Cell site project management and construction company Alliance Management Services of Louisville, Ky. posted on their Facebook page last year that “2013 was practice, 2014 was the warm up and 2015 is game time”. But the company’s game plan proved to result in a failed opportunity and Alliance filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with U.S. Bankruptcy Court or the …
Blue Sky gets additional funding as Vertical Bridge gets an additional 275 towers
Peppertree Capital Management has increased its funding commitment to Blue Sky Towers from $80 million to $120 million as towerco Vertical Bridge and General Communication, Inc. also announced today that they have signed an agreement to acquire 275 sites from GCI’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska Wireless Network (AWN). “We are very proud of our accomplishments to date and consider ourselves fortunate to …
Participating in the stand-down? Let us give your company a plug
This week’s national safety stand-down to prevent falls in construction’s goal is to reach 5 million workers. If OSHA meets that goal, they will have touched more than half of the construction workers in the country. That count will double last year’s 2.5 million workers. Anyone who wants to prevent falls in the workplace can participate in the stand-down. In …
An engineer’s report has officials on edge over a possible tower failure
UPDATE: May 4, 2016 – Paulding, Ohio village officials have determined that a 400′ guyed tower is not a danger to the community after reviewing a second engineer’s report, and have opened Fairground Rd. As suspected, the reported overloads were due to the fact that the newer ANSI/TIA-222-G standard includes more stringent ice requirements, compared to the 222-F standard which was …
Eyes are on Sprint as T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon provide favorable capex reports
Although subscriber growth is a good indicator of a carrier’s favorable outlook by analysts, capex is the tailwind of wireless infrastructure providers, and this week’s news deflated the sails of a number of analysts who have speculated that carriers would cut their capex in early 2016. In his typical over the top presentation with a 360-degree camera, T-Mobile CEO John …
Carriers agree upon network resiliency framework for disasters and emergencies
Carriers today said they’re in agreement on how to facilitate information-sharing in an effort to improve network resiliency before, during and after natural disasters and emergencies. House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone and CTIA the Wireless Association released the “Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework” with the backing of AT&T Inc., Sprint Corp., T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon …
Acceptance of drones in wireless work could begin with early broadcast ‘repacking’ efforts
In 2013, when Amazon unveiled its daring drone plan to have unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) provide commercial deliveries, Black & Veatch had already been investigating how drones could assist in reducing the number of times climbers would have to ascend a tower. At an FCC-OSHA workshop in 2014, John Johnson, Black & Veatch Vice President, ESH&S, said, “I know that …
With a House nod, wireless industry will receive its drone directives
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 is one step closer to becoming a reality after being passed by the Senate last week on a vote of 95-3. It now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. In S.2658, below, key concerns of the wireless industry regarding what FAA regulations apply to their usage of drones are addressed in the …
Reports of tower techs losing their hands appear to be false social media posts
On Tuesday, a post appeared on a Facebook group’s website stating that, although it was possibly a rumor, someone had lost a hand when they were at an AT&T cell site in Idaho when a blasting cap exploded that was attached to a lock or possibly in a lock box. However, another poster emphatically said he had “confirmed” that it …
Wireless West 2016 wows the industry at its sold-out inaugural event in California
The energy, enthusiasm and networking at last night’s closing reception of Wireless West 2016 was present throughout the two-day event that saw approximately 500 key industry players attend the inaugural conference in Anaheim, Calif. Five State Wireless Associations across the West Coast and Rocky Mountain states joined forces to create the first-ever wireless conference at Disneyland Resort’s premier hotel destination, …
ERI and T-Mobile deal for crews and facilities puts 39-month repack deadline closer to being met
A partnership between Electronics Research, Inc. (ERI) and T-Mobile will give the Indiana antenna manufacturer the ability to ramp up materials and accelerate antenna production capacity by 800% before the end of the year in anticipation of the end of the FCC broadcast incentive auctions. ERI said it will begin production of antennas, and installation crews will be available immediately after …
Wireless industry tackles needed improvements for failing safety climb systems
Officials from the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), which aims to promote worker safety, quality and efficiency within the wireless infrastructure industry, gathered representatives from wireless carriers, tower companies and safety climb system equipment manufacturers to hold a Safety Equipment Manufacturers Summit to maximize the critical role safety climb equipment plays in protecting climbers. The purpose of the gathering …
Tower tech’s condition still critical after a safety climb failure in Texas; his rescuers are sacked
UPDATE: – April 21, 2016 – According to Troy White’s father, Mick Whitecotton, White is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left leg today. It was severely cut as the tower tech slid down a guy wire. Whitecotton said White was still in the trauma center intubated with a brace on his back. Nurses were able to allow him to stand …
As new tower is built following Texas plane crash, NTSB releases a report on its findings
After a tower crew on Monday set the base section of a new 815’ guyed tower for KCBD after a single engine plane crashed into and collapsed the former Lubbock Tex. structure on February 4, 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) coincidentally released the findings of their investigation. The NTSB’s factual report said Doctor Mike Rice’s plane’s propeller nose …
Contractors could benefit from Facebook’s Terragraph replacing fiber with low-cost, fast Wi-Fi
If Facebook’s pilot program in San Jose, Calif. that’s slated to go live later this year successfully offers inexpensive IPv6-only nodes with WiGig chips on lamp posts, utility poles, and other street furniture and structures that will broadcast Internet using unlicensed 60GHz spectrum, it could prove to be a boon for many wireless industry contractors when carriers and internet service …
Tower capacity concerns recognized at CCA’s keynote discussion
While all panelists agreed at yesterday’s Competitive Carriers Association’s Mobile Carriers Show keynote discussion in Nashville that unlicensed spectrum use by carriers was already in play, with subscribers using Wi-Fi connections, C Spire CTO Stephen Bye said carriers would have to be aggressive in making the experience better for consumers. “Unlicensed has an important role in the delivery of services, …
Sprint’s racist ‘ghetto’ video was in exceptionally bad taste
Commentary – Sprint has pulled a video ad on Twitter in which a waspy giggling white woman describes rival T-Mobile as “ghetto.” The below ad opens with Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure sitting with “Actual Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T customers,” asking them about Sprint’s competitors. The Bolivian/American told his preppy audience, “I’m going to tell you a carrier name, and …
NATE highlights its successful conference with the release of hundreds of photographs
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has provided over a half million descriptions of the tremendously successful conference and exhibition in New Orleans, La. last February with its release today of over 550 event photographs. Although NATE’s receptions and other networking events show a great amount of comradeship, the meetings, educational sessions …
Four-tower $75-million deal still on hold as developer grapples with NIMBY group
Update: June 24, 2020 — In a formal announcement on June 24, 2020, Cumulus confirmed that it has closed on the sale of its parcel of land in Bethesda to Toll Brothers. It’s a $74.1 million deal that is expected to generate proceeds of $71.3 million. Residents impacted by the proposed sale of a 75-acre Bethesda, Md. tract that is the home …
Canada’s Structure, Tower & Antenna Council’s inaugural event is a huge success
The inaugural Structure, Tower and Antenna Council (STAC) 2016 Conference & Exposition in Toronto, Ontario kicked off yesterday at the International Plaza Hotel with a keynote address by Bernard Lord, President and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, and according to attendees and exhibitors at the two-day event, it is proving to be a tremendous success. STAC is the only …
