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 …
‘To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off’ video examines step bolts for personal fall arrest systems
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a video that was produced as a result of several prominent industry step bolt testing events that were conducted at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) in Dayton, Ohio. The #ClimberConnection video, entitled “To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off”, contains important safety information that the industry’s tower technician workforce needs to …
Climbers asked to check for possible dorsal d-ring defect on ExoFit NEX™ harness
3M Fall Protection said it has learned of the possibility of a manufacturing defect in a dorsal d-ring utilized in ExoFit NEX™ harnesses manufactured between January 2016 and December 2018. Although there have been no reported incidents involving this condition, a dorsal d-ring with this defect will not support the load in a fall arrest event which could result in …
As structured, Sprint/T-Mobile merger is likely to fail, WSJ quotes antitrust staffers
Department of Justice antitrust staffers have told T-Mobile US and Sprint that their planned merger is unlikely to be approved as currently structured, casting doubt on the fate of the $26 billion deal, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Twitter, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said, “The premise of this story, as summarized in the first paragraph, is simply untrue. …
Missouri counties’ property ‘expert’ taken over the coals in successful AT&T $1.69 million reduction
Living up to the state’s sobriquet, “Show Me,” senior Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) hearing officer Amy S. Westermann asked the counsel for five county property assessors – Caldwell, Daviess, Harrison, Henry and Mercer – to identify how they assessed AT&T Mobility’s 23 cell towers following AT&T’s STC complaint to have them reviewed and reassessed. Attorney Patricia Hughes complied, providing …
5G panel and the ‘Tower Hour’ bring together leading experts at Wireless West
Today, activities at Wireless West began with an inspiring keynote presentation by Nate Boyer offering inspirational stories from the military and NFL Offering sage advice, Boyer said, “We are all capable. We just gotta make a decision. Obstacles are just opportunities to be great.” Following the keynote, the highly anticipated “5G’s of 5G” panel covered the implementation of 5G throughout …
Belting up inside the Beltway is seen by millions of viewers
$20.4 billion opportunity fund and third auction announced President Trump’s 5G press conference from the Roosevelt room (video below) in the White House on Friday spotlighted the nation’s tower climbers as they surrounded him with support during his and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s presentation. It was a proud industry moment as President Trump complimented infrastructure builders, as many millions of …
NATE members stand behind President Trump and FCC Chairman Pai in White House to support 5G
A delegation of NATE leaders, consisting of personnel ranging from tower technicians, foremen and company owners, participated in a 5G technology themed event at the White House in Washington, D.C. this afternoon. The NATE members were invited to participate by President Donald Trump, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and key officials at the White House. At the event, President Trump delivered …
Will 8,000 new satellites end the digital divide? Public safety advocate is skeptical
By Andrew Seybold – Guest Columnist FirstNet is required by law to build out in rural America as it builds out in larger markets. This was included in the law passed by Congress in 2012 to ensure public safety will have broadband services where they are needed, when they are needed. In the United States, various federal government agencies offer grants and low or …
LMC council members WIA and EWA lock horns over 800 MHz expansion process management
Two of the Land Mobile Communications Council’s 16 members – the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (WEA) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) are at odds with each other after a year-long effort has failed to identify a viable approach to arrive at a consensus among the Business/Industrial (BI) and Public Safety (PS) frequency advisory committees (FACs) on how best to process …
AT&T seeks to kayo Sprint’s ‘fake’ 5G Evolution lawsuit since consumers don’t understand 5G standards
AT&T has asked a New York federal court to dismiss a false advertising lawsuit filed by Sprint on Feb. 7, 2019 that alleges AT&T is deceptively marketing its upgraded 4G service as “5G Evolution,” arguing that Sprint can’t prove that their 5G Evolution ads make an express claim and “by attaching ‘Evolution’ to the term ‘5G’ the ads invoke the …
Sprint may have shot itself in the foot by removing a cell site for PR purposes
Bowing to community pressure, Sprint turned off a cell site at the Weston Elementary School in Ripon Calif. last week after community activists demanded its removal after four students were diagnosed with cancer over the past few years. Although three RF tests were made and the results showed that the site was well below federal compliance standards, as Wireless Estimator …
Industrious Alabama thieves: Why take the copper when you can scrap the entire tower
For 15 years Wireless Estimator has covered tower compound thefts and the most common items taken are copper and cell site batteries; on occasion, a generator or air conditioner makes the list. However, in the annals of bizarre telecom thievery, it’s likely that a theft in McIntosh, Ala. last week will be difficult to top. Three Alabama men are in jail …
Amazon’s satellite-delivered broadband foray boosted by Musk’s pink-slipped engineers
After GeekWire published their exclusive report on Thursday that Amazon is joining the race to provide broadband internet access around the globe with thousands of low Earth orbit satellites, Amazon started posting almost 80 jobs for Project Kuiper on its website that will require employment in Bellevue, Wash., a stone’s throw away from Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s headquarters in Redmond. However, …
SBA breaks the prized $200 mark and Crown to break ground for a 13-story 420K square-foot headquarters
SBA Communications (SBA) made another record high today with its stock closing at $201.49, the first towerco of the big three ever to break the prized $200 plateau. The day’s range was from $199.87 to a record high of $201.99. American Tower closed at $196.22, Crown Castle at $128.51. SBA will be releasing its first quarter result on April 29. In …
Ugly cell sites can be rejected leads 20 Fast-Forward Friday news stories
Article Media San Francision can reject 5G equipment it views as too ugly Bloomberg SC school district’s cell phone tower program draws scrutiny FITSNews WIA’s Adelstein: 5G deployment faces a skills gap RCR Wireless News How a Trump admin ruling could hurt effort to improve data coverage in Syracuse’s poor areas Syracuse.com Deadline to adopt and publish small cell facility …
Bowing to PR pressure, Sprint turns off a cell site that passed RF tests three times
UPDATE – April 5, 2019 – Lawyers at the Cochran Law Firm said yesterday they’re investigating a link between cancer-causing chemicals used at the former Nestle decaffeination plant near the Ripon school site, and the high rate of cancer in the area, according to CBS 13. April 4, 2019 — Although a Sprint cell site at the Weston Elementary School in Ripon, Calif. …
First ‘brick’ has provided workers with an enjoyable 46 years of infrastructure builds. Thanks, Marty!
Forty-six years ago today on April 3, 1973, Marty Cooper changed the course of history when he made the first call from a handheld, portable phone in midtown Manhattan. With the transformative impact of smartphones being felt by industries across the globe, and as the first 5G smartphones hit the market in 2019, Wireless Estimator and the National Association of …
