Wherever people congregate, including downtown districts, university campuses, commercial properties, sports venues, and transportations hubs, it’s likely that they will be communicating with a Bourbon, Bristol, Clinton, Empire, Stanton or possibly a Fremont. No, they are not the newest offerings in smart phones, they are Valmont Telecom’s small cell structures that fit effortlessly into any community’s requirements for an esthetically …
Former AT&T tech’s bail denied following his ‘Donkey Balls’ transmission site explosion
A bail bond was denied last Wednesday for a man accused of planting an explosive device at an AT&T digital transmission site in Jefferson Davis County, MS earlier this month. According to a criminal complaint filed by special agent Michael Knoll with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Victor Joseph Schexnayder, 48, is accused of “maliciously damaging or …
Bud Noel and Patrick Murphy appointed to Tower Family Foundation’s Board of Directors
Bud Noel, Senior Vice President of Operations for the U.S. Tower Division of American Tower in Boston, Massachusetts, and Patrick Murphy, Founder and CEO of Murphy Tower Service, LLC in Carlisle, Iowa, have been appointed to serve on the Tower Family Foundation’s Board of Directors. Noel and Murphy join the Tower Family Foundation Board comprised of industry veterans devoted to …
Democrats urge President Biden to designate acting FCC Chairperson Rosenworcel to a permanent position
Over two dozen U.S. Senators are urging President Biden to designate acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to a permanent position, making her the first woman to hold the office. Rosenworcel has been serving in an acting capacity since President Biden took office. The 24 Democratic Senators, along with Independent Angus King of Maine, said in their letter that they had …
FCC commits over $1.2 Billion in first wave of emergency connectivity fund
The Federal Communications Commission Friday announced that it is committing $1,203,107,496 for 3,040 schools, 260 libraries, and 24 consortia that applied for support from the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. This first wave of funding commitments will provide students, school staff and library patrons in all 50 states and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia access to the devices …
3M issues Stop Use and Recall notice for Specific DBI-SALA harnesses
As part of 3M Fall Protection’s continued commitment to producing high quality safety and personal protective equipment, we conduct periodic testing of our products. Recent testing of specific DBI-SALA® Delta™ and ExoFit™ XP Arc Flash harnesses have returned negative test results on some units. The Arc Flash Standard (ASTM F887) requires that all arc flash rated harnesses be subjected to …
Cursing and pornography concerns prompted pipe bomb placements to destroy ‘inner city tower communication’
A Whittemore, Michigan, man was arrested yesterday in two separate criminal complaints related to the placement of explosive packages outside cellphone stores in Cheboygan and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, announced Eastern District of Michigan Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin and Western District of Michigan United States Attorney Andrew Birge. Charged was John Douglas Allen, 75, who is also alleged …
Connect (X) explains its expanded COVID safety protocols at its conference that boasts 200 speakers
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) has announced revised safety protocols for COVID-19 for the upcoming Connect (X) conference in Orlando, FL, being held October 4-7, at the Hyatt Regency. The association said the changes were a result of the State of Florida changing their practices and policies in recent days. All in-person Connect (X) attendees will now be required to …
North Carolina tower tech’s lies unravel quickly as he’s caught red-handed with T-Mobile site coax
A well-known social media tower tech faces a half-dozen charges in Rowan County, NC after he allegedly removed transmission lines last Thursday from a 230-foot self-supporting tower to sell them for scrap, causing an outage for T-Mobile customers, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Douglas Corbett Lee, 43, of Fayetteville, NC was charged with two counts of felony larceny, …
An unvaccinated worker’s OSHA fine will be $13,653, but an average fatality non-compliance fine is only $7,748
Newly proposed rules, which President Biden announced last Thursday, will require wireless industry companies with more than 100 workers to require vaccinations of all employees against the coronavirus or face weekly testing. Although the majority of businesses fall far short of more than 100 employees, there are many key companies that meet that plateau such as the major tower owners, …
Services set for tower technician Michael “Trey” Wagner, III in Danville, IL
Services have been announced for Michael “Trey” Curtis Wagner, III, 21 of St Joseph, IL, who passed away on September 3, 2021 at Franciscan Healthcare in Olympia Fields, IL as a result of injuries sustained when he fell while working on a monopine cell tower in Olympia Fields. Trey was born on May 30, 2000, the son of Michael Curtis Wagner, …
Day of remembrance includes American Tower subsidiary’s 13 employees who died on September 11
As we mark the passage of two decades since the day that changed our lives forever, the pain will be revisited on this day of remembrance and prayer, especially for those at a tower company who knew many of those people in a sister company who died in the collapse of the twin towers on September 11, 2001. General Telecom, a subsidiary …
India’s towercos in for a sharp tenancy decline if Vodafone Idea collapses leaving a duopoly
American Tower’s ATC Telecom and six other leading tower infrastructure companies could see their tenancies decrease overnight if Vodafone Idea (VI), the third-largest mobile carrier, goes bankrupt and leaves India with a duopoly telecom market. According to the Digital Communications Regulatory Authority of India (DCRAI) in a June report, VI lost its largest number of subscribers ever of 4.3 million …
A 100-foot fall off of an SBA monopine is fatal for a 21-year-old Illinois tower tech
A 21-year-old Illinois tower tech died Friday after falling from a cell tower in Illinois while he was working on a Verizon installation east of Joliet as a member of a four-man crew. The structure is owned by SBA Communications. The St. Joseph man was reportedly at the 100-foot level of the 105-foot structure when he fell to the ground, …
Cell towers prove their resilience during Hurricane Ida’s onslaught
Yesterday evening’s Hurricane Ida FCC outage report saw a marked improvement of the number of cell tower outages in the affected areas in Louisiana, dropping to 8.7% from its peak on Aug. 30, 2021 of over 52%. Out of a total of 2,759 sites, only 241 remained out of service. Communications outages for the Category 4 Hurricane will be later …
Tornado takes out an ATC 150-foot monopole as Ida winds its path of destruction through the northeast
An American Tower Corp. (ATC) 150-foot monopole collapsed Wednesday when a Hurricane Ida-spawned tornado tore through Upper Dublin Township in Pennsylvania. Although the structure was designed and constructed in 2008 with a basic wind speed of 90 mph as required EIA/TIA-222 Rev. G, the structure was no match for the EF-2 tornado that touched down in the township with winds …
AT&T claims an above average restoration percentage as carriers bring sites back up in Louisiana
Through the dedicated resources of the men and women on the front lines providing logistics and services, cell site outages in Hurricane Ida-affected parishes in Louisiana have been reduced to 28.5%, from Tuesday’s 38.1%, according to the FCC’s September 1, 2021 daily communications report. Within a day, hard-hit Assumption Parish went from an outage of 94.7% to 42.1%, with Terrebonne …
Carriers spin their outages as 38% of Louisiana’s cell sites remain crippled
The FCC reported yesterday evening that Hurricane Ida is still taking its toll on communications, although outages are down from Monday’s report. Louisiana was the hardest hit state with 38% of its sites down in the affected parishes yesterday. Although outages were previously at 52%, Assumption and Terrebonne Parishes are still at or near 100%. There were only 3 damaged cell …
Louisiana’s tallest tower collapse adds to Ida broadcasting outages
A 1,999-foot tower owned by iHeart Media and broadcasting its FM station KVDU collapsed in Vacherie, LA after Hurricane Ida trounced the state with high winds. Only the bottom 160-feet remain standing. No injuries were reported by iHeart. Cumulus Media also shares the tower with WZRH-FM. The structure is located in St. James Parish where the FCC’s most recent report …
Ida cripples mobile service in Louisiana, taking out over half of the state’s affected cell sites
The FCC reported yesterday evening that Hurricane Ida, roaring ashore in Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 storm with a peak gust of 172 mph, just short of the strongest measured wind from a hurricane in the U.S., has taken 28.1% of the cell sites in the affected area out of service. However, that number includes counties in Alabama …
