The nation’s most profitable toll road, exceeding over $1 billion annually in revenue, will be slightly less profitable following a New Jersey tax court decision handed down last Friday that will require it to pay city taxes on a cell tower on its property in Elizabeth. The ruling could also have other municipalities assess whether towers located on turnpike property …
WIA expands frequency coordination operations with addition of microwave
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), which currently provides frequency coordination services to private and public entities, has added microwave frequency coordination to its comprehensive list of frequency coordination services. The new license management and frequency protection and monitoring services include: Point-To-Point Microwave coordination and Part 101 coordination for Multiple Address Systems along with associated Frequency Protection and Monitoring; FAA Studies/FCC …
Municipal representatives unveil Georgia’s ROW agreement with Mobilitie
After meeting with representatives of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week, city and town leaders from Massachusetts, Georgia and Minnesota, as well as a representative of the National League of Cities, presented them with what they believe could be a model template for telecom installations in public rights of way. During the meeting, they urged the Commission to avoid …
WUSF-TV is one of the first casualties of incentive auction
After 50 years of broadcasting, WUSF-TV has announced that it will go off the air later this year, now that the University of South Florida has sold its public broadcast license for more than $18.75 million during the FCC’s incentive auction. According to university officials, the price was far below what they anticipated receiving. Last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai …
Commissioner O’Rielly tackles questionable waste in backup network funding
The adage, any publicity is good publicity, may have backfired on the Arlington, Virginia Public Schools (APS) after an article in ARLnow.com was read by FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and he dashed off a letter to the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) that could possibly kayo funding for APS’s backup fiber network because he believes that “ratepayer dollars are being …
FCC gavels in $19.6 billion in auction, CTIA is already lobbying for another one
Bidding in the clock phase of the FCC’s incentive auction ended last week with wireless companies and others ponying up $19,632,506,746 for 70 MHz of new broadband spectrum, and although it was lower than a number of analysts’ projections, it was still the second largest auction ever. The U.S. Treasury will get approximately $7.6 billion and trade group CTIA is …
New tower construction regulations could be on the way if the CWA gets its way
New OSHA regulations directed at the wireless construction industry that were expected to be proposed in 2017 appeared to get a stay of execution when it seemed that the new administration will put a freeze on new regulations – especially since President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 30 that for every new regulation, agencies would have to toss …
CWA’s wireless workers at AT&T turn up the heat by alluding to a strike
Wireless workers at AT&T are planning protests throughout the nation this weekend ahead of their contract expiration on Saturday night. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), representing about 21,000 AT&T wireless workers, is planning to protest in a number of U.S. cities to put pressure on the carrier to have them accept their contract requests. More than 90% of members …
Pence’s $260 million tower deal legacy for Indiana is terminated
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced today that the Indiana Finance Authority has terminated contract discussions with Agile Networks which struck a tentative deal last September with the state to lease its communications towers while Vice President Mike Pence was Governor. As reported at that time by Wireless Estimator, Agile and Pence said that negotiations had been finalized for an agreement …
FCC head handcuffs his Enforcement Bureau chief in issuing settlements
Newly minted FCC Chairman Ajit Pai instituted a process reform measure yesterday that will handcuff his Enforcement Bureau chief so that Commissioners will become more fully involved in the agency’s enforcement activities. One of the ways in which the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau resolves an investigation is by entering into a consent decree, in which the party being investigated agrees to comply with certain …
High winds in Florida topple Jackson County broadcast tower
When strong winds swept through Jackson County, Fla. late Tuesday, they took down WTOT and WJAQ’s tower in Marianna. WTOT posted a message on their webpage along with a picture of the downed guyed tower saying, “In case you were wondering where your good time oldies are, and your phone APP is not working, well they say a picture is …
Tower technician is seriously injured when a staged monopole section collapses on him
Update: February 10, 2017 – According to a tower technician who visited the hospital yesterday evening where Tobi Koons is being treated for his injuries, Koons is still in serious condition and is expected to be in ICU for at least a week. Two tower technicians who are friends with Koons, informed Wireless Estimator that he is employed by Mission 1 Communications of …
Straight Path secures $17.5 million to help pay off FCC fines
Straight Path Communications Inc. announced it has secured $17.5 million in new debt financing, expanding the company’s options as it continues to explore strategic alternatives for the company. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced a settlement valued in excess of $100 million with the company to resolve an investigation of Straight Path’s failure to deploy wireless services …
WIA presses for small cells on pole facilities with its detailed primer
Attaching small wireless antennas and associated equipment – such as distributed antenna system (DAS) remote units, remote radio units and self-contained small cells – on existing poles or structures significantly improves the coverage and capacity of mobile networks, according to a new white paper titled “Small Cells on Pole Facilities: A Primer on How Utility Poles, Street Lights and Traffic …
T-Mobile’s Hail Mary pass falls short after Super Bowl data rank tanks
T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray most likely knew that there was no possibility of the carrier sporting high data usage numbers at Super Bowl 51 Sunday, and used the same game play that it did last year. Ray tried to exploit his opponents’ slow speed during the most watched sporting event in America with T-Mobile’s download and upload speeds of …
NATE releases an updated detailed resource for tower site drone usage
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the 2nd Edition of the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Operations Around Vertical Communications Infrastructure resource document available to all interested parties at no charge. The newest edition of this valuable safety resource is a by-product of collaboration between the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Committee and other prominent representatives from the commercial …
FCC Commissioner Clyburn trashes newest Chairman’s actions in news dump
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the remaining Democrat on the Commission, went head to head on the keyboard with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Friday, clashing over whether his actions were legal when he reversed a decision made late in the Obama administration to let consumers apply their telecommunications subsidies to broadband services. Clyburn, who served as the acting Chairman in 2013 …
Radio equipment thief arrested who put Tennessee county’s public at risk
The Perry County Tennessee Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) arrested Frank Thomas Aldridge, 48, of Lobelville on Thursday for stealing radio equipment that disrupted local, state and emergency communications. According to a police report, on or about Dec. 12, 2016, Aldridge made forced entry into a communications tower compound off of Crooked Creek Rd. in Lobelville. The tower site is owned by …
FCC Commissioner contends more broadband subsidies may not be the best route
Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been open to the idea of spending $20 billion in broadband funding as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal, as recently reported by Wireless Estimator, but one Republican Federal Communications Commissioner is arguing that the approach has “serious potential drawbacks.” “For the sake of efficiency and soundness, if new government money has to be …
FCC chief takes first step to increase transparency of rulemakings by releasing documents
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today announced a pilot program designed to dramatically increase the transparency of Commission rulemakings. For the first time, the Chairman is releasing to the public the full text of documents he circulated to his fellow Commissioners for a vote at the FCC’s next Open Meeting on Feb. 23. Traditionally, these documents, and the draft proposals contained …
