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An Arkansas tower technician died Saturday after he fell approximately 80 feet from a self-supporting tower being constructed in Mississippi. It was the eighth industry fatality this year. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the deceased as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas. Womack’s employer, provided to Wireless Estimator by an individual knowledgeable about the fatality, could not be …
Afraid of having its contractors fail or bolt, Sprint introduces its ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program
Stating that it was concerned that it might not be able to maintain 5G construction crews, Sprint has unveiled its all-new ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program, providing day-of compensation to its 5G network builders and suppliers by shortening administrative overhead and collapsing the overpayment process as far as it can go. The Sprint ‘Same Day Pay’ program is a part of the …
Mexican telecom battle broadens at the border over 700 MHz interference
Thousands of Verizon customers, from El Paso, Texas to San Diego, California, are still fighting to get decent coverage that is being blocked after Mexican wholesaler Altán Redes introduced service three months ago In August, Mexican-based Altán Redes launched wireless service along the border using the 700 MHz band, the same one that Verizon Wireless uses, resulting in Verizon subscribers …
‘Pay to play’ Avetta has industry’s contractors concerned about it becoming a monopoly
Concerns about the time, expense and frustration of contractors that are forced to use client onboarding companies such as BROWZ and Avetta surfaced on January 30, 2019, when Wireless Estimator released the survey results of financial and administrative roadblocks set up by carriers and towercos that could derail America’s race to 5G. Two weeks later on February 14, 2019, Avetta announced the …
After T-Mobile throws contractors under the bus it provides lofty merger promises
When T-Mobile announced its new commitments Thursday to sway legislators to put pressure on 10 state attorneys general to settle their Sprint merger lawsuit, one of its top initiatives upon completion of the merger, was to create more job opportunities than either standalone company. The new employee count is impressive, an additional 11,000 by 2024. However, the Communications Workers of …
SBA sets NWSA certified climbers at 25% next year, 50% in 2021
SBA Communications (SBA), the nation’s third largest tower owner, has released the percentages of National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) certified climbers that contractors will have to maintain when doing work on their sites. Prior to climbing any SBA structure, all general contractors and lower tier subcontractors must meet the following guidelines and dates: Effective June 1, 2020: 25% of the …
Wireless industry’s veterans deserve a heartfelt double tip of the hard hat
When some veterans repeatedly hear “thank you for your service” they say at times they are slightly annoyed because it often comes across as an empty gesture, sort of like a knee-jerk “bless you” to a sneeze. If you truly want to thank a veteran, there are many tangible and substantive ways to do it. One opportunity to make a lasting …
No reason given after an expected slam dunk Mississippi site approval gets denied
Verizon Wireless was barred from erecting a sorely-needed cell tower in the southern part of Jackson, Mississippi, after a single resident raised concerns about RF dangers and the aesthetic value of a 150-foot monopole, according to a lawsuit filed by Verizon against the Jackson City Council for violating the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TCA). In the complaint, Verizon said that …
California fires out of control, but carriers winning battle in service restorations
More than a dozen wildfires are currently raging across California and increased winds are expected to worsen the problem, but there’s a slimmer of good news as carriers’ cell site outages dropped in today’s FCC report to 1.8%, down from 3.3% yesterday. Marin County, the hardest hit of 32 affected counties, saw a 57.1% cell site outage yesterday down to …
AT&T exits the tower business with $680 million sale, eventual owners are still unknown
AT&T, the nation’s seventh-largest tower owner, slightly behind InSite Wireless Group, is exiting the business, selling more than 1,000 of their towers for $680 million to Peppertree Capital Management, Inc.(Peppertree) according to an announcement by the company preceding yesterday’s earnings call where Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman & CEO, discussed selling non-core assets. AT&T will lease back capacity on the towers as part …
Court documents state luxury hotel’s AT&T coverage should be excellent even with one bar
The Court of Appeals of the Second District of Texas at Fort Worth has upheld the ditching of an injunction caused by a wireless leasing dispute that blocked the owner of the historic Fort Worth Sinclair building’s rooftop renovation that included a bar for the reconverted office building that will open next month as a luxury Marriott Art Deco hotel. …
Mid band drives the dialogue at MWC LA 2019’s opening keynote
Former FCC Commissioner and current CTIA CEO Meredith Atwell Baker said during yesterday’s opening keynote at MWC Los Angeles that the U.S. has the first and fastest 5G networks in the world, reveling in the knowledge that “innovators now have a platform to create on,” with innovations that will move quickly from the lab to users’ lives in no time. …
Colorado bows out of T-Mobile merger lawsuit for promises of new employment and rural 5G network
The state of Colorado has removed itself from the lawsuit led by New York and California to stop T-Mobile’s $26 billion merger with Sprint. The move follows Mississippi’s recent departure from the lawsuit. Colorado struck a deal with T-Mobile and Dish Network , which is buying assets divested by the merger. Dish promised to bring 2,000 jobs to the state …
Cause of Arizona 495-foot tower collapse still unknown, anchor failure is a suspect
A 495-foot Verizon-owned guyed tower collapsed in Three Points, Arizona last Wednesday, but the reason the structure failed is still unknown. The multi-tenant tower’s collapse interrupted service for thousands of people in the small community located 30-miles from Tuscon in Pima County. There were no individuals at the tower site when it collapsed, according to authorities. The weather was not an …
The pink carrier continues to put contractors in the red as they withhold payments
When T-Mobile canceled 5G upgrades and new builds nationwide in late August, a spokesperson informed Wireless Estimator that they were managing capital expenditures “as we do every year, and we continue to invest billions to build out our network aggressively, expanding LTE coverage and performance while simultaneously laying the foundation for broad, nationwide 5G in 2020.” A month later, it was revealed that …
T-Mobile-Sprint merger passes along party lines at FCC, but deal is still in limbo until December
The FCC approved the controversial T-Mobile-Sprint $26.5 billion merger along party lines today, closing the FCC’s review. Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted against the deal, with Rosenworcel being the most vociferant. “We’ve all seen what happens when markets become more concentrated after a merger like this one. In the airline industry, it brought us baggage fees and …
South Dakota’s wireless technician training program will assist in connecting the state to 5G
The South Dakota Board of Technical Education has approved the creation of a Wireless Infrastructure Technician Certification program through a partnership with Southeast Technical Institute (Southeast Tech) and VIKOR. VIKOR, formerly Sioux Falls Tower & Communications, is one of the leading providers of wireless infrastructure in South Dakota. The company saw a growing need to establish this educational program in …
CommScope alleges competitor Rosenberger stole trade secrets
Seventy-seven days after CommScope filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Rosenberger’s worldwide companies, CommScope issued a short press release yesterday announcing the complaint that alleges Rosenberger misappropriated CommScope’s trade secrets related to base station antennas, including trade secrets related to CommScope’s proprietary software programs and CommScope’s base station antenna hardware. In its …
Broker’s certificate of insurance ‘boilerplate’ loses in T-Mobile’s lawsuit against contractor’s insurer
Selective Insurance Company of America (SICA) must cover T-Mobile’s costs in a lawsuit alleging the carrier’s antenna installation contractor damaged a building in the Bronx, NY, a split State of Washington Supreme Court said Thursday, settling a critical issue at the center of a Ninth Circuit coverage dispute that may shape how the standard Accord insurance form is viewed from …
Carriers hiding 5G maps from the FCC as it readies 130 construction permit auctions and 22 more articles
ARS Technica says AT&T and other mobile carriers are trying to hide detailed 5G maps from the public despite constantly touting the supposed pace and breadth of their 5G rollouts, while Inside Radio reports that the FCC is preparing to dole out 130 construction permits for new FM stations via an online auction. Article Media AT&T and other carriers want …
