At last week’s Oppenheimer’s 20th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference, AT&T CFO John Stephens said that he expects the carrier’s overall capex to increase as a result its FirstNet build over the next three to four years with work beginning this year with the states that have opted in. “What we expect is that it will be one of …
AT&T’s FirstNet chief mum on new tower builds, questions ‘public safety grade’ towers
A two-hour progress hearing on FirstNet yesterday by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet provided scant details on AT&T’s plans for new tower builds throughout the country, especially in rural areas, other than a brief mention there was an aggressive program in place to accomplish it. Michael Poth, CEO of FirstNet and Chris Sambar, Senior Vice President, …
Tech’s condition is stable after he allegedly rode guy wire down from an ATC Texas tower
Update: July 11, 2017 – According to reliable sources, the company that the injured worker was employed by was Advanced Data Technology of Pearsall, Tex. Established in 1995, Advanced Data is a systems integrator of voice, data, and video solutions in rural markets. The company did not respond to a request for additional information regarding the incident. The injured technician has …
AT&T’s fixed wireless footprint expands to 70,000 rural locations
AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet for rural and underserved locations is now available in eight new states. These are in addition to the initial launch that took place in Georgia in April. More than 70,000 locations can now access Fixed Wireless Internet in underserved or unserved areas across these nine states. This is part of the FCC Connect America Fund commitment. …
Carrier CEOs chew on Trump’s ear to clear the path and speed up small cell installations
President Donald Trump offered backing for emerging technologies such as next-generation wireless and unmanned aerial vehicles in a meeting yesterday with the heads of telecom giants AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and drone companies such as Trumbull Unmanned as well as venture capitalists and health care providers. Wireless makes some strange bedfellows During the meetings in the East Wing, Trump …
FCC investigating unlawful transactions after contractor takes ownership of 40-plus towers
A Wisconsin wireless contractor discovered a flaw in the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) database, and changed the ownership of more than 40 towers from multiple carriers and tower owners into his company’s name during the past five months without the rightful owners being notified by the agency, according to FCC documents and sources knowledgeable of the illegal transfers. Sprint, …
FirstNet and AT&T deliver state plans three months ahead of schedule
FirstNet and AT&T are taking an important step to deliver the first nationwide high-speed data and voice network for America’s first responders. Today, the two will provide U.S. states and territories with individual State Plans to enable the rapid deployment of this first-of-its-kind FirstNet network. The network buildout proposed in the State Plans will create thousands of new jobs nationwide …
Calculating the job risk online, cell tower technicians are ‘doomed’ – but it’s unlikely
A study that has been kicking around since it was published by researchers at Oxford University in 2013, has gained a second life in the last few months after two online entrepreneurs made it easy to find out how susceptible 702 occupations were to being replaced by machines. The university report by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne was created …
CCA slams AT&T again, this time asking FCC to reject FiberTower spectrum buy
The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) believes that AT&T will not allow their carrier members to remain competitive if the FCC allows AT&T to acquire bankrupt FiberTower’s 650 terminated licenses. In a filing with the FCC Wednesday, CCA said that instead of the planned acquisition, the FCC should recover and re-auction the unconstructed spectrum in the 39 GHz band, and potentially …
FCC chief chides AT&T for 911 outage that could have been prevented
Ajit Pai said today that AT&T’s 911 outage in March could have been prevented if the carrier had implemented network reliability best practices. On March 8, 12,539 Americans who were AT&T customers tried to call 911. But they couldn’t reach emergency services because of a nationwide outage of AT&T’s VoLTE 911 network. When they placed that call, they heard fast …
Weekend strike threatened by AT&T’s 21,000 wireless workers
More than 21,000 AT&T wireless workers may go on strike this coming weekend if their union can’t reach a deal on a new contract by Friday at 3 P.M. ET. Workers from 36 different states have been working without a contract since February. “Going on strike is a decision that is not made lightly. Your bargaining team has worked countless …
AT&T’s disaster drill sets stage for providing connectivity during emergencies
Hurricane season officially kicks off on June 1, and the National Weather Service says an average of three hurricanes hit the U.S. coastline every two years. But each one carries with it different catastrophic results and AT&T says it wants to be prepared for all scenarios, and goes through a number of exercises that put their Network Discovery (NDR) team …
Verizon wins with its superior $3.1 billion offer for Straight Path
Update: May 11, 2017 -Straight Path Communications Inc. announced this morning that it will sign today a definitive merger agreement under which Verizon Communications Inc. will acquire Straight Path for $184.00 per share, reflecting an enterprise value of approximately $3.1 billion, in an all-stock transaction. Concurrently therewith, Verizon will pay on behalf of Straight Path a termination fee of $38 …
Son’s love for the un-carrier blossoms again after ending their quiet period
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said today that his first pick for a merger with Sprint would be T-Mobile, but the billionaire and founder of SoftBank said at a news conference in Tokyo that all comers are welcome. ““Our top choice remains T-Mobile. We will be open and sincere as we aim to launch negotiations. We’re basically open to anything. If …
Broadband investment heads south, 5G Michigan trials soar successfully
Samsung, Cisco deliver multivendor end-to-end 5G trial with Verizon Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Cisco, in partnership with Verizon, today announced the successful deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field, which took place in Ann Arbor, a suburb of metropolitan Detroit, Mich. Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans for customer trials of 5G technology for …
AT&T’s tower-centric drone software could sunset a number of head counts
More than 30 years ago, Art Pregler directed the Air Force’s complex mission of taking full sized multi-million-dollar fighter aircraft, converting them into drones, and then shooting them out of the sky with new advanced weapons systems. Today, as director of AT&T’s National Mobility Systems, Pregler’s role is just the opposite, requiring him to ensure that the carrier’s experimental drones remain …
Straight Path finds its 5G suitor as AT&T picks it up for $1.25 Billion
AT&T has announced plans to acquire Straight Path Communications which holds a nationwide portfolio of millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, including 39 GHz and 28 GHz licenses. This acquisition complements AT&T’s January acquisition of FiberTower and augments the company’s holdings of mmWave spectrum. The acquisition will support AT&T’s leadership in 5G, which will accelerate the delivery of new experiences for consumers …
FCC appoints WIA members and leaders to broadband deployment committee
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today announced that members and leaders of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) were selected to serve on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC), a new federal advisory committee charged with exploring ways to accelerate deployment of high-speed Internet access nationwide and to close the digital divide. WIA members named to the Committee include: Marc Ganzi, Chief …
AT&T exec Kay Kapoor will head new $15B global organization
Kay Kapoor, who has led AT&T’s federal business for four year, and the company’s successful efforts to secure the multi-billion-dollar FirstNet public safety network contract, will now head the company’s new Global Public Sector (GPS) business unit as its president. AT&T is consolidating its federal, state and local public sector operations into GPS. AT&T’s public sector sales in 2016, consisting …
Court agrees, awarding FirstNet contract to Rivada was just too ‘risky’
According to documents released by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, FirstNet’s Source Selection Authority (SSA) said one of the reasons that Rivada Mercury did not make the competitive range for bidding for the nationwide public safety network that was awarded to AT&T on Thursday was because “Rivada’s proposed strategy was risky because it utilized aggressive business assumptions.” The SSA …
