Reliable and cost effective operation of prime-powered telecommunication sites

This paper presents a summary of Northwestel's experience operating 100+ "Prime-Power" systems in support of an 8400 km microwave radio based telecommunications network spanning a large, rugged, and sparsely populated area. Topics discussed include capital investment and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, cost reduction initiatives, and equipment/system reliability strategies. The conference theme "No Power, No Service, No Revenue" is applicable to our network, where route diversity is rare. An outage anywhere in the transmission system isolates large geographic areas and entire communities. 3/4 of the company revenue comes from long distance charges. If the power goes out, service stops and so does the revenue.