Crown Castle International has filed a lawsuit against the City of Rye, N.Y. after the City Council rejected a proposal that allowed Crown to install wireless equipment in the community’s rights of way. In its complaint, Crown said Rye improperly refused to grant the company access to public rights of way to expand an existing network of small cells, or …
Crane collapse takes the life of a 51-year-old Texas industry worker
Update: April 26, 2017 – The cell tower compound that RMCI’s crane toppled into is owned by Crown Castle International. April 25, 2017 – A 51-year-old industry worker was killed yesterday afternoon when a crane tipped on its side in downtown Dallas, Tex., crashing into a cell tower compound in the 1700 block of Arts Place, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue …
American Tower pulls out of Florida’s corporate row, affecting 56 employees
American Tower Corporation (ATC) will be closing its office in Boca Raton, Fla. at 750 Park of Commerce Blvd., and laying off many of their 56 employees, according to a Florida worker adjustment and retraining notice dated March 1. Terminations are scheduled to begin on May 1. The office is located within a stone’s throw of Digital Bridge’s headquarters and …
Bankrupt Limitless Mobile wants to reject 140 cell tower leases; creditors cry foul
UPDATE: January 27, 2017 – The bankruptcy court has agreed to a revised motion to reject the leases of Limitless Mobile. It stated, “For each Lease, any Tower Equipment remaining on or at the Tower or the associated premises is hereby deemed abandoned pursuant to section 554 of the Bankruptcy Code, effective January 30, 2017.” Tower owners can now remove …
Limitless Mobile’s bankruptcy hits contractors, towercos and suppliers
At the end of November, Limitless Mobile’s subscribers in central Pennsylvania knew something was amiss when their cell service was cut off, and if they went to the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Selinsgrove this past weekend they would have been greeted with an empty store with a note on the security gate that said the store had been closed and …
Checkered contractor loses lawsuit after two tower tech deaths
Based upon substantial evidence to support their findings, a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has kayoed a wireless contractor’s final attempt to vacate the company’s serious violations of OSHA’s General Duty Clause and $7,000 in fines they received following an accident that killed two of their employees on May 28, 2013. Both men, employees …
Services set for tech who fell from a 160-foot Oklahoma monopole
UPDATE: Nov. 7, 2016 – Services have been announced for Steven Lamar Hill, 44, of Chandler, Okla. by the Barnes Friedrich Funeral Home, 1820 South Douglas Blvd., Midwest City, Okla. beginning at 1:00 p.m., Nov. 9, 2016. Interment will follow at Elmwood Cemetery in Choctaw, Okla. UPDATE: Nov. 3, 2016 – Authorities have released the name of the deceased tower …
Free lanyards aren’t going to solve safety on monopoles after Lad-Saf sleeve recall and shortages
When Capital Safety/3M introduced their new vertical safety cable sleeve last March, the Lad-Saf X3, industry rumors circulated amongst some safety professionals and distributors that the use of legacy Lad-Saf sleeves could have resulted in a few serious injuries and deaths, either through product defects or misuse. But those could have been easily dismissed as anecdotal. In June, a number …
American Tower’s chief says pressures to lower their tenant rates aren’t working
During American Tower Corporation’s second quarter earnings analysts’ call yesterday, President and CEO James Taiclet fielded questions regarding whether the company might need to reduce its carriers’ tenancy rates. Taiclet said, no. Answering Barclays analyst Amir Rozwadowski’s question regarding concerns about future lease escalator rates, with some carriers expressing “some consternation about how the compounding growth outlook of that cost …
Top U.S. towercos eyeing Deutsche Telekom’s towers in Germany
As America gets ready to celebrate Independence Day on Monday, considered by some to be the original Brexit, Deutsche Telekom is prepping the sale of thousands of its German towers in a potential $5.5 billion deal. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanly are organizing the sale of the structures. SBA Communications, American Tower and Crown Castle are on the invite list, according to …
“Simply trying to make a living,” couple is arrested for cell site copper thefts
Bossier Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested a Texas couple in early April for stealing copper from cell phone tower sites in Bossier Parish, La., but the case continues as charges are pending from neighboring parishes, and detectives are working with five other counties in Okla. regarding the same crimes involving this duo. According to a department press release, Charles Krupnik, 51, …
Two tower technicians are killed in two separate incidents
UPDATE: May 23, 2016 – Burial services were held yesterday for Thomas Edward Taylor, 37, of Purvis, Miss. who passed away when he was electrocuted on a jobsite in Wadesboro, N.C. on Monday, May 16, 2016. He is survived by two brothers, David Busha of Lamar County, and Chance Taylor of Tupelo, his mother, Bertha Taylor of Lamar County; his fiancé, Susie …
TowerCo eyes new acquisitions and build-to-suits after its $244 million tower sale to Grain
Company officials at TowerCo have announced the sale of 253 towers and 95 other assets to Grain Infrastructure II, L.P., a private equity firm in Sarasota, Fla., for $244 million. The sale marks the third portfolio of towers and assets sold by TowerCo since 2008 when the company sold 430 towers to SBA Communications for $193.5 million. The sale elevates …
Wireless industry tackles needed improvements for failing safety climb systems
Officials from the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), which aims to promote worker safety, quality and efficiency within the wireless infrastructure industry, gathered representatives from wireless carriers, tower companies and safety climb system equipment manufacturers to hold a Safety Equipment Manufacturers Summit to maximize the critical role safety climb equipment plays in protecting climbers. The purpose of the gathering …
Popular analyst’s tower sector downgrade will be tested in coming weeks
Commentary It almost appears that journalists have keyboard reader software on Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche’s computer since as soon as she writes something – even a knee-jerk observation – it instantly appears in the media as unchallenged sacred telecom guidance. So it was no surprise when Fritzsche downgraded the tower sector on Friday that it would be picked up …
A bright future predicted for wireless work by leading industry experts at NATE UNITE 2016
As three leading industry experts gazed into their crystal balls Tuesday during their NATE UNITE 2016 presentation, “The Future of the Wireless Industry,” their consensus indicated a robust build program that could last for more than a decade. However, Clayton Funk of Media Venture Partners, Christopher Fisher, Cuddy & Feder LLP; and Robert Paige, Vertical Bridge, cautioned National Association of …
Workshop panelists ferret out tower climber concerns and possible solutions
During his opening statement at a Department of Labor / Federal Communications Commission tower climber safety workshop on Feb. 11, 2016, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said that “everybody has to be proactive,” emphasizing the need to champion pre-emptive strikes by all wireless industry stakeholders in order to continue to improve upon a lower climber fatality rate that was achieved in 2015. …
FCC and DOL’s tower climber safety and apprenticeship program’s workshop agenda set
As part of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) and Department of Labor’s (DOL) efforts to reduce communications tower-related fatalities and injuries, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announce the agenda for their upcoming workshop on tower climber safety and Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). As …
Sprint provides a sound thrashing to Re/code for their scoop that duped journalists, tanking stocks
Sprint: Towercos have nothing to worry about – for now At two conference calls this morning, Sprint said that an article by tech website Re/code on Jan. 15, 2016, was not accurate, and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, during a media call, said the misinformation regarding a Sprint radical network overhaul “caused a lot of damage”. Re/code had claimed, according to …
Sprint should have a sanity check before it commits ‘Network Suicide’ with its pole plans
By Iain Gillott – Commentary Much has been written and speculated in the last week about Sprint’s network plans after the publication of a Re/Code article and the plan to significantly cut network expenses. Aside from the resulting pressure on the stocks of several wireless companies, including Sprint’s, it also appears that the article has caused Sprint to move up …
