Update: January 2, 2018 – OSHA has opened their investigation into the workplace accident that took the life of technician Richard C. Andrews, the eight industry fatality in 2017. In 2016 there were seven fatalities. Update: January 1, 2018 – Services have been announced for Richard C. Andrews, age 31, a resident of Manitowoc, Wisc. who fell from a tower …
Top 10 industry stories in 2017 trailed with one fake news article
Below are the top 10 articles that appeared in Wireless Estimator during 2017 based upon the number of views each one received, such as the September rigging accident that claimed the lives of three industry workers. It had 6,000 Facebook likes, was shared on LinkedIn over 900 times, and had been viewed over 48,000 times With Wireless Estimator’s safety-centric audience …
Akron jumps at $11 million telecom lease deal to fill budget hole
The city of Akron, Ohio has completed the sale of 15 lease agreements to Pittsburg, Pa.-based EIP Communications and will receive $11 million. City leaders were expected to move forward with the deal since they had already spent about $6 million that they had earmarked from the sale when they passed their 2017 budget nearly a year ago. The city …
Texas State Wireless’ Lewis is heralded for a decade of association growth
President of the Texas State Wireless Association (TXWA), Jeff Lewis, is being honored by industry leaders for his decade of involvement, advocacy and support for the association as his term comes to a end. Since joining in 2007, Lewis’s contributions have made an overwhelming impact on TXWA, helping it evolve from a small-scale volunteer organization to one of the largest and most effective State …
RSI asks for steep and immediate prosecution for counterfeiting training documents
By Miranda Allen, CEO RSI Corp. Fraudulent safety training cards are circulating putting us at risk. The definition of a fraudulent act is intentional deception of a person or entity by another made for monetary or personal gain. Fraud can be prosecuted both civilly and criminally. Wire fraud is a federal crime and occurs whenever a person uses a phone, …
FCC gets serious about putting 4,200 ‘twilight towers’ in the spotlight
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) applauded the FCC’s significant vote to seek public comment on a plan to exclude from routine historic preservation review the collocation of wireless communications equipment on “twilight towers”. It has been estimated by the FCC that those structures total more than 4,200 nationwide. The affirmative vote from …
FCC’s fidget spinning Pai gets enough party-line votes to kill net-neutrality
In a move that will reshape the internet and incubate consumer-advocacy and other opponents’ lawsuits, the Federal Communications Commission this afternoon repealed the net neutrality rules it put in place in 2015. In the 3-2 expected party-line vote, with Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn dissenting, the FCC reversed the designation of broadband providers as telecommunications companies and does away …
Battery thief uses Verizon codes for multi-county Florida crime spree
A Ruskin, Fla. man with ties to the industry has been arrested by Hillsborough County Florida deputies for breaking into numerous cell phone tower compounds in Hillsborough and surrounding counties to steal backup power supply batteries. Authorities say that William Bingham, 40, broke into a Gibsonton cell tower site on Nov. 27 using Verizon access codes to get into the …
California Wireless Association celebrates 10th anniversary with awards gala
The California Wireless Association closed out an exciting, year-long celebration of their 10 year anniversary with a holiday gala on Nov. 30. Hosted at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., the event brought together professionals throughout the wireless industry for an evening that celebrated the organization and honored its members and award recipients. The evening included a cocktail hour with …
Tower Technician Practical Examiner workshops to start in early 2018
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) is encouraging industry employers, trainers and workers to register for the upcoming Telecommunications Tower Technician Practical Examiner Accreditation Program (PEAP) Workshops. NWSA will be facilitating several workshops throughout 2018, and is announcing the first two on the following dates: January 29-February 2, 2018 – Vista, CA (Hosted by Pacific Safety Solutions) February 12-16, 2018 …
Leaked Vermont FirstNet reports put AT&T in an unwanted spotlight
Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s decision last month to award a 25-year contract to provide FirstNet’s emergency responders network is overly secretive, according to critics who leaked documents last week of unredacted consultants’ reports, and it has state officials and lawyers for AT&T scrambling to find the leaker and force them to return the documents, according to Vermont Digger. The concerns …
New Hampshire is the first state to opt out of FirstNet
New Hampshire will opt out of FirstNet’s dedicated communication network being buit by AT&T for first responders, and build its own with Rivada Networks LLC, according to Governor Chris Sununu. Following a unanimous opt-out recommendation from New Hampshire’s Statewide Interoperative Executive Committee, and a financial and regulatory report from its FirstNet Opt-Out Review Committee, available here, Sununu made his decision …
Weekend Kansas fatality is nation’s 7th industry death in 2017
January 3, 2018 – UPDATE: Authorities have released a statement that Clayton Donnell Barnhill of Grayson, La., was working on a communications tower fell approximately 320 feet to the ground from a 420-foot guyed tower. Based on reports by the Trego County Sheriff’s Office, a coworker on the tower with the deceased heard the deceased “click” his safety harness on, then …
Big tower build bonanza for towercos and contractors announced by Sprint
Sprint CFO Tarek Robbiati last week gave the industry an early holiday present – thousands of new towers to be built across the nation. At the 45th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications conference, Robbiati said the carrier intends to spend upwards of $4 billion on its network during fiscal 2017, which ends in March 2018, and expects to increase spending …
FDH Velocitel restructures after QualTek acquires Velocitel assets
Following QualTek Services’ recent acquisition of the assets of the Velocitel wireless turf and Site Safe businesses from Willis Stein & Partners and Vision Capital, FDH Velocitel’s remaining business units have reorganized into FDH Infrastructure Services (FDH-IS). FDH Velocitel’s infrastructure engineering businesses, FDH and Stainless, have been restructured to preserve both entities’ long traditions of service excellence to the wireless, …
Tower techs’ overtime lawsuit puts travel time compensation under an industry microscope
An Illinois class action lawsuit filed in August of 2014 by current and former tower techs of Heights Tower Service, Inc. (HTS) could be headed for a jury trial after a U.S. District Court Judge on Nov. 29 ruled against both sides’ bids for summary judgment regarding the complaint that accuses HTS of failing to properly compensate its employees for …
Phillip Burtner named President of the Pennsylvania Wireless Association
The Pennsylvania Wireless Assocociation Board of Directors named Phillip Burtner, P.E. as President of the Association. Burtner replaces Chris Pleibel who served in the position for the past ten years. “I would like to thank Chris for the vision, guidance and leadership he has provided to our organization over the past decade as board member and president,” Burtner said. “Our …
Hytera lawsuit alleges Motorola uses anticompetitive practices
Hytera Communications filed a lawsuit in federal Court Monday alleging that Motorola Solutions (MSI) is feeding its monopoly status in the land-mobile-radio (LMR) sector by pressuring dealers to not offer lower-priced Hytera radios. The complaint also states that due to Motorola’s monopoly, U.S. users are comparatively paying up to five times more for some radios than in other countries where …
Four NATE Directors re-elected as Ray joins Board for the first time
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the official results of the 2018 Board of Directors election, announcing that candidates Kevin Dougherty, President of MILLENNIA CONTRACTING, Inc. in New Castle, Del.; John Paul Jones, President of Tower & Turbine Technologies LLC in Austin, Tex.; Bryan Lee, President of Lee Antenna & Line Service, Inc. in Hellertown, Pa and …
New SCF study says small cells expected to reach up to 480 per square mile
Small Cell Forum (SCF), the telecoms organization driving universal cellular coverage, today announced the results of an in-depth survey of over 50 mobile operators, undertaken by Rethink Technology Research. The survey questioned operators’ deployment plans and business drivers for a dense HetNet, as well as the barriers they expect to have to overcome. The results showed that densification has begun …
