Coal in the stocking for some employees, a New Year’s present for their employers Many wireless industry workers in office management and construction-related positions earning more than $455 per week who were exempt from overtime pay, were assured of an increase in their paycheck beginning Dec. 1, 2016 when a new federal regulation kicked in. But two days before Thanksgiving, …
Wall Street crucifies Dycom over loss of Goodman’s contract backlog
Following the release of Dycom Industries’ Q1 FY2017 earnings report and conference call this morning where President and CEO Steve Nielsen fielded analysts’ concerns about Goodman Networks’ performance, a company that Dycom acquired last July for $107.5 million, Dycom’s stock lost $18.82, closing at $74.13. The 20.25% loss appears to be based upon a number of analysts’ concerns about considerably lower …
Civil workers unearth a skull and other bones at S.C. cell site
A crew performing civil work at a Greenville, S.C. monopole site unearthed human remains that, according to a news release from the Greenville Police Dept., had been in the ground for an extended length of time. While excavating Monday morning with a small backhoe, the workers unearthed a skull, a portion of a mandible and what appears to be a …
X2 and X3 Lad-Saf sleeves need an immediate locking lever inspection
The Lad-Saf family of climbing sleeves are again in an unfavorable focus as 3M Fall Protection (formerly Capital Safety and DBI/Sala) has identified that a limited number of Lad-Saf X2/X3 sleeves were identified with the locking lever not working properly. In August, 3M issued a stop use and recall/replacement notice for their original Lad-Saf sleeve when incidents occurred involving a serious injury or …
Officials feel Mobilitie is disingenuous as moratoriums mount throughout the nation
Cities and counties are continuing to slap moratoriums on the installation of towers and mini-macro sites in public rights-of-way. The most recent city registering concern is Boynton Beach, Fla. whose officials this month issued a moratorium on installing them until June so that they can examine the current regulations to determine if changes need to be made. The action came …
No longer in the legislative wheelhouse, time runs out for current FCC chief
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said yesterday that he had not yet decided on a departure date. Although his tenure technically extends until 2018, it’s customary for the current Chairman to step down. However, it is likely that he would not want to stay on as a commissioner. With either option, it appears that Wheeler’s influence and incomplete regulatory …
Tower techs’ lives are miraculously spared – literally by inches
Although a Saint James City, Fla. wireless contractor lost a crew cab and utility trailer yesterday, and a Pompano Beach, Fla. crane company suffered considerable damage to their 120-ton crane when it crashed to the ground in North Port, Fla., thankfully no injuries were reported in an incident that could have easily resulted in being the most horrific multiple fatality accident …
Trump’s election might have kayoed OSHA’s new tower industry regs
The election of Donald Trump as the nation’s 45th president may provide ancillary benefits to contractors and stop – or at least delay – new OSHA regulations directed at the wireless construction industry that were expected to be proposed in 2017. According to John Newquist, a former OSHA assistant regional administrator from Chicago, it is likely that the new administration …
New Secretary of Labor for OSHA expected to draw upon talents of current leaders
When the new Secretary of Labor for OSHA is appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate in 2017, it is likely that he will keep and rely upon his key officials that have helped guide the agency throughout the years. One such executive is Dean McKenzie, who was appointed by OSHA Secretary of Labor Dr. …
American Tower reacts to Sprint and T-Mobile merger rumors
Update: Nov. 14, 2016 – SBA Communications Corp. provided an update to its exposure to both companies in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In the papers, SBA said that as of the end of Q3, T-Mobile and Sprint each represented around 16% of its total site leasing revenue. Revenue generated from each of T-Mobile and Sprint overlapping sites represents …
Trump’s impact on telecom is anyone’s guess at this point
Trying to identify what Donald Trump’s election as the country’s 45th president of the U.S. will mean for the telecommunications industry is a daunting task since he has offered very few specifics as to how he will stimulate innovation and build out America’s infrastructure through re-purposing spectrum and supporting 5G through licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Trying to research where he …
Checkered contractor loses lawsuit after two tower tech deaths
Based upon substantial evidence to support their findings, a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has kayoed a wireless contractor’s final attempt to vacate the company’s serious violations of OSHA’s General Duty Clause and $7,000 in fines they received following an accident that killed two of their employees on May 28, 2013. Both men, employees …
Alyssa Runner joins Wireless Estimator in key advertising and marketing role
Wireless Estimator is pleased to announce the appointment of Alyssa Runner to the position of Marketing/Advertising Consultant. Alyssa has been crusading the digital marketing arena for more than seven years, specializing in copywriting, lead generation, data-driven strategies and conversion rate optimization. With a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master’s in Public Administration, she focuses her time …
Services set for tech who fell from a 160-foot Oklahoma monopole
UPDATE: Nov. 7, 2016 – Services have been announced for Steven Lamar Hill, 44, of Chandler, Okla. by the Barnes Friedrich Funeral Home, 1820 South Douglas Blvd., Midwest City, Okla. beginning at 1:00 p.m., Nov. 9, 2016. Interment will follow at Elmwood Cemetery in Choctaw, Okla. UPDATE: Nov. 3, 2016 – Authorities have released the name of the deceased tower …
American Tower registers its unease about ‘complicated’ towers, U.S. and Canadian crews
American Tower Corporation (ATC) informed the FCC on Monday that their phased approach to transition TV stations to new channels, with an ambitious completion deadline of 39 months, should take into consideration same phase tower assignments, complicated sites, the availability of tower crews, and the assumption that Canadian crews may not be available to assist in the repacking efforts following the spectrum …
WIA explores crucial role municipalities will play in efficient deployment of networks
Wireless carriers and wireless infrastructure providers need “common-sense regulations and predictable timetables” in order to deliver new mobile services such as 5G to cities and towns across the country, according to a new report published by the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA). The white paper – titled “Unleashing the Economic Benefits of Mobile Broadband Expansion” — explains how municipalities would benefit …
Crown Castle picks up FPL FiberNet for $1.5 billion, adding another 11,500 route miles
Crown Castle International Corp. announced this morning that it has entered into an agreement to acquire FPL FiberNet Holdings, LLC and certain other subsidiaries of NextEra Energy, Inc for approximately $1.5 billion in cash. FiberNet is a fiber services provider that owns or has rights to approximately 11,500 route miles of fiber installed and under construction in Florida and Texas, …
CenturyLink’s $25 billion deal to buy Level 3 puts it at #2 behind AT&T
CenturyLink on Monday announced that it would buy Level 3 Communications for approximately $25 billion, a move that will allow one of the country’s largest providers of data, voice and video transmission for large enterprises to continue to be competitive with AT&T and Verizon. The deal will make Century Link the second largest provider to business in the U.S., behind …
Tower arsonist thought radio wave head problems would be solved following bombing
After an arsonist attempted to knock out more than a dozen broadcast towers on Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, N.M on Oct. 2, 2016 with gallon-sized Molotov cocktails, a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson informed Wireless Estimator that they had identified a suspect, but would not release his name. On Oct. 18, 2016 they arrested 53-year-old Brian Dorais of Madrid for …
Investors shrug off Fool’s American Tower ‘big risk’ report
Last Wednesday, an article in The Motley Fool cautioned investors about a proposed Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) change that would be a huge risk to American Tower’s business model, and the author implored the nation’s second largest tower owner to take immediate steps to alert Wall Street as to how they were going to address that concern. As of …
