The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) has announced that Jim Coleman, National Tower Safety Manager at AT&T, and Paul Roberts, Vice President of Compliance at American Tower Corporation, have been appointed to serve as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, of the organization’s Board of Governors. NWSA also announced that J. John Barker, Partner of Barker MacEntee PLLC, Richard Cullum, Director of …
42 dead in Paradise fire as telcos assist in providing emergency communications
Forty-two people have died as a result of the wildfire in Northern California that wiped out the town of Paradise, making the Camp Fire the deadliest in state history. The death total is expected to rise since hundreds of residents are still unaccounted for. Carriers were quick to provide cell service support since the area has lost a number of …
Carriers’ fuzzy Hurricane Michael outage math doesn’t add up
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week chided carriers for their slow progress in restoring wireless service in areas close to where Hurricane Michael made landfall. He called it “completely unacceptable.” Yesterday, he complimented broadcasters for their stellar job. “Another familiar aspect is local radio and TV broadcasters were unsung heroes in their first informer roles and in the aftermath,” Pai …
Verizon taking lion’s share of blame for continuing Hurricane Michael site outages
Hard-hit Bay County, Fla. is showing, according to FCC data, that 30% of its cell sites are still down as of Oct. 22, 2018 from Hurricane Michael. A week ago, that percentage was at 62%. (See data below.) Recent news reports indicate that Verizon, a key carrier for Panama City and outlying suburbs in Bay County is still struggling to …
‘Hallelujah’ heard from Mexico Beach Mayor as Verizon service is restored on his phone
Hard-hit by Hurricane Michael’s devastating winds and cut fiber lines, Bay County, Fla. saw little improvement yesterday in the number of cell sites that were down, going from 216 the day before to just 214, but this afternoon there was a marked improvement in service as the dominant carrier in Panama City and Mexico Beach, Verizon, brought service back to …
FirstNet’s 72-dedicated deployable network assets ready for Hurricane Michael
Public safety agencies subscribing to FirstNet now have access to the full fleet of 72 dedicated deployable network assets. And many of them might be needed later this week if Tropical Storm Michael reaches hurricane status and comes ashore in Florida. AT&T said it is ready for Hurricane Michael and has “an arsenal of disaster response equipment and personnel on standby.” Florida Gov. Rick …
Industry’s first-ever influential contractor survey’s deadline is October 10
Make your company’s concerns count As wireless contractors are acutely aware, contractor firms in the industry have experienced trends that have seen payment terms go from 30 days to 60 days, and now are settling in at 90 to 120 days, placing an undue financial burden on contractor companies. It’s not whether these terms could potentially compromise safety and hinder …
Carriers’ post-hurricane snow job promos beginning to flood the media
Carriers are trying to outdo each other in presenting how well their network faired following Hurricane Florence’s slow destructive dance across the Carolinas. Now a tropical depression, Florence is still a life-threatening storm as widespread flooding continues to destroy homes and cut off communities from resources and cell service. Yesterday, in a press release, Verizon said their “network continues to withstand …
FirstNet delivers for agencies responding to Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence put FirstNet to the test. And the public safety network has been standing up to the challenge, according to AT&T. The carrier said they have been working across national, state and local agencies to keep emergency responders connected to the critical information they need to communicate and coordinate their storm response. Here are a few highlights of how …
Contractor cash flow could be the real culprit in the US’s inability to quickly roll out 5G
It’s the delayed payments, stupid! Commentary – Although we’re treated to almost a daily dose of news about how macro and small cell siting issue delays could adversely impact a successful 5G buildout in America, initial data from Wireless Estimator’s industry-supported Terms of Payment Survey indicates that carrier-generated cash flow problems of contractors could be 5G’s Achilles heel. To draw …
FCC’s newly minted plan will clear the way for cheaper and faster 5G deployments
The FCC will vote in three weeks on a plan to accelerate next-generation 5G wireless networks around the U.S. by overriding some local rules that they believe will hold up deployment. FCC Commissioner Brendar Carr announced at a press conference today in Indianapolis that the plan is targeting deployment of small cell transmitters that are oftentimes subject to local delay …
Verizon’s ‘Bubba’ remark angering community is first in dozens of Fast-Forward Friday articles
Fast-Forward Friday is Wireless Estimator’s latest news offering that provides an overview of relevant industry news stories presented during the week by other media that were not covered by our staff, along with a link to the article to go upstream and read it in its entirety. After all, the articles’ authors did all the heavy lifting, and capsuling their content and …
Nation takes a deep dive into contractor obstacles threatening 5G with industry supported survey
Wireless contractors have recently raised the distinct possibility that due to what they identify as ‘onerous’ payment terms and other issues created by carriers and tower owners, the industry could see a shakeout, and all of the recent successful legislative moves to speed up the implementation of 5G in America could be stymied as cash flow problems keep contractors from …
AT&T and Verizon believe wireless is competitive, others strongly disagree
AT&T, in replying to the FCC’s request for comments as to the state of mobile wireless competition, informed the FCC in a filing that the answer is a slam dunk for the agency since the Commission “has the easiest call it has ever had to make…the wireless marketplace is, quite obviously, ‘effectively competitive’.” The carrier also said, “Competition has never …
‘Disruptive’ tower builder Tillman gets bankrolled with a billion dollars
Build-to-suit developer Tillman Infrastructure, currently building sites in over 36 states across the U.S., will receive up to $1 billion in additional funding from La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and global investment manager AMP Capital, with an initial investment of $500 million. Tillman’s biggest clients are AT&T and Verizon. Both carriers last year announced a joint …
AT&T and T-Mobile rumble in the 5G buildout PR jungle over city choices
AT&T said Friday that it plans to begin introducing mobile 5G to customers in a dozen cities this year, and they’re adding Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C. and Oklahoma City as the next three identified cities for their buildout, the carrier said in a press statement. These cities will join their previously announced cities of Dallas, Atlanta, and Waco Earlier this year, T-Mobile said it plans to …
AT&T takes American Tower to court in widening lease rates rift
In a lawsuit made public on Monday by AT&T Mobility LLC in Delaware Chancery Court, the carrier is alleging that American Towers LLC is not complying with amendments to leasing agreements for many thousands of towers that AT&T co-locates upon. In the complaint, AT&T is requesting the court to enforce what it believes is a binding agreement, that ATC disagrees …
AT&T needs to put part of their newfound billion dollars into workers’ billfolds
Commentary AT&T recently increased their wireless revenue just south of $1 billion by sneaking in an increased “administrative fee,” a line item squeezed in at the bottom of their monthly bill that will not be noticed by most of their 64.5 million wireless customers since it’s only $1.23 extra a month. In a statement to Fortune after being called out …
Towerco financial support of wireless workers accelerates with a ‘buck a tower’ sponsors
The Tower Family Foundation (TTF), a 501c-3 non-profit, today recognized the updated support of tower owner/vertical solutions provider companies who are donors to the organization’s “$1 Per Tower” fundraising campaign with towercos Cellcom, Performance Development Group, Ltd. and Vogue Towers joining the inaugural list of donor firms participating in the capital campaign. The “$1 Per Tower” effort involves firms who …
ATC misjudges industry pushback and pulls back onerous contractor amendment
In a measure to prevent other towercos from building sites near their structures, and obtain some of their tenants with more favorable lease rates, American Tower Corp. informed their contractors late last month that if they assisted in the construction of a macro tower site within one-half mile of one of their existing towers they would be dropped from their …
