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 …
$19 million ‘disguised’ loan and breach of ageement by American Tower is alleged in $794 million lawsuit
Terra Towers Corporation (Terra), TBS Management, S.A. (Terra TBS), and DT Holdings, Inc. (DTH) filed a lawsuit against American Tower International (ATI) in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court on December 12, 2022, alleging ATI breached a $794 million acquisition and development deal in Latin America known as Project Codu, referring to “Center of da Universe” because of its size and shape. …
Senators and witnesses assail the inaccuracies they have found on the FCC’s new broadband maps
Senators and witnesses assailed the inaccuracies they found in the FCC’s new draft national broadband map during yesterday’s Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband hearing. Although last month when the maps were released, the FCC said that they expected inaccuracies. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said version one was “a beginning, not an endpoint.” At Tuesday’s hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Ben …
US opposes Dish’s attempt to throw out whistleblower’s FCC multi-billion-dollar auction fraud lawsuit
The US government notified the US District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday that it opposes Dish Network Inc.’s latest attempt to end a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit alleging that the carrier used sham small businesses to win at auction FCC communications licenses that were reduced by approximately $3.3 billion. Whistleblower Vermont National Telephone Company’s lawsuit was dismissed …
Interstate, interagency effort provides an impaled American Bald Eagle the ability to fly to rescuers
Firefighters over the years have rescued tower technicians off of communications towers, but on Thursday, the City of Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department in Florida was called upon to rescue our national symbol of pride – an American Bald Eagle that was impaled on a lightning rod of a decommissioned 120-foot monopole at the St. George Elementary School in neighboring …
Financially strapped landlord sues American Tower in a hail Mary attempt to shore up lost rents and profits
A Baltimore City, Maryland building owner is suing American Tower’s Global Tower Holdings for allegedly not maintaining a cell site on the property’s rooftop and causing damages above $75,000. Olcan lll Properties, LLC states in their complaint that they had provided an easement since January 1, 2021, to Global Tower on the property located at 4437 Belair Road for “a …
