Boca Raton, Fla.-based SBA Telecommunications LLC and SBA Towers have filed a property damage lawsuit against S&S Communication Specialists Inc. of Oklahoma, and FDH Engineering, located in North Carolina, following the collapse of two communications towers that resulted in the death of three people. The complaint filed last month, asking for at least $1 million, states that both companies were …
Towercos tank after radical unconfirmed report of government competition
Report seen as ‘nonsense’ by siting professionals UPDATE, Jan. 19, 2016 – Deep diving industry expert Ken Schmidt has provided a detailed analysis of why Re/code’s “improper deductive reasoning” in their article doesn’t dovetail with available information regarding Sprint’s Next Generation Network. The story, published on Jan. 15, 2016, claimed that Sprint would be relocating its cell sites from American Tower Corporation …
FirstNet RFP hits the streets with a low end $6.75 billion price tag
Yesterday’s long-awaited request for proposal (RFP) for the US First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet) public safety network will provide the government’s selected carrier or contractor with $6.5 billion to support the project buildout, in addition to access to 20 MHz of spectrum, but the winning bidder will be required to pay FirstNet a minimum of $6.75 billion over the life …
New ‘junk’ RF science reports in media help pit communities against tower developers
Parents nationwide are questioning the safety of cell towers on or near school campuses, and Wi-Fi within schools, and believe they are strengthening their position by embracing the recent publication of a study by Sultan Ayoub Meo of King Saud University that his research “has for the first time proved that the radiation from towers also causes diabetes mellitus,” according to …
Former OSHA construction safety chief believes some companies see agency’s fines as a ‘business cost’
Jim Maddux, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Directorate of Construction, retired at the end of December from the position he held since Dec. 20, 2010. During his leadership at OSHA he was instrumental in creating a serious conversation about climber safety in America, and shepherding new proactive initiatives targeting the telecom industry. He began his carrer with OSHA …
Canada’s carriers, tower contractors, riggers and others to benefit from the formation of STAC
Although Canada has enjoyed an enviable reputation for climber safety, nine industry businesses wanted to make sure it stayed that way, and even got better, and formed the Structure, Tower and Antenna Council (STAC) that will officially launch its membership drive next Monday. Similar to the United States’ National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), STAC will be helping its members …
Wireless workforce and supplier requirements for 2016 continue to be mostly upbeat
To project whether 2016 will be a banner, bust or somewhere-in-between year for wireless construction, and service and supplier providers, one has to simply search for the devil or angel that’s always in the details. Unfortunately, conflicting details and limited industry information clouds accurate projections. But the industry overall appears to be still creating jobs and there should be a robust …
2015’s 50 most popular news stories according to views
A news article that doesn’t have as many views as another story doesn’t mean that it wasn’t important to industry readers. It just meant that it appealed to a more select group of viewers. The below articles had the most views on Wireless Estimator from the more than 694,00 unique viewers that visited the site in 2015. Articles are in calendar order from January …
FCC’s wireless competition report has its Commissioner and association adversaries
The Federal Communications Commission released its 18th report to Congress on competition in the wireless industry which sheds little light on whether or not carriers are competitive. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said in its report that the goal of the Commission is to promote competition and it “must continue to play an essential role in the mobile wireless industry,” hopefully …
AT&T work is a top Christmas wish list item for contractors and suppliers
Last year’s holiday gifts from AT&T came in the form of canceled construction purchase orders bandaged in cheerfully-colored stress-relieving bubble wrap, painstakingly selected by CEO Randall Stephenson. And although Stephenson told investors last week that “there’s going to be a continual downward pressure on our capital spending,” possibly signaling another coal stocking stuffer, some analysts believe that AT&T is going …
Appeals court rules FCC didn’t abuse its discretion with its wireless siting order
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission was within its rights to interpret legal terms in its Wireless Siting Order which adopts new environmental exemptions for DAS and small cells and gives a detailed interpretation of Section 6409(a) of the Spectrum Act that includes a new 60-day shot clock designed to …
Tractel fall arrest product alert in the U.S. proves to be a false alarm
Tractel North America says that an industry news report that triggered Facebook posts today identifying that the company sent a “product alert to the tower industry” stating that their retractable fall arrester Blocfor 10AES should be checked for a possible device problem in the U.S., is inaccurate since the affected products that were manufactured in the U.K., not in Germany …
Free February train-the-trainer and fall prevention worker training courses readied by NATE
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today announced the opening of the registration process for the first two Susan Harwood Training grant-enabled courses the organization will be hosting in 2016. NATE, in conjunction with curriculum and training provider Safety Controls Technology (SCT), is offering a five-day Train-the-Trainer Course from Feb. 21 to Feb. 25 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, …
FCC and DOL announce second workshop on tower climber safety and apprenticeship program
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Employment and Training Administration (ETA) have announced preliminary details of a second workshop on tower climber safety and the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). The first joint FCC-DOL workshop on these subjects was held on October 14, 2014. The upcoming workshop, to be …
Wi-Fi discreet street furniture finds a new home underground
Antenna manufacturer Kathrein, in collaboration with Switzerland’s Swisscom, introduced its manhole antenna solution in a PR blitz last week to emphasize that additional street furniture isn’t always necessary to provide increased city coverage. Virgin Media, however, has already struck gold underground in the UK and is installing its ‘Smart Pavements’ free public Wi-Fi in manholes in Chesham, England through wireless …
New FAA tower lighting standard will cut costs and cut down on avian deaths
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has published its newest Obstruction Marking and Lighting advisory circular that became effective Friday. It includes significant changes to the telecom industry’s lighting requirements since the last time the agency revised Advisory Circular 70/7460K in 2007. A key change in the new document — that has been proposed by the industry for a number of years …
Industry expert is banking upon AT&T ramping up spending for its U.S. wireless network
AT&T CapEx – No more guessing! By John Celentano AT&T’s capital expenditures (capex) have been in the tank for the past year, and tower owners and installation contractors along with the original equipment manufacturers that support AT&T’s network all continue to feel the pain of the company’s significant capex cutbacks since mid-2014. Many marketers across the supply chain still are trying …
NATE members elect four incumbents and one new director to its board
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the results of the 2016 Board of Directors election. The Association announced that candidates John Paul Jones, President of Tower & Turbine Technologies LLC in Cedar Park, Tex.; Bryan Lee, President of Lee Antenna & Line Service, Inc. in Springtown, Pa.; Jimmy Miller, President of MillerCo, Inc. in Gulfport, Miss. and Don …
Mt. Wilson’s iconic Poole complex acquired by InSite Towers
A deal to buy the multi-tower Poole Tower complex on Mount Wilson in California that was expected to be close to being inked in April, according to a report in Wireless Estimator, took another seven months, but finally closed last week, according to Media Services Group’s Bob Heymann, Jr. who served as the broker for Poole Properties, in announcing the …
Removing five diagonals and loosening 12 others cited for causing deaths, injuries
Four lawsuits that were filed in June against a tower owner and the contractor it hired to design and manage a structural reinforcement project in West Va. where two tower technicians died and two were injured after a tower collapsed, have worked their way from circuit court to federal court, and the defendants are alleging that it was the tower …
