The total solar eclipse on Mon., Aug. 21, 2017 will be visible along a narrow strip of approximately 70 miles wide, spanning from Oregon to South Carolina. The first industry company where employees can walk outside their office and take in the first total solar eclipse to sweep the U.S. coast-to-coast in 99 years is Slatercom of Salem, Ore. beginning …
Court tosses Tall Tower’s lawsuit filed after Vertical Bridge acquired Clear Channel’s towers
A lower court should have dismissed Tall Tower Capital, LLC’s lawsuit accusing Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, LP of breaching an agreement in a deal to buy Clear Channel’s 472 broadcast tower assets, a Florida appeals court ruled Friday, finding that the firm had not established personal jurisdiction in Florida. A three-judge panel for the Florida Second District Court of Appeals unanimously …
AT&T heralds ‘one climb’ to get three units of spectrum in service
At last week’s Oppenheimer’s 20th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference, AT&T CFO John Stephens said that he expects the carrier’s overall capex to increase as a result its FirstNet build over the next three to four years with work beginning this year with the states that have opted in. “What we expect is that it will be one of …
FCC is back at full strength with Rosenworcel and Carr’s confirmation
UPDATE: August 3, 2017 -The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm the nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to the Federal Communications, returning the FCC to full strength with five members. Rosenworcel, a former Commissioner and Capitol Hill staffer previously joined the FCC in 2011. Her new five-year term is retroactive to July 2015 and runs through 2020. She …
Circuit court confirms that the FCC set fair utility pole attachment rates
The Eighth Circuit denied a petition from the nation’s power and electric companies for review of a 2015 Federal Communications Commission order governing the rates utilities may charge telecommunication providers for attaching their networks to utility-owned poles. The court found the pricing decision to be just and reasonable, holding that the term “cost” in Pole Attachments Act, 47, U.S.C. 224, …
Charter Communications snubs SoftBank’s proposed merger
Cable giant Charter Communications said that it is not interested in acquiring Sprint following reports that Sprint’s owner, SoftBank proposed a merger with Charter. “We understand why a deal is attractive for SoftBank, but Charter has no interest in acquiring Sprint,” Charter spokesman Alex Dudley said in a statement, although SoftBank reportedly proposed the merger that would combine Sprint and …
Mobilitie thumbs its nose at Houston’s pedestrians as it plants poles in the middle of sidewalks
After the City of Houston, Tex. Public Works and Engineering Department recently became aware that numerous DAS nodes had been installed on sidewalks, a City engineer promptly red-tagged at least one monopole that was erected by MasTec North America, Inc. for Mobilitie, LLC. It also prompted the department to issue FAQs on network nodes, below, that were released today. Council …
AT&T’s FirstNet chief mum on new tower builds, questions ‘public safety grade’ towers
A two-hour progress hearing on FirstNet yesterday by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet provided scant details on AT&T’s plans for new tower builds throughout the country, especially in rural areas, other than a brief mention there was an aggressive program in place to accomplish it. Michael Poth, CEO of FirstNet and Chris Sambar, Senior Vice President, …
Crown Castle makes a $7 billion bet on going horizontal with Lightower
Crown Castle International Corp had reportedly made an offer to acquire Lightower Fiber Networks for more than $7 billion, including debt, according to Reuters. Another company courting an acquisition of Lightower was Uniti Group Inc., Reuters said. Formed by Berkshire Partners, Lightower’s network extends over 33,000 route miles throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, providing dense connectivity to over 22,000 service …
NAB attacks Microsoft’s slick rebooting of failed white spaces rural broadband plan
Before the salad forks were lifted at yesterday’s media luncheon in Washington where Microsoft President Brad Smith was readying his Rural Airband Initiative that would use white space spectrum, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) attacked Microsoft’s proposal as “the height of arrogance.” In a press statement, NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton said, “It’s the height of …
Discrimination lawsuit against Mobilitie mirrors plaintiff’s groundless racial issues with Bechtel
A wireless construction manager has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Mobilitie, LLC, a nationwide wireless infrastructure service provider, alleging that the company “engaged in a pattern or practice of failing to hire African-American and non-Caucasian applicants” for numerous construction-related positions in its offices throughout the country. Rufus Lovell Brooks of Orlando, Fla. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for …
Tech’s condition is stable after he allegedly rode guy wire down from an ATC Texas tower
Update: July 11, 2017 – According to reliable sources, the company that the injured worker was employed by was Advanced Data Technology of Pearsall, Tex. Established in 1995, Advanced Data is a systems integrator of voice, data, and video solutions in rural markets. The company did not respond to a request for additional information regarding the incident. The injured technician has …
Corrupt broadband provider loses its exclusivity grant in the Hawaiian Home Lands
In an opinion and order released on July 3, the Federal Communications Commission revoked the exclusive license of Waimana Enterprises to build, construct, maintain and operate a telecommunications network in the Hawaiian Home Lands (HHL). In December, the FCC said that Sandwich Isles Corporation, Waimana Enterprises, Inc. (WEI), its parent company, and Albert S.N. Hee, owner of both organizations, were …
L.A. Times calls State’s small cell bill an ‘audacious’ power (pole) grab
On Monday, California Democratic State Senator Bill Hueso tweaked his proposed bill to prohibit a city or county from adopting or enforcing any regulation on the placement or operation of a communications facility in the rights-of-way by a provider that is authorized by state law. His amended SB649 bill removed requiring an escrow deposit or performance bond for removal of …
White House says POTUS picks FCC’s top counsel to be Republican Commissioner
As anticipated, the White House has announced that President Donald Trump has nominated Brendan Carr to fill the open Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission. Carr, a former telecom lawyer, joined the Commission in 2012 as then Commissioner Ajit Pai’s wireless public safety and international legal advisor and was then appointed in January to general counsel by Chairman Pai. …
Dumb RF engineer who shut down smart meter base stations is sentenced to jail
In 2014, a radio frequency engineer upset after being fired from his job which required him to set up base stations that employed omni directional antennas on communications towers to monitor water meters, took revenge upon his unnamed employer and hacked into base stations to shut them down. He also changed the radio frequency for communications. and altered the code for …
With his 52 TV station buy, failed LightSquared’s Falcone is the comeback kid
Philip Falcone, former CEO of Harbinger Capital and bankrupt satellite-based network LightSquared, is back in the telecom arena again with HC2 Holdings, Inc.’s purchase of DTV America Corporation (DTVA) which currently owns and operates 52 LPTV stations in more than 40 U.S. cities. Falcone, HC2’s Chairman, President and CEO, stated, “This investment is another meaningful addition to our dynamic and …
Surveyor and design firm are off the hook in siting errors that cost Texas city $508,000
When Rowlett, Tex. officials found out in March that they had constructed a police communications 325-foot tower on a neighbor’s plot of land and not city property, they fixed the error, as reported by Wireless Estimator, by paying $478,000 additional to buy the adjoining lot. Otherwise, they would have incurred a $400,000 penalty for not having the tower constructed to …
Carrier CEOs chew on Trump’s ear to clear the path and speed up small cell installations
President Donald Trump offered backing for emerging technologies such as next-generation wireless and unmanned aerial vehicles in a meeting yesterday with the heads of telecom giants AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and drone companies such as Trumbull Unmanned as well as venture capitalists and health care providers. Wireless makes some strange bedfellows During the meetings in the East Wing, Trump …
FCC investigating unlawful transactions after contractor takes ownership of 40-plus towers
A Wisconsin wireless contractor discovered a flaw in the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) database, and changed the ownership of more than 40 towers from multiple carriers and tower owners into his company’s name during the past five months without the rightful owners being notified by the agency, according to FCC documents and sources knowledgeable of the illegal transfers. Sprint, …
