American Tower Corporation (ATC) has purchased 66 towers from Brazil’s TIM Cellular S.A., and CTI Towers, Inc. has acquired the marketing rights to 125 commercial properties. ATC paid $8 million for the 66 towers as part of a continuing deal that began in 2014 when TIM said it would sell up to 6,481 towers. Currently, 5,753 towers have been sold. …
Recycling yard fire takes out an Arizona FM tower in its path
A fire that started Friday in Nogales, Ariz. was finally extinguished yesterday, but in its wake it took out a communications tower owned by KOFH, La Maxima 99.1 FM, a bilingual news and talk station owned by Oscar Felix Sr. Felix said he was on the air when the station lost its signal and then he noticed the black smoke …
Welding crew kayos two carriers on Winnipeg airport cell tower
The U.S. doesn’t have exclusivity of crews burning down monopoles while welding, as witnessed Thursday in Winnipeg, Can. when a cell tower providing services to MTS and Telus Mobility subscribers caught fire at the Richardson International Airport . An individual, knowledgeable of the incident, informed Wireless Estimator that a crew was cutting new portholes on the monopole when the transmission …
Eco-Site appoints former American Tower exec to lead site development/operations
Eco-Site, Inc. (www.eco-site.com), a North Carolina-based wireless tower and densification solutions company, announced the appointment of Scott Lewis to the position of senior vice president, site development and operations. Lewis brings more than 15 years of wireless infrastructure experience in his new role, most recently leading network engineering and deployment for American Tower. Lewis is responsible for creating a single, …
NATE UNITE 2017 is offering a number of optional courses
The National Association of Tower erectors is suggesting that you maximize your time during the NATE UNITE 2017 event February 27- March 2 in Fort Worth, Texas by receiving additional training all in one location. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a first-time attendee, these courses offer additional training at a reasonable cost. At this year’s NATE event, the …
Sprint’s parent company to add 50K new jobs and invest $50 billion
President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday that SoftBank Group Corp., the parent company of Sprint Corp. will invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States. Making the announcement standing next to Masyoshi Son, Sprint Chairman and CEO of SoftBank, which owns more than 80 percent of Sprint, neither Trump nor Son mentioned Sprint other than Son stating that …
AT&T and NASA collaborate on drone traffic management systems
AT&T and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are researching traffic management solutions for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The goal is an Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) solution that supports the safe and highly secure operation of drones in the national airspace. AT&T has been working with NASA and other companies to make UAS flight path monitoring, flight …
Commissioners call on FCC to halt major agency actions
Republicans yesterday asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to stop all action on complex or controversial issues during the transition to a new president, stating that Democrats requested the same after the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. “During the last presidential transition, the Commission Chairman wisely heeded the will of Congress in setting aside any remaining controversial …
CS&L to pick up 473 towers and change its name to Uniti Towers
Little Rock, Ark.-based Communications Sales & Leasing Inc. reported a loss on Monday of $4.1 million during its 2016 third quarter, and said it plans to acquire Network Management Holdings LTD, a private company that owns and operates 359 wireless communications towers in Mexico, Nicaragua and Colombia. The company said it expects to initially pay $65 million for the purchase …
MUTI’s apprenticeship program highlighted during DoL’s spotlight week
Midwest Underground Technology Inc./Sabre Industries (MUTI), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, today announced its continued support for Registered Apprenticeship Programs as part of the second annual National Apprenticeship Week. MUTI said it is proud to offer the first registered apprenticeship for Telecommunication Tower Technicians in the country. Going into its second year, the apprenticeship program has trained …
What you need to know about the new tower safety consensus standards
Subject matter experts Don Doty and Gordon Lyman conducted a live NATE webinar yesterday, entitled Game Changers! What You Need to Know About the New ANSI/ASSE A10.48 and TIA 322 National Tower Safety Consensus Standards. Through a coordinated and collaborative effort led by NATE, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE); along with other key …
Avant-garde cell tower design has a minor flaw, it won’t work
An assistant professor of design research at M.I.T. has a unique way to rethink a cell tower’s essential infrastructure by programming building materials — wood, textiles, and synthetic fibers — to respond automatically to external stimuli like heat, cold, light, wind or water. He asks of the next-gen cell tower: “How can we make it change shape, bend, twist, twirl, …
CCI Antenna wins in CommScope patent dispute
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) today denied a petition for Inter Partes Review (IPR) filed by CommScope Technologies LLC, which challenged the validity of CCI Antenna’s U.S. Patent titled “Asymmetrical Beams for Spectrum Efficiency,” and is one of several CCI Antenna’s patents relating to improving sector capacity and throughput in wireless networks. More specifically, the technology covered by …
American Tower enters Argentina with an undisclosed assets buy
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Nov. 9, 2016, American Tower Corporation entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of urban telecommunications assets in Argentina, including wireless sites, equipment and fiber assets located on utility infrastructure as well as a number of indoor wireless sites. The Company expects to commence its business in Argentina with this …
West Chicago telecom fiber optic worker electrocuted
Authorities in Sterling, Ill. Are investigating the death of a telecommunications company worker who was electrocuted yesterday while working on fiber-optic cable when the bucket on his truck came into contact with ComED power line. Robert Zulauf, 32, owner of Zucru Communications, was pronounced dead at the scene just before 1 pm., according to the Whiteside County Coroner’s office. Another …
New lighting standards helped tower owners to lower bird kill; 15,000 still left
New guidelines for communication tower lights spell out how tower operators can save birds and energy without sacrificing safety. Put in place by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the guidelines strongly encourage tower operators to turn off or reprogram steady-burning red or white lights in favor of flashing lights, which are less harmful to birds yet still …
Concerns about anchor corrosion detailed in new NATE video
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today unveiled an Anchor Corrosion video as part of the Association’s acclaimed Climber Connection campaign. The video provides detailed information on the conditions and factors that contribute to anchor corrosion on guyed-towers. The video also includes practical testimonial footage from a tower climber highlighting the options available to the industry to mitigate and …
TIA and OSHA explore new standards and serious safety climb concerns
The Telecommunications Industry Association and representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administrating met in Washington DC to hold productive roundtable discussions to gain a better understanding of applying new TIA standards to communications structures. Developing and presenting the detailed presentation, available here, were John Erichsen, Bryan Lanier, Stephani Brewer, Scott Kisting, Richard Cullum and James Ruedlinger. In addition to …
AT&T’s utility pole claims are rebutted by the FCC
The Federal Communications Commission issued a statement Monday related to a lawsuit filed by AT&T (Bell South) against Louisville, Ky., stating that the city’s One Touch Make Ready (OTMR) policy, a pole attachment ordinance, does not conflict with federal regulations. Kentucky is one of 20 states that have certified that they regulate their own pole attachment terms and conditions that …
