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Recent News
$160,000 Harwood grant to develop free electrical safety awareness training for telecom workers
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor – OSHA to receive a $160,000 Susan Harwood Targeted Topic Training Grant for the 2022-2023 program year. The Susan Harwood Training...
Liberty and Claro offer limited information regarding severe cell site outages in Puerto Rico
CORRECTION – An earlier publication of this article stated that AT&T had not issued a press release about their network’s resiliency and actions to keep the island connected following Hurricane Fiona. In 2020, AT&T sold its wireless and wireline operations...
The backstory of a teen tower climber rescue: It took a village
A Fox 8 News viewer yesterday afternoon sent Wireless Estimator an email with a link to an article on the Ohio TV station’s website that a 15-year-old boy had been rescued off of a 190-foot cell tower. With few details, it...
As power is crippled by Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico cell service remains somewhat stable
Hurricane Fiona roared over the Dominican Republic this morning after knocking out power across all of Puerto Rico, causing damage that Governor Pedro Pierluisi said was “catastrophic.” In addition, many thousands of people were left without water service. No...
Lawsuit hastens NJ borough’s approval of Verizon’s 20 sites on Belmar’s beachfront property
The Borough of Belmar, NJ has agreed to let Verizon Wireless erect 20 small wireless sites along its boardwalk after the carrier filed a lawsuit last year accusing the borough of delaying approval for the proposal. According to a...
Fatal fall of a 29-year-old tower tech from a 300-foot Louisiana tower is industry’s first 2022 death
OSHA is investigating the death of a 29-year-old tower technician who fell from a guyed tower in Florien, LA, late Friday afternoon. According to multiple sources interviewed by Wireless Estimator, Jose Garcia, a resident of Mexico, fell from an...
New iPhone 14 provides emergency services everywhere and lets them know if you crash
Apple unveiled its new iPhone 14 devices yesterday, promoting a new emergency service via satellite feature starting in November that enables the phones to connect and send messages when the devices are in areas with no cell phone coverage. The...
AT&T sues T-Mobile over false senior discount ad campaign that could impact sales
When carriers are concerned that their competitors have misleading ads, the normal way to resolve it is to file a complaint with the National Advertising Review Board. However, AT&T is suing T-Mobile in Texas’s Eastern District Court, accusing the...
Verizon to take switches off commercial power to prevent CA rolling blackouts
Verizon is taking extraordinary steps to help prevent rolling blackouts in California as temperatures rise to extreme levels this week. The carrier said in a statement the following actions will provide meaningful relief to reduce the impact on the...
Louisiana is first State to receive a broadband planning grant for an expected $1 billion in future funding
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced that Louisiana is the first state to receive broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) he helped author and pass into law last year. This $2,941,542 grant is for the planning...
Verizon signs lease deal with American Tower to boost 5G deployment
American Tower Corporation and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) announced today that they have signed a new overarching lease agreement, facilitating Verizon’s on-going 5G network deployment across American Tower’s extensive U.S. portfolio of communications sites, with over 11,000...
Cell tower collapse kills seven children outside of a school in Jakarta
Police say at least ten people, including seven children, were killed in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, this morning after a truck crashed into a telecommunications tower near a bus stop and toppled the structure in a...
FCC Commissioner Carr honors a tower foreman who turned his life around: Robert Gallegos
America’s tower crews are a mainstay in the country’s buildout of 5G and other next-generation infrastructure. Their work helped millions of Americans stay connected through the COVID-19 pandemic—as people relied on these networks for everything from working to learning to...
Harmoni Towers’ acquisition of Parallel’s structures raises them to U.S.’s second largest private towerco
Harmoni Towers (“Harmoni”), a portfolio company of Palistar Capital LP (“Palistar”), an alternative asset manager focused on mission-critical communications infrastructure, today announced that it has agreed to acquire Parallel Infrastructure (“Parallel”), a leading tower platform and build-to-suit provider, from...
NATE, American Tower Corporation and MILLERCO Host U.S. Senator Roger Wicker
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and member companies American Tower Corporation and MILLERCO hosted U.S. Senator Roger Wicker on a communications tower site visit in Gulfport, Mississippi yesterday. Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes also attended the event. During the...
T-Mobile and Starlink link up to ‘end mobile dead zones’
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that their companies are working to “end mobile dead zones” and will launch a new mobile service enabled by Starlink second-generation satellites and T-Mobile bandwidth. Sievert and Musk announced...
Carr comes out swinging as he slams the FCC’s Starlink funding reversal
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr attacked a move by the FCC earlier in August to deny Starlink $885.5 million it won in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, stating: “I am surprised to find out via a press release...
QualTek contests Washington regulators’ $12,000 fine for safety violations following employee’s death
QualTek Wireless LLC of Blue Bell, PA, is contesting two serious Washington State Labor and Industries (LNI) safety violations issued after an employee fell to his death in Arlington, WA, on December 4, 2021. Tower technician Michael Vasquez, 24, was working...
Low budget ‘Fall’ is far from believable, but it’s certainly a high-octane thriller
Tower erectors and maintenance purists will likely give the low-budget thriller Fall a failing one star for accuracy. However, critic reviews are favorable for the movie released on Friday, where two young women are stranded on top of a 2,000-foot...
Tower Family Foundation and Warriors4Wireless are benefactors of $2 million from T-Mobile’s golf tourney
T-Mobile recently announced a jaw-dropping $2 million distribution to be shared equally by the Tower Family Foundation (TFF) and Warriors4Wireless (W4W) following the 9th Annual T-Mobile Golf Tournament. With more than 50 corporate sponsors supporting the 2022 event (listed...
Indiana court nixes Norfolk Southern’s claim that it was due profit sharing revenues from towerco
An Indiana court found that Global Tower LLC did not owe Norfolk Southern Railway Co. a percentage of its revenue from a tower on land owned by the railroad in Peru, Indiana. United States District Judge Robert Miller, Jr....
Carlyle partners with ‘disruptive’ Tillman, committing up to $1 billion to accelerate investments in US towers
Global investment firm Carlyle announced that funds managed by its Global Infrastructure platform have committed up to $1 billion to partner with Tillman Global Holdings to accelerate its investments in Tillman Infrastructure, a leading privately held cell tower platform...
Martin, McCarthick and McGovern appointed to the NWSA Board to maintain diversity of industry sectors
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today that William (Bill) Martin, President at Tower Engineering Professionals, Inc. (TEP), Drew McCarthick, Director of Environmental Health, and Safety at Ericsson, and Mike McGovern, Regional Vice President at DISH Wireless, have...
Stainless marks a storied 75 years of pioneering leadership in the broadcast industry
FDH Infrastructure Services, LLC (FDH), a leader in engineering investigations of critical structures and developer of global technology solutions, is proudly commemorating the 75th anniversary of Stainless, its broadcast division. Officially incorporated on July 24, 1947, Stainless has been...
Tower tech’s non-life-threatening injury still required an Iowa rescue team to bring him to the ground
Sioux City, Iowa fire rescue personnel rescued a tower technician Monday evening when he couldn’t make it down from a cell tower that he was working on when he became injured. Rescue workers successfully performed a rope rescue at...
AT&T didn’t negotiate with a tower climbers union in its most recent contract ratification
UPDATE – August 4, 2022 – Following the publication of this article, a union spokesperson said that of the 175 workers at AT&T’s Alascom facilities, approximately 105 of Teamsters Local 959 Alascom members “are tower climbers”. According to the union’s hiring...
Tower titan Michael T.N. Fitch passes, leaving the industry with a more stable environment
Michael T.N. Fitch passed away on July 22, 2022, leaving behind a rich legacy of assisting towercos and carriers in advancing infrastructure siting. Fitch spent the first 20 years of his extensive career at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),...
Offering no standards guidance, CWA says safety bulletin ‘threat’ has the tone of an ‘irate boss’
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Tower Climbers Union has jumped on the carabiner bandwagon of concern regarding a recent NATE advisory bulletin on July 20, 2022, that stated, “Carabiners are NOT intended for rigging applications involving material handling and overhead lifting,” after...
Use of a carabiner for load lifting provided varied responses but client requirements still reign
NATE’s July 20, 2022 industry advisory bulletin that carabiners are not intended for rigging applications involving material handling and overhead lifting saw a slew of Facebook comments in the past six days that had some posters defending the use...
FBI found Huawei gear near U.S. military bases and silos could easily disrupt nation’s nukes
Federal officials investigating Chinese land purchases in the U.S. in recent years discovered that Huawei equipment on cell towers in the Midwest “was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those used by U.S. Strategic Command,...
Topping estimates, all Valmont segments are up in Q2 financial report but telecommunications shines
Shares of Valmont Industries (VMI) hit their highest level in more than a month, gaining 7.8% to $256.53 in noontime trading after the infrastructure and agricultural solutions provider reported Q2 2022 results that beat estimates and raised its FY guidance. In the...
Contractors warned using carabiners for material rigging applications could suspend future work
Industry stakeholders have issued a warning that no matter how strong a carabiner is, companies using them for material handling and overhead lifting could see a loss of work when their jobs are shut down. NATE: The Communications Infrastructure...
Death of a tower worker falling off a 300-foot Crown Castle guyed tower proves to be incorrect
News reports on Monday described an industry fatality when a tower technician fell off a guyed tower that he was working on in Anderson, SC. However, the reporting was incorrect. TV station WSPA said a man working on a...
Tribute to tower technicians in a new NATE video is a well-deserved acknowledgement of their importance
Tower technicians are undeniably the indispensable linchpins that keep America’s communications networks operating. Without them, everything falls apart, and NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has released a new, animated whiteboard video that details the truly prominent role they...
Placing pipe bombs at AT&T and Verizon locations could result in a ‘life’ sentence for Michigan man
A Whittemore, Michigan man might spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty yesterday to two separate criminal cases related to the placement of explosive packages outside cellphone stores in Cheboygan and Sault Ste Marie and...
South Carolina sheriffs arrest alleged cell site copper thief moments before his haul is recycled
A Sumter, SC man was arrested on July 11, 2022, during a traffic stop, Sumpter County Sherriff’s Office (SCSO) officials said in a statement this morning. Trent Martin was detained because the vehicle he was driving matched the description...
After dozens of FCC staffers provide the goods for a $116 million fine, robocaller will likely not pay a dime
Thomas Dorsher, the CEO of Fargo, ND DigiGames, a manufacturer and software developer of TV games for professionals and event planners that oftentimes used phones to play live trivia games at events, was most likely concerned about scathing reviews...
In an early morning fire, a Crown Castle tower gets ‘lit up like a Christmas tree’
A 162-foot self-supporting multi-tenant cell tower became engulfed in flames early this morning in Seattle, WA near the busy intersection of I-90 and I-5 south of downtown in the International District. According to Seattle Fire Department Chief Geoff Wall,...
Majority interest in 40K of Deutsche Telekom’s towers acquired by DigitalBridge and Brookfield
DigitalBridge Group, Inc. announced this morning that together with Brookfield Infrastructure and its institutional partners the companies have reached an agreement to acquire a 51% ownership stake in Deutsche Telekom-owned GD Towers. The transaction values GD $17.5 billion, including the...
Monopole torched on Friday has California deputies arrest a suspect the following day
A 44-year-old California man with previous arrests for arson was jailed for allegedly setting fire to a cell tower on Friday, July 8, 2022. According to the Kings County, CA Sheriff’s Office, at 8:20 a.m. deputies were dispatched to...
Florida and Iowa have just six days left to capture at least $100 million in broadband funding
Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that only two states have not signed on to participate in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative, which will invest $45 billion to provide affordable,...
Rogers’ embarrassing outage prompts industry minister to demand changes within 60 days
Canadian Industry Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Francois-Philippe Champagne yesterday said he has directed carriers to assist each other in emergencies and develop communication protocols to keep people better informed after Rogers Communications’ massive outage on Friday that...
Stonepeak carves out a 29% interest in American Tower’s U.S. data center business for $2.5 billion
American Tower Corporation and Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, today announced that Stonepeak, on behalf of certain affiliated investment vehicles, will acquire an ownership interest of approximately 29% in American Tower’s U.S....
Alabama tower collapse ends a tower tech’s life, leaving behind his wife and five children
A 36-year-old tower technician and father of five who worked for the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) died Wednesday afternoon in a “tragic accident,” the agency said yesterday. Communications technician Brett Savage with the AFC and a resident of Deatsville,...
With hundreds in head count, VIKOR expands company with acquisition of Pathwave’s construction division
Over the past few years, South Dakota-based VIKOR has expanded its geographic footprint to nine offices in the U.S. and offers services to more than half of the United States. With the acquisition of the construction division from Pathwave,...
A reverse stock split is oftentimes cautionary, but DigitalBridge Group says it’s all part of the grand plan
A reverse stock split oftentimes signals that a company is trying to stay listed on major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, where a company’s shares are required to not trade below $1 for 30 consecutive days....
NATE’s UAS expo has its first successful flight over Valmont’s corporate headquarters in Nebraska
As a result of years in the making, the inaugural NATE UAS Expo hosted by Valmont in Valley, Nebraska, last week took to the air. It was a huge success, according to almost 200 people who attended the event....
Tentative deal has AT&T’s union workers getting a 15% wage increase and CPI adjustments with new contract
After six months of negotiations, wireless workers at AT&T have reached a tentative contract agreement that raises base wages, includes adjustments for inflation, limits mandatory overtime, curtails the outsourcing of jobs to third-party authorized retailers, and adds privacy protections...
Tower painter runs afoul of Maryland residents and businesses being showered with lead paint chips
For almost three weeks, a Nebraska painting contractor was prepping a 997-foot guyed tower in Woodberry, MD, to be repainted by either pressure washing or grinding off existing layers of paint on the structure, according to residents. In the...
New New York broadband map sports a high 78% coverage
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) has released a first-of-its-kind, interactive broadband map to provide the most detailed depiction of broadband infrastructure in New York to date. The map, available here, along with an accompanying report, is...
D.C. Circuit will not reverse FCC’s ruling that Dish controlled AWS-3 spectrum bidders
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled in favor of the FCC that two companies aligned with Dish Network were ineligible to receive $3.3 billion in bidding credits available to small businesses in the 2014...
Towerco stocks tank as Communication Services Sector declines 33% and REIT Index shaves 23%
Towerco stocks notched a slight increase on Friday, but they’re still way off their 52-week highs. All four of the publicly traded companies saw significant declines beginning in December 2021, with considerable losses last week. DigitalBridge Group is down...
After decades of leadership, SBA’s Bagwell and Hunt are retiring, Cane and Koenig to succeed them
SBA Communications Corporation (SBA) today announced that Kurt L. Bagwell, Executive Vice President and President – International, and Thomas P. Hunt, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, will retire from their current titles and roles effective...
Vodafone trials harvesting the wind with the UK’s first live ‘self-powering’ cell tower in Wales
Vodafone has switched on the UK’s first live wind- and solar-powered cell tower in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The mast will provide 4G coverage to the surrounding community The specially designed tower, which potentially removes the need for a connection to...
Telecom advocate Patrick Halley to lead WIA as its President and CEO
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) today named communications policy veteran and association leader Patrick Halley as the organization’s incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2022. Halley joins WIA from USTelecom – The Broadband Association where he serves...
It’s official: Dish Network meets the FCC’s 20% U.S. coverage deadline as it turns on 5G in 128 cities
Yesterday morning, some media reports suggested that Dish Network might not be able to meet its FCC-mandated June 14 deadline to cover 20 percent of the US population with its 5G network. One report said that the nation’s newest...
‘Fall’ is a 2,000-foot tower thriller dropping in a movie theatre near you
Airplanes, trains, buses and even chainsaws have been unwitting protagonists in horror and thriller movies. An abandoned communications tower has finally reached stardom. Thrillers typically highlight the failures of governments, institutions, and society as a whole. On August 12, Fall,...
Immediate stop use recall issued on specific 3M DBI-SALA lanyards
3M Fall Protection has announced a stop use/recall of specific 3M™ DBI-SALA® ShockWave™2 Arc Flash Shock Absorbing Lanyards. 3M determined that, for a limited number of devices, a potential manufacturing issue could result in the lanyard not performing properly...
White House yawns after GAO criticizes 100 scattered federal broadband funding programs
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is criticizing the “fragmented, overlapping patchwork” of federal efforts to expand broadband internet access throughout America. The GAO report, titled Broadband National Strategy Needed to Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce...
Skyway Towers’ 400-plus structures acquired by Basalt Infrastructure Partners for undisclosed price
Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLC (“Basalt”) announced that the third flagship Basalt fund (“Basalt III”) has acquired Skyway Towers, LLC (“Skyway”) from Tinicum L.P. and affiliated entities (“Tinicum”). Skyway is a nationwide telecommunications infrastructure developer that owns and operates multi-tenant...
Union video accuses AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile of risking tower technicians’ lives
Associations have refined the art of using internet media to present their organizational messages to a broad audience. Last year, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association released a compelling white board that took carriers to task for offering matrix...
Senators Blackburn and Hagerty champion technologies other than fiber in NTIA’s $42 billion in funding
During a February hearing on broadband expansion and internet access, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Alan Davidson informed representatives that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” and transparency will be a “huge” part of his agency’s administration in...
CWA gets its first Tower Climbers Union crews, but an agreement with QualTek could be stalled for 14 months
A majority of 11 wireless tower technicians at QualTek have voted for union representation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in an election conducted this week in Henderson, NV. Their next step after National Labor Relations Board certification will...
FCC Commissioner Carr slams Commerce Department for putting its thumb on the scale for fiber
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the U. S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) was being myopic with fiberoptic when it released its new rules that will govern the expenditure of $42.5 billion in grants authorized...
Industry engineers are now able to identify best practices for tower mount analysis, courtesy of TIF
The Telecommunications Industry Foundation (“TIF”) announced the publication of a new White Paper on tower mounts that involved the efforts of many individuals from across the industry. As mounts continue to support existing equipment and the deployment of new technology including...
Broadband industry questions NTIA fiber czar’s $42 billion dollar priority that might be illegal
At a hearing on February 16, 2022, Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator, informed House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology members that “…we need a technology-neutral approach to funding broadband...
Dish must again face lawsuit that it used two sham companies to save billions of dollars in spectrum buys
Dish Network Corp. will be required to face a whistleblower’s False Claims Act (FCA) spectrum license lawsuit for the second time following a Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling yesterday. The carrier is alleged to have used...
Biden favoring fiber in $42 billion broadband funding could kick other technologies and contractors to the curb
The Biden administration formally started its $42.45 billion initiative on Friday to bring reliable and affordable high-speed broadband internet to everyone in the U.S. by the end of the 2020s. “In the 21st century, you simply cannot participate in...
Starlink announces it’s in 32 countries as it continues to ward off Russian hacking attempts
Starlink, the satellite internet service provider operated by Elon Musk’s aerospace company Space X, is now available in 32 countries, Musk Tweeted today. The hardware can ship “immediately” to areas where the service is available. The service offers the...
DigitalBridge and IFM shell out $11 billion for data center company Switch
DigitalBridge Group Inc. and IFM Investors have announced they have agreed to buy data center operator Switch Inc. for $11 billion, including debt, marking the latest deal in the digital asset sector. Last November, American Tower announced the acquisition of...
Mobilitie mobilizes into U.S. military bases with the acquisition of Signal Point Systems
Mobilitie, a BAI Communications company and a leading wireless infrastructure provider in the United States, has closed on an agreement to acquire Signal Point Systems, Inc. (“Signal Point”), a well-established telecommunications infrastructure provider focused on U.S. military bases. The acquisition unites...
Telecommunications Industry Foundation announces new leadership appointments
The Telecommunications Industry Foundation (TIF), announced today their board appointments for the new 2022-2023 term. Scott Vance, PE, current Chair of TIF, will assume the position of Chair-Emeritus. Michelle Kang, PE, Geographic Discipline Leader of Telecommunications with Colliers Engineering...
3M issues a product advisory on two DBI-SALA harnesses
Product advisories have been issued for two select DBI-SALA harnesses that have the potential to have performance issues. The company emphasized that their notices were not a recall. The DBI-SALA® ExoFit™ XP Arc Flash harnesses, manufactured between January 1,...
They do every day, but especially tomorrow tower techs should walk and climb proudly
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association unveiled a commemoration declaring Wednesday, May 4, 2022 as Tower Technician Appreciation Day. For the sixth consecutive year, a day has been set aside by NATE and the industry to pay tribute to...
Hundreds of tower techs told ‘squeezed’ workers could benefit from CWA Tower Climbers Union
Last month, 11 employees of QualTek’s Nevada location filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRF) for a union election for admittance to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, the first-ever company to ask for representation....
Valmont and Ericsson acquire ConcealFab to accelerate growth and innovation in global telecom
Valmont Industries, Inc., a global leader that provides vital infrastructure and advances agricultural productivity while driving innovation through technology, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Colorado-based ConcealFab, an industry leader...
Industry leaders reconnect in California at the 7th Annual Wireless West Conference
With an extra air of excitement after two years of post-pandemic uncertainty and social distancing, the 7th Annual 2022 Wireless West Conference, presented by four West Coast wireless associations, came back full force in person this week. Widely known...
Simpson, Blakeslee and Hillabrant appointed to Tower Family Foundation leadership positions
The Tower Family Foundation announced today a series of appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership team. Mike Simpson, Chief Procurement Officer of T-Mobile USA Inc, has been seated to serve on the Tower Family Foundation Board of Directors. Additionally,...
As an exterior cleaning drone makes its debut, communication tower painters fear no threat
Drones are excellent for mapping towers and providing inspections, but they haven’t had a serious impact on tower technicians’ work on structures. However, window washing companies and pressure cleaning businesses might see a drop in income since Lucid Drone Technologies...
Board of Health issues Verizon a cease-and-desist order for ‘unfit’ tower but now needs $84k to defend it
Tomorrow, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Board of Health (BoH) officials will ask the City Council to back up their cease-and-desist order against Verizon Wireless to discontinue their use of a cell tower at 877 South Street, requesting $84,000 in legal fees...
FCC ensnares Putin ally Abramovich in Truphone’s $660,639 fine for not disclosing his investments
The FCC has proposed a fine of $660,639 for London-based Truphone, the owner of iSmart Mobile, for exceeding the statutory limits of 25% for ownership by foreign individuals or entities tied to FCC licenses without FCC approval. FCC Chairwoman...
Biden’s ‘USA only’ steel mandate seen by tower and mount manufacturers as surmountable
On Monday, the Biden Administration issued guidance relating to the “Buy America” sourcing requirements under the “Build America, Buy America” portion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that will provide $65 billion in funding to build out America’s...
QualTek tower climbers file for CWA union representation as the industry closely monitors the outcome
QualTek tower technicians in the company’s Nevada office have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election for admittance to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. The news was announced on CWA’s...
FCC sets out the nation’s new guidelines for obtaining accurate broadband map data
The need for accurate data pinpointing where broadband service is available and where it is lacking, has never been more important, the FCC said on Thursday when it provided details to state, local and tribal entities with guidance on...
Raising the Barr for above and beyond customer service, especially when lives are at stake, is ASK’s mission
To gain and keep loyal customers, successful companies go above and beyond with customer service and support. Pat Barr, who humbly entitles himself as Albuquerque, NM-based ASK Tower Supply’s technical specialist, takes that to a higher level, and in...
SPX announces acquisition of International Tower Lighting
SPX Corporation (“SPX”) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of International Tower Lighting, LLC (“ITL”), a private company headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee. ITL is a leader in the design and manufacture of highly-engineered Aids-to-Navigation, or “AtoN”...
To Russia with no love, Ericsson suspends all business with the country over unprovoked Ukraine war
Swedish network equipment maker Ericsson is suspending its business in Russia indefinitely and has put employees on paid leave. This comes six weeks after the Swedish telecom equipment maker started a review of the impact of Western sanctions on...
Lawsuit by deceased climber’s parents says tower wasn’t secured, but photos argue against the complaint
After a 21-year-old Sevier County, TN man fell to his death last May after climbing a tower atop Bluff Mountain, his parents have filed a lawsuit against the county, saying it didn’t do enough to keep people away from...
Subcontractor’s ‘shoddy concrete’ work proves to be costly for Crown Castle in Baltimore
The Baltimore, MD City Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced last Wednesday that the City’s Department of Transportation (DoT) has fined Crown Castle Fiber LLC (Crown Castle) $447,000 after the OIG found that 450 small cell...
Appeals court won’t revive Martha’s Vineyard AT&T cell tower lawsuit
Fears about radio frequency emissions affecting a Martha’s Vineyard man’s medical equipment and property value weren’t enough to allow a husband and wife standing to sue over the previous construction of an AT&T cell tower on the island, a...
Lynk successfully deploys world’s first commercial-ready cell tower in space with service later this year
Lynk Global, Inc., a leading satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company based in Falls Church, Virginia, today announced the successful April 1, 2022 launch, deployment, and initial on-orbit check-out of Lynk Tower 1. The spacecraft is the company’s sixth ‘cell-tower-in-space’ satellite and...
After jury whittles $20 million request down to $525K; plaintiff wants a new trial on FCC license snafu
A Georgia broadcaster was awarded $520,000 in damages on February 16 following a trial on its claim that an outside attorney botched its federal license application for a Class A low power television station statement of eligibility. The malpractice...
Massachusetts high court rules police must get a judge’s warrant before running tower dumps
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court authorized some broad police searches of cell-phone location data Friday, but also set limits on police activity to control mass surveillance and intrusions against innocent people’s privacy. The case arose from seven tower dumps...
North Carolina ring of cell site copper thieves arrested after lengthy investigation
The Buncombe County North Carolina Sheriff’s Office has charged 12 people in a cell site transmission line copper theft ring after a lengthy investigation, authorities said on March 30. The damage was estimated to be worth $331,000. Buncombe County...
Nationwide strike of contractors averted after carriers and towercos agree to meaningful concessions
An organized work stoppage action by U.S. wireless contractors that could have exceeded the breadth of economic damage caused by the steel workers strike of 1919, that shut down the nation’s steel industry, was averted yesterday after carriers and...
U.S. towerco is bid up in down under 2,000 tower deal that went to ATN and Singtel for $2.7 billion
UPDATE – April 1, 2022: Macquarie Asset Management today announced that, alongside its coinvestors, it has entered into binding agreements with Australia Tower Network (ATN), owned by AustralianSuper and Singtel, for the sale of 100% of Axicom for $2.7...
House FCC oversight hearing focuses on broadband maps, security
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel informed members of a House Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight hearing today that the improved broadband maps needed to adequately disburse billions of federal infrastructure dollars will come this fall. However the maps will still...
Think tank researcher identifies U.S. mobile wireless speeds are among the best in the world
A constant refrain often heard in the broadband debate is that Internet speeds in the United States are generally far slower than for most other advanced countries. To test that argument, last February the Phoenix Center released a paper...
MasTec, SBA and DigitalBridge announce new leadership roles
Ava L. Parker – MasTec Ava L. Parker has become a member of MasTec’s board of directors, according to a company press release. She joined the board as a Class III director in MasTec’s staggered board structure, MasTec said. “Parker...
$600 million set aside in Biden’s proposed budget to boost rural broadband
President Joe Biden yesterday unveiled a proposed $5.8 trillion budget for 2023, that included over $600 million for additional broadband funding through the USDA’s ReConnect program, which provides grands and loans to deploy broadband to unserved areas, especially tribal...