NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced today that Mike Eruzione will deliver the keynote address at the NATE UNITE 2025 Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. NATE UNITE 2025 will celebrate the Association’s 30th Anniversary and is scheduled to take place February 17-20, 2025, at the Raleigh Convention Center. NATE UNITE is widely regarded as the premier and most comprehensive …
Macro to Mini: Chris Pleibel charts a new course beyond PerfectVision’s big steel
PerfectVision Infrastructure Vice President Chris Pleibel surprised the telecom industry last week by announcing his departure from the leading manufacturer. While career moves are common in the field, Pleibel’s decision to leave the wireless industry altogether was unexpected by colleagues who have come to know him well since he began his 26-year career in telecom at monopole and tower manufacturer …
New Valmont Site Pro 1 heavy duty ring mounts ensure antennas stay on the tower
By Sharpe Smith, Contributing Editor Recently, more attention has been paid to the interaction between antenna mounts and towers to avoid failures. To ensure that today’s larger, heavier antenna mounts and antennas remain secured to a monopole, Valmont Site Pro 1 has redesigned the connection between the mount and the tower, known as a ring mount. At the NATE Emerging …
CapEx climbs at big 3 carriers, offering the industry niche opportunities
By J. Sharpe Smith, Contributing Editor The major carriers appear to be healthy, generating strong cash flows, paying down debt and buying back stock. But will tower construction and maintenance companies be healthier in the coming year? That might depend on which services each company provides. Opportunities for growth in fiber, fixed wireless access, C-Band (and other spectrum), and private …
Déjà Vu at the FCC: Republicans demand a timeout as power swaps hands asking for ‘pencils down’
In a move that mirrors past transitions of power, Republican leaders are urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to temporarily hold any contentious regulatory initiatives until President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. This “pencils down” approach, often invoked during transitional periods, aims to restrict the FCC’s agenda to non-controversial matters, ensuring a smooth handover of authority. It’s a …
Services set for Texas tower tech James Belcher as OSHA continues its investigation
Funeral services have been announced for James Robert Belcher of Magnolia, Texas, who passed away on November 4, 2024, after a work site incident in Grovetown, Texas. Belcher, 38, was a tower technician supervisor employed by MasTec Network Solutions. According to Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace, his office received a call for a welfare check on November 5 when Belcher …
NTSB report supports SBA Communications’ defense in $50 million lawsuit for tower lighting outage
Houston helicopter air tour company National Helicopter Solutions promoted on their website, “We promise to deliver safe, professional, and exciting helicopter travel in the skies over the city of Houston and Greater Texas.” Sadly, one such tour on October 20, 2024, piloted by Samantha Grandbouche, broke that promise when the 42-year-old pilot crashed the helicopter into an SBA Communications 1,000-foot …
Industry questions why a co-worker wasn’t on site when a MasTec tech died after falling from a 500-foot tower
UPDATE: November 11, 2024 – Services have been set for James Belecher, the 38-year-old tower technician supervisor who died on a Crown Castle site while working for MasTec Network Solutions. A tower technician is dead today after having fallen from a guyed tower, according to Trinity County Texas Sheriff Woody Wallace. According to a press statement, the Trinity County Sheriff’s …
CWA Unions see uneven wage hikes in AT&T agreements: West vs. Southeast which gets a BEAD perk
AT&T workers, including technicians, customer service representatives, and others who install, maintain, and support AT&T’s network, will receive wage increases of at least 15% throughout the new four-year collective bargaining agreement in the West and over 19% during the new five-year agreement in the Southeast. In the contract that covers the Southeast, Wire Technicians and Utility Operations professionals, who will …
Helicopter slams into SBA’s Houston 999-foot radio tower, igniting blaze, collapsing it and killing all aboard
UPDATE – October 22, 2024 – SBA Communications has released a press statement to address what it described as “incomplete and/or inaccurate information” circulating in news reports concerning the helicopter crash that occurred in Houston, Texas on Sunday. The accident involved the towerco’s 999-foot guyed tower that collapsed, resulting in four fatalities. According to Wireless Estimator yesterday, a Notice to …
From Q Link to the clink: Telecommunications provider’s CEO pleads guilty to massive FCC fraud
Issa Asad, 51, of Southwest Ranches, FL, and Q Link Wireless LLC, of Dania Beach, FL, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to defraud and commit offenses against the United States in connection with a years-long scheme to steal over $100 million from a celebrated federal program providing discounted phone service to people in need, Lifeline. Asad, Q Link’s CEO, also …
End of an era: Stainless ceases operations, selling tower documentation and engineering assets
After 77 years of shaping the American landscape with more than 50% of the nation’s broadcast towers, in addition to microwave structures and other communications installations, Stainless is closing its doors, according to FDH Infrastructure Services, LLC. FDH, which acquired Stainless’s engineering team, CAD draftspeople, broadcast construction crews, and 7,500 structural drawings in 2015, confirmed the shutdown. Sources indicate that …
Safety-first approach by NATE, FCC and OSHA program participants ensures quality and reliability for industry clients
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has announced the member companies who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program and the NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership program for the 2024-2025 year. NATE has proudly accepted 171 participating companies in this year’s STAR Initiative program and 129 participating companies in this year’s NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership. The STAR Initiative will enter its 15th program …
Iconic industry leaders Dobson, Goldsmith, Horwitz, and Kennard Inducted into Wireless Hall of Fame
Four well-known and highly-respected individuals joined the 80 wireless industry pioneers and innovators inducted into the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame. The event, hosted by the Wireless History Foundation (WHF), a nonprofit organization that has honored the hall of fame members for over fifteen years, celebrated Everett Dobson, Andrea Goldsmith, Brad Horwitz, and William E. Kennard. “We were so happy …
No casualties as hot air balloon collision collapses 645-foot tower at Albuquerque fiesta
In 1972, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta began as the highlight of 770 KOB Radio’s 50th anniversary. It broadcast the 13-balloon event’s activities from its two-tower array. The annual event now features 1,000 balloons in the sky, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators who gather at landing sites all over the city. KOB, a 50,000-watt station, continued to benefit from …
NATE advocates for industry-specific adjustments to OSHA’s heat safety proposal
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it will accept public comments through Dec. 30, 2024, on its proposed rule issuing a heat injury and illness prevention standard for outdoor and indoor workplaces. According to NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, the rule would require employers to develop a heat injury and illness prevention plan and provide water, rest breaks, …
Better data, better quality: How drones are revolutionizing UScellular’s tower maintenance
By J. Sharpe Smith, Contributing Editor According to a speaker at a recent NATE conference, data provided by drones is helping carriers increase their quality control, and tower maintenance companies are getting a report card judging their work on the tower. “I’m a data person. I like to measure things, and we’ve had an amazing experience with drones,” said Brandi …
UScellular pleads its case before the FCC, stating if T-Mobile doesn’t acquire it, the future looks bleak
In a pivotal step toward finalizing T-Mobile’s acquisition of U.S. Cellular Corporation’s (UScellular) wireless assets, key representatives, including UScellular CEO Laurent C. Therivel, met with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials last week in meetings to discuss the transaction’s implications and anticipated benefits. The discussions, aimed at securing FCC consent for the transfer of control of licenses and authorizations, were held …
Massachusetts cell site contractor faces prison for failing to pay over $1M in payroll taxes
Kenneth Marston, 67, a business owner from Kingston, Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to willfully failing to collect, account for, and pay over payroll taxes owed by his companies, Bowmar Steel Industries Inc. and Teleconstructors Inc., located in Hanson. This plea comes after a multi-year investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit, following allegations that Marston deliberately withheld payroll tax payments …
Country’s second deadliest hurricane still has catastrophic cell service failures as Musk lends a hand
According to yesterday’s FCC outage reporting, large areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, particularly in Western North Carolina, remain without cell phone service. In counties like Buncombe, where Asheville is located, approximately 56% of cell sites are still down, mainly due to transport issues and power outages. The situation is even worse in neighboring counties such as Mitchell, where 90% of …
