Mactel Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with extensive experience planning telecommunications buildings are available to assist clients with the evaluation and selection of a new telecommunications building or carrier hotel. The Mactel Planning SME visits any number of proposed sites for the client, identifying the positives and negatives of each location and makes recommendations with regard to the most optimum site from an equipment space, power, fiber entrance and connectivity perspective.

Once the site has been selected, the Mactel Planning SME proceeds to develop a long term equipment layout taking into account issues such as maintenance, connectivity, cable lengths, grounding, fiber entrance, power delivery and power distribution.

AutoCAD drawings are developed for the following as required by the client:

• A detailed floor plan
• A cable rack plan
• A cantruss and/or ceiling insert layout
• A grounding schematic
• A lighting drawing

The above AutoCAD drawings become the basis of a detailed Building Development Plan (BDP) that can be used by the client Request for Quotes (RFQs) to various contractors.

Some of the items and issues addressed in the BDP include:

• Building construction elements such as partitions, equipment entrance, ceiling supports, environmental conditioning, heat dissipation, receptacles, fire suppression equipment layouts, etc.
• Power and Battery Plant configuration, power delivery and distribution systems
• Grounding configurations and lighting arrangements
• Copper (DS-0, DS-1, DS-3), Fiber, Ethernet and Power cable routes
• Order of magnitude infrastructure (e.g. power plant size, number of batteries/distribution bays, cable racking, cable lengths) to solicit competitive bids by contractors

In short, Mactel Planning SMEs provide a ‘One Stop Shopping’ approach to site selection, equipment space planning, cable rack designs, grounding, power distribution, and the creation of AutoCAD documentation.

Incumbent Telecommunications Service Providers, as well as Carrier Hotel entrepreneurs have successfully employed Mactel’s all-inclusive ‘End-to-End’ site selection service.