An AM tower array that was designated to be an emergency broadcast station in the event of nuclear war, collapsed yesterday evening in Moore, Okla. after tornadoes ripped through the area, causing what the National Weather Service believes to be the first tornado fatality in 2015 in Sand Springs. Two of the square KOKC Blaw-Knox 327-foot towers constructed in 1947 …
New tower standard expected in 2016, ANSI/TIA-322 participation invited
Following ANSI/TIA-222-G’s introduction in 2006, and after four addenda, the national structural standard for communications and small wind turbine support structures will see Revision H being introduced next year, according to a TR-14 Engineering Committee report. Changes being assessed in Rev H The committee is reviewing issues for Revision H which is expected to be completed by Spring 2016. Areas …
AT&T kayos its 40,000 small cell build-out in half
AT&T’s 40,000 small cell deployments projected to be completed by the end of 2015 took a sharp cut in the carrier’s network plans since its goal may now be 20,000, about half the original number. The company said its March 2014 acquisition of Leap Wireless required it to reconsider those plans. “Small cells remain a key part of our advanced …
Climbing higher for techs will not be possible in Google’s grand plan
Although Google is currently developing wireless service plans that will prohibit tower technicians from climbing to maintain the transceivers – because they’ll be at an elevation between 23,000 and 65,000 feet in the stratosphere – this week’s announcement that the company intends to offer MVNO wireless connectivity to customers in the U.S. will also exclude techs from working on Google-owned …
Competitive spirit can be cutthroat in leasehold ground wars of towercos
Although the nation’s major tower owners present a public face of spirited friendly competition and collective initiatives to ensure worker safety, when it comes to protecting their interests it can be a no holds barred battle between them to keep their most valuable assets, their long-term leases. One clash got so nasty that the counter-complainant wanted a leasehold aggregator’s executives …
Doty, Reski honored at NATE’s largest conference in 20 years
The National Association of Tower Erectors today honored Don Doty, Vice President of Operations at Velocitel, Inc. in Cedar Hill, Tex. and Kevin Reski, President of Great Plains Towers in West Fargo, N.D., during the Founding Member Luncheon at NATE UNITE 2015 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The conference, which began yesterday, has topped attendance records for the premiere event …
NWSA is final component for issuance of national training certifications
Although it might be eight to 12 months or more before tower techs or foremen will be able to proudly show their training and skill-set certification card, an announcement today by the leadership of the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force identified that certification in the future will be a reality and will enhance tower safety, reduce workplace risk, improve quality, …
Safety climb system failure seriously injures tower tech in 50-foot fall
A Kentucky tower climber who had been in an induced coma for the past 10 days had additional surgery yesterday, and this morning for the first time was able to talk, but he is unable to remember his traumatic fall off of an Ohio tower that required him to be airlifted to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown to be treated for …
Over 29,000 tower climbers identified in extensive wireless workforce survey
According to a comprehensive study released today by WirelessEstimator.com identifying how many wireless technicians routinely work on elevated structures in the course of their employment, the number of tower climbers has dramatically increased to over 29,000 workers, almost triple from the last available analysis undertaken in 2006 by Wireless Estimator which put the total of tower technicians at approximately 9,800. …
ATC leads slightly over Crown with their $5 billion 11,324 Verizon tower deal
American Tower Corporation today announced that it has been the successful suitor in acquiring the rights to approximately 11,324 wireless communications towers and purchase approximately 165 additional towers from Verizon Communications, Inc. for $5.056 billion. Under the agreement, American Tower will have the exclusive right to lease and operate the Verizon towers for a weighted average term of approximately 28 …
Pilot is killed after his aircraft crashes into a Lubbock, Tex. TV tower
A Texas physician is dead after he piloted his small aircraft into a TV tower’s guy wires as he approached an airport in West Texas, causing the 814-foot guyed tower to collapse in Lubbock, Tex. last night at about 7:25 p.m., according to authorities. Dr. Kenneth M. Rice was killed after his single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed into Raycom Media’s KCBD …
Terrible Mississippi tower marking amendment is killed in committee
Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn took the ice bucket challenge late last year, but it didn’t shake loose any logical reasons why he introduced legislation last month to require all communications towers in his state to be marked for aviation safety purposes if they were 50 feet high or taller, and were located outside of municipality boundaries. As …
NIOSH issues report on tower collapses that killed two techs and a fire fighter
In a detailed summary by the National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH), the federal agency investigated the collapse that killed two tower technicians last year in West Virginia in addition to a volunteer fire fighter who died after two towers collapsed at the SBA Communications site. Although the focus of the report was to ensure that fire departments should …
Two technicians injured after a tower section collapses in Nebraska
Update – 1.28. 2015, 5:55 p.m – Two tower techs that were erecting a new cell site tower for their employer, Viaero Wireless, were transported to the hospital after they had been trapped under a collapsed structure in Scottsbluff, Neb. In a prepared statement, Viaero Executive Vice President Mike Felicissimo said a wind gust caused a section of the tower …
Varied opinions surface regarding Grain’s nTelos tower buy for $41 million
Although conversations at a Florida Wireless Association networking social of over 200 attendees last night ranged from carrier cap ex expenditures to planned business expansions of a number of key players, one frequent topic was Sarasota Fla.-based Grain Management’s purchase this week of 103 nTelos Wireless’ cell towers for $41 million. However, opinions differed regarding whether the $398,000 per-tower-deal made …
NATE issues update on the National Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today provided a progress update on the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force’s National Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard that is currently under development. The Task Force’s Skills-Based Training Subcommittee has completed development of a Skills-Based Training standard that outlines the minimum competencies and skills required for five foundational categories of workers in the industry: …
RF could have been the real killer of a BASE jumper who fell to his death
Although it will not be able to be identified until a coroner examines tissue samples, there’s a strong possibility that a Michigan BASE jumper might have died, not because his parachute’s canopy didn’t open, but because he might have been unconscious before he ever had the opportunity to pull his ripcord as he fell from the 1,000-foot WLAJ-TV tower he …
Anritsu’s field analyzer with integrated PIM and line testing is an industry first
Anritsu Company is breaking new ground in field wireless testing with the introduction of the MW82119B PIM Master™, which combines a 40W, battery-operated PIM analyzer with a 2 MHz to 3 GHz cable and antenna analyzer, eliminating the need to carry multiple instruments to measure the RF performance of a cell site. The MW82119B provides tower and maintenance contractors, network installers, …
PCIA chief to sit on TIRAP’s Board and assist with setting job positions /skills
PCIA – The Wireless Infrastructure Association President and CEO Jonathan Adelstein has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor-credentialed Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) to replace board member Jonathan Campbell, PCIA’s former Director of Government Affairs who left PCIA last Friday to take a position with the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. “PCIA has the expertise and resources to …
Michigan tower BASE jumper is killed after chute doesn’t deploy
A well-known and highly skilled skydiver plunged to his death off a television tower yesterday when his canopy failed to open during a jump. Authorities say that Josh Sheppard, 31, was found dead at the bottom of the 1,000-foot WLAJ-TV tower in Jackson County west of Detroit, Mich. at 5:30 p.m. Sheppard, who was from the Detroit suburb of Southfield, was …
