TIA Seeks Participation in TR-14 Drones Task Group

Arlington, VA (September 4, 2019) – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TR-14 Engineering Committee on Structural Standards for Communication and Small Wind Turbine Support Structures seeks participation in its Drones Ad Hoc Group as the group begins efforts to build an industry-specific knowledgebase around the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology.

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have the potential to impact a variety of areas ranging from health and safety to large-scale asset management. As UAS technologies continue to evolve, understanding the role they will play in the telecommunications landscape has become increasingly important.

Today, the Drones Ad Hoc Group will launch its Phase Two efforts focusing on building an industry-specific knowledgebase around the use of UAS technology – ranging from in-field safety and workflow augmentation to automated flight and data processing capabilities.

“Drone technology provides an exciting alternative for supplementing various aspects of collecting data and evaluating wireless infrastructure,” said Bryan Lanier, TIA-TR14 chairman. “The TR-14 Committee looks forward to the advances in this technology, that can support and improve traditional methods of condition and maintenance assessment.”

To date the group has focused on examining drone-assisted field operations as they relate to existing antennas and small wind turbine support structures. Through a field test, the group inspections are a viable option for high quality data collection as part of a Condition and Maintenance Assessment required under TIA/ANSI 222-H Structural Standard for Antenna Supporting Structures, Antennas and Small Wind Turbine Support Structures.

Details of the project and insights from the in-field trial can be found in the Ad Hoc 23 Activity Report.

The group is currently led by Committee Chair Sam McGuire of Red Mountain Scientific and Vice-chair Robert McCoy of Crown Castle. Membership currently includes stakeholders from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Comcast, US Cellular, American Tower, Crown Castle, SBA Communications, and more than 15 engineering firms.

TIA is actively seeking participation for TR-14 Drones Task Force Group from the user and general interest communities.

Stakeholders may include but are not limited to carriers, tower owners and drone manufacturers. Individuals interested in participating in the group and obtaining a copy of the Activity Report can contact TIA’s Marianna Kramáriková mkramarikova@tiaonline.org to get involved.

A major function of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is the writing and maintenance of voluntary industry standards and specifications. These activities are carried out by the volunteer members of TIA engineering committees. Recent meeting reports, agendas and notices for upcoming meetings, as well as links to some of the most popular standards from each committee are available on TIA’s public engineering committee pages.

To purchase all TIA standards, visit: http://bit.ly/IHSTIAStandards