On a large site, communication is the first thing expansion leaves behind
These problems recur across smelters, concentrators, electrolysis plants and large industrial parks — and get worse each year as the footprint grows.
In radio-to-radio mode contact is lost within tens of metres of the control centre, so site coordination happens on foot.
Shielded by steel and machinery, a worker hears the call but cannot answer it — which is how a critical instruction gets misread.
Crosstalk between channels interrupts work in progress, and different crews interfere with one another.
Any unknown radio can join and listen to a channel, with no way to identify, block or disable it.
The plant grows in phases without the radio plan growing with it, so an expansion forces a shutdown or a wholesale rebuild.
Production depends on the radio more every year, yet a single point of failure has no backup and no fast recovery.
Measured coverage, area by area
Extending coverage without stopping production
The plant's existing fibre carries the base station signal into the heart of the process area, and an outdoor antenna on the control centre roof covers the open site. The work is done independently, interrupting neither the current radio system nor production.
The plant’s current fibre backbone is used as it stands — nothing new to lay.
An outdoor antenna at the high point covers the open areas of the site.
Fibre reaches inside the production units, filling in signal level by level.
Coverage extends to the adjacent plant, so radios roam across every channel.
The existing plant fibre is reused, reducing new cabling and the scope of alteration.
Each extension area is worked independently, so current communications and operations continue.
Radios roam across the full band, so crews stop switching channels as they move.
One base station, three ways to extend it
Analogue radio-to-radio calling gives way to a centrally networked DMR digital base station. Fibre carries the signal into the process units and underground workings, while the open areas of the site are covered directly from antennas on the base station — all three paths sharing one base station and one frequency plan.
Base station antennas strengthen the outdoor signal across roads, stockyards and open working areas.
Explosion-proof fibre links and antennas deliver explosion-protected coverage zones inside the units.
Fibre reaches the halls, with indoor antennas covering the shop floor and offices.
Multi-mode radios switch freely to 4G, covering areas beyond the private network.
Channels brought under control,
radios no longer joining at will
Radio chaos on a large site is rarely a shortage of equipment. It is that anyone can reprogram a radio and anyone can get on the air. This layer takes channel permissions and device enrolment back under management.
Repeaters are specified to match the existing analogue channel count, converted to digital in stages, with room to double capacity later.
The more production depends on the radio, the less it can have one path
Security and redundancy are not add-ons. They are the floor that keeps the radio working through any single failure.
Online state, ownership and usage of every terminal in one place, with an audit trail for issue and return.
Power and RF modules are duplicated, so a single failure cannot silence a whole section.
Two fibre paths, with an intermediate remote unit bypassed automatically when it loses power so the downstream path keeps working.
What the site gains once the network is in
Every call and every position the base station records can feed the field operations platform, becoming data you can search, count and review.
Without anyone initiating a call, the system collects floor, position and distance data across the covered area, so an incident response is directed accurately.
The base station records every call, searchable and replayable by time, device or person — so a review has something to work from.
Voice, position and work records build up over time into an operating data asset the site owns.
Recommended product mix
24-channel capacity with fibre extension on every channel.
Digital optical master and remote units for long-distance zoned coverage.
Digital and analogue dual mode, supporting a phased migration.
25 W output covering remote stations and vehicles.
How the design gets made real
Coverage across the site is predicted from RF propagation theory.
A full survey and assessment of actual conditions confirms the difficult areas.
A temporary repeater system is set up and measured to prove the initial design.
Coverage areas, equipment sizes and power are confirmed and construction drawings issued.
Call-quality acceptance criteria are set and the final implementation is signed off.
Send us the site plan, the radios you run today and the expansion plan. We survey on site and come back with a workable improvement plan and a phased route to it.
Metals and mining key facts
Underground and open-pit
Shafts, drifts, pits and processing plants
Rugged repeaters
Dust, vibration and temperature resistant
Lone-worker alerts
Man-down and SOS with location
Remote status
Repeater health visible from the control room
Steel mill and mining coverage FAQ
The questions we hear most often on selection, certification and delivery.
Didn’t find your question? Ask an engineer →Fiber repeaters and leaky feeder or antennas are installed along shafts and drifts, so coverage follows the mine layout as it develops.
Yes. New sections are added by extending fiber and installing additional remote units without reworking existing sections.
Equipment is selected for dust, heat and vibration, and installed away from direct heat sources with protective enclosures where needed.
Radios with man-down and SOS alert the control room; with NetFlex the alert includes position so responders know where to go.