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Taking further steps to close the digital divide, the FCC has authorized over $4.9 billion in support over the next decade for maintaining, improving, and expanding affordable rural broadband for 455,334 homes and businesses served by 171 carriers in 39 states and American Samoa, including 44,243 locations on Tribal lands. South Dakota was the largest beneficiary at $ $705.5 million. …
FCC is clueless on how many people don’t have broadband leads Fast-Forward Friday
FCC LIKELY COUNTS MILLIONS OF UNSERVED HOMES AS HAVING BROADBAND A new broadband mapping system is starting to show just how inaccurate the Federal Communications Commission’s connectivity data is. Research indicates that it’s likely that millions of homes nationwide have been wrongly counted as being served by broadband. Ars TECHNICA has the full details. Article Media Partnerships with cities lead …
El Paso border crossing signal crisis has Verizon reaching out to the FCC for a resolution
Verizon would like to tell a Mexican cell carrier’s signals to go back to where they came from in order to fix their spotty service in El Paso that they are blaming on new cell sites that have been activated in and around Juárez. Verizon acknowledged this week that after the Mexican carrier turned on new cell sites near the …
Following FCC’s scathing outage report, CenturyLink might be bracing for a serious fine
The FCC has released a scathing report detailing the cause and impact of a nationwide CenturyLink network outage that occurred late last year, along with recommendations to help prevent similar outages from occurring in the future. It could be a prelude to a serious fine, especially considering that in 2015, CenturyLink was zapped with a $16 million fine from the …
Mobilitie looks to foreign investment fund to fuel 5G wireless deployment – gets $1 Billion
Mobilitie has announced a $1B exclusive arrangement with an unnamed foreign investment fund to fuel the next five years of growth around 5G infrastructure. The partnership represents a tremendous opportunity for the company to speed both U.S. and international 5G growth and expansion and bring unprecedented connectivity to consumers. Christos Karmis, President and CEO of Mobilitie, stated, “We’re excited about the opportunity …
Contractor didn’t anticipate dress rehearsal for monopole pour and erection, leads Fast Forward Friday
THE SECOND TIME AROUND WILL BE TO CHARM THE BUILDING INSPECTOR For unknown reasons, a tower erector in Arkansas didn’t call for inspections when they poured the foundation and erected a 150-foot monopole. They didn’t have a third-party inspection and will be accorded a second opportunity to rip out and re-pour the base and re-erect the white stealth flagpole tower …
Sixth 2019 tower tech death was kept quiet for over six weeks
After six weeks of investigating leads, Wireless Estimator has confirmed that an 18-year-old tower technician working on an AT&T installation project fell from a New Jersey monopole and died upon impact. The New York resident’s death had not been reported in local, social or industry media and most likely would have been kept private by the worker’s company and the …
Tower techs and families are major benefactors of T-Mobile’s 6th annual golf tournament
T-Mobile hosted its 6th Annual Invitational Golf Tournament on Wednesday, July 24 in Newcastle, Washington. At the event, T-Mobile and the event’s 41 industry sponsors continued their generous track record by presenting $235,000 directly to the Tower Family Foundation (TFF). Funds totaling upward of $1 million have now been distributed to TFF and Warriors4Wireless through the tournament’s five years of …
FCC chief formally recommends approval of the T-Mobile/Sprint marriage
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today shared a draft Order that would approve, subject to conditions, the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. “After one of the most exhaustive merger reviews in Commission history, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this transaction will bring fast 5G wireless service to many more Americans and help close the digital divide in rural …
Auto-racing icon Kyle Petty to deliver keynote address at NATE UNITE 2020
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that Kyle Petty will deliver the keynote address at the NATE UNITE 2020 Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. NATE UNITE 2020 will take place February 17-20, 2020 at the Raleigh Convention Center. NATE UNITE is widely regarded as the premier and most comprehensive education event in the wireless and broadcast infrastructure …
Insurer must provide bankrupt Monarch Towers and its owner coverage following two tech deaths
A Florida federal judge on Friday ruled that a tower erector’s insurance company doesn’t have to represent and indemnify Sarasota, Florida-based Broadcast Tower Technologies in a lawsuit following a July 8, 2013 accident in New Town, North Dakota that resulted in the death of two tower techs, but it does have to represent the contractor’s bankrupt company and its owner. …
Florida firefighters rescue an injured tech hanging from a self-supporting tower
A tower tech was rescued by firefighters this morning about 9 a.m. after he fainted and received head injuries, according to the News Press, as he climbed down from a self-supporting communications tower in the rear of Premiere International College on Central Avenue in downtown Ft. Myers, Florida. According to Fort Myers Deputy Fire Chief Tracy McMillion, the tech had been …
Prayers asked for tower tech who fell and has been in critical condition for 11 days
A tower tech who fell off a Missouri guyed tower on July 30, still remains in intensive care in critical condition and friends, family and co-workers are asking for the nation’s prayers for his recovery. Sources knowledgeable of the incident informed Wireless Estimator that Devon Smith of New Orleans, was on a Kansas City Power & Light-owned tower near Warrensburg in …
FCC concludes that 5G RF exposure is safe in America
The FCC has restated its conviction that 5G does not pose a health risk in America and it will not change its existing RF exposure limits, emphasizing that such limits are already among the safest in the world. “The available scientific evidence to date does not support adverse health effects in humans due to exposures at or under the current …
Easy app is a first line of defense in reducing injuries and saving lives
Over 1,100 tower site hazards were identified and corrected last year. They weren’t found by accident, but were discovered through the active participation of 138 companies taking advantage of the National Association of Tower Erectors STAR Initiative program that uses a free app that easily assists workers in identifying site safety hazards. To highlight this app, NATE has released a video entitled …
Tech’s death identified as ‘medical emergency’, but some believe it was an accident
A 41-year-old Ohio tower technician foreman, Eric James Connors, passed away August 1, 2019, with conflicting reports as to whether his death was due to a worksite accident or a medical emergency occurring when his crew was working on an antenna installation project for WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio on a tower owned by American Tower Corp. The event reportedly took …
One copper thief dead, one critical after Oklahoma AM transmitter site electrocution
UPDATE: August 5, 2019 -Tulsa County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a woman in connection to the electrocution of a man at a radio tower near Sand Springs on Sunday. Angie West, 37, was booked into the Tulsa County jail Sunday night on a complaint of first-degree murder. Prosecutors charged her today only with one count of entering with intent to …
Tech’s workday half ‘heritage’ flag on a monopole isn’t a hit with a few Nebraskans
Call out someone for having too many groceries in a 10-item checkout line and you could be called a racist. No matter which side of the political aisle you’re on, there’s a chance that you might be called a race-baiter or you are weaponizing race in some manner. And it’s likely that the R word will be a frequent inclusion in …
Tower erector’s bookkeeper arrested after she decided to become a silent partner
Tower construction is difficult enough to maintain a profit without your bookkeeper dipping into the till. When the owner of Tower Service and Manufacturing in Greenwood, Ind. went to his bank in April of 2018 to transfer $4,000 from his business checking account he was told that he didn’t have enough funds to complete the transaction. Not so, he knew, …
Vodafone to create Europe’s largest tower owner with potential for IPO
Vodafone Group is spinning off its European tower business into a separate company named TowerCo, which will provide 61,700 towers in 10 countries, with the majority of its sites in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The company said today that its likely it will price TowerCo for an IPO within the next 18 months. Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone, …
