A Time-Saver for Antenna Installations – American Tower and MatSing Collaborate on Laser Antenna Alignment Tool

Proper antenna alignment is key to ensuring RF coverage, which is the geographic area  the network serves, and signal strength, as well as minimizing interference between cell sectors. As mobile network operators add new frequency bands, refarm spectrum, or densify cellular networks, misaligned antennas can cause performance degradation in the 5G RAN. An antenna that’s off by just a few degrees can be the root cause of dead zones, dropped calls, and a lower signal-to-noise ratio that reduces throughput, capacity, and accessibility in neighboring sectors. It pays to align the antennas properly, and to do it right the first time.

Aligning Antennas Requires Accuracy, Precision, and Speed

Antenna Alignment Tools (AAT) are used broadly across the wireless industry. Generally, these include a laser, which indicates the boresight of the RF beam, and a camera for visual confirmation and documenting the as-built drawings. Not only are accuracy and precision important, but speed is also. There are many steps in the installation and commissioning process, and antennas are often sited at high, relatively inaccessible locations. Getting the job done quickly matters.

Leveraging American Tower’s extensive technical and deployment experience

American Tower has 30 years of experience designing and deploying wireless infrastructure solutions. Today, American Tower has nearly 450 in-building neutral-host networks, with approximately 100 networks deployed in large public venues, including arenas, stadiums, casinos, and convention centers.

For one deployment in early 2025 – at a stadium – the project utilized  MatSing MS-24H180 lens antennas, which support 24 beams, or sectors. The MatSing Stadium Laser Pointer (SLP) is usually used to align the antennas, but due to site-specific aspects of the installation, the SLP could not be used as is, and required modification.

This is where American Tower’s extensive deployment experience and knowledge came into play. The American Tower team provided critical insights into how to improve the precision of the SLP, as well as to speed up the antenna alignment process. Based on these requirements and insights, MatSing and American Tower innovated and developed a new version of the SLP optimized for the alignment of MS-24H180 lens antennas. The new version features improved tilt and azimuth precision and also reduces the time needed for accurate antenna alignment.

Benefitting from an enhanced SLP

With the SLP, just five target alignment points are needed to properly align all 24 sectors from the MatSing multi-beam lens antenna. The SLP is mounted on the lens antenna during installation, and features five laser pointers for quick, accurate antenna alignment.

Thanks to American Tower’s extensive technical experience with large-scale deployments and MatSing’s innovative technology, lens antenna deployments are faster and more precise than before. But the real winner here are the fans attending the game or the concert at the stadium, who can share their photos and videos with friends and family over high-performance wireless infrastructure. In today’s hyper-connected world, mobile connectivity is a key ingredient for delivering the ultimate fan experience.