On Monday, during its second-quarter earnings call, SBA Communications cited a slowdown in U.S. carrier activity, similar to previous announcements by American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle, whose Q2 activity had declined a whopping 50%. DigitalBridge Group, whose tower arm Vertical Bridge has 11,000 owned and master-leased towers, will release its quarterly report on Friday and takes no comfort in …
Lawsuit relies upon Wall Street Journal reporting about toxic lead-sheathed cable buried underground
UPDATE – August 2, 2023 – On Tuesday, Verizon investors filed a similar lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court to AT&T’s securities fraud lawsuit, stating the carrier lied about the health and safety risks associated with its network of lead-sheathed cables, leading to a decline in Verizon stock after The Wall Street Journal’s articles exposed the toxic cables that are still in …
Incline acquires GME Supply as the company positions itself for additional product lines and growth
Platte River Equity, a Denver-based private equity firm, announced the sale of GME Supply Co. to Incline Equity Partners. GME is a premier critical worker safety and productivity supplier distributor to field-deployed technicians serving multiple infrastructure end markets. “Platte River’s investment played a pivotal role in the acceleration of our growth and development. We are confident that Incline shares our dedication …
AT&T says Mississippi county is stiffing it for relocation costs after they were forced off private property
AT&T is suing Rankin County, MS, in U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi, for relocation expenses incurred when the county required the carrier to move its distribution and other equipment for a road expansion project from a leased easement from a private property owner that it had acquired in 1991. AT&T alleges that after Rankin County announced that it would widen …
As telecom infrastructure builds stall, some carriers are faced with a new dilemma, toxic lead cables
Shares of AT&T Inc fell more than 5% yesterday, reaching their lowest level in thirty years, after analysts downgraded the stock following a Wall Street Journal report last week that said the telecommunications giant left toxic lead cables buried across the United States. The investigative article said that Verizon and other carriers also abandoned the underground lead cables, possibly contaminating …
Doctor Joyce examines a tower site to appreciate how the industry can assist in curing the digital divide
Although Crown Castle’s safety protocols do not require having a medical doctor on a tower site when technicians are present, one was available for Novotech Construction’s safety-conscious tower techs recently should a medical emergency present itself during a recent tower compound visit by Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce. Dr. Joyce has represented Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District since January 2019 and has …
QualTek is close to emerging from bankruptcy as stockholders lose all of their equity
QualTek Services, Inc., currently in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, knew that its stock would be delisted from the NASDAQ stock market after it was notified on January 5, 2023, that if its listed securities didn’t reach a minimum bid price of $1 for 30 consecutive days through July 5, 2023, the company’s shares would be delisted. NASDAQ made it …
Collecting $3 million from an ISP will be a tough road to hoe for American Tower and Crown Castle with its $386k
American Tower Corp. (ATC) has filed a lawsuit against a wireless and satellite internet, phone, and DISH television provider, alleging it stopped paying rent payments on 60 of its structures on November 24, 2021. ATC says it is due $2,891,885 plus attorneys’ fees and other costs from TPT SpeedConnect, LLC. SpeedConnect advertises that it is proud of the role it …
Nexius, owing $600 million to creditors, shoveled millions to a supplier in Beirut before filing bankruptcy
In 2001, brothers Nabil and Ned Taleb co-founded Nexius in a two-bedroom Virginia apartment. They continued to bootstrap their first year’s revenues of $1 million to a multi-corporation self-performing wireless industry enterprise that boosted revenues to $1 billion in 2022. But cash is king, and they ran out of it last year and sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection three weeks …
Virginia broadband railroad crossing fee lawsuit says one price endangers site safety
The Association of American Railroads wants a new Virginia law streamlining broadband providers’ access to railroad property invalidated. In a federal court lawsuit, it alleges that it amounts to an illegal taking and violates both the state and U.S. constitutions. They said it treats railroads, unlike any other landowner, “seizing from them and giving broadband service providers a permanent easement …
Five states snag over $10 Billion of $42.5 Billion available in broadband funding
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced how it has allocated funding to all 50 states (VIEW ALLOCATIONS BELOW), the District of Columbia, and five territories to deploy affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service to everyone in America. This “Internet for All” initiative is a key component of President Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda. States, D.C., …
Dish meets its 70% buildout deadline with assistance of three major towerco partners
Dish Wireless announced yesterday that as of June 14, the carrier is offering 5G broadband service to over 70 percent of the U.S. population, giving more than 240 million Americans access to its technology. This marks a significant milestone for Dish and the U.S. telecom industry, as Dish designed, built, and deployed a first-of-its-kind 5G network in three years. Dish …
NATE’s work zone protection safety video is a must view for ground level projects
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced today the official release of a video on Work Zone Protection. The video, the second to debut in Volume 6 of the Association’s popular #ClimberConnection series. The video shines a spotlight on the safety best practices associated with Work Zone Protection, specifically relating to the appropriate use of temporary traffic control devices, proper …
FCC’s report shows Guam’s cell site outage at 20%, three weeks after Typhoon Mawar crippled the island’s power
After Typhoon Mawar tore through Guam, the second largest U.S. territory, on May 24, the FCC identified that 60% of its 327 cell sites were down. Two days later, it increased to 70%. However, in today’s report, that number has considerably improved, with the agency showing that only 19.9% are out of service. Seven were due to damage, ten due …
While burning contractors and suppliers, Nexius’s facade exposed a possible terrorist cell site security hole
As Nexius used ‘every trick’ to keep contractors working, although the company knew they would never pay them, the wireless infrastructure developer reportedly continued scamming T-Mobile by using a Nexius-aligned company in Lebanon that was prohibited from accessing T-Moble’s network – possibly exposing a network security threat to the nation’s second-largest mobile operator, according to sources familiar with the ruse. When …
FCC updates national broadband map to fix nationwide accuracy challenges
The FCC took another step forward in its effort to develop the best and most accurate broadband maps ever built in the United States. In a note, to understand why requires a bit of history, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “For decades, the Commission produced broadband maps based on census blocks. In practice, this meant that if there was high-speed internet …
QualTek Services files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with hopes that its debt can be cut almost in half
Wireless infrastructure developer QualTek Services warned earlier this month that it would need to obtain alternative sources of capital or otherwise meet its liquidity needs and/or restructure its existing indebtedness through the protections available under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Blue Bell, Pennsylvania company filed for bankruptcy today in the Southern District of Texas, identifying that it had …
Towerco execs hint at a future slowdown, but for many wireless contractors the future is now
Last week at WIA’s View From the Top panel session at Connectivity Expo 2023, the top towerco executives hinted that they are aware of a dip in carrier capex and a turn towards fiber, possibly cutting into site builds. Still, they championed the industry and said 5G would be a constant and maybe a ten-year driver, although it would be …
NATE members Capitol Hill Fly-In event strengthened support by legislators for key industry priorities
Ninety representatives from NATE member companies converged in Washington, D.C., this week to participate in the Association’s 2023 Congressional Fly-In event on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, May 17, NATE members demonstrated their grassroots prowess by participating in approximately 120 individual meetings with Members of Congress and their respective policy staff. During the meetings, NATE members advocated for the industry’s priorities, …
A taste of 5G spectrum offerings is more easily explained using its constituent flavors
By John Paleski Mobile broadband businesses were eager to shell out over $120 billion during FCC auctions to acquire spectrum blocks to roll out 5G. That’s understandable since they needed it to lay the groundwork for fifth-generation wireless services. However, understanding what 5G is and the spectrums used to offer transformational speeds and capabilities that can open the door to …
