A real estate investor bought a Roanoke, Va. property last May that had American Tower Corporation enjoying a small leased portion of the 2613 Franklin Rd. site for a multi-tenant tower, but after Farrell Properties, Limited reviewed the lease documents, they’re claiming that ATC had encroached upon land outside of their leased area and put in a generator, and they …
Top U.S. towercos eyeing Deutsche Telekom’s towers in Germany
As America gets ready to celebrate Independence Day on Monday, considered by some to be the original Brexit, Deutsche Telekom is prepping the sale of thousands of its German towers in a potential $5.5 billion deal. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanly are organizing the sale of the structures. SBA Communications, American Tower and Crown Castle are on the invite list, according to …
Rescued tech is in a two-week coma as his employer and OSHA wait to see if it is work-related
UPDATE: June 2, 2016 – OSHA said today that they have thoroughly reviewed the incident that resulted in a 38-year-old Tennessee tower technician lapsing into a prolonged coma after being rescued two weeks ago off of a cell tower in Bethany, Mo., and have closed their investigation after finding that the incident was not work-related. OSHA Kansas City, Mo. Area …
OSHA is readying new RF, fall protection and hoist standards
Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had known that fall protection in the wireless construction industry has either been used improperly or inconsistently due to the high fatality rate of tower climbers, after analyzing the responses to their 38 questions on tower safety published last April, the agency has decided that it will be moving forward with revising their standards …
A Pope and carrier exec quote highlight cell phones and mobile/spiritual networks
The rote quote of the week comes from a British carrier executive who finds that cell site permitting is too tough in the UK, while the Pope quote of the week told teens that life without Jesus is like a smartphone without bars. British carrier Arqiva’s director of M2M, Nicolas Ott, said in an interview, that “In rural areas we …
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 …
For ATC India it’s 56,000 towers and corporate responsibility projects
American Tower Corporation received approval from the Indian government yesterday to buy a 51% interest in Viom Networks, an independent mobile tower company in India, for $880 million. Establishing its presence in India in 2007, ATC India has approximately 14,000 towers in the country, but with the Viom deal it will take control of an additional 42,000 towers, putting its …
One company fined for not getting a small cell permit, another for not permitting inspectors
A cell site developer was fined $5,000 last month for constructing what appears to be a small cell without a permit, according to a citation document issued by the City of Baltimore, Md., and a Philadelphia, Pa. broadcaster was given an $89,200 fine for not allowing FCC agents on site to perform an inspection, and for being on a different …
Guyed tower collapses on White House lawn hurling lighting debris into President’s office
Washington’s federal buildings are still on lock down after a communications tower collapsed on the south lawn of the White House at about 8:12 a.m., according to Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason who witnessed the guyed tower “teeter for about a minute, buckle and then twist like a drunken dreidel before it smashed to the ground.” Capitol Police and Secret …
Botched Georgia base jump takes the life of a Hawaii man
According to authorities, one BASE jumper has died and two of his associates have been arrested following a jump from a television tower in Metcalf, Ga. Lieutenant Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office said that emergency personnel were dispatched to Friendship Church Rd. at the site of the tower around 3:30 a.m. yesterday morning. The Sheriff’s Office said …
Popular analyst’s tower sector downgrade will be tested in coming weeks
Commentary It almost appears that journalists have keyboard reader software on Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche’s computer since as soon as she writes something – even a knee-jerk observation – it instantly appears in the media as unchallenged sacred telecom guidance. So it was no surprise when Fritzsche downgraded the tower sector on Friday that it would be picked up …
American Tower’s CEO isn’t struggling after not receiving a raise in many years
James D. Taiclet, Jr., Chairman of the Board and CEO of American Tower Corp. (ATC), hasn’t received a raise again with his $1.1 million salary for 2016, but it is likely he is not complaining since his compensation committee takes care of him with handsome perks – and perhaps, rightfully so. Although his salary hasn’t increased in at least three years, …
A bright future predicted for wireless work by leading industry experts at NATE UNITE 2016
As three leading industry experts gazed into their crystal balls Tuesday during their NATE UNITE 2016 presentation, “The Future of the Wireless Industry,” their consensus indicated a robust build program that could last for more than a decade. However, Clayton Funk of Media Venture Partners, Christopher Fisher, Cuddy & Feder LLP; and Robert Paige, Vertical Bridge, cautioned National Association of …
Fall protection equipment malfunctions result in serious injuries for Texas climber
A 26-year-old tower climber is expected to be in intensive care for another ten days after he fell from a guyed tower in Rosenberg, Tex. when his personal fall protection equipment failed after he slipped from a brace on a climbing face as he was descending after a day’s work on an LTE project for AT&T. Wesley Scott, who had …
Tech is asking for $75,000-plus after being struck by an angle adapter
Update: Feb. 3, 2016 – The angle adapter referenced yesterday in a lawsuit brought by a Virginia Beach, Va. Tower tech that is suing American Tower Corporation after he was struck by it after it allegedly fell from the structure, was a “cable safety boot attached to an angle adapter with bolt that wasn’t attached to [the] tower properly,” according to …
Sprint provides a sound thrashing to Re/code for their scoop that duped journalists, tanking stocks
Sprint: Towercos have nothing to worry about – for now At two conference calls this morning, Sprint said that an article by tech website Re/code on Jan. 15, 2016, was not accurate, and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, during a media call, said the misinformation regarding a Sprint radical network overhaul “caused a lot of damage”. Re/code had claimed, according to …
Sprint should have a sanity check before it commits ‘Network Suicide’ with its pole plans
By Iain Gillott – Commentary Much has been written and speculated in the last week about Sprint’s network plans after the publication of a Re/Code article and the plan to significantly cut network expenses. Aside from the resulting pressure on the stocks of several wireless companies, including Sprint’s, it also appears that the article has caused Sprint to move up …
Report of Sprint dumping its tower companies is slowly being debunked as industry stocks nose-dive
After the media threw Sprint, American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications under the bus during the past five days by republishing unsubstantiated statements that appeared on a tech website, without adding research of their own, editors are starting to reassess their ‘need to be first’ news blast that resulted in all four companies’ stocks tanking Friday. Sprint suffered the most …
Misleading Re/code Sprint story is long on conjecture, short on facts
Facts that would have made better reading and more sense By Ken Schmidt After reading Wireless Estimator’s article, “Towercos tank after radical unconfirmed report of government competition,” and seeing the original article from Re/code on Friday, I felt compelled to respond. It seemed reckless to me that a website like Re/code could publish an unconfirmed report, have it copied by …
Towercos tank after radical unconfirmed report of government competition
Report seen as ‘nonsense’ by siting professionals UPDATE, Jan. 19, 2016 – Deep diving industry expert Ken Schmidt has provided a detailed analysis of why Re/code’s “improper deductive reasoning” in their article doesn’t dovetail with available information regarding Sprint’s Next Generation Network. The story, published on Jan. 15, 2016, claimed that Sprint would be relocating its cell sites from American Tower Corporation …
