Going Native in Indochina with a Bamboo Cell Tower

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It can withstand wind gusts of up to 130 mph, with an expected lifespan of about 10 years according to the Dhaka Tribune. It takes around 12 days to build and has a capacity to house up to eight antennas at a time, enabling co-location.  It is a cell tower made of bamboo.

A Malaysia-based telecommunications infrastructure company has teamed up with engineers of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to build the country’s first cell phone tower made from the native material.

Edotco Group, owned by Axiata Group, claims to be the world’s 14th largest tower company with a footprint of over 7,500 towers in Bangladesh. The largest is behind the project recently installed on a rooftop in Dhaka.  

If the use of bamboo tower turns out to be successful, incentives would be offered for the home-grown technology.

The research and development of the project focused on the design and viability of bamboo as an alternative material to traditional steel structures in telecommunications.

“We are very pleased to see the installation of the first bamboo telecoms tower in our country. Bangladesh is a country with plenty of natural resources, including bamboo, which is a renewable material,” Professor Ahmad said while speaking at a recent conference.

“Feasibility studies showed that bamboo is a good material choice for telecom towers due to its properties. We thank Edotco for believing in such an initiative that contributes to nation-building and conservation of the environment,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Studies indicate that untreated bamboo has the ability to bear the weight of concrete while possessing the rigidity and tensile strength to support its own weight, making it a suitable material for telecom structures. It can withstand gusts of up to 130 mph, with an expected lifespan of about 10 years.

March 31, 2017

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