UPDATE – August 31, 2020 – Louisiana’s cell sites that were out of service continued to improve since yesterday, with 5.5% of the cell sites out of service in the affected parishes. However, hard-hit Cameron Parish still had 72% of its cell sites out. LOUISIANA AFFECTED PARISHES Date Cell Sites Served Cell Sites Out Percent Out Cell Sites Out Due to …
Judge rules that a Massachusetts city was correct in denying ExteNet’s poles over power concerns
In a ruling yesterday, US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs dismissed a lawsuit by ExteNet Systems against the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts and its Pole and Conduit Commission over the commission’s decision to reject five of the ExteNet’s proposed small cell wireless installations in the city because its applications did not specify how the company would power the wireless devices …
Digital Colony is interested in Crown Castle’s fiber business – Reuters
Digital Colony Partners has contacted Crown Castle International Corp to signal interest in buying a minority stake in its fiber-cable business, according to three people familiar with the matter, according to a report by Reuters today. The exclusive article states that Marc Ganzi, CEO of Digital Colony , a major investor in data centers, cell towers, fiber networks and small cell networks, has spoken …
Providing no details President Trump touts a new 5G network
Just before the election for his second term, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the interstate highway system in 1956. In President Donald J. Trump’s campaigning for his second term on Monday he floated his idea for establishing “a national high-speed wireless internet network” in a campaign ad. President Eisenhower’s vision came to fruition and is an integral part of …
T-Mobile advised to stop some of its 5G claims but gets selected NAD marketing support
The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs determined that T-Mobile US, Inc. supported claims that its 5G service is faster than a competitors’ 4G, as well as its own 4G, but recommended it discontinue express and implied claims that its 5G network is more reliable than competing 4G or 5G networks. Similarly, NAD determined that T-Mobile supported claims …
NATE video highlights new wireless infrastructure technician program at Southeast Technical College
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today unveiled a video shining a spotlight on the new Wireless Infrastructure Technician Program at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The video’s release is timely as community college and technical institute students across the United States head back to school for the fall 2020 semester. The video features testimonial interviews with …
Sprint and T-Mobile settle Manhattan $2 million townhouse damage claim in a New York minute
Justice is said to be blind but no one ever said it was fast, especially in the COVID-19 era where lawsuits are causing the wheels of justice to move at glacial speeds. So a lawsuit that was filed by homeowners in June against Sprint and T-Mobile alleging that they installed 5G antennas on a Manhattan penthouse that caused damage to …
Elderly Vertical Bridge AM tower goes horizontal after being walloped by 130 mph winds
A 310-foot self-supporting tower owned by Vertical Bridge that broadcast WMT-AM radio’s signal throughout Iowa collapsed last week after tornado-type winds swept through Linn County. According to the National Weather Service, a powerful line of severe thunderstorms known as “Derecho” tracked across Minnesotta, eastern Iowa, and northwest Illinois in the afternoon of August 10. Straight line winds were estimated to …
Elliott alleges Crown Castle ‘seems to know there is a problem, but refuses to acknowledge it’
After Activist investor Elliott Management Corporation (Elliott) last month registered its concerns about the operation of Crown Castle’s fiber business, the company appeared to have yielded to its pressure and unveiled a mandatory Board retirement policy of age 72, with several directors, including its founding chairman J. Landis “Lanny” Martin, 73, not being renominated. Last Thursday, Crown Castle also announced …
Environmental consultant’s concern dings Georgia towerco with a $16,000 FCC fine
The FCC issued a $16,000 fine against a Georgia vertical realtor aligned with an FCC licensee on Friday, after its site development contractor’s environmental consultant firm informed the agency that a new tower was erected prior to completing environmental and historic preservation reviews. Public Service Towers (PS Towers) of Reynolds, Georgia, according to the FCC’s order, in the spring of 2018 hired …
In Iowa storm’s wake, communications have rebounded but 240K still without power
After a powerful series of thunderstorms with 100 mph winds roared across the Midwest earlier this week, downing trees, damaging structures and knocking out power to more than a million people and disabling communications, the FCC is reporting this afternoon a marked improvement from yesterday’s 12.4% of cell sites down in the affected counties of Iowa. The destructive storms laid …
Coalition of industry organizations advocate for wireless workforce development
A diverse coalition of influential communications industry organizations, whose members depend on a properly trained and highly skilled workforce, sent a letter to key congressional leaders in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives requesting support for industry-specific workforce development programs through stand-alone legislation or as part of a larger telecom/broadband infrastructure package. The coalition sent the letter to …
Reward upped to $10K for information regarding shooting deaths of two cell site workers
Two months ago, two men were shot multiple times inside a Jacksonville, Florida AT&T cell site equipment building and police are no further ahead in the investigation of their deaths that appears to have been the result of a robbery while the men were working at night resupplying battery banks. Phillip Harley, 37, co-owner of Harley and Sibs Logistics LLC, …
3M Recalls DBI-SALA Self-Rescue Descent System
3M Fall Protection issued a Product Advisory on June 10, 2020 to address a potential cracking issue that may occur after repetitive descents of the training model of the 3M™ DBI-SALA® Self-Rescue Descent Systems, specifically P/N 3320037. The notice directed the competent person to complete an inspection for this condition of the inner rope spool as part of the normal …
Vertical Bridge acquires last big broadcast tower portfolio for $213 million: Cumulus Media
In February, Cumulus Media said that the company was considering selling its tower portfolio of 250 sites across 32 states to increase its liquidity and pay down debt. On Friday, the deal was inked with Vertical Bridge picking up the assets for $213 million. Previously, CFO John Abbot said that he believes that the multiples being paid as the tower industry …
Is Ganzi’s Colony Capital at $2 an opportunity for those who missed out on profitable towerco stocks?
SBA Communications stock price closed at $311.28 Friday with American Tower’s stock at $257.61 and Crown Castle trailing at $168.19, but it’s still a price that cautious investors might shy away from during uncertain times. However, well-known wireless infrastructure magnate Marc Ganzi has what he believes is a wise investment, a $2 stock which he’s convinced has huge potential — …
SBA is doubling down on data centers after successful Chicago edge experiment
SBA Communications jumped into edge computing almost a year ago with the purchase of Chicago data center New Continuum to learn how to maximize their interest in the growing field that their competitors were taking an active role in, and the experiment was successful. During Monday’s Q2 earnings call, CEO Jeffrey Stoops announced that the company has bought their second …
California city loses $50K in annual revenue, Yurok tribe gains cultural protection
For years, residents of the City of Trinidad, California have been objecting to cell towers located atop Trinidad Head, a scenic promontory instilled with deep spiritual and cultural importance by the Tsurais of the Yurok Tribe. Trinidad leased land to Verizon, which subleased space to AT&T and Sprint. The 20-year lease expired in 2018, but was extended to as Verizon …
Trump kayos O’Rielly’s nomination, possibly because he didn’t support conservative media reform
President Donald Trump has rescinded his renomination of FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly to serve another five-year term at the FCC. The reversal issued late Monday came just days after O’Rielly gave a speech in which he indicated his opposition to President Trump’s executive order to try to limit liability protections for social media companies. The president and many other Republicans …
Helicopter cell site project crash kills pilot and passenger
Update: August 3, 2020 – The passenger who died in a helicopter crash last Wednesday has been identified as LaDonna Stroud, a longtime friend of the pilot, James “Jim” Robinson, the owner of St. Louis Helicopter (SLH), who also passed away while preparing for cell tower work near Pioche, Nevada. Stroud was a nurse practitioner and a former member of …
