Crown Castle is investigating the circumstances that caused a multi-tenant monopole to catch fire early this morning in Philadelphia. Firefighters were called to the cell site kocated just of the Schuylkill Expressway between Montgomery Dr. and Roosevelt Blvd. at about 5:15 a.m. after numerous drivers called in the fire that had swept through the center of the pole, igniting transmission …
NATE Chairman Jim Tracy delivers a keynote address at STAC 2018
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) is playing a significant role this week at the 3rd Annual Structure, Tower and Antenna Council (STAC) Conference & Exposition in Calgary, Alberta. The STAC event, which began yesterday, is being held April 17-18 at the Hyatt Regency Calgary Hotel. NATE Chairman Jim Tracy delivered a STAC 2018 keynote presentation today entitled The …
Ganzi: “If you think of 5G as a baseball game, we are in the first inning”
Keeping in theme with the topic of 5G implementation at Wireless West in Los Angeles, the morning was kicked off with a focused and insightful look at that process from Digital Bridge co-founder and CEO Marc Ganzi. Of particular emphasis in Ganzi’s presentation was the need for forward thinking in regard to the scale of the rollout required to meet …
“I Don’t Need a Gym Membership” video is a great workforce development initiative
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a video highlighting the physical rigors and challenges that make communications tower work rewarding. The video is a companion series to the Association’s popular #ClimberConnection campaign and is a vital component of NATE’s workforce development outreach to promote the profession and attract new workers into the industry. The video, entitled “I …
Canada’s premier tower industry event is all set for April 17 and 18
Canada’s Structure, Tower & Antenna Council (STAC) will host its 3rd annual conference April 17 and 18, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Calgary in Alberta. From its location in the Stampede City, the STAC 2018 Conference & Exhibition will feature two full days of discussion and presentations by industry leading thinkers on the most important issues in the Canadian tower …
Smart Fusion Poles to alleviate capacity challenges in California
American Tower Corp. and Philips Lighting have announced that the City of Huntington Beach, CA will provide high capacity mobile connectivity, high quality LED lighting and smart city enablement with the newly developed Smart Fusion Poles. Designed to meet capacity challenges in dense, busy areas in the U.S., the Smart Fusion Pole provides the infrastructure necessary for wireless broadband connectivity in an aesthetically …
Tower Family Foundation and NATE assist Indiana student with memorial scholarship
The Tower Family Foundation and National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today jointly announced that Corey Gilreath, a junior civil engineering student from Evansville, Ind., has been named as the 2018 recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind. Gilreath already has significant real-world experience, having spent the past four years …
Aircel’s bankruptcy will cut into American Tower’s revenues
India-based carrier Aircel will file for bankruptcy, according to a report in The Economic Times. The telco, which has a debt of $184 million, has dissolved its board of directors. Aircel, owned by Malaysian company Maxis, has been in debt since its failed merger with Reliance Communications’ wireless business. The merger had failed due to regulatory hurdles and the Supreme Court preventing the sale …
Executives Tracy, Miller and Dougherty to lead NATE in 2018
NATE announced today that Board of Directors’ members Jim Tracy, Jim Miller and Kevin Dougherty were elected to serve on the Association’s Executive Committee for the upcoming year. The Association made the announcement on the first day of the NATE UNITE 2018 Conference and Exposition in Nashville, Tenn. Jim Tracy, CEO of Legacy Telecommunications was re-elected to serve as NATE …
Wireless ‘SuperTowers’ connect rural areas with mobile broadband
Altaeros has demonstrated a new “SuperTower” to help operators deploy LTE in hard-to-reach rural communities using tethered aerostats, the industrial versions of blimps. Altaeros partnered with Ericsson to successfully deploy a multi-sector LTE base station on a SuperTower in late 2017 in rural Maine, providing broadband speeds with streaming video. Rural markets like Maine are ideal for operators to deploy …
SpaceX gets important nod for its internet satellite system launch
SpaceX’s planned internet satellite system received an approval from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday who asked his agency to greenlight the application. In a press release about his decision, Pai said, “To bridge America’s digital divide, we’ll have to use innovative technologies. SpaceX’s application—along with those of other satellite companies seeking licenses or access to the U.S. …
SBA Communications sets deeper tower roots in El Salvador
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (“Millicom”) has announced that its subsidiary Telemovil El Salvador S.A. de C.V. (“Tigo El Salvador”) has agreed to sell up to 800 wireless communications towers to a subsidiary of SBA Communications Corporation (“SBA”) in El Salvador. As a result of the transaction, Tigo El Salvador will receive approximately $145 million in cash. Additionally, the two companies …
Phoenix Tower acquires 215 tower sites from Digicel in the French West Indies
Phoenix Tower International (PTI) of Boca Raton, Fla. via its subsidiary Phoenix Tower FWI, S.A.S. announced today that it has closed its transaction with Digicel Antilles Francaises Guyane (Digicel) to acquire the ownership or management rights relating to 215 wireless communication tower sites from Digicel. This latest transaction solidifies PTI’s position as the premier tower company in the Caribbean. Terms of …
Tower Family Foundation golf invitational set for February 18 in Nashville
You can get an early start to your 2018 golf season by hitting the links and participating in the inaugural Tower Family Foundation Golf Invitational. This fun event will take place the day before the annual NATE UNITE conference begins on Sunday, Feb. 18 at the Gaylord Springs Golf Club in Nashville, Tenn. The event is powered by NATE’s Wireless …
Replacing Robbiati, Combes is Sprint’s newest financial chief
Known for his decades of industry experience and a reputation for cost cutting, Michel Combes will join Sprint Corp. as CFO and president on Saturday, replacing outgoing CFO Tarek Robbiati. Robbiati has been cutting costs at the nation’s smallest of the four major U.S. wireless carriers and analysts are questioning how much further Sprint can slash costs. After a merger …
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 …
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 …
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 …
