President-elect Joseph Biden’s transition committee added another member to its experienced FCC Review Team last week, Christiana Ho, who appears to lack any experience in telecom policy. Ho graduated from Scripps College with a B.A. in creative writing and dance and found her political calling working for the Hillary for America campaign in 2015, later transitioning to the Colorado Democratic …
Mediacom accuses West Des Moines of making secret $50 million fiber deal with Google
West Des Moines, Iowa approved a $50 million project to build a fiber network under the city and then secretly worked out a deal to give Google Fiber exclusive access to the conduit network, according to a lawsuit filed by MCC Iowa LLC, a subsidiary of Mediacom Communications Corporation. The complaint against the city and the West Des Moines City …
NATE will seat new board member Paulette as members reelect Druin, Mallon and Scott
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has announced the official results of the 2021 Board of Directors election. The Association announces that Victor Drouin, President of Green Mountain Communications, Inc. in Pembroke, New Hampshire, Chris Mallon, President of TowerMRL, Inc. in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin and Randy Scott, President of Texoma Contracting, Inc. in Muskogee, Oklahoma were reelected and will retain their …
Senate confirms Simington as FCC Commissioner over strong objections from Democrats
Yesterday, the Senate voted 49-46 to confirm the contentious nomination of Republican Nathan Simington to the FCC, despite appeals from Democrats and advocacy groups to hold off on a vote until early next year. The confirmation handed the Biden administration a possible deadlocked FCC since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is stepping down from the agency on inauguration day, January 20, …
Tower Family Foundation eclipses $1 million milestone of support to tower workers and families
The Tower Family Foundation announced today that the organization has surpassed the $1 million of giving milestone. Since its inception only six years ago, the Tower Family Foundation has awarded a total of $1,017,250 in donations and scholarships to eligible tower workers and their families, officially exceeding the $1 million threshold of philanthropy. The Tower Family Foundation is a 501(c)(3) …
The gavel is likely to go to Rosenworcel following FCC chief Pai’s departure next month
FCC chairman Ajit Pai has announced that he’s leaving the Commission as of January 20, 2021, when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. It was widely expected since appointees often resign as a new administration takes over such as in 2017 when former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler left his position when the Trump administration took over. His announcement implies that …
Crown Castle shaves 250 from its employee ranks as part of its ‘long-term goals’
Rumors of layoffs at Crown Castle began in early October when an anonymous poster on layoff.com wrote that the company had laid off 70 people in the West. On November 6, there was a report that an additional 57 layoffs were made on the business’s tower side. Last Thursday, another poster said that hundreds of people were let go, identifying them …
Vertical Bridge’s acquisition of Eco-Site allows them to boast surpassing 20,000 towers
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC, the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure and locations in the United States, today announced the completion of its merger with North Carolina-based Eco-Site, a leading developer of wireless communication, tower sites and infrastructure. The combination increases Vertical Bridge’s owned and master-leased tower portfolio to over 20,000 sites and its entire portfolio to more …
NATE UNITE 2021’s show in Memphis cancelled; Las Vegas is a go in 2022
As an organization founded on the core tenet of safety, the health and well-being of the Association’s members and staff is a top priority. NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, on a daily basis, has been carefully monitoring the evolving landscape surrounding COVID-19 developments in the United States. The NATE Administrative Staff has engaged in extensive planning and devised a …
SURVEY SAYS: NATE documents the many thousands of telecom positions needed
For the last few years, FCC Commissioners, federal agencies, educational institutions, association CEOs, and industry focus groups have said that there is a shortage of approximately 20,000 telecommunications workers that are critically needed to build out 5G and maintain broadband infrastructure. That workforce shortfall total has been employed to obtain millions of dollars of federal grants for training and other …
AT&T selected for 10-Year, $311 million contract to modernize NOAA’s network
AT&T announced today it will deliver modern networking capabilities and other advanced technologies to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under a Task Order from NOAA valued at $311 million over 10 years. The Task Order was made under the General Service Administration’s (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) program, which the government created to help federal agencies modernize their technology …
DISH’s first massive tower deal has Crown Castle providing access to 20,000 towers
DISH Wireless and Crown Castle today announced a long-term agreement through which Crown Castle will lease DISH space on up to 20,000 communication towers. As part of the agreement, DISH will receive certain fiber transport services and also have the option to utilize Crown Castle for pre-construction services. The agreement encompasses leases on towers located nationwide, helping DISH facilitate its …
Navajo Nation celebrates move to provide more towers, broadband access
Navajo leaders met in Chinle, Arizona last week at a new tower site to celebrate the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority’s plans to build more than a hundred broadband towers across the tribal nation. The projects were funded with a $32 million CARES Act allocation approved by the 24th Navajo Nation Council and signed into law by President Johnathan Nez and Vice President …
Iowa Verizon outages weren’t through ‘hacking’ but by fiber slashing
Verizon appears to have repaired a large fiber cut in the Des Moines, Iowa area that impacted hundreds of tower sites, preventing many users from calling 911 yesterday. Verizon disputes an earlier report that it had been “hacked.” Normal cell phone usage was reportedly also affected. Some G-mail accounts were paused. An estimated 350 Verizon tower sites were having network …
What a difference a quarter makes as Colony Capital’s stock doubles in price through its digital design
Colony Capital Inc. (CLNY) had another good day in the market on Tuesday as shares jumped 6.67% to close at $4.00, doubling the stock price since CEO Marc Ganzi informed analysts during his August Q2 call that “Colony today trades slightly under $2.00. I’d encourage you guys to look at your history books, think about this management team, think about …
A great way to support Veterans every day is to reach out and hire one
Veterans Day every November 11th honors all Americans who have served our country in war or peace. It is a day set aside to thank the living veterans for their service and sacrifice made to a grateful nation. It is a day of remembrance with parades, services, ceremonies, and most of all to honor all those who have served our …
Wireless coverage at Yellowstone National Park featured in NATE video of hidden connectivity
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today released a video entitled “Balancing Wireless & Nature”. The video was filmed at the nearly 3,500 square mile Yellowstone National Park and is the latest to debut in Volume 5 of the Association’s popular #ClimberConnection series. The video shines a spotlight on the importance of wireless connectivity on federal lands, utilizing historic Yellowstone …
One down, 14,999 Dish cell sites to go starting in Q2
Dish Network’s buildout finally kicked off last week, with a soft launch that was a test site near the company’s Littleton, Colorado headquarters. Executive Vice President – Network Deployment, Dave Mayo last week provided a sneak preview of Dish’s first 5G trial site on his LinkedIn page. Mayo joined Dish last June and will be responsible for the carrier’s wireless …
Newest airborne cell sites to take flight in 2024 every nine days
Cambridge Consultants has announced a stratospheric breakthrough, revealing its role in a visionary program to realize the dream of superfast 5G for everyone and everything across the globe. Working in collaboration with Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), Cambridge Consultants’ remarkable technical achievement is a wireless antenna unlike anything seen before, delivering affordable connectivity from a fleet of zero emissions aircraft, airborne …
American Tower picks up InSite Wireless Group’s American and Canadian assets for $3.5 billion
American Tower Corporation this morning announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire InSite Wireless Group, LLC (InSite), which owns, operates and manages approximately 3,000 communications sites, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The portfolio includes more than 1,400 owned towers in the U.S., over 200 owned towers in Canada and approximately 70 distributed antenna system (DAS) …
