The Christmas weekend blizzard that crippled western New York, causing dozens of fatalities, cut off cell tower service to many residents in the Village of Depew when an American Tower-managed multi-carrier 114-foot monopole collapsed behind a Wegman’s supermarket. The event was largely unknown in industry circles since it was not reported in local or other media. Although the structure has …
Crown Castle petitions FCC to clarify that nutrition labels are for retail only
Although Crown Castle has informed the FCC that it supports the new broadband “nutrition” labels for mass market retailers, they want the agency to clarify that new required labels containing metrics about internet service to apply only to mass-market retail and not to the services provided to schools, libraries and health care under FCC universal service programs. In November, the …
Wildlife volunteers join up with a tower tech and others to ensure a fishing line didn’t kill eagle family
When Kathleen Westfall, one of Audobon EagleWatch’s 600 dedicated volunteers monitoring 1,000 eagle nests in Florida, viewed a Bald Eagle’s nest on Plum Lane in Hudson last Monday, she became concerned after noticing a large amount of fishing line in the nest on a Crown Castle 160-foot monopole. She immediately contacted Kim Rexroat, a director at Raptor Center of …
NATE UNITE 2023’s keynote speaker is undeniably unafraid of working at heights
Tower techs, rightfully so, are proud of the heights that they’ve climbed, some being able to put a desirable hash mark on their helmet if they’ve reached the coveted 1,900-foot level. NATE UNITE 2023’s keynote speaker, Mike Massimino, would have a considerably different marking for his helmet, representing he climbed – with an assist from a space shuttle orbiter — …
Vandals destroy three 410-foot towers, unaware their crime would backfire and gift a religious broadcaster
The FBI and local authorities are investigating the felling of three AM broadcast towers owned by Truth Broadcasting Co. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, each one on a different day within less than three weeks. The first collapse witnessed by a nearby homeowner, Cliff Orgnon, occurred on December 21, 2022. After the three towers were destroyed, WSJS went off the air. …
Tower crew removing a bald eagle’s nest draws the ire of residents and a federal investigation
A federal investigation is in the works after residents contacted wildlife officials after they watched a tower crew remove a bald eagle’s nest from a cell tower on Thursday in Mount Pleasant, SC. A local wildlife photographer, Cacky Rivers, informed News 2 that she had been in touch with federal and state agencies who reported to the scene. According to …
‘Bunch of garbage’ NOTAMs are back on FAA’s server as flights head back to normal
Tower owners know how critical it is to immediately file a Notice to Air Missions or NOTAM if their FAA obstruction lighting fails so that pilots become aware of the outage. So does the FAA. That’s why the agency canceled all outbound flights on Wednesday when the NOTAM database crashed, crippling air travel across the country after over 9,000 flights …
Proposed non-compete ban will affect every company in America; many believe it’s a blessing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which would ban non-compete agreements in all employment contracts, except where related to the sale of a business. This exception would only be available where the party restricted by the non-compete clause is an owner, member, or partner holding at least a 25% ownership interest in a business entity. …
FCC says aural sex purveyors and pirates will pay more if they’re fined this year due to inflation
The FCC’s adjustment of the maximum amount of FCC fines for violations due to inflation will be effective on January 15, 2023, with the agency continuing to be tough on broadcast obscenity. If the violator is determined by the Commission to have broadcast obscene, indecent, or profane material, the forfeiture penalty can be as high as $479,945 for each violation …
Stop use product recall issued on Rock Exotica’s Omni Swivel Pulley
A recall notice for Omni 1.1″ Pulley Variants, 20050xxx through 22304xxx has been issued by Rock Exotica, requiring a stop use and remove from service warning from the company. The recall notice, AVAILABLE HERE, identifies that the button assembly on a limited number of 1.1” Omni Swivel Pulleys and associated variants may not be secure. If the button comes out …
Republicans and big telecom are hoping to knock out Gigi Sohn in President Biden’s 2nd round nomination
President Joe Biden is making his second attempt to break the deadlock at the Federal Communications Commission by renominating Gigi Sohn to serve as the third Democratic commissioner at the five-member FCC. However, there is still strong opposition to her appointment. In October 2021, Biden nominated Sohn to the position, but her nomination stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. In …
NY board knocks down wealthy residents’ cries that Richard Gere’s monopine will depress property values
The planning board of the Town of Bedford, NY, appears to be ready to approve a 130-foot monopine on the grounds of Richard Gere’s tony Bedford Post Inn. Gere and real estate developer Russell Hernandez have offered land on their 14-acre estate for a Verizon cell site to fill service gaps for emergency responders in town. Wealthy residents Rooney and …
In the not so friendly terrestrial skies, Inmarsat files a lawsuit against Ligado for refusing to pay
In April 2020, FCC Commissioners unanimously approved Ligado’s application to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-band to support 5G services, ignoring opposition to the departments of Interior, Commerce, Justice Energy, and Homeland Security opposing the company’s plan, claiming that Ligado could disrupt GPS service to aviation and military customers. Ligado, which emerged following the bankruptcy of LightSquared, had …
AT&T’s sole bid is inked for a New Jersey lease deal; lawsuit argues monopine violates town’s height restriction
A Scotch Plains, NJ homeowner has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to block the Town of Westfield’s plan to lease space to AT&T for the construction of a cell tower at the Conservation Center – an adjacent recycling compound. David Munsky, whose home borders Westfield and the recycling facility’s property, claims the monopine will “tower over” his and other …
A secured cable grip failure appears to have caused the death of a Texas tower technician
After a 32-year-old tower technician passed away on December 15, 2022, in Weatherford, TX, while engaged in an installation project for Verizon, the limited information provided by the Parker County Sheriff’s Office and the technician’s employer, Neticom of Arlington, TX, appeared to indicate that the Fort Worth technician was killed after a hybrid cable came loose while it was being …
Verizon tagged with a $950,000 FCC fine partially because an employee lacked NEPA/NHPA expertise
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has entered into a Consent Decree to resolve its investigation into whether Verizon Wireless constructed wireless sites without complying with the FCC’s environmental and historic preservation rules, including rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). As part of the decree, Verizon will have to pay $950,000 …
Wireless industry urges states to allow maximum flexibility in selecting broadband technologies
Today, leading organizations representing the wireless industry sent letters to broadband offices in all US states and territories, urging them to allow for maximum flexibility in choosing the right mix of broadband technologies to meet their policy goals with Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds. Under the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), states and territories are required to …
Hybrid cable is severed from its rigging, causing the death of a Fort Worth tower technician
Clarification: An earlier version of this article said that a hybrid cable being raised fell on a technician causing, fatal injuries. According to the technician’s employer, the cable had been secured to the tower with a cable manufacturer-installed hoisting grip that failed. An update is available here. A 32-year-old Fort Worth, TX tower tech died on December 15, 2022, when …
If DigitalBridge’s turnaround falls short, Legion Partners wants Ganzi to sell the expanding REIT
A small activist investment fund wants to be the tail that wags the dog after it heavily weighted its company’s portfolio in DigitalBridge Group stock. It believes the company should consider a sale if current efforts fail to boost shareholder value. Legion Partners Asset Management, with a portfolio today of about $280 million, began its investment in DigitalBridge during the …
Fighting Mother Nature for 44 years, two tall towers in South Dakota finally succumb
The massive winter storm that moved through the Plains Wednesday morning knocked down a 1,700-foot TV tower and an 800-foot broadcast tower in northeastern South Dakota just outside the boundaries of Garden City. The 1,700-foot guyed tower, constructed in 1978, is owned by Nextar and was the home for CBS affiliate KDLO-TV and KDLO-FM When the tower fell just before …
