Today’s digital economy relies on fast and reliable telecommunications networks. Such telecommunication towers are obvious and known targets for lightning strike damage, which has caused significant service downtime over the years. Therefore, protecting communications and meteorological towers should not be an option, but a necessity.
We have identified a promising opportunity to introduce Prototal’s BARRIER product into the telecom tower market as major players are currently planning infrastructure upgrades for the upcoming 5G rollout estimated to launch in large scale through 2019 and finalised in 2025. Even before this period (with 4.5 and 4.9G equipment, plus some pre-commercial 5G equipment), old towers will be upgraded and new towers will be built, thus providing the ideal time to install lightning protection solutions taking advantage of already deployed installation crews. Prototal will be closely following these developments and during 2017 we plan to continue developing our relationships with key decision makers within TowerCos with the aim of introducing our product into the tower specifications currently being developed.
“ TowerCos” – must ensure that towers are free from lightning strikes if they want to avoid damage to equipment and downtime which can lead to customer churn. The sector is currently developing pilot tests and proofs-of-concept as they begin to define their equipment requirements for new 5G cell towers. Initial infrastructure upgrades will occur in cities and urban areas. Most European countries will have a formalised standard for 5G in place by 2018 which will outline key infrastructure specifications and upgrades. In parrallel the industry is working on upgrades to the current 4G (LTE) infrastructure to prepare it for easier 5G upgrading. As tower upgrades and new towers are commissioned, we continue to see a large interest and excellent reaction for BARRIER from the telecom tower industry.
Another related customer segment that we will target with the BARRIER product is meteorological towers that provide critical information. Prototal has protected many meteorological towers at airports (Santiago de Compostela) and; in wind farms: GAMESA (Navarra, Spain), La Sia (Cantabria, Spain) and GAS NATURAL EÓLICA (Zalama, Spain).
On the other hand, every year, more than 350.000 incidents caused by lightning strikes are reported to insurance companies in Spain. Moreover, lightning causes 1,6 casualties per million inhabitants every year. Affected people and companies are clear targets to acquire a BARRIER Lightning Rod
The overall objectives of the Project are detailed as follows:
1. To eradicate the problems of Telecom Towers owners from lightning strikes and its consequences
2. To convert the Prototal® technology in the market Standard and to lead the sector of Lightning Protection
3. To secure yearly recurring revenues above 16M€ by 2022.
4. To increase net profit margin commensurate with sales.
FEASIBILITY CONCLUSION
We have validated the economic and practical viability of our BARRIER product by gathering detailed feedback from our customers and other key stakeholders confirming that our product has the potential for offering premium protection and a longer useful life compared to current solutions in the market, particularly in the Telecom Towers sector where we have identified massive demand. Additionally, potential customers consider our inital price point of 3,350€ to be reasonable commenting that BARRIER offers superior value for money compared to the competition. We have also enhanced BARRIER’s technical feasibility by testing its durability, as well as modifying its design and materials to be more weather resistant. Thus, we shall continue to pursue market readiness for the BARRIER product.
