While a contractor’s crew was attempting to finish a slab pour on Sunday for a foundation being installed for WNIX’s new transmitter building in Greenville, MS, a concrete truck driver backed into a guy wire, causing the station’s 199-foot tower to collapse. Larry Fuss, President and CEO of Delta Radio, the owner of the news-talk AM radio station, made the announcement …
Three top towerco execs, Cavanagh, Kavanagh and Noel, join Wireless Infrastructure Association’s Board
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) announced the following industry leaders have joined its Board of Directors: Brendan Cavanagh, President and Chief Executive Officer, SBA Communications Mike Kavanagh, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer-Towers, Crown Castle Bud Noel, Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division, American Tower Brendan Cavanagh succeeds former SBA President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stoops …
If you’re a tough tower tech, you have four months to get ready for some serious competition
North Jackson, Ohio is set to host the adrenaline-pumping 2nd Annual Tough Tower Competition on June 8 and 9, promising a record turnout and an electrifying showcase of prowess and agility. This year, the competition intensifies with eight dynamic teams of two tower technicians each, hailing from across the United States, ready to face off in a thrilling display …
Stealth steal: Vandals walk off with a 200-foot AM broadcast tower
On Friday, Brett Elmore, general manager of WJLX radio, a nondirectional AM radio station, went on Facebook and announced that someone had made off with his 200-foot-tall guyed tower from a site in Jasper, Alabama, that is located at a dead end near the sprawling Mar-Jac poultry plant. “This morning, my bush hog crew went down to a tower site we …
Was $25K okay for tower tech foreman who claims he was terminated because of his union advocacy?
The Tower Climbers United/C.W.A. union (TCU/CWA) has recently issued a press release celebrating a significant triumph following the successful resolution of a dispute with Swartley Tower Services Communications, Inc. (S.T.S. Communications) on behalf of Roland Bachelder, a tower climber who faced discrimination and termination due to his active support of the union movement. The press release highlights that a settlement …
GRILLION ALERT: Check your rope adjuster, it might have an incorrect installation
Petzl is requesting that all workers inspect certain GRILLON products following the detection of ropes mounted incorrectly in the rope adjuster of recently produced GRILLON products. In such a case, the product does not perform its blocking function, which can result in a risk of injury. The company is requesting that you immediately stop using the GRILLON products manufactured between …
North Carolina copper theft suspect’s spree against AT&T ended in December but charges keep coming in
A 36-year-old Balsam Grove, North Carolina man facing 47 charges in Henderson County, North Carolina, also faces eight more charges in Buncombe County as investigators look into incidents of coaxial cable theft from cell towers. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office announced last week that Vincent DePaul was accused of stealing transmission lines from cell phone towers. After a month-long investigation, …
Tower Family Foundation expands scholarship program to assist eligible students with education expenses
The Tower Family Foundation announced today the official expansion of the non-profit organization’s scholarship program, which includes enhanced eligibility criteria and a new application form that supports more students on a merit basis. The Tower Family Foundation is opening the program to the broader NATE community by offering a limited number of merit-based scholarships that will be available annually to …
Gun-toting Texas arsonist sentenced to 78 months for allegedly torching 22 cell towers
A 30-year-old San Antonio, Texas man was sentenced Wednesday in a federal court to six and a half years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and setting fire to approximately 22 cell towers, according to court records. In a statement, prosecutors said Sean Aaron Smith “maliciously attempted to damage and destroy, using fire, multiple cellular …
AT&T’s sudden move to oust maintenance contractors could threaten FirstNet’s resilience
For the past decade and more, AT&T has cultivated strong relationships with some of the nation’s most skilled contractors. In return, these contractors have provided AT&T with on-call maintenance crews capable of handling nearly every aspect of their network needs, often with an almost intuitive understanding. They know that troubleshooting a sector is quite distinct from building one and America’s …
Goodman Network’s bankruptcy trustee is trying to claw back $10s of millions in fraudulent transactions
FedEx sues Goodman for $81 million in what trustee says was a minority business product laundering scam A FedEx subsidiary, FedEx Supply Chain Logistics & Electronics, Inc. (FSCLE), is suing executives and directors of Goodman Networks as well as Goodman-associated companies, a Texas bank, and business associates for a multi-faceted scheme to defraud FSCLE of more than $80 million. The …
Former American Tower CFO Bradley Singer will now guide his former arch-competitor, Crown Castle
When American Tower Corporation (ATC) CFO Bradley Singer left the Boston-based company in 2008 for his new role as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Discovery Communications, LLC, he reflected upon his eight years at the company, stating,” I am gratified with what we have achieved together, and I believe that American Tower’s strategic and financial position and talented …
Taking editorial roads less traveled seen as the successful driver for Wireless Estimator’s 20th Anniversary
In 2004, two years before Facebook became accessible to the general public and Yahoo! Groups were getting their internet legs, there was the now-defunct Tower-Pro group. It boasted 2,200 members at its peak, and was one of the few vehicles offering news and only when a member posted a link. At that time, former journalist and veteran contractor in the …
Study reveals 73% of underground fiber deployment’s cost is in labor, 67% for aerial
The Fiber Broadband Association has announced the results of its 2023 Fiber Deployment Cost Study, conducted by Cartesian, which provides the industry’s benchmark to help fiber broadband service providers evaluate their cost profile and identify areas of inefficiency. FBA’s comprehensive study identifies that, on average, labor contributed to 73% of underground build costs and 67% of aerial costs. The study also provides regional …
Verizon shareholder’s startling discovery: Lead cable-based lawsuit features him as the star plaintiff
The same law firm that helped bring shareholder derivative class actions against AT&T and Verizon executives and board members last July for allegedly covering up their knowledge of abandoned toxic lead-laden telecom cables filed another suit in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey earlier this month on behalf of Verizon shareholder Wade Sarver against Verizon’s current Board of …
Naked woman falls from the 175-foot level of a monopole and is snagged to safety by two firefighters
In an unprecedented rescue operation, firefighters in Gastonia, North Carolina, demonstrated incredible bravery and skill as they saved an impaired, naked woman who had climbed 175 feet up a 200-foot monopole cell tower owned by TowerCom. The incident unfolded off of Love Street on Sunday evening, leaving both the rescuers and the woman herself in awe of the outcome. Authorities received …
Sabotage for copper: Vandals bring down a 500-foot tower in Oklahoma, costing $500,000 in damages
Update: January 18, 2024 – Within two days after a 500-foot broadcast tower was sabotaged in Hugo, Oklahoma in order to strip the felled sections of coaxial lines for their copper, two Choctaw County residents have been arrested in connection to the incident, according to Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park. Park said that the arrests were through the joint efforts …
Injured tower tech rescued after falling from a “rat’s nest” tower site outside of Chicago
A tower tech is in stable condition after falling approximately 15 feet off a 65-foot monopole yesterday that sits atop the 125-foot tall Frankfort Grainery tower in Frankfort, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. At approximately 2:00 p.m., the Frankfort Fire Protection District received a 9-1-1 call that a tower tech had fallen and had a broken arm. After arriving at …
Former Marine turned tower tech is sentenced to 25 years to life for murdering his pregnant, estranged wife
Nassau County, NY District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced today that a St. James man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the brutal murder of his estranged wife in January 2020. Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Robert McDonald handed down the sentence. “The place you are going is a cold, dark place, but not as cold …
AT&T and Duke Energy bury the hatchet and settle their FCC pole rate row before the Fourth Circuit
With oral arguments before a three-judge appeals court for the Fourth Circuit set to begin on January 24, 2024, Duke Energy and AT&T have agreed to settle their disagreements against the FCC over a pole rate decision that both were concerned about for different reasons. On November 18, 2022, in a unanimous vote, the FCC stood by its 2021 decision …
