DigitalBridge stock gained 1.2% in Friday trading after the company turned in much stronger than expected Q2 revenue and said it remains on track for its $8.0B fundraising target. During the Q2 analysts call, CEO Marc Ganzi’s message of “promises made, promises kept” appeared to resonate with shareholders as DBRG in pre-market this morning was up 4.23% at $16.73. Ganzi said the company …
DigitalBridge is betting a quarter billion dollars on its competitors becoming more profitable
On Monday, during its second-quarter earnings call, SBA Communications cited a slowdown in U.S. carrier activity, similar to previous announcements by American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle, whose Q2 activity had declined a whopping 50%. DigitalBridge Group, whose tower arm Vertical Bridge has 11,000 owned and master-leased towers, will release its quarterly report on Friday and takes no comfort in …
Doctor Joyce examines a tower site to appreciate how the industry can assist in curing the digital divide
Although Crown Castle’s safety protocols do not require having a medical doctor on a tower site when technicians are present, one was available for Novotech Construction’s safety-conscious tower techs recently should a medical emergency present itself during a recent tower compound visit by Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce. Dr. Joyce has represented Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District since January 2019 and has …
Collecting $3 million from an ISP will be a tough road to hoe for American Tower and Crown Castle with its $386k
American Tower Corp. (ATC) has filed a lawsuit against a wireless and satellite internet, phone, and DISH television provider, alleging it stopped paying rent payments on 60 of its structures on November 24, 2021. ATC says it is due $2,891,885 plus attorneys’ fees and other costs from TPT SpeedConnect, LLC. SpeedConnect advertises that it is proud of the role it …
Nexius, owing $600 million to creditors, shoveled millions to a supplier in Beirut before filing bankruptcy
In 2001, brothers Nabil and Ned Taleb co-founded Nexius in a two-bedroom Virginia apartment. They continued to bootstrap their first year’s revenues of $1 million to a multi-corporation self-performing wireless industry enterprise that boosted revenues to $1 billion in 2022. But cash is king, and they ran out of it last year and sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection three weeks …
Ugandan carrier claims American Tower is discriminatory, but Kenyan official says ATC brings diversity and the internet
Smile, a carrier in Uganda is sneering at American Tower Corporation (ATC), asserting to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) that ATC illegally disconnected the power to its network and the company has been quoted in numerous media outlets stating that since 2018 ATC has been using discriminatory pricing practices, as well as unfair and illegal power billing practices. An ATC …
Dish meets its 70% buildout deadline with assistance of three major towerco partners
Dish Wireless announced yesterday that as of June 14, the carrier is offering 5G broadband service to over 70 percent of the U.S. population, giving more than 240 million Americans access to its technology. This marks a significant milestone for Dish and the U.S. telecom industry, as Dish designed, built, and deployed a first-of-its-kind 5G network in three years. Dish …
Tripped up by their trail, methheads await charges for Verizon cell site break in
Three Livingston, TX residents remain in the Polk County Jail, and another is still at large after they were accused of stealing from a Verizon 200-foot self-supporting cell tower compound and also exposing a toddler to methamphetamine and fentanyl. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies responded on June 6 to a report of a theft from the tower off of U.S. Highway 59 just north …
FCC’s systems have been down for the past week and may be unavailable for the foreseeable future
The FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) is currently down and not accessible to the public. This includes the Commission’s License Manager, License Search, Application Search, Tower Construction Notification System, E-106 System, Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) Online Filing, ASR Application Search, ASR Registration Search, TOWAIR, and all ULS Specialized Searches. The systems are anticipated to be down until at least next …
Aggravated over aggregator Everest’s ‘multi-million dollar scheme’, Vertical Bridge files a lawsuit
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC has filed a lawsuit against competitor Everest Infrastructure Partners (EIP), alleging that it ran an unfair “multi-million dollar scheme to unlawfully improve its market share” at Vertical Bridge’s expense through trade secret misappropriation, interfering with existing contractual relations and false advertising. Vertical Bridge, the tower arm of Digital Bridge, requests that EIP provide an accounting of …
FCC’s report shows Guam’s cell site outage at 20%, three weeks after Typhoon Mawar crippled the island’s power
After Typhoon Mawar tore through Guam, the second largest U.S. territory, on May 24, the FCC identified that 60% of its 327 cell sites were down. Two days later, it increased to 70%. However, in today’s report, that number has considerably improved, with the agency showing that only 19.9% are out of service. Seven were due to damage, ten due …
While burning contractors and suppliers, Nexius’s facade exposed a possible terrorist cell site security hole
As Nexius used ‘every trick’ to keep contractors working, although the company knew they would never pay them, the wireless infrastructure developer reportedly continued scamming T-Mobile by using a Nexius-aligned company in Lebanon that was prohibited from accessing T-Moble’s network – possibly exposing a network security threat to the nation’s second-largest mobile operator, according to sources familiar with the ruse. When …
Tillman Infrastructure’s Hillabrant to take the reins of Vantage Towers
European towerco Vantage Towers has announced Christian Hillabrant as its new chief executive officer (CEO) and said the appointment is expected to take effect in approximately two months. Hillabrant’s current role is Chief Operating Officer at Tillman Infrastructure, the rapidly growing tower company based in the United States. Hillabrant was appointed to the Tower Family Foundation Advisory Committee last year. Hillabrant has …
Not a typical gin pole, Matt’s Arm provides a safer, quicker and more profitable pick at any level
Matt’s Arm is the newest tool in the tower industry, and contractors say there is no other tool that is so versatile since it adapts to most all tower types and lifting needs. It’s quickly becoming an essential tool for contractors’ crews. For decades, there had yet to be a serious design change in an industry stalwart, the venerable but cumbersome …
Bernard Borghei joins Tower Engineering Professionals as its new Chief Revenue Officer
Tower Engineering Professionals (“TEP”), a leading full-service provider of engineering and maintenance services to the tower, mobile network, and other telecom infrastructure customers, welcomes Bernard Borghei as its new Chief Revenue Officer. Borghei is the Co-Founder and former Executive Vice President of Operations of Vertical Bridge and has over 29 years of experience in the wireless telecom and infrastructure …
FCC updates national broadband map to fix nationwide accuracy challenges
The FCC took another step forward in its effort to develop the best and most accurate broadband maps ever built in the United States. In a note, to understand why requires a bit of history, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “For decades, the Commission produced broadband maps based on census blocks. In practice, this meant that if there was high-speed internet …
QualTek Services files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with hopes that its debt can be cut almost in half
Wireless infrastructure developer QualTek Services warned earlier this month that it would need to obtain alternative sources of capital or otherwise meet its liquidity needs and/or restructure its existing indebtedness through the protections available under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Blue Bell, Pennsylvania company filed for bankruptcy today in the Southern District of Texas, identifying that it had …
Driver is electrocuted while unloading aerial lift for California cell site project
According to authorities, a 37-year-old Fresno, CA, equipment rental delivery driver was electrocuted Wednesday while offloading an aerial lift in Parlier, CA, that would be utilized by a tower crew performing services on a nearby cell tower. Officials say that Jaun Abriz was employed by H&E Equipment Services and struck an electrical wire at about 9:00 a.m. Those responding to …
Sadly, the first fatal fall in 2023 took the life of a 33-year-old tower technician in Kansas
Burial services were held today in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, for 33-year-old tower technician Frankie Rivera-Rivera who succumbed from his injuries after falling from a 350-foot tower in Andover, Kansas, on May 9. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, Rivera and a co-worker were reportedly performing maintenance services for AT&T on a tower off Zenith Rd., owned by Harmoni …
A taste of 5G spectrum offerings is more easily explained using its constituent flavors
By John Paleski Mobile broadband businesses were eager to shell out over $120 billion during FCC auctions to acquire spectrum blocks to roll out 5G. That’s understandable since they needed it to lay the groundwork for fifth-generation wireless services. However, understanding what 5G is and the spectrums used to offer transformational speeds and capabilities that can open the door to …
