Two months ago, two men were shot multiple times inside a Jacksonville, Florida AT&T cell site equipment building and police are no further ahead in the investigation of their deaths that appears to have been the result of a robbery while the men were working at night resupplying battery banks. Phillip Harley, 37, co-owner of Harley and Sibs Logistics LLC, …
California city loses $50K in annual revenue, Yurok tribe gains cultural protection
For years, residents of the City of Trinidad, California have been objecting to cell towers located atop Trinidad Head, a scenic promontory instilled with deep spiritual and cultural importance by the Tsurais of the Yurok Tribe. Trinidad leased land to Verizon, which subleased space to AT&T and Sprint. The 20-year lease expired in 2018, but was extended to as Verizon …
Internet speeds increase 15.8% on mobile with AT&T winning best in show in Q2
The reliable Q2 2020 Speedtest United States Market Report by Ookla, based upon data from over 1.6 million unique mobile user devices and 18.9 million fixed broadband devices, shows that AT&T is the fastest and most consistent mobile network, but T-Mobile has the competition beat on 5G availability. Ookla revealed yesterday that the median download speed over mobile in the U.S. …
Shaving $1.7 million from AT&T’s cell towers’ value upheld by Missouri tax court
The Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) affirmed a $1.7 million assessment reduction for 23 AT&T Mobility LLC cell towers, rejecting arguments from five county assessors that a hearing officer last year erroneously applied a “revenue procedure” rather than a depreciation table that is only used “for purposes of mass depreciation.” The tax court also found that the record supported that the …
Double homicide cell site victims identified; deceased company owner’s partner puts up a $5,000 reward
For the three team members of Harley and Sibs Logistics LLC of Thomaston, GA, last week’s scopes of work required them to install power plants, batteries and equipment at three AT&T cell sites, a project that the company has performed many hundreds of times in the past. After picking up the equipment in their rented Penske box truck at a …
Two cell site electricians shot to death while performing an AT&T upgrade in Florida
UPDATE: June 22, 2020 – The two cell site workers that were shot to death have been identified. They were found by the mother of a co-owner of the logistics company that was killed. Additional information is available here. The bodies of two electricians were found early this morning inside an AT&T equipment shelter at a monopole site in Jacksonville, …
Thousands of carrier layoffs will not impede 5G buildouts and might increase contractor opportunities
This week it was announced that AT&T plans to cut 3,400 jobs, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and T-Mobile is laying off hundreds of Sprint employees, as reported by TechCrunch. However, the wireless infrastructure sectors of the two carriers building out 5G will not be affected since Sprint’s cuts are largely from the carrier’s sales division, and AT&T’s …
Cyber attacks are ruled out as T-Mobile struggles to return nationwide call and internet service
UPDATE: June 16, 2020 – Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s president of technology tweeted at 1:03 a.m. that voice and text services are now restored. “Thank you for your patience as we fixed the issues. We sincerely apologize for any and all inconveniences,” Ray said. However, media outlets and blogs this morning continue to fan the false conspiracy flames of cyber attacks and nationwide …
An Alabama miracle: Two men are alive after a rigging failure collapses the 349-foot tower they were on
UPDATE: June 15, 2020 — OSHA has identified that the company decommissioning an AT&T sector in Seale, Alabama when the structure collapsed was Strong Tower Enterprises of Brownwood, Texas. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, the tower techs that miraculously survived when they rode the tower down from about the 225-foot level were Qualyan Moore and an unnamed minor, …
Wireless workers asked to be vigilant Saturday due to possible attacks against infrastructure
Some activist groups have declared Saturday, June 6, 2020 as Global 5G Protest Day, resulting in associations and carriers as well as contractors warning the industry to be extra vigilant to ensure worker safety and protect the nation’s infrastructure. One key contractor is warning the industry to not take the situation “lightly”. Ericsson, in an “abundance of caution” to ensure the …
Court will ask two to untangle why crew lead wasn’t paid overtime
A Park Hill, Oklahoma crew leader has filed a lawsuit stating that a staffing firm stiffed him because his employer refused to pay for overtime work and would not reimburse him for expenses he incurred while building 4G installations for AT&T. Michael Dobbs, who filed his lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma last Thursday, …
AT&T has ad group recommending that Verizon should throttle its faulty 5G message
The advertising industry’s self-regulatory organization has suggested that Verizon should stop claiming that it has America’s first 5G network, but Verizon claims that its “first to 5G” commercials are not misleading and is appealing the decision. The National Advertising Division (“NAD”) determined that, in the context of two challenged television commercials touting Verizon’s rollout of 5G service in sports venues, the claim that …
Remembered by wireless contractors for his crippling DirecTV buy, AT&T chief steps down
After 38 years with the company and 13 as its top executive, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, 60, is retiring. He’ll officially step down as chief executive on July 1 and will be replaced by John Stankey, CEO of AT&T subsidiary WarnerMedia. Stankey, who also serves as AT&T’s Chief Operating Officer, will become a board member at the beginning of June. …
AT&T gains a network edge through its five-carrier aggregation: RootMetrics
With RootMetric testing efforts currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they thought it would be an ideal time to take a look at how the carriers have performed across the 55 markets they’ve tested so far in the first half of 2020. To kick off their reviews of publishing carrier-specific reports with overviews of performance for both 5G …
AT&T acknowledges permitting and work force shortages as it builds out FirstNet, 5G
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, while discussing the carrier’s Q1 earnings with analysts yesterday said the company is still building FirstNet and enhancing their 5G network’s density, but he echoed the general concern of all carriers, their inability to get timely permitting for new projects. “These [projects] require permitting and government officials, and government officials are sheltered in place…so while we …
AT&T corrects 3,579 false broadband-coverage data filings it provided in 20 states
Admitting to the FCC that it offered no broadband in 3,579 census blocks that it had previously reported as having broadband deployment in those blocks at speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream, AT&T filed a report identifying the errors. With Form 477 reports, ISPs are required to inform the FCC which blocks they offer service in. The agency …
FirstNet platform turns 2 as AT&T offers first responder agencies free smartphones for life
As the nation continues to combat the spread of coronavirus, the FirstNet communications platform, built with AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority is bringing advanced capabilities to first responders across the country. Now, first responder public safety agencies on FirstNet can get premium FirstNet Ready smartphone devices for free for their agency paid users to connect them to critical …
Verizon joins AT&T in hiking its employees’ pandemic pay, but doesn’t disclose increase
Verizon announced today that it’s immediately implementing a significantly enhanced compensation plan for the company’s employees who must deploy outside their homes to meet critical customer needs. These mission-critical employees are unable to work remotely as they fulfill and repair broadband orders and connection issues, maintain networks and offer products to customers immediately and in person when deemed essential, the company …
CWA captures an additional 20% COVID-19 pay boost for AT&T field technicians and other workers
Following negotiations with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, AT&T announced that it will pay a 20% bonus above its regular hourly base pay rate to all of its union employees starting yesterday and until further notice due to working conditions being presented by the coronavirus pandemic. This includes both employees working from home and those still in offices …
DISH’s ‘badass’ tower climber Martha Ramos leads Fast-Forward Friday news
Meet Martha: DISH’s ‘badass’ tower climber When Martha Ramos climbed her first cellular tower, it wasn’t so much being up high that made her nervous, it was learning to let go. “If you’re working on equipment on a tower, you have to have both of your hands free,” said Ramos, a tower climber for DISH. “You hook yourself to a …
