Swisscom has in December deployed in-ground small cells as means to boost coverage in highly congested spots in cities, where obstruction from buildings makes it difficult for a single base station to serve users in every nook and corner of these dense environments. And to get this done, Swisscom is using existing manholes as points of installation, working with Ericsson and radio antenna specialist, Kathreinn.

The deployment marks the use of below ground infrastructure for wireless communications, and opens up to many new possibilities of deploying existing underground infrastructure for powering wireless connectivity. Will base stations dissapear from our skylines and join other utilities distribution infrastructure such as cable, water and electricity lines in the under world?