The Communications Workers of America (CWA), New America’s Open Technology Institute, the Rural Wireless Association, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, the American Economic Liberties Project, and Free Press Action sent a letter yesterday calling on Congress to ensure that T-Mobile does not receive COVID-19 recovery funding to meet the merger specific build-out commitments it agreed to when it sought …
FCC approves Ligado’s 5G network over strong protests about GPS concerns
The FCC has approved, with conditions, Ligado’s application to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-band that will primarily support 5G and Internet of Things (I0T) services. The Democratic and Republican leaders of both armed services committees called last week for rejecting Ligado’s plan. Last month, the departments of Interior, Commerce, Justice, Energy and Homeland Security all signed a …
AT&T corrects 3,579 false broadband-coverage data filings it provided in 20 states
Admitting to the FCC that it offered no broadband in 3,579 census blocks that it had previously reported as having broadband deployment in those blocks at speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream, AT&T filed a report identifying the errors. With Form 477 reports, ISPs are required to inform the FCC which blocks they offer service in. The agency …
CTIA issues best practices for permitting issues during pandemic
To keep Americans connected and meet the increased demand for wireless—from first responders, patients and doctors, children learning remotely and employees fortunate to work from home—the industry needs to continue deploying network infrastructure and CTIA has offered its best practices for permitting of continued deployment by state and local governments so the industry can meet today’s network needs as well …
Infrastructure contractors and suppliers largely unscathed by Frontier’s bankruptcy
In Frontier Communications’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing late Tuesday, the company said it expects to continue providing “quality service to its customers without interruption and work with its business partners as usual throughout the court supervised process.” The company offers internet services in 29 states and is expected to complete the sale to Northwest Fiber by the end of this …
Trenton, NJ council chief joins Kool-Aid crowd and buys into coronavirus 5G conspiracy hoax
Trenton, New Jersey City Council President Kathy McBride appears to easily accept a hoax and her most recent foray was falling for a 5G conspiracy deception along with other city council members that reportedly prompted them to draft a proposal (below) banning the construction of towers and antennas in New Jersey’s Capital, according to the Trentonian. A letter from a …
Residents bite the hand that feeds them; judge doesn’t swallow test track tower denial wisdom
A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that the Township of Brighton, Michigan overstepped their authority in denying a Verizon application for two cell towers on General Motors’ 2,000-acre Milford Proving Ground complex that accounts for approximately 10% of the Township’s property. The facility, built in 1924, has approximately 4,000 employees, many of them Brighton residents whose 2010 census identified a …
NATE webinar will help contractors understand CARES Act as they navigate troubled financial waters
Wireless contractors and other infrastructure businesses scrambling to determine how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act applies to them will welcome a webinar scheduled for Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. EDT to be presented by NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association with Brian Gramm, a prominent small business consultant from Seemore Hawk. This important webinar …
UK 5G towers still being torched amid bogus coronavirus theories supported in the U.S.
United Kingdom wireless operators and government officials strongly condemned acts of violence by individuals incorrectly linking 5G to COVID-19 after vandals set fire to at least five cell sites, the very infrastructure that is keeping people connected and safe during the pandemic. Rumors and conspiracy theories over a link between the roll out of 5G and the spread of coronavirus …
Shocking 5G study: Tower techs and nearby residents are a minimum of 8.7% smarter than general public
CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker is being heralded throughout the world for her courage in funding a multi-million-dollar, multi-nation study of 5G and in the process, the peer-reviewed report found that it actually increased the IQ of individuals living and working around cell sites by realigning monoamine neurons in the brain. Over 800 people ranging in ages 6 through …
Radiation guidelines panel finds 5G safe while tin-hatters embrace MD’s YouTube nonsense
A panel of international experts has identified that 5G does not pose a health risk, after updating its radiation exposure guidelines. The organization responsible for assessing health risks, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), has updated its guidelines regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields to cover 5G signals. The commission has ruled that some protections are required against the …
DISH’s ‘badass’ tower climber Martha Ramos leads Fast-Forward Friday news
Meet Martha: DISH’s ‘badass’ tower climber When Martha Ramos climbed her first cellular tower, it wasn’t so much being up high that made her nervous, it was learning to let go. “If you’re working on equipment on a tower, you have to have both of your hands free,” said Ramos, a tower climber for DISH. “You hook yourself to a …
Tower techs still road warriors as COVID-19 cancels industry’s shows and non-essential travel
Last week, most wireless infrastructure companies were supporting a mostly “business as usual” mentality regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, but they’re now reassessing their preventative plans daily as the industry finds itself struggling to keep abreast of the almost hourly information being provided by news media, health organizations and government agencies. Bernard Borghei, Executive Vice President of Operations, Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC, …
Weekend decision shutters IWCE’s 2020 Las Vegas conference due to COVID 19 concerns
The International Wireless Communications Expo’s IWCE 2020 conference scheduled to take place March 30 – April 3 in Las Vegas has been cancelled due to concerns about attendees traveling and networking at a conference with the inherent possibly of being exposed to the Coronavirus (COVID 19). On Friday, IWCE said the show was a go since a large number of enhanced on-site …
Under pressure from a cemetery and a potential burial candidate, AT&T folds in New Hampshire
AT&T has asked the Vermont Public Utilities Commission to dismiss a plan for a new 140-foot cell tower in the Village of Derby Line, Vermont, a Canadian border community, even though it appears that another hearing six weeks later could have favored the carrier’s application. In correspondence with the commission, AT&T said it was backing out based upon opposition to the …
New Jersey homeowner’s legal stand against a Verizon tower site collapses in his second appeal
An Alexandria Township, N.J. homeowner has lost his legal battle against Verizon placing cell antennas atop a power line tower adjacent to his property. Glenn Fodor, who lives on Route 579, appealed the approval of the township’s Land Use Board on December 21, 2017 before the Hunterdon County Superior Court, to allow 12 antennas on top of the 150-foot power …
American Tower’s revenues will tank in India if government fees create a carrier duopoly
India, once the darling of tower companies looking to expand their international footprint, is not where towercos might want to be today with the potential for a considerable tenancy drop if Vodafone Idea collapses under the weight of government license fees totaling $6.2 billion that are due by January 23, 2020. Vodafone Idea may not be able to pay the …
Miller digs into obstacles of broadband deployment, providing solutions to U.S. Senate committee
National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) Chairman Jimmy Miller, President at MillerCo, Inc. in Gulfport, Mississippi, provided expert witness testimony at this morning’s U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. regarding “The 5G Workforce and Obstacles to Broadband Deployment”. The hearing was convened by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, …
Macro towers, 20K more trained tower techs and new skill sets needed to roll out 5G says FCC
Although small cells and 5G were high on the list of topics during yesterday’s U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation’s hearing on Industries of the Future, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly emphasized that 5G deployment requires more than just sound spectrum policy to be successful, and macro towers and additional worker skill sets are needed “It will need a …
Bill proposes over $1 billion to develop 5G alternatives to Huawei
A bipartisan group of leading national security Senators introduced a bill to encourage and support U.S. innovation in the race for 5G, providing over $1 billion to invest in Western-based alternatives to Chinese equipment providers Huawei and ZTE. Heavily subsidized by the Chinese government, Huawei is poised to become the leading commercial provider of 5G, with far-reaching effects for U.S. economic …
