How we do it

Design & Planning

We design our links based on real world experience, not just relying on the theoretical technical specifications provided by manufacturers. We use an in-house database that factors in 50 years of historical weather data to engineer the real performance of every link. In fact, MLL Telecom has successfully replaced competitors' links that were under-performing.

We always recommend the best equipment for the job. Because we are not tied to any technology or network vendors, you can be sure that we will design your network to meet your needs rather than ours. MLL Telecom is an Ofcom licensed operator with code system powers, and we own radio spectrum across the UK at 32GHz and 40GHz. Owning spectrum enables us to shorten the planning process, avoids the risk of interference and reduces the whole-life cost of links we manage.

To meet challenges like lowering cost or adhering to environmental concerns, our planners have come up with intelligent solutions. In a recent project, for example, our in-house chartered surveyor & town planner discovered that we could minimise environmental impact and at the same time cut costs in half by mounting an antenna on a wooden telegraph pole rather than on a conventional wooden-clad monopole.

By involving our site acquisition team directly in the network planning and design process, we are able to optimise the process of the site selection. This shortens timescales, and often reduces costs too.

Project Management

Our project management team are specialists in the specific sector in which they operate. They use their knowledge to find intelligent solutions. In a recent example, when our Project Manager for East Sussex County Council was confronted by environmental restrictions for a prospective mast site, he arranged for a purpose-designed flag pole, that could also support the antenna, to be erected at a local cricket club. This intelligent thinking solved the customer's problem and met planning approval requirements at the same time.

Your project manager will have sole responsibility of your project and will be your dedicated point of contact, no matter what the nature or size of your project, to ensure its successful delivery.

Our project management is part of our turnkey service, which also includes design, survey & planning, site acquisition and deployment - all handled in-house. Our team is familiar with the working practices and site access requirements of all the mobile networks. Added to this, they have extensive local government experience, delivering projects at both the district and county/unitary level.

Because our project managers work right next to the planning team, handover overheads are kept to a minimum and this shortens the timescale of projects. For example, our project managers have direct access to an in-house team who can manage tree-trimming to ensure line-of-sight is available for radio links.

Field Installations

MLL Telecom has installed and upgraded many thousands of links. We are experienced in operating equipment from most of the major radio manufacturers. Our engineers are qualified to install, de-install and upgrade links. For acceptance testing our field engineers can simply call their colleagues (who are all qualified engineers too) in our 24×7 Network Operations Centre.

As well as the desktop line of sight survey carried out by our planning department, our field engineers will do a physical line of sight check. We have in-house specialists licensed to remove flora and fauna that may adversely affect the operation of the radio links, such as trees or nesting birds.

Networks that we build are engineered for maximum lifetime availability and optimum lifetime cost. Our NOC engineers make sure that the installation of your network matches its design. Our installation team has direct access to the design team and our technology test lab, so they can deal with technical problems swiftly and effectively.

Management & Maintenance

Our NOC is operated 24×7 by qualified network engineers, and not call centre staff. They proactively detect more than 90% of faults before they have been noticed by customers, and more than half of the time these are fixed in less than an hour. If you do need to contact the NOC you will get straight through to experienced radio engineers who understand your problem and begin solving it right away.

MLL Telecom has field engineers covering 100% of the UK mainland, each with many years' experience maintaining customers networks. Our engineers are knowledgeable in installation and maintenance and can work at height as well as at ground level, with qualifications such as Spanhoist Rope Descent and Rope Access IRATA 1. Our engineers are accredited to work for multiple operator structures including: Arqiva, O2, Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, BT and EON. We can fix network faults on site in an average of just 3.5 hours because we have our own field force and not contractors. What's more, our engineers have direct access to the expertise of a network designer, and a technical support manager - a joined-up approach to fault management that keeps down-time to a minimum.