Indoor mobile coverage for hospitals and care campuses
Staff, patients and visitors bring phones on every network, and the building cannot stop working while a system goes in. That shapes the design from the first drawing.
Why the signal fails here
- Thick walls, shielded rooms and technical floors divide a hospital into zones with very different signal.
- Basements, corridors and lifts are often the worst places, and also the places people pass through most.
- BIPT notes that one operator is neither enough nor desirable in hospitals: people bring their own device, so each operator has to be able to connect.
- A campus adds distance between buildings, sometimes too long for coaxial cable.
Which system fits
Multi-operator DAS
One passive antenna network that every operator can connect to. This is the route the Belgian guidelines describe for large buildings.
Fibre-fed active DAS
A master unit and remote units, for a campus or for buildings without room for a passive design. It carries operators who agree to this set-up.
Repeater for one zone
A limited zone such as a car park or an annex, where the outdoor signal is usable and the operators agree.
Who has to agree
These rules apply in Belgium. In other countries the principle is usually the same, but ask the local operator.
Mobile operators
A repeater or DAS may only carry a mobile network with the permission of that network’s operator, and a system that carries several networks needs the permission of each operator. Only operators may activate active equipment in their bands, and BIPT only allows repeaters that operators install themselves or accept responsibility for. The Belgian regulator BIPT explains this on its website. The agreement therefore comes before anything is bought or switched on.
ASTRID, the radio network of the emergency services
For new large buildings and infrastructure, a Safety Commission under the FPS Interior decides whether indoor ASTRID coverage is required. The building owner then signs an agreement with ASTRID, the design goes to ASTRID for review, and ASTRID inspects the installation before it connects. The owner then sends ASTRID a maintenance report every year. ASTRID’s review only confirms that its network is not disturbed, not that coverage is sufficient. ASTRID describes the procedure on its website (in Dutch and French).
ASTRID only accepts repeaters and base stations it has validated. The models in our catalogue are not on the list ASTRID has published (January 2024 version), so for a project on its network we check the current list with you before anything is specified.
The medical side has its say too: your clinical engineering team sets the zones where antennas or signal levels are restricted, and the design follows them. Emission norms differ between the three Belgian regions, and the design has to stay within them.
How a project runs
- 01
Measure
Signal per operator and band in each zone, and the outdoor signal where a donor antenna could go.
- 02
Choose the route
A solution from the operator, a repeater or a DAS: this depends on the size of the site, the signal available outside and the number of operators.
- 03
Design
Antenna positions, cable routes, a link budget (the calculation of signal levels from source to antenna) and the equipment list.
- 04
Request the agreements
Technical information for each operator and, where needed, for ASTRID. Nothing is ordered or switched on until each of them has agreed.
- 05
Supply and install
Equipment with a test record per unit. Your installer does the work, or a contractor agreed with you for the project.
- 06
Commission and maintain
Measuring the signal on foot through the site (walk test) against the design, and handover documents. Regular maintenance follows under its own contract, with your installer or a maintenance firm.
If you own or manage the site
- Send us the plans and tell us where the signal fails. You do not need to know the technology.
- We measure, propose a route and tell you which agreements it needs, scoped and quoted per project.
- We prepare the technical information each operator asks for: bands, gain, output power and location.
- Installation is done by your own installer, or by a contractor agreed with you for the project.
- Ask your main operator as well: operators also offer indoor solutions of their own.
If you are the integrator
- Product selection for the site, from the catalogue or to a build specification.
- Support on link budgets, DAS layouts, measurements and commissioning: see engineering support.
- A test record with every unit, and one contracting party in Brussels.
- Your own product line if you need one: see OEM / ODM.
What to send us
- Floor plans per building, with the zones you want covered first
- Zones where antennas are restricted, such as imaging rooms
- Technical rooms available, and the cable routes between floors and buildings
- Rules for working in occupied wards: hours, dust control and access
- Whether the emergency services have asked for ASTRID coverage
Common questions
Does a mobile system disturb medical equipment?
With antennas close by, phones need much less transmit power than when they struggle through walls. That does not settle the question for sensitive equipment: whether a given zone may have an antenna is the decision of your clinical engineering team.
Can the work happen while wards are in use?
It has to be planned that way: zone by zone, with the hospital’s rules for access and dust control. Tell us the rules at the start, because they affect both the design and the cost.
Who pays for what?
In the Belgian guidelines, the owner pays for the design, construction and maintenance of the DAS. The operators’ active equipment and connection are covered by a contract between each operator and the owner.
Does a hospital need ASTRID coverage?
For new large works, the Safety Commission decides per file; expecting more than 150 people in a publicly accessible building is one of the criteria it lists. Local authorities can also ask for it.
Other sites
Multi-operator DAS
How the Belgian process works: notification, operators’ answers, design, activation and maintenance.
Office buildings
Insulated façades and deep floor plans block the signal. Tenants use different operators.
Underground car parks
Parking and charging apps, payment terminals and emergency calls need a signal below ground.
Tell us about the site
A few answers are enough for a first product selection.
Planning a product line under your own brand? Use the OEM / ODM form.
- A product selection for the site
- A first link budget where the site needs one
- The list of what we still need from you, such as floor plans or donor measurements
You can attach floor plans here, or send them by email later.