With new members of the 116th Congress having had the opportunity to settle in, NATE members reached out to them as well as seasoned legislators to inform them of their company’s efforts and roadblocks in building out 5G as well as maintaining the nation’s communications networks. The inaugural fly-in was initiated by NATE Executive Director Todd Schlekeway. Prior to being …
Nation’s site component selections expand with Connect-It Wireless joining the Valmont Site Pro 1 family
Site Pro 1, an industry-leading manufacturer and distributor of wireless site components and safety products, announced today that it has acquired the operational assets of Connect-It Wireless, distributor of wireless site components in the United States. Connect-It Wireless will operate under the Valmont Site Pro 1 brand. Connect-It Wireless, founded in 2003, quickly became one of the industry’s key providers …
5G was rushed to market – It shows, leads Fast-Forward Friday
Article Media 5G was rushed to market – It shows Light Reading Syracuse takes steps to address uncertainty over 5G wireless network Syracuse.com FCC: Lack of coordinantion extended hurricane-related wireless outages Multichannel Broadband internet looms large in county commission election Government Technology Montana Governor vetoes bill creating tax abatement for high-speed broadband KPAX CenturyLink focused on fiber strategy, advisors hired …
Florida tower approval ends dueling engineers, begins life-saving communications network
Broward County Florida Commissioners yesterday approved a 325-foot communications tower in West Lake Park in Hollywood, a controversial site required to complete a new $59.5 million network awarded to Motorola Systems that is expected to be up and running by year’s end. County officials have been criticized for not moving faster to replace the county’s old and overloaded system that reached …
Georgia firefighters come to the aid of an injured tower tech
Georgia firefighters were able to rescue an injured tower technician who could not climb down the monopole he was working on Monday afternoon. An individual knowledgeable of the accident said the injured worker was employed by Infinity Construction of Georgia. The company did not respond to multiple requests for information. The worker was injured while climbing the tower in the …
School cancer concerns routed from RF to PR blunder then carcinogens in H2O and vapor
When four children were diagnosed with cancer at a San Joaquin County, Calif. elementary school earlier this year, parents – rightfully concerned – went for the usual maligned suspect – RF radiation from a cell tower on a school campus. However, after the Ripon School District tested the RF levels at Weston Elementary school three times, and found exposure levels …
Nebraska tower foundation driller’s employee electrocuted in Virginia
A tower foundation drilling company worker died on April 26, 2019, after being electrocuted on a jobsite, according to individuals knowledgeable of the April 22, 2019 incident that occurred in Accomac, Va. Kevlin Finck, 30, of Nebraska, employed by Dietzel Enterises, Inc. of Omaha, was at a construction site when a track-mounted drill rig reportedly had a winch line come …
Bryan Lanier and David Hawkins to shepherd industry’s TR-14 standards committee
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, announced the election of a new chair and vice-chair to lead its TR-14 Structural Standards for Communication and Small Wind Turbine Support Structures Engineering Committee. Bryan Lanier, Director, Customer Engineering at American Tower Corp., Raleigh, N.C. will lead TR-14 for a two-year term …
ANSI/TIA-222 – the design bible for towers – steps proudly into its sixth decade of guidance
This year, TIA is proudly celebrating the 60th anniversary of providing guidance in the structural design and fabrication of communications towers with their engineering standard ANSI/TIA-222, Structural Steel Standards for Steel Antenna Towers and Supporting Structures. The ANSI/TIA-222 standard is well known among those who build new communications towers or modify old structures, but for those that may be less familiar, here …
$2 trillion infrastructure proposal will have a welcomed emphasis on broadband
The wireless construction industry could get a welcomed shot in the arm since broadband is expected to be part of the $2 trillion spending plan on infrastructure that President Donald Trump agreed to in a meeting with Democratic leaders today after he met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at the White House to begin …
NCOSH casting a wide net in its investigation of a fiber installation explosion that killed two
The N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) is using a shotgun approach to uncover whether proper procedures were followed marking utility lines as well as drilling around those lines prior to a gas explosion on April 10 that killed a shop owner and utility employee and injured 25 other individuals. N.C. DOL Public Information Officer Mary Katherine Revels …
Sprint and T-Mobile’s urge to merge extended to July 29
According to an SEC filing, T-Mobile and Sprint have extended the deadline for completing their merger to July 29 as they continue to seek the regulatory approvals they need to complete a deal. The previous deadline had been Monday. The No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers announced their proposed merger on April 29, 2018. The Department of Justice’s antitrust …
Lack of towercos’ aviation compliance could result in 7,000 towers heading for the scrap yard
After three years of negotiations between the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to address annual tower owner certification concerns hit an impasse, the NCAA said it was going to exercise its authority and if within 30 days towercos didn’t obtain statutory Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) for all of their structures …
Sprint’s 5G ‘E’ lawsuit against AT&T settled, ending what was considered a PR ploy
According to a court document obtained by Wireless Estimator, Sprint’s lawsuit against AT&T for deceptively marketing its upgraded 4G service as “5G Evolution,” has been settled. U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Broderick for the Southern District of New York said that both parties informed him during a status conference yesterday that they had reached a settlement. They’re required by tomorrow …
Investigations underway in Crown Castle subsidiary’s gas explosion accident that killed one, injured 25
As part of a state investigation, Dominion Energy will begin excavation this week under a site where an explosion in downtown Durham, N.C. on April 10 killed a 61-year-old coffee shop owner and injured 25 people when a Crown Castle subcontractor struck a gas line causing the blast that severely damaged 15 businesses. City officials have said a contractor laying …
Serious workforce shortage has the wireless industry and FCC pulling together to solve it
Although it’s difficult to assess exactly how many additional trained tower technicians America needs to build out 5G, it’s clear that there is a shortage of skilled workers and Aiken Technical College (ATC) in South Carolina is helping to fill that gap with the nation’s most successful tower and wireless installation training program. After observing the ATC program in Graniteville …
Mom watches from her driveway as collapsing tower cuts her mobile home in half
Severe storms in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. Thursday toppled the top sections of a 335-foot guyed tower owned by A1 Two-Way Radio that was erected in 1990. The sections crashed through a mobile home in front of it, severely damaging the structure, according to WBRC. None of the Tully family were at home when the collapse occurred, but Mrs. Tully was …
Tech’s fractured forearm requires emergency rescue in San Antonio
The San Antonio Fire Department rescued a tower technician this morning who broke his arm and had to be rescued 130 feet up in the air. The department said two men were performing work on a cell phone tower along Bandera Road and Loop 1604 when a piece of equipment fell and broke the right forearm of one worker. The …
Tin foil hat testing and junk science being used to possibly remove 35 towers from Utah schools
Motivated by Sprint caving in to demands in California to remove a school cell tower, a South Jordan, Utah resident protesting the existence of two towers at the Jordan Ridge Elementary School has prompted a school board member to ask the community whether all 35 towers at school sites should be removed. Armed with recent inaccurate testing at an elementary school …
FCC order and the order that software plays in 5G are key Wireless West sessions
Day two of the Wireless West conference kicked off with a wireless fireside chat with Pete Bernard, Principal Group Program Manager – Silicon and 5G Connectivity Partners at Microsoft. “We are seeing a lot of investment in software in hardware companies,” Bernard said. “For example, Tesla, about 6% of their employees are software developers. Traditionally, Ford for example, that number …
