5G in the city of Melbourne

The challenge

At the time of this project, the City of Melbourne was still in the planning phase for 5G mobile phone network implementation. Because 5G uses very short wavelength radio, the transmitters must have line-of-site to each other. If they don’t tap into the NBN (which is not possible under current law), they may need to be as close as 50m apart in urban areas. This implementation would be extremely expensive, and potentially visually unappealing.

The team’s task was to conceptualise a method of deploying high density 5G transmitters (about 30 cm x 20 cm x 10 cm) in a way that is vandal-proof, invisible to citizens, reduces clutter, and maximizes value (broadly defined) to the council and the community.