A Wireless Estimator survey recently completed by 263 wireless infrastructure contractors has provided a wealth of information regarding carrier payment terms and other industry concerns that will be detailed in additional reports next month. However, the first evident troubling or possibly beneficial data unveiled is that new contractors are not entering the business as they did four years ago when …
Turn this T-Day into a Happy V-Day
For more than 14 years, Wireless Estimator has been privileged to reach your computer screen or smartphone every day. For that, we are thankful. More importantly, we are thankful to those men and women who don’t look for thanks – our country’s volunteers, the spirited folks that genuinely make this industry great. Unfortunately, trying to recognize every one of them and …
FCC wants the public to hit them with Hurricane Michael feedback, Rosenworcel wants action
The FCC is requesting public participation on Hurricane Michael preparation and recovery efforts by Dec. 17, 2018 it announced in a public notice. The review has been opened by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau that “now seeks public comment to better inform its understanding and awareness of stakeholders’ readiness preparation, and response with respect to Hurricane Michael.” A …
U.S. patent application pushes credibility of Swiss Army knife cell tower drones
Commentary – Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are assisting the wireless infrastructure industry with great tower mapping, 3D modeling, close-out documentation and other capabilities that have proven in some cases to be more accurate and safer for the workforce. However, a recent patent application for a UAV is so technologically advanced that the applicant’s inventors will inevitably displace tower techs that …
County to sue FCC over RF emission standards for small cell antennas
Fast-Forward Friday is Wireless Estimator’s latest news offering that provides an overview of relevant industry news stories presented during the week by other media that were not covered by our staff, along with a link to the article to go upstream and read it in its entirety. After all, the articles’ authors did all the heavy lifting, and capsuling their content and …
Mobile infrastructure industry pioneers honored at WIA Hall of Fame ceremony
Five titans of technology were honored last night in Washington by the Wireless Infrastructure Association during its inaugural Mobile Infrastructure Industry Hall of Fame ceremony. The ceremony honored trailblazers who have shaped the wireless infrastructure landscape. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai delivered opening remarks. The five inductees were Neville R. Ray, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of T-Mobile; Steven E. Bernstein, founder …
Tower mods video emphasizes exacting sequences required
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today unveiled a video entitled “Tower Modifications: It’s All About the Sequence” that focuses on the dos and don’ts of performing proper tower modifications. The video was unveiled as part of Volume 3 of the Association’s acclaimed Climber Connection series. The informative video includes an interview with an experienced industry construction manager who …
FCC bomb threat and ‘swatting’ hoax caller pleads guilty to 51 charges
A California man, Tyler Barriss, 26, pleaded guilty yesterday to making a false report that resulted in the death of an unarmed man in Wichita, Kan. after he placed a hoax call last year. He also pleaded guilty to a total of 50 other charges as part of a plea deal that included making hoax bomb threats in phone calls …
T-Mobile asking for ruling as to the legality of an additional insured certificate
In a Nov. 9, 2018 filing, the Ninth Circuit has asked Washington state’s Supreme Court to consider whether an insurer must cover a carrier’s costs in a lawsuit alleging its subcontractor’s rooftop antenna installation caused damage to an apartment building in the Bronx, N.Y., stating that Washington state law is uncertain on a critical issue in the case. The Ninth …
42 dead in Paradise fire as telcos assist in providing emergency communications
Forty-two people have died as a result of the wildfire in Northern California that wiped out the town of Paradise, making the Camp Fire the deadliest in state history. The death total is expected to rise since hundreds of residents are still unaccounted for. Carriers were quick to provide cell service support since the area has lost a number of …
Despite sky-high expectations, wireless capex shows signs of sluggishness
Fast-Forward Friday is Wireless Estimator’s latest news offering that provides an overview of relevant industry news stories presented during the week by other media that were not covered by our staff, along with a link to the article to go upstream and read it in its entirety. After all, the articles’ authors did all the heavy lifting, and capsuling their content and …
Split House and Senate bodes well for NATE’s wireless industry lobbying efforts
Wall Street’s bulls were cheering midterm election results yesterday that saw Democrats on Tuesday take control of the House and Republicans hold control of the Senate, delivering a split Congress and prospects for legislative gridlock over the remaining two years of President Trump’s term. Today, enthusiasm was a little subdued and the market remained flat, although the communications sector was …
OSHA construction chief and friend of the industry Dean McKenzie passes at age 62
OSHA Directorate of Construction Dean A. McKenzie,62, passed away Nov. 4, 2018, in Maryland after a year-long battle with cancer. McKenzie, who assisted the wireless construction industry in many of its efforts, including federal safety workshops, was instrumental in seeing if there could be an industry balance with the possibility of a new wireless construction regulation that would encompass current …
Mount failure being investigated in accident that killed a New Mexico tower technician
A 28-year-old tower technician was killed Friday afternoon in an industry accident that occurred off of NM 14 northeast of Albuquerque, N.M. According to sources knowledgeable of the incident, David Fernandez of Las Cruces, N.M., employed by Enertech of New Braunfels, Tex., was performing a Sprint antenna change-out on a water tower in an all-terrain man lift when he fell …
Concrete seen as a culprit in Corning’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium DAS design failure in IBM lawsuit
Successfully teaming with Corning Optical Communications Wireless, Inc. to build a strong fiber-based WiFi and DAS network for Texas A&M’s Kyle Field in 2015, IBM again partnered with Corning to provide a DAS and WiFi system in the new 71,000-seat Atlanta Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium that opened Aug. 26, 2017. But the short-lived relationship began to unravel following the inking of a …
T-Mobile/Sprint merger would cause substantial harm to nation’s workforce: CWA
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has again reached out to the FCC, blasting the proposed $26 billion acquisition of Sprint by T-Mobile, alleging that the carriers’ claims that the merger would provide “robust competition to the 5G era” is a red herring and it will likely result in pink slips for 30,000 jobs across the nation. Last August, the …
Climbers’ challenging weather environments highlighted in video
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a #ClimberConversation video shining a spotlight on the challenging weather-related environments tower technicians are confronted with while working at communication tower sites. The video release is timely as weather patterns are changing dramatically across the United States with the calendar turning to November. The #ClimberConversation volume is a companion series to the …
Tata exits 30,000 American Tower leases for a payment of $320 million
Tata Teleservices is settling with American Tower for $320 million following its early exit from 30,000 tower leases in India after it sold its mobility business to Bharti Airtel. The sale paves the way for the Tata group to close its agreement with Bharti Airtel which required that the conglomerate would need to clear all liabilities from earlier agreements. The telco entered …
Fed’s findings could stymie new OSHA tower rule and lead to adoption of A10.48 Standard
An extensive 266-page report from The Small Business Advocacy Review Panel (SBAR) regarding a possible new OSHA standard that would apply to all work activities performed on cell, broadcast and all other communications towers was released this week with 10 key recommendations (below) for OSHA to consider if they’re going to introduce a new industry safety rule. OSHA is required …
NATE announces STAR Initiative participants for 2018-2019 program
STAR Initiative Companies Represent Best-in-Class for Safety and Quality The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has announced the member companies who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program for the 2018-2019 year. The NATE STAR Initiative is currently entering its eighth year and is the Association’s signature program designed to help companies operate safely and …
