A True North Management Services technician prepares for a sector pick as Sprint CEO Michel Combes watches the installation
However, it’s likely that a Missouri-based contractor will not have a challenge with any of those problems for one Sprint 2.5 GHz upgrade that the company completed earlier this month in Olathe, Kan.
Combes talks to a capstan operator at the Kansas upgrade site
It’s rare for any project for a foreman to see on site the carrier’s regional site development director. Add to that the regional network VP and multiple other Sprint managers.
And if he had any questions, he wouldn’t expect that all he had to do was turn around and ask the man breathing down his neck a foot away – the new Sprint CEO, Michel Combes.
In a Sprint-produced video (above) promoting their 2.5 GHz-owned spectrum and how they were entering the 5G arena, Combes said the buildout was going to be successful because of “Our people that you see in the field which are working days and nights in order to meet our schedule.”
For the casual viewer of the video, it appeared by Combes’ comments that the tower technicians that were installing the new antennas and radios were Sprint employees.
Not so. In a few frames viewers could see a trailer with only an ‘N’ on the side with an arrow. A little investigating by Wireless Estimator found that it belonged to True North Management Services, LLC of Fenton, Mo.
However, if the foreman did have a technical question, Combes didn’t appear to be the individual to direct them to. Just before they were ready to fly the mount-assembled radio and antenna sector, Combes asked in a heavy French accent, “So you just bring this up and connect it?”
“That’s it,” the foreman replied diplomatically, most likely wanting to inform him that what he was witnessing was only 10 percent of the time required for the upgrade – that’s if everything went according to plan.
Combes complimented True North, stating, “You have in your hands the future of our company.”