Flash Technology, a global leader in aids-to-navigation solutions, announces the launch of the Vanguard High FTS 270 LED lighting system. The system is appropriate for broadcast towers, skyscrapers, smokestacks, bridges and other applications requiring high intensity obstruction lights. Engineered for maximum LED life, the feature-rich Vanguard High product line provides ultimate serviceability, minimizing downtime if maintenance is required. The FTS …
Uniti offloads three-quarters of its towers for $190 million, Phoenix picks up 197 towers in separate deal
Fiber and tower owner Uniti has announced that it is selling 486 of its 672 towers located across 32 states to an unnamed buyer for $190 million, 30 times annualized tower cash flow. During a Q4 analysts call last Thursday, Executive V.P. and CFO Mark Wallace said for the full year 2019, Uniti completed 240 towers and the acquisition of …
American Tower’s Taiclet to leave the tower space and go back to his roots in aerospace
American Tower Corporation today announced that Jim Taiclet, President, Chief Executive Officer and executive Chairman of the Board, will be leaving the company to become President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, where he currently serves on the company’s Board of Directors. Taiclet, who was President of Honeywell Aerospace Services, joined American Tower in 2001 as President and Chief Operating Officer and …
Tower techs still road warriors as COVID-19 cancels industry’s shows and non-essential travel
Last week, most wireless infrastructure companies were supporting a mostly “business as usual” mentality regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, but they’re now reassessing their preventative plans daily as the industry finds itself struggling to keep abreast of the almost hourly information being provided by news media, health organizations and government agencies. Bernard Borghei, Executive Vice President of Operations, Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC, …
Tennessee tornado trashes tower training complex, but ComStar rebounds in 24 hours
The tornado that tore through East Nashville, Tennessee Tuesday morning shredded one of the nation’s largest tower technician training facilities to pieces, but through the support of many individuals and companies, ComStar LLC was back up and running in less than 24 hours, with only “minor hiccups,” President Rick Ledford informed Wireless Estimator. Knowing that the tornado had cut a …
Drouin, Coleman, Lekutis to lead Tower Family Foundation as it aids wireless workers, their families
The Tower Family Foundation announced today the non-profit organization’s Executive Board Member leadership team for 2020. Victor Drouin, President of Green Mountain Communications, Inc. in Pembroke, New Hampshire, was elected to serve as the new President of the Tower Family Foundation Board of Directors. As President, Drouin replaces Jim Tracy from Legacy Telecommunications, LLC. in Gig Harbor, Washington, whose Board …
New York tower tech who died last year in New Jersey reportedly didn’t have climber training
Pushing the six-month window of opportunity to issue fines against a New York company who lost a tower tech in New Jersey on June 28, 2019, Marlton New Jersey’s OSHA office issued five serious citations against Rise & Rise Wireless Inc. (R&R) totaling $42,432 on December 12, 2019. Last month, in an informal settlement, OSHA reduced the fines to $38,000. …
Crown Castle monopole site is the latest victim of a Memphis cell tower arsonist
A 145-foot Crown Castle monopole site had equipment damaged by fire on February 17, 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee, and Memphis fire officials are stating that it appears to have been intentionally set, causing approximately $75,000 in damage at the 4087 Summer Avenue site which is surrounded by apartments and a shopping plaza. Although the fire was first reported about 11:00 …
Last big broadcast tower portfolio sale being considered by Cumulus to reduce debt
As part of its post-bankruptcy strategy, Cumulus Media is considering selling its tower assets, CEO Mary Berner said during their Q4 earnings conference call on Friday. Discussing non-core assets that they want to sell to buoy their balance sheet, Berner they are “considering strategic alternatives regarding our tower portfolio, which consists of over 250 owned tower sites across 32 states, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Don’t thread or step (bolt) on me: Crown responds quickly to community’s tattered flag concern
The stars and stripes were flying whole again yesterday morning in Towamensing Township, Pennsylvania on a Crown Castle monopole after residents pressured the company to take down a tattered American flag that had been flying for months in the Carbon County community of 4,429 residents. Numerous local TV and news outlets championed the cause of township officials and residents who …
Three cable snatching West Virginians arrested following seven site break-ins
Three men have been accused of seven break-ins at cell tower sites in West Virginia that authorities said caused phone outages for anyone in the area with an emergency. The first reported incident was on August 19, 2019. On January 13 and 14, 2020 the same cell tower in Giles Hollow was broken into. Johnnie Boggess III, 30; James Canfield, …
American Tower’s revenues will tank in India if government fees create a carrier duopoly
India, once the darling of tower companies looking to expand their international footprint, is not where towercos might want to be today with the potential for a considerable tenancy drop if Vodafone Idea collapses under the weight of government license fees totaling $6.2 billion that are due by January 23, 2020. Vodafone Idea may not be able to pay the …
Court to decide if City of Colorado Springs monopole can be beefed up by Vertical Bridge
Vertical Bridge Development, LLC has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado for a ruling that the City of Colorado Springs is violating federal laws by not allowing the company to modify an existing tower that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower. According to the complaint, Vertical Bridge manages a …
Pennsylvania techs shot at by a more than tipsy felon who is now behind bars after seven shots
A Pennsylvania man, reportedly intoxicated, was arrested by police after he returned to the scene of his alleged crime of firing gun shots at tower techs while they were working on a 400-foot guyed tower in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. According to a report from the Hanover Township Police Department, officers were dispatched to a tower owned by Crown Castle off of …
Four dead after plane crashes into guyed tower in Southern Montana
Update: January 17, 2020 – KPVI ran a touching piece on the four men who died: Before deadly plane crash, sobriety brought 4 victims together. January 14, 2020 – Four Billings, Montana men were killed Saturday in a plane crash when the pilot reportedly hit a communications tower near Dunn Mountain north of Billings. According to authorities, the single-engine Cessna 183 crashed …
