Swedish network equipment maker Ericsson is suspending its business in Russia indefinitely and has put employees on paid leave. This comes six weeks after the Swedish telecom equipment maker started a review of the impact of Western sanctions on its operations in Russia and suspended all deliveries to customers in Russia. The company said today it would record a $95 …
Subcontractor’s ‘shoddy concrete’ work proves to be costly for Crown Castle in Baltimore
The Baltimore, MD City Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced last Wednesday that the City’s Department of Transportation (DoT) has fined Crown Castle [NG Atlantic] Fiber LLC (Crown Castle) $447,000 after the OIG found that 450 small cell sites Crown built were not constructed in accordance with asphalt and concrete code requirements. The OIG’s office began investigating last year …
Appeals court won’t revive Martha’s Vineyard AT&T cell tower lawsuit
Fears about radio frequency emissions affecting a Martha’s Vineyard man’s medical equipment and property value weren’t enough to allow a husband and wife standing to sue over the previous construction of an AT&T cell tower on the island, a Commonwealth of Massachusetts appeals court ruled yesterday. Appellants Dana and Robert Strayton, who live on the island in Edgartown, filed a …
Nationwide strike of contractors averted after carriers and towercos agree to meaningful concessions
An organized work stoppage action by U.S. wireless contractors that could have exceeded the breadth of economic damage caused by the steel workers strike of 1919, that shut down the nation’s steel industry, was averted yesterday after carriers and tower owners offered concessions to offset untenable matrix pricing being offered for 5G installations. The call to action for a national …
MasTec, SBA and DigitalBridge announce new leadership roles
Ava L. Parker – MasTec Ava L. Parker has become a member of MasTec’s board of directors, according to a company press release. She joined the board as a Class III director in MasTec’s staggered board structure, MasTec said. “Parker serves as president of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach County, one of Florida’s largest higher education institutions,” MasTec said. …
ATF accuses man of setting fire to American Tower cell site, trying to destroy multiple other locations
A Jackson County Mississippi man is facing federal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after a special agent said the arsonist maliciously set fire to an American Tower cell tower earlier this month. Manuel Alejandro DeJesus is alleged to have set fire to at least three cell towers in the Jackson …
Senate Committee clears bill gathering expert advice on 6G
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association commended the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation for voting to advance S. 3014, the Next Generation Telecommunications Act. NATE endorsed the bipartisan Act which was introduced by Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Wicker (R-MS), Schumer (D-NY), and Thune (R-SD). This legislation would establish a bipartisan, multi-agency, private sector telecommunications council to advise Congress …
Verizon Jackson Pollock-type pole is perhaps first 5G artwork cell site
When Verizon Wireless first began installing 5G light poles last March in Harrisburg, Pa., for reliable connectivity for their subscribers, some residents didn’t know that they were telecommunications structures and questioned what was the purpose of the large cylinder at the top? Some neighbors said they believed they might be gunshot detectors. However, as Verizon began to build a projected …
Free cryptocurrency replaces stock options in United Telecom Systems’ unique benefits package
It’s not cryptic for Gen Z adults and millennials; they get it. Cryptocurrency is gaining popularity throughout the world since traditional savings accounts have an embarrassingly low-interest rate that is being stripped away by the country’s highest inflation rate in the past four decades, and traditional IRAs are suffering due to current global issues. Georgia-based United Telecom Systems, LLC (UTS) also gets …
American Tower reportedly a contender for 41,000 Deutsche Telekom towers for $20 billion
American Tower is reportedly a key contender for a 41,000 Deutsche Telekom towers acquisition. Deutsche Telekom reportedly started the sales process for its mobile towers business as part of broader efforts to maximize the value of its infrastructure assets. Reuters reported the Germany-headquartered operator is working with Goldman Sachs as adviser in the sale of its 40,600 towers, which the …
SCOTUS turns down Santa Fe 5G conspiracists’ last chance to expose First Amendment abuse
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday crushed an environmental group’s final attempt to resurrect its constitutional claims alleging that the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico exposed residents to dangerous levels of radiation by installing telecom equipment in public rights-of-way by declining to review the matter. The Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety petitioned the high court to …
Win $100 by guessing the number of attendees at NATE UNITE 2022’s record-breaking show
Step back Raleigh, North Carolina and make room for Las Vegas, Nevada as the host of NATE – The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association’s largest attended conference in the association’s 27-year history. The event ended Thursday. In 2020, a record was set with 2,416 registrants. However, this year, according to an early tally that will not be finalized until next Monday, the LED Capital of the …
Dish courts contractors for its wireless build at NATE UNITE 2022
Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen complimented attendees at the NATE UNITE 2022 conference last week for assisting in ensuring that his company’s upcoming 5G stand-alone network will cover 20% of Americans with 5G by a federally mandated June deadline. Recalling the NATE 2020 conference in Raleigh, NC, Ergen said, “We hadn’t built a tower yet, and two years later we’ve …
Union Wireless chooses TowerCo to market and manage its wireless tower assets
TowerCo has announced a partnership with Union, a fast growing regional wireless provider that serves the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Idaho. As an industry leader specializing in colocation, TowerCo will market and manage Union’s portfolio of 322 sites to the carriers and broadband service providers to access existing communication infrastructure in key areas for coverage and capacity. At …
D.C. Court puts an end to Children’s Health Defense’s ‘wireless wild west’ OTARD charges
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Federal Appeals Court on Friday rejected a challenge to the FCC’s decision to amend its over-the-the-air reception device (OTARD) rule to remove a commercial use restriction. The justices stated in their opinion that the FCC had “sufficiently explained that its Order ‘does not change the applicability of the Commission’s radio frequency exposure requirements’ and …
USTelecom releases ‘blueprint’ for $65 billion in infrastructure grants
USTelecom | The Broadband Association, a leading association of connectivity providers and technology innovators, today released a new memo to President Biden and Vice President Harris, Cabinet secretaries, NTIA, FCC, Congress, Tribal leaders and state broadband offices with concrete recommendations to make the most of the $65 billion broadband investment in the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA). USTelecom President …
Solar storm knocks 40 SpaceX satellites out of the sky; over 1,900 had no problems
Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it lost up to 40 Starlink satellites that it launched into orbit last week from Florida because of a geomagnetic storm. The aerospace company sent 49 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit on Thursday via a Falcon 9 rocket. About 80% of those satellites were “significantly impacted” by a geomagnetic storm Friday, SpaceX said in a statement Tuesday. SpaceX said …
Hopefully, ‘bloated’ rip and replace funding will exhale adequate dollars for contractors
Last week, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sounded the alarm to Congress that 181 U.S. network operators have initially requested approximately $5.6 billion from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to cover the costs of ripping and replacing insecure equipment and services in U.S. networks. The new cost is $3.6 billion over what Congress set aside using the FCC’s …
As the labor pool tightens, contractors are sweetening employment offerings with bonuses
Wireless contractors and other infrastructure companies are offering bonuses to attract new hires and are rewarding employees who refer job seekers from other companies as well as inexperienced candidates that remain with the company for a set period of months. A review of Wireless Estimator help wanted ads found many companies offering from $1,000 to $5,000 sign-on bonuses as a carrot …
AT&T expects a spring or summer start of their one climb strategy that will keep contractors busy
AT&T contractors are expected to be busy in late spring or early summer as AT&T uses single tower climbs to deploy two bands of new mid-band spectrum for 5G, allowing the carrier to simultaneously expand C-band and roll out its recently won 3.45 GHz. It is possible that the upgrade build will involve approximately 25,000 cell towers since AT&T CEO John …
