UPDATE: March 29, 2017 – According to two knowledgeable industry insiders, American Tower Corporation’s (ATC) filing on March 21 stating that it had amended a master lease agreement with one of its tenants that will provide the company with an additional $100 million in revenue for the year, was an agreement with Verizon, not AT&T as had been widely speculated. However, they …
Expect a quick AT&T award of FirstNet after court rules against Rivada Mercury
The U.S. Court of Appeals of Federal Claims on Friday ruled against Rivada Mercury in the lawsuit they filed in November alleging that they were unfairly excluded by FirstNet from being in the competitive range for the nationwide broadband network for public safety contract Knowledgeable industry observers have said that if Rivada’s lawsuit was denied, the FirstNet board will most …
AT&T still mum on what caused its 14-state 911 outage
The FCC said on Thursday it will investigate why AT&T wireless subscribers in several states could not make emergency 911 calls late Wednesday that spanned at least 14 states. “Every call to 911 must go through,” said Chairman Ajit Pai in a news release. “So when I first learned of yesterday’s outage, I immediately directed FCC staff to contact AT&T …
Industry’s first successful flying COW live test is made by AT&T
By Art Pregler It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s a Flying COW. Despite its funny name, we expect our Flying COW will be doing serious, potentially life-saving things for our customers. We’ve used drones to inspect cell sites, measure network strength in sports stadiums, and now we’ve built a Flying COW. A Flying COW – which stands for Cell …
SoftBank spectrum bids and a T-Mobile/Sprint buy are based on suspect sources
SoftBank Group, Inc., Sprint’s parent company, may revive selling the carrier to T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The news agency said that SoftBank is reportedly frustrated with Sprint’s growth and is ready to give up control of the company and take a minority interest in T-Mobile. With limited information provided by Reuters’ sources, …
New Jersey cell tower tax ruling could have a wide-ranging impact
The nation’s most profitable toll road, exceeding over $1 billion annually in revenue, will be slightly less profitable following a New Jersey tax court decision handed down last Friday that will require it to pay city taxes on a cell tower on its property in Elizabeth. The ruling could also have other municipalities assess whether towers located on turnpike property …
CWA’s wireless workers at AT&T turn up the heat by alluding to a strike
Wireless workers at AT&T are planning protests throughout the nation this weekend ahead of their contract expiration on Saturday night. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), representing about 21,000 AT&T wireless workers, is planning to protest in a number of U.S. cities to put pressure on the carrier to have them accept their contract requests. More than 90% of members …
T-Mobile’s Hail Mary pass falls short after Super Bowl data rank tanks
T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray most likely knew that there was no possibility of the carrier sporting high data usage numbers at Super Bowl 51 Sunday, and used the same game play that it did last year. Ray tried to exploit his opponents’ slow speed during the most watched sporting event in America with T-Mobile’s download and upload speeds of …
NATE releases an updated detailed resource for tower site drone usage
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the 2nd Edition of the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Operations Around Vertical Communications Infrastructure resource document available to all interested parties at no charge. The newest edition of this valuable safety resource is a by-product of collaboration between the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Committee and other prominent representatives from the commercial …
AT&T sneakily buys FiberTower, a company they once inadvertently helped to cripple
Technology makes strange bedfellows and opportunities, as is the case when AT&T announced on Tuesday that it “entered into an agreement to acquire FiberTower Corporation, and its mmWave spectrum rights.” The one-sentence sale statement was tucked in at the end of an announcement that AT&T was in advanced discussions with power companies to trial Project AirGig, a patented broadband-over-power lines …
AT&T in advanced discussions with powercos to jump to their lines
AT&T is in advanced discussions with power companies and others to trial Project AirGig in at least two locations by this fall. One location will be in the United States with others to be determined in the coming months. AT&T has experimented with this unique, patented broadband-over-power lines (BPL) technology at their outdoor facility for some time with positive results. …
Up to 50 gazillion terabytes of data could be used at Super Bowl 51
The Patriots and Falcons will match up in Houston Sunday at NRG Stadium, and the nation’s wireless carriers are kicking off their public relations campaigns this week to show how they’ll be capable of handling whatever their subscribers throw their way. But unlike today’s odds where New England is installed as a three-point favorite over the Falcons, the odds of …
AT&T: Viva Mexico, President Trump, and FirstNet selecting them
Although the almost daily political question in America is Who will pay for the Mexican border wall?, AT&T knows who is paying to assist with its bottom line, Mexico. And it has been a “remarkable success story,” according to AT&T CFO John Stephens. In its quarterly conference call last week, Stephens accented the company’s strong growth in Mexico, stating, “In …
FCC chief appoints a new top cop and other staff leaders
Michael Carowitz, who has been deputy chief of the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, was named by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as his acting chief of the Enforcement Bureau, which had been headed by Travis LeBlanc. FCC observers expected that LeBlanc would be replaced since Pai has oftentimes complained about the enforcement group’s management. The enforcement bureau is the …
AT&T’s end run around municipalities might have put Mobilitie out of the game
DAS-provider Mobilitie LLC’s petition to the FCC for a declaratory ruling to promote broadband in the U.S. by prohibiting excessive charges for access to public rights of way was championed by AT&T, at least in Ohio, where the carrier last month lobbied for and successfully sneaked in an amendment inside a bill regulating puppy mill providers. The questionable legislative procedure …
It’s a one-woman show against Mobilitie’s rights of way crusade
Mobilitie might have met the one woman in America who has the best chance with the FCC to have the agency bridle, what she describes as, the distributed antenna system (DAS) provider’s desire to “run roughshod over local communities” as it attempts to reduce rights of way fees that they say will impede future 5G growth. But Mobilitie has the …
Commuters use NYC’s new subway cell coverage to castigate the MTA for delays
Almost all underground subway stations in New York City had cell phone coverage from the nation’s top four carriers on Monday, a year ahead of service, according to state and city officials. In addition, Wi-Fi has been installed a full two years ahead of schedule. Commuters welcomed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) early delivery that was made possible by Governor Andrew …
AT&T to roll out giant eyeballs and drum sets to support inauguration
The nation’s wireless carriers are ready for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 in Washington D. C. with increased network capacity with AT&T providing what might be the best coverage in the District – or at least it appears that way as the nation’s second largest carrier promotes its innovative and largest temporary network it has ever provided. Two …
AT&T believes it’s a shoo-in for the multi-billion dollar FirstNet award
AT&T stretched the use of an 8K Securities and Exchange Commission filing as they shook their hips in the FirstNet win zone Friday, stating that it appears that they were the only compliant bidder – to their knowledge. According to AT&T, bidders pdvWireless Inc. and Rivada Mercury, LLC have both been eliminated from the RFP review. AT&T said that it …
As Goodman Networks collapses, key execs bolt out the door
Frisco, Tex.-based Goodman Networks’ Chairman and CEO Ron Hill gave notice on Nov. 21, 2016 that he would be resigning and his last day on the job would be Dec. 21, 2016, stating that he had “good reason” to quit as defined in his employment agreement that had been frequently updated since he served as the company’s Vice President of Professional …
