In a joint letter to Alan Davidson, who heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a partisan group of 11 U.S. Senators were emphatic that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) overstepped its bounds when it wrote the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that addresses how $42.45 billion will …
TIA’s BEAD summit will thread the way for contractors and suppliers to take advantage of $42 billion in funding
Recent trade shows have explored opportunities that will become available through the Broadband Access and Employment Program’s (BEAD) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), providing States approximately $42 billion to deploy broadband in America where it is not located. However, they were typically 45-minute sessions that often scratched the surface, leaving many unanswered questions. Fortunately, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is …
Savior of the City of Troy pleads guilty to vandalizing cell towers to ‘stop the aliens’
Christopher A Daniels, 36, of Piqua, Ohio, pleaded guilty to seven felony counts on April 12, 2023, of causing extensive damage to multiple communications towers in Troy and the surrounding area. Daniels allegedly vandalized at least five towers. According to initial information released by authorities, two were AT&T towers, and one was a Verizon site. The other two structures were …
Until there’s a consensus standard, industry experts provide initial hoisting grip guidance following fatality
When a 32-year-old tower technician passed away on December 15, 2022, in Weatherford, TX, while engaged in an installation project for Verizon, Wireless Estimator identified shortly after that that a secured cable grip failure might have caused the death. Huber+Suhner provided the hybrid cable and factory-installed hoisting grip, which was later identified as a FIOMA grip. OSHA investigated the accident and has not …
TESSCO will be partnered up with Alliance and GetWireless in an all cash deal valued at $161.4 million
TESSCO Technologies announced that the company has entered into a definitive merger agreement with entities affiliated with Lee Equity Partners and Twin Point Capital, which also own Alliance Corporation (“Alliance”), a value-added distributor of equipment for the wireless industry, and GetWireless, LLC (“GetWireless”), a value-added distributor of cellular solutions that connect the Internet of Things (IoT). Under the merger agreement’s …
Deutsche Telekom captures majority control of T-Mobile U.S.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom now has majority ownership of T-Mobile U.S., Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hottges said Wednesday during the company’s annual in Bonn. “We have the majority and are the largest shareholder of the world’s most valuable telecommunications company, T-Mobile U.S.,” Hottges said. An SEC filing dated March 31, 2023, shows that Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiaries hold 53.9 percent …
Watchdog probe says FCC enforcement chief and six others alleged to have traded in prohibited stocks
Watchdog organization Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has filed a complaint with the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Inspector General and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) concerning FCC officials trading stocks in companies they are banned from trading under federal law. According to CLC, the Communications Act prohibits any FCC employee from having a financial interest in any company significantly regulated …
Nexius crashes and burns its dedicated construction supply chain, stiffing them for millions of dollars
Selected by AT&T in 2016 as one of their eight suppliers of the year out of more than 5,000 companies, well-established Frisco, Texas-based network deployment firm Nexius cemented a relationship with the carrier that would see them become one of their leading suppliers and turfing contractors. Wireless infrastructure manufacturers, distributors, and contractors were eager to accept Nexius’s business and provide …
Dish Network’s ransomware attack enters its sixth day of affecting customers
Dish Network has confirmed that a ransomware attack was the cause of a multi-day network and service outage that started on Friday. The outages hit Dish.com, the Dish Anywhere app, Boost Mobile, and other websites and networks owned and operated by Dish Network. It has also been reported that the company’s call center phone numbers were not working. In an …
WISPA-developed white paper rips apart the NTIA’s love affair with fiber, possibly a $60 billion boondoggle
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funding program (BEAD) will fall short of connecting all Americans online because it is not based on sound economic and other policy principles, concludes Dr. Bill Lehr in a white paper released today. By designating fiber as a “priority broadband project” for Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) deployments and …
Private wireless forecasts slashed, but Verizon and Dell’Oro still believe it’s a massive opportunity
Verizon CFO Matthew Ellis signaled during an earnings call last month that their anticipated 5G private networks growth was “a little slower than we would have liked,” blaming it on businesses adopting the technology. Still, he said when the adoption curve changes, the upside “looks very good.” A newly published forecast report issued today by Dell’Oro Group agrees with Ellis …
Plaintiffs: T-Mobile/Sprint merger resulted in soaring prices and decreased innovation
In a motion by T-Mobile and SoftBank on December 5 to dismiss a lawsuit to overturn T-Mobile’s Sprint acquisition, the seven plaintiffs representing the class action said that the defendants claim that the “lawsuit seeks to turn the antitrust laws on their head.” However, plaintiffs argue that the “case involves no gymnastics.” Instead, it advances claims that go to …
DigitalBridge steps slightly outside its digital lane with a $316 million infrastructure buy
DigitalBridge Group, Inc. has announced that its operating company, DigitalBridge Operating Company, LLC, has completed its transaction to acquire AMP Capital’s global infrastructure equity investment management business, which has been rebranded as InfraBridge in a transaction valued at $316 million. A considerable amount of InfraBridge’s assets are outside of DigitalBridge’s flagship digital infrastructure equity business. The deal was announced last …
Federal agencies offering $7 million in prizes to create a greater interest in Open RAN
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the launch of the 2023 5G Challenge in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD). The 2023 5G Challenge is a $7 million prize competition conducted by NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences. The competition aims to accelerate the adoption and development of an open, interoperable, secure, multi-vendor 5G ecosystem. Such an ecosystem will spur a more competitive …
Strand shatters Open RAN CAPEX savings myth, stating panacea for carrier capital isn’t ready for prime time
A fresh report from the well-respected research firm Dell’Oro Group states that the Open RAN (Radio Access Network) movement is being supported by stronger-than-expected O-RAN progress in North America. As a result, open RAN is now projected to account for 15 percent to 20 percent of global RAN by 2027. The paid research shows that preliminary data suggests that Open RAN …
Crown Castle petitions FCC to clarify that nutrition labels are for retail only
Although Crown Castle has informed the FCC that it supports the new broadband “nutrition” labels for mass market retailers, they want the agency to clarify that new required labels containing metrics about internet service to apply only to mass-market retail and not to the services provided to schools, libraries and health care under FCC universal service programs. In November, the …
Republicans and big telecom are hoping to knock out Gigi Sohn in President Biden’s 2nd round nomination
President Joe Biden is making his second attempt to break the deadlock at the Federal Communications Commission by renominating Gigi Sohn to serve as the third Democratic commissioner at the five-member FCC. However, there is still strong opposition to her appointment. In October 2021, Biden nominated Sohn to the position, but her nomination stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. In …
NY board knocks down wealthy residents’ cries that Richard Gere’s monopine will depress property values
The planning board of the Town of Bedford, NY, appears to be ready to approve a 130-foot monopine on the grounds of Richard Gere’s tony Bedford Post Inn. Gere and real estate developer Russell Hernandez have offered land on their 14-acre estate for a Verizon cell site to fill service gaps for emergency responders in town. Wealthy residents Rooney and …
In the not so friendly terrestrial skies, Inmarsat files a lawsuit against Ligado for refusing to pay
In April 2020, FCC Commissioners unanimously approved Ligado’s application to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-band to support 5G services, ignoring opposition to the departments of Interior, Commerce, Justice Energy, and Homeland Security opposing the company’s plan, claiming that Ligado could disrupt GPS service to aviation and military customers. Ligado, which emerged following the bankruptcy of LightSquared, had …
AT&T’s sole bid is inked for a New Jersey lease deal; lawsuit argues monopine violates town’s height restriction
A Scotch Plains, NJ homeowner has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to block the Town of Westfield’s plan to lease space to AT&T for the construction of a cell tower at the Conservation Center – an adjacent recycling compound. David Munsky, whose home borders Westfield and the recycling facility’s property, claims the monopine will “tower over” his and other …
