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 …
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 …
Border Protection seeking your suggestions on how to protect a 320-foot tower with vulture-proof netting
Federal officials are asking the industry to rescue a Customs and Border Protection self-supporting tower that has been taken over by 300 vultures in Kingsville, Texas. They’ve issued a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain viable sources of supply, industry practices and answers that will assist them in providing what they believe will be a deterrent – a 320-foot tall …
Scripps pays $1,130,000 to FCC to settle tower lighting issues
Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC has agreed to pay a $1,130,000 penalty to settle an FCC investigation into malfunctioning TV tower lights used to alert nearby airplanes. The settlement order adopted by the FCC concludes an agency investigation that began after a small plane crashed into a TV tower near Kaplan, Louisiana in 2018. The tower was operated by a subsidiary …
MTN’s Africa and Uganda joint venture acquired by American Tower for $523 Million
American Tower Corporation has reached an agreement for the acquisition of MTN’s 49% stakes in the company’s joint ventures in Ghana and Uganda. Valued at approximately $523 million, the deal is due to close by March subject to the standard regulatory conditions. The news follows American Towers’ completion of its purchase of Eaton Towers Holdings which will add 5,700 communications …
T-Mobile axing its projects led a baker’s dozen top news stories during 2019
The top stories in 2019, according to Wireless Estimator readership analytics, followed previous years’ subject matter favorites based upon the site’s in depth and exclusive articles as well as its comprehensive coverage of industry fatalities. T-Mobile’s unexpected new build cancellations in August came in first with 41,362 views. However, a Crosby product recall in November for certain 7/8” shackles surprised …
Vertical Bridge closes out the year with record-breaking philanthropy funding driven by employees
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC, the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, has announced that, with its matched employee donations, it has donated more than $1.5 million to charitable organizations in 2019. This is the firm’s largest annual contribution since its founding in 2014 and a nearly 20% increase over last year. Since Vertical Bridge’s founding …
Industry veteran Mitch Henry named as Chief of Staff at CTI Towers
Longtime tower industry veteran Mitch Henry has been named Chief of Staff at CTI Towers. In his new position, Henry will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at the company. “I have known Mitch for almost 20 years and have the utmost admiration for him. He has a complete understanding of the business and has a keen sense of …
American Tower and SBA’s tower source in Brazil has now become their key competitor
For many years, both SBA Communications and American Tower Corp. have eyed Brazil as an excellent country to buy and build wireless infrastructure to serve the world’s fifth-largest country with 210 million people. Adding to their portfolios, in 2012 American Tower acquired 1,800 towers from Telefonica’s Vivo. Also, in 2012, SBA inked a deal for 800 towers from Vivo …
Toppling a 500-foot structure, ice isn’t nice to a Nebraska tower
A weekend winter blizzard in Chadron, Nebraska that included freezing rain and heavy snow powered by 50-60 mph winds, collapsed a 500-foot guyed tower owned by Eagle Communications, Inc., headquartered in Hays, Kansas The Saturday storm knocked out Eagle’s Double Q Country/KQSK radio station in addition to disrupting service for the Dawes County Sheriff’s Office, Northwest Rural Public Power District, …
SBA gets an unwanted assist from Mother Nature in Pennsylvania tower swap-out
In 2017, SBA Towers II, LLC petitioned the Ferguson Township, Pennsylvania Board of Supervisors to replace an existing 181-foot self-supporting tower located at 200 Jackson Trail in the Rothrock State Forest. SBA entered into a ground lease in 1995 with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but the tower became structurally unsound over the years and in 2017, SBA said that the tower …
Employer of inexperienced 1099 tower tech who died Saturday was laden with OSHA violations
Neither OSHA nor Oktibbeha County authorities have released the employer’s name of 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas who passed away on Saturday after falling from a 348-foot self-supporting tower that was being erected in Longview, Mississippi, but according to knowledgeable sources, the company was Pegasus Tower, Inc., an OSHA citation-laden company from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Pegasus …
Arkansas tech dies in Mississippi during erection of 348-foot self-supporting tower
An Arkansas tower technician died Saturday after he fell approximately 80 feet from a self-supporting tower being constructed in Mississippi. It was the eighth industry fatality this year. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the deceased as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas. Womack’s employer, provided to Wireless Estimator by an individual knowledgeable about the fatality, could not be …
Afraid of having its contractors fail or bolt, Sprint introduces its ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program
Stating that it was concerned that it might not be able to maintain 5G construction crews, Sprint has unveiled its all-new ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program, providing day-of compensation to its 5G network builders and suppliers by shortening administrative overhead and collapsing the overpayment process as far as it can go. The Sprint ‘Same Day Pay’ program is a part of the …
Oklahoma Congressman Mullin’s American Tower site visit captured in NATE video
NATE today released a video highlighting U.S. Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) recent site visit to an American Tower-owned communications tower located in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Congressman Mullin represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District and is a member of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee where he has championed important communications and workforce development legislation. The video shines a spotlight on the …
Mexican telecom battle broadens at the border over 700 MHz interference
Thousands of Verizon customers, from El Paso, Texas to San Diego, California, are still fighting to get decent coverage that is being blocked after Mexican wholesaler Altán Redes introduced service three months ago In August, Mexican-based Altán Redes launched wireless service along the border using the 700 MHz band, the same one that Verizon Wireless uses, resulting in Verizon subscribers …
‘Pay to play’ Avetta has industry’s contractors concerned about it becoming a monopoly
Concerns about the time, expense and frustration of contractors that are forced to use client onboarding companies such as BROWZ and Avetta surfaced on January 30, 2019, when Wireless Estimator released the survey results of financial and administrative roadblocks set up by carriers and towercos that could derail America’s race to 5G. Two weeks later on February 14, 2019, Avetta announced the …
SBA sets NWSA certified climbers at 25% next year, 50% in 2021
SBA Communications (SBA), the nation’s third largest tower owner, has released the percentages of National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) certified climbers that contractors will have to maintain when doing work on their sites. Prior to climbing any SBA structure, all general contractors and lower tier subcontractors must meet the following guidelines and dates: Effective June 1, 2020: 25% of the …
AT&T exits the tower business with $680 million sale, eventual owners are still unknown
AT&T, the nation’s seventh-largest tower owner, slightly behind InSite Wireless Group, is exiting the business, selling more than 1,000 of their towers for $680 million to Peppertree Capital Management, Inc.(Peppertree) according to an announcement by the company preceding yesterday’s earnings call where Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman & CEO, discussed selling non-core assets. AT&T will lease back capacity on the towers as part …
Court documents state luxury hotel’s AT&T coverage should be excellent even with one bar
The Court of Appeals of the Second District of Texas at Fort Worth has upheld the ditching of an injunction caused by a wireless leasing dispute that blocked the owner of the historic Fort Worth Sinclair building’s rooftop renovation that included a bar for the reconverted office building that will open next month as a luxury Marriott Art Deco hotel. …
