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Step back Grapevine, Texas and make room for Raleigh, North Carolina as the host of NATE – The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association’s largest attended conference in the association’s 25-year history. The event ended today. Last year, a record was set with 2,059 registrants. However, this year, according to an early tally that will not be finalized until next week, the Tar …
NATE’s rebranding clearly captures additional wireless contracting skillsets employed today
As part of the Association’s 25th year anniversary milestone, NATE today unveiled a new logo and descriptor tag-line designed to honor the organizations proud past and capture its promising future in the rapidly evolving communications infrastructure industry. Effective immediately, the organization will be referred to as NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association. The Association made the announcement by debuting a …
Jim Miller and Ken Meador given top honors at NATE UNITE 2020 for their years of service
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today honored Jim Miller, CEO of EasTex Tower, LLC and Executive Advisor of Enertech Holdings, LLC in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Ken Meador, former President of TWR Lighting, Inc. in Houston, Texas during the Awards & Sponsor Recognition Luncheon at NATE UNITE 2020. Jim was honored as the recipient of the Bill Carlson Lifetime Service …
NATE and Tower Family Foundation award their Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and Tower Family Foundation today jointly announced that Elijah Sullivan, a junior civil engineering student from Evansville, Indiana has been named as the 2020 recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. The official announcement was made at the NATE Awards and Sponsor Recognition Luncheon …
Miller to remain at the helm of NATE with fellow execs Jones and Dougherty
NATE announced today that Board of Directors’ members Jimmy Miller, John Paul (JP) Jones and Kevin Dougherty were re-elected by their peers to serve on the Association’s Executive Committee for the upcoming year. The Association made the announcement on the first day of the NATE UNITE 2020 Conference and Trade Show in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jimmy Miller, President and CEO …
Mississippi gin pole failure crushes top-hand resulting in 2020’s first industry fatality
UPDATE – February 18, 2020: Wireless Estimator has learned that the tower tech that died February 7 in Lumberton, Mississippi was Jim Tinsley, 59, of Baxter, Kentucky. February 16, 2020 — A Kentucky tower technician passed away on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 in Mississippi when a gin pole collapsed atop the tower he was working on, crushing the man and causing …
NATE’s quarter century show expected to be the best ever
Raleigh, North Carolina will host NATE UNITE 2020 beginning Monday as communications infrastructure contractors and suppliers come together to benefit from the association’s 25th conference and exposition, widely regarded as the premier wireless infrastructure show in the nation. Trying to identify the best educational or training sessions to attend is challenging because they’re all exceptional and are being presented by …
Readers question why Tennessee rescue required emergency services assistance
A Tuesday rescue of a tower tech in LaVergne, Tennessee ended successfully, but it started a slew of social media posts and emails to Wireless Estimator questioning why the individual could not have self-rescued himself or rely upon a co-worker bring him to the ground instead of waiting almost an hour-and- a-half. HIPAA compliance prevented officials from responding to requests for additional …
Long-desired pain-free certs tracking is free and can be easily administered by NATE members
With the ever-changing and ever-increasing safety compliance needs of its members, the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today the launch of a new system offering free certification tracking for the association’s member companies. The ABIS Solutions’ ProSys Solutions tracking site is designed to assist members with managing their certifications to ensure that they are renewed, utilized, and provided …
Under pressure from a cemetery and a potential burial candidate, AT&T folds in New Hampshire
AT&T has asked the Vermont Public Utilities Commission to dismiss a plan for a new 140-foot cell tower in the Village of Derby Line, Vermont, a Canadian border community, even though it appears that another hearing six weeks later could have favored the carrier’s application. In correspondence with the commission, AT&T said it was backing out based upon opposition to the …
Mobile World Congress show canceled over virus concerns, reimbursements unknown
The world’s biggest wireless show, Mobile World Congress (MWC), is no longer taking place this year in Barcelona after the coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into turmoil. The GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, has now canceled it. It comes after more than a week of exhibitors and companies pulling out. One of the more recent cancellations came from …
Borghei, Chase and Vink appointed to guide Tower Family Foundation’s visibility and outreach
The Tower Family Foundation announced today appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership team. Bernard Borghei and Eric Chase have been chosen to serve on the foundation’s Board of Directors and Monica Vink has been appointed to the organization’s Endowment Committee. Borghei and Chase will help provide overall governance and stewardship to the Foundation and play a leading role enhancing the …
Judge’s T-Mobile merger okay expected to boost construction spending
A federal judge today ruled in favor of T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint in a deal that would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and create a new telecommunications giant to take on rivals AT&T and Verizon. United States District Court Judge Victor Marrero’s decision in Manhattan, was announced regarding the lawsuit filed in June by attorneys general from …
CommScope joins growing list of companies canceling plans to attend Mobile World Congress 2020
CommScope has announced that the safety and well-being of their employees is a top priority and with the continued global threat of the Coronavirus, the company has made the decision to cancel their appearance at Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC) scheduled in Barcelona later this month. “This is not a decision our executive team took lightly, and although the likelihood …
DOJ says States thwarting T-Mobile deal disrupts U.S. merger policy as T-Mobile asks court to move forward
State officials will “wreak havoc” on companies’ ability to merge if they disagree with federal regulators and block deals on their own as 10 states are trying to do with the T-Mobile/Sprint marriage, the chief antitrust official of the Justice Department said during a speech to the Media Institute in Washington D.C. yesterday. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim’s surprising swipe at …
NCCCO and NWSA launch new Telecommunications Tower Rigger Certification
The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) and the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today the official launch of the Telecommunications Tower Rigger Level I (TTR-I) Certification Program. Established collaboratively between NCCCO and NWSA, the new TTR-I certification was adapted from NCCCO’s Rigger Level I program and specifically addresses those with responsibility for handling and moving …
Third copper thief in a gang of five pleads guilty of stripping 80-plus towers
An Illinois man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge accusing him of shutting down power to more than 80 cellphone towers across Missouri and Illinois to steal copper from the sites. He was arrested in Pike County, Missouri when a County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the lights go out on a guyed tower near Eolia, and was indicted on …
FCC approves rules for 10-year $20 billion broadband expansion fund
The FCC voted this morning to approve the process for handing out $20 billion in subsidies to assist in closing the digital divide. Democrats on the commission, who dissented in part, were critical of the plan that has most of the money being spent before the FCC had figured out where it was most needed. The Report and Order adopted …
New Jersey homeowner’s legal stand against a Verizon tower site collapses in his second appeal
An Alexandria Township, N.J. homeowner has lost his legal battle against Verizon placing cell antennas atop a power line tower adjacent to his property. Glenn Fodor, who lives on Route 579, appealed the approval of the township’s Land Use Board on December 21, 2017 before the Hunterdon County Superior Court, to allow 12 antennas on top of the 150-foot power …
NATE weighs in regarding FAA’s digital license plates in the sky, requesting relief on 400′ limitation
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has weighed in with their comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks to require the remote identification of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the airspace of the United States, and the ability of people on the ground to determine the identity of …
