining the R4-EM Electronic Rotary Latch, R4-10 Rotary Latch and CR-99 Outdoor Multi-Point Compression Latch to provide effective, secure latching and a design aesthetic to complement the towers.
The Implementation
The latching solution that Southco developed for the transceiver towers provided the required IP66-rated equipment with secured access control and an anti-vandal design, despite the scale, weight and complexity of the mast and door design.
The 25 meter mast towers feature two doors, one at ground level and one higher up. The CR-99 Outdoor Multi-Point Compression Latch is fitted on both the upper and lower doors and locks them at three points: top, middle and bottom via a connected rod system. Each of these Multi-Point Compression Latching Systems are connected to an R4-EM Electronic Rotary Latch that is located at the top corner of the lower door and a mechanical R4-10 Rotary Latch located at the bottom corner of the upper door. Both R4 Rotary Latches ensure that the CR-99 Latch does not move while in locked position, so that unless the R4-EM Electronic Rotary Latch is released through RFID card or mechanical override key, the lower door cannot be opened, making it vandal-resistant. The integrated latching mechanism also makes it easy to safely access the equipment for maintenance and checks.
To access the tower, the CR-99 handle on the lower door must first be unlocked via hex key, which initially and releases the door’s compression. The rods connecting
the CR-99 Latch in the lower door are locked by R4-EM Electronic Rotary Latch providing a second level of security. The R4-EM must then be accessed with an RFID card or override key, which ensures that only authorized personnel can access the tower. Once the credential is accepted by the R4-EM, the, CR-99 latch handle can be moved to open position and the lower door can be accessed. After opening the lower door, the user can then access the R4-10 Rotary Latch to unlock the rods of the upper door’s CR-99 Outdoor Multi-Point Compression Latch.
From the outside, the latching mechanism has minimal pry points and a streamlined exterior to deter potential vandals. All of the Southco products used in the latching mechanism are IP66-rated which is vital in protecting the performance and longevity of the masts as they are constantly exposed to the elements.
The Results
Southco’s latching solution enabled WQ India - Dhananjay Group to manufacture and install 20,000 transceiver towers to meet their client’s schedule and expand the largest 4G network in India. WQ India - Dhananjay Group were also able to ensure that the products were available in large enough volumes to meet the customer’s timescales, thanks to Southco’s ability to guarantee a consistently high production standard and effective supply chain. This has helped to contribute to WQ India - Dhananjay Group’s continued reputation as an innovator in their industry.
“With this unique and high-profile project, we needed to find the best solution to provide secured access control for a challenging design and a demanding external environment,” said Jayesh Sanghavi, the Managing Director of WQ India - Dhananjay Group. “Southco worked with us as partners to develop a solution which would meet all our requirements. They also helped us to fulfil the demands of a major project by working locally and harnessing the scale of their global network to ensure that we meet our client’s schedule. Working with Southco allowed us to execute and roll out a complex, high-volume project on budget and on schedule”.
