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#036 - Improving Cell Tower Inspection By Using Drones with AT&T's Art Pregler

#036 - Improving Cell Tower Inspection By Using Drones with AT&T's Art Pregler

FromCommercial Drones FM


#036 - Improving Cell Tower Inspection By Using Drones with AT&T's Art Pregler

FromCommercial Drones FM

ratings:
Length:
33 minutes
Released:
Feb 16, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

AT&T has 65,000 cell sites around the U.S. which require constant maintenance. Some of these cell sites can be towers that are hundreds of feet high and others can be massive stadiums with hundreds of antennae. The site maintenance is accomplished by 15,000 tower technicians. Technicians perform their tasks by risking their lives, physically climbing up the cell towers, or burn lots of time walking around stadiums for entire weeks, testing signal strength. Art Pregler is the Director of Construction & Engineering Mobility Systems at AT&T. The company moved from a drone "exploratory phase" in 2015 to "fully operational" in September 2016, with an entirely outsourced model—hiring 3rd party drone service providers. AT&T employs these drone service providers to inspect their cell towers via aerial photos, videos, photogrammetry, and even machine learning. Ian coaxes Art to reveal how—among other things—using drones decreased AT&T's cell site maintenance times from one week, to just four hours, a 900% savings.
Released:
Feb 16, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (99)

The commercial drone industry is projected to be worth more than $20 billion in the next 10 years. Commercial Drones FM is the podcast for the drone industry. Your host, Ian Smith—a helicopter pilot and international drone operator—analyzes the drone industry, guides you in discovering the people who power it, the concepts that drive it, and the global industries who already use drones in their businesses today. The podcast also explores eVTOL aircraft, urban air mobility, and flying cars (air taxis).