The wireless construction industry could get a welcomed shot in the arm since broadband is expected to be part of the $2 trillion spending plan on infrastructure that President Donald Trump agreed to in a meeting with Democratic leaders today after he met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at the White House to begin …
NCOSH casting a wide net in its investigation of a fiber installation explosion that killed two
The N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) is using a shotgun approach to uncover whether proper procedures were followed marking utility lines as well as drilling around those lines prior to a gas explosion on April 10 that killed a shop owner and utility employee and injured 25 other individuals. N.C. DOL Public Information Officer Mary Katherine Revels …
Sprint and T-Mobile’s urge to merge extended to July 29
According to an SEC filing, T-Mobile and Sprint have extended the deadline for completing their merger to July 29 as they continue to seek the regulatory approvals they need to complete a deal. The previous deadline had been Monday. The No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers announced their proposed merger on April 29, 2018. The Department of Justice’s antitrust …
Lack of towercos’ aviation compliance could result in 7,000 towers heading for the scrap yard
After three years of negotiations between the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to address annual tower owner certification concerns hit an impasse, the NCAA said it was going to exercise its authority and if within 30 days towercos didn’t obtain statutory Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) for all of their structures …
Grant Seiffert to Lead WIA’s workforce development team and TIRAP
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) announced that Grant Seiffert has joined WIA as Vice President of Workforce Development and Executive Director of Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). “We are excited that Grant has joined the WIA team to help implement our vision of developing a stronger wireless workforce to build and maintain 5G networks,” said WIA President and CEO …
OSHA sets aside May 6-10 for its 6th national fall prevention safety stand-down
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is joining with occupational safety organizations for the 6th annual National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down, May 6-10, 2019. The week-long event will focus attention on preventing falls in construction, the leading cause of fatalities in the industry. The national stand-down encourages employers and workers to pause voluntarily during the workday …
Sprint’s 5G ‘E’ lawsuit against AT&T settled, ending what was considered a PR ploy
According to a court document obtained by Wireless Estimator, Sprint’s lawsuit against AT&T for deceptively marketing its upgraded 4G service as “5G Evolution,” has been settled. U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Broderick for the Southern District of New York said that both parties informed him during a status conference yesterday that they had reached a settlement. They’re required by tomorrow …
The 5G status quo is clearly not good enough: T-Mobile’s Neville Ray, who slams Millimeter-wave
Editor’s note: Instead of paraphrasing T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray’s comments in his blog today, we’ve published it in its entirety. Of interest, he doesn’t comment about any of Sprint’s 5G comments that could be seen as embellishments. 5G is at the height of the hype curve right now. There’s a lot of buzz and froth about this vital, important …
Investigations underway in Crown Castle subsidiary’s gas explosion accident that killed one, injured 25
As part of a state investigation, Dominion Energy will begin excavation this week under a site where an explosion in downtown Durham, N.C. on April 10 killed a 61-year-old coffee shop owner and injured 25 people when a Crown Castle subcontractor struck a gas line causing the blast that severely damaged 15 businesses. City officials have said a contractor laying …
Serious workforce shortage has the wireless industry and FCC pulling together to solve it
Although it’s difficult to assess exactly how many additional trained tower technicians America needs to build out 5G, it’s clear that there is a shortage of skilled workers and Aiken Technical College (ATC) in South Carolina is helping to fill that gap with the nation’s most successful tower and wireless installation training program. After observing the ATC program in Graniteville …
Mom watches from her driveway as collapsing tower cuts her mobile home in half
Severe storms in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. Thursday toppled the top sections of a 335-foot guyed tower owned by A1 Two-Way Radio that was erected in 1990. The sections crashed through a mobile home in front of it, severely damaging the structure, according to WBRC. None of the Tully family were at home when the collapse occurred, but Mrs. Tully was …
Tech’s fractured forearm requires emergency rescue in San Antonio
The San Antonio Fire Department rescued a tower technician this morning who broke his arm and had to be rescued 130 feet up in the air. The department said two men were performing work on a cell phone tower along Bandera Road and Loop 1604 when a piece of equipment fell and broke the right forearm of one worker. The …
Tin foil hat testing and junk science being used to possibly remove 35 towers from Utah schools
Motivated by Sprint caving in to demands in California to remove a school cell tower, a South Jordan, Utah resident protesting the existence of two towers at the Jordan Ridge Elementary School has prompted a school board member to ask the community whether all 35 towers at school sites should be removed. Armed with recent inaccurate testing at an elementary school …
FCC order and the order that software plays in 5G are key Wireless West sessions
Day two of the Wireless West conference kicked off with a wireless fireside chat with Pete Bernard, Principal Group Program Manager – Silicon and 5G Connectivity Partners at Microsoft. “We are seeing a lot of investment in software in hardware companies,” Bernard said. “For example, Tesla, about 6% of their employees are software developers. Traditionally, Ford for example, that number …
‘To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off’ video examines step bolts for personal fall arrest systems
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a video that was produced as a result of several prominent industry step bolt testing events that were conducted at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) in Dayton, Ohio. The #ClimberConnection video, entitled “To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off”, contains important safety information that the industry’s tower technician workforce needs to …
Climbers asked to check for possible dorsal d-ring defect on ExoFit NEX™ harness
3M Fall Protection said it has learned of the possibility of a manufacturing defect in a dorsal d-ring utilized in ExoFit NEX™ harnesses manufactured between January 2016 and December 2018. Although there have been no reported incidents involving this condition, a dorsal d-ring with this defect will not support the load in a fall arrest event which could result in …
As structured, Sprint/T-Mobile merger is likely to fail, WSJ quotes antitrust staffers
Department of Justice antitrust staffers have told T-Mobile US and Sprint that their planned merger is unlikely to be approved as currently structured, casting doubt on the fate of the $26 billion deal, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Twitter, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said, “The premise of this story, as summarized in the first paragraph, is simply untrue. …
Missouri counties’ property ‘expert’ taken over the coals in successful AT&T $1.69 million reduction
Living up to the state’s sobriquet, “Show Me,” senior Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) hearing officer Amy S. Westermann asked the counsel for five county property assessors – Caldwell, Daviess, Harrison, Henry and Mercer – to identify how they assessed AT&T Mobility’s 23 cell towers following AT&T’s STC complaint to have them reviewed and reassessed. Attorney Patricia Hughes complied, providing …
5G panel and the ‘Tower Hour’ bring together leading experts at Wireless West
Today, activities at Wireless West began with an inspiring keynote presentation by Nate Boyer offering inspirational stories from the military and NFL Offering sage advice, Boyer said, “We are all capable. We just gotta make a decision. Obstacles are just opportunities to be great.” Following the keynote, the highly anticipated “5G’s of 5G” panel covered the implementation of 5G throughout …
Belting up inside the Beltway is seen by millions of viewers
$20.4 billion opportunity fund and third auction announced President Trump’s 5G press conference from the Roosevelt room (video below) in the White House on Friday spotlighted the nation’s tower climbers as they surrounded him with support during his and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s presentation. It was a proud industry moment as President Trump complimented infrastructure builders, as many millions of …
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