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 …
NWSA introduces Rigger and Signalperson certification programs
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today the official introduction to the wireless industry of CCO Rigger and Signalperson Certification programs. The programs have the distinction of becoming the first two assessment and certification offerings available to the wireless industry’s workforce through the NWSA. Training and certification, when done correctly, have been shown to improve productivity, reduce accidents, save …
Court tosses tech’s appeal that his RF burns were the fault of prime contractor
A California Court of Appeal in Sacramento has ruled that a tower technician who was injured while doing site audits for AT&T cannot sue the company that subcontracted work to his employer since he was not working for them, and because the primary contractor only trained the subcontractor on how to properly fill out paperwork, and it did not retain …
New York subway system’s DAS expansion welcomed in troubling times
With New York City going to high alert in response to the release of a new ISIS video that sets Times Square in the terror group’s bombing or chemical-warfare sight, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s announcement last Thursday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Transit Wireless have launched the Phase 4 expansion of wireless, public safety and Wi-Fi services …
FCC hits two carriers with $85,000 in fines for RF exposure rooftop violations in Arizona
Two carriers were cited by the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau for similar violations for failing to comply with the FCC’s radio frequency exposure limits after the owner of a building at 4040 E. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, Ariz. complained to enforcement agents that his building staff have difficulty gaining RF exposure safety assistance from the carriers that use his rooftop. …
Three people are rescued safely, but one still needs assistance
At about 1:00 p.m. yesterday, Tooele County, Utah and Marion County, Oregon emergency services were called into action to save three people who needed their assistance at two tower sites. One weather-related incident could have been avoided, the other event was an unpredictable action taken by a teen that thought her only option to end her unsolvable problems was suicide. …
Nation mourns the passing of Connie Durcsak who moved wireless forward
Utilities Telecom Council President and CEO Connie Durcsak, 50, passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 14, and heartfelt tributes to the truly visionary leader from colleagues and friends are providing a glimpse of the many challenges and opportunities that she tackled head on, always going beyond the norm to expand the reach of the wireless industry. Durcsak earned her Master’s degree …
AT&T offers $7,500 reward to catch those who felled a Texas guyed tower
AT&T is offering a reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the destruction of the carrier’s tower located at 1901 W. Crawford in Denison, Tex. on Nov. 12, 2015, according to the Denison Police Department. According to authorities, the destruction of this tower affected cell service for AT&T, Sprint, and …
Mobilitie and Digital Bridge vie for ‘largest’ infrastructure bragging rights
Mobilitie LLC, announced it has closed a $325 million debt investment. Led by CIT Bank, N.A., and TD Securities (USA), LLC, the investment will continue to fuel the exponential growth of the company’s distributed antenna systems, small cell, communication tower and Wi-Fi business investments. The Newport Beach, California-based company took the opportunity in its press release last week to state …
Consider saving your new carrier drooling for another opportunity
Get ready for two Un-carrier cursing contests Commentary – The industry salivated a stream of anticipated earnings in 2010 when LightSquared announced its ambitious plans to develop a wholesale national broadband network. Two years later it dried up when the company filed for bankruptcy after the FCC kayoed their plans due to what they believed would be significant GPS interference …
Court rules that AT&T will stand trial in tower injury lawsuit along with other defendants
AT&T, Inc. was denied its request last week to be removed from a personal injury lawsuit brought by Thomas Jeglum, 26, against the company in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania after the California tower tech suffered serious injuries when he fell in 2013 from a stealth tower site in Allentown, Pa. while performing an AT&T Mobility LTE upgrade. Judge John M. …
Lack of tower crews and antenna manufacturers cited as reasons to revisit repacking deadline
The National Association of Broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider the 39-month repacking window following next year’s TV spectrum incentive auction. The trade group commissioned a study from Digital Tech Consulting. The study concluded that the Commission’s three-month window for filing for construction permits falls well short of the actual time needed to submit and process the …
Three tower techs arrested while working on their day off at an American Tower site
Three tower technicians were arrested Wednesday in Wauchula, Fla., about three hours away from their Pompano Beach-based wireless construction company, MC Communications, Inc., when an alert American Tower Corporation employee found them stripping coaxial cable from his company’s guy tower. According to the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, the American Tower tech arrived at the site located eight miles east of …
Telecom contractor’s fiber optics investment scam halted with SEC judgment
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a Minnesota fiber optics company that allegedly defrauded investors of $4.3 million agreed to a partial judgment on Nov. 3, 2015 that bars the company and its CEO, James M. Louks, who was also President of telecom contractor C & L Communications up until 2012, from soliciting or accepting money from investors …
Tower owner skates on $231,000 in FCC fines by playing the wolf at the door card
Johnson Towers Corporation (JTC), an owner-operated Florida company, agreed to a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission to pay $3,000 in three installments of $1,000 each year for not installing obstruction lighting on two antenna structures and update registration information with the FCC to show the dismantlement of a third tower. The company’s owner, Dan L. Johnson, agreed that …
FCC’s $718,000 fine for blocking Wi-Fi should be welcomed by wireless industry exhibitors
The Federal Communications Commission plans on collecting a $718,000 fine against M.C. Dean for blocking consumers’ Wi-Fi connections at the Baltimore Convention Center. The federal agency’s action is expected to be applauded by wireless infrastructure exhibitors that are held hostage by conference centers to purchase Wi-Fi access at exorbitant fees in addition to price-gouging and special handling labor practices for …
One tower is surely not in step with American Tower’s upbeat Mexico outlook
American Tower Corp. CFO Tom Bartlett said during the company’s Q3 analysts’ conference call on Friday that Mexico had 90% wireless penetration, but only had 45% smart phone saturation. He also said that the growth potential was excellent since, “We believe, like Brazil, that the market needs twice the number of towers to support 4G over the long term.” He …
