]
During their May 6–7 Congressional Fly-In event in Washington, D.C., NATE members will showcase a whiteboard animation presented today, highlighting the critical issues that are forcing many contractors out of business. They will personally deliver a petition for Fairness and Sustainability in Wireless Infrastructure Contracting to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. [enlarge image]
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today unveiled a whiteboard animation video that highlights the carrier-centric issues currently affecting America’s communications infrastructure contractors and their technician workforce. The video provides a powerful illustration of the one-sided mandates, policies, and payment systems imposed by the top wireless carriers on the contractor and vendor members they rely on to build, deploy, and maintain their networks.
The video below uses animation to drive home the following realities that contractors are currently confronted with:
- One-sided Master Service Agreements (MSAs): Contractors are forced into “take-it-or-leave-it” agreements that disproportionately shift liabilities and costs onto them.
- Unfair Pricing Structures: Carriers enforce unit pricing models that fail to account for inflation, labor, compliance, and operational costs.
- Operational Inefficiencies and Payment Delays: Extended payment terms exceeding 30 days create cash flow issues, leading to financial instability for contractors.
- Illegal Workforce Practices: Some carriers and turf vendors, knowingly or unknowingly, rely on a 1099 workforce and undocumented labor, which raises significant ethical, legal, and national security concerns.
- Uncompensated Mandates: Contractors bear the financial burden of compliance costs, third-party certification platforms, material handling/storage, and other mandates without reimbursement.
NATE plans to leverage the video by sharing it during the association’s upcoming Member Congressional Fly-In event on May 6-7 in Washington, D.C. NATE encourages its member companies to share the video with their customers, industry contacts, and networks.
To sign the NATE petition to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for Fairness and Sustainability in Wireless Infrastructure Contracting, click here. NATE plans to formally present the petition to Carr during the association’s member congressional fly-in event.
A letter to the editor published by Wireless Estimator in late 2024, identifying the death of Tower Contracting from an Insider, sparked a broad reckoning. NATE issued a warning. And a petition to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr followed. For the first time in years, contractors nationwide were uniting in their call for reform.
NATE President and CEO Todd Schlekeway stated in January, “I believe these issues can be resolved through collaboration.” Yet it remains unclear what, if any, outreach carriers have undertaken.
As one industry insider observed, “The carrier that steps up first with constructive solutions will become the preferred partner, demonstrating initiative in addressing concerns that were previously overlooked.”
With the whiteboard animation laying everything bare, there’s no longer any excuse for feigned ignorance.
