Editor’s note: Instead of paraphrasing T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray’s comments in his blog today, we’ve published it in its entirety. Of interest, he doesn’t comment about any of Sprint’s 5G comments that could be seen as embellishments. 5G is at the height of the hype curve right now. There’s a lot of buzz and froth about this vital, important …
Missouri counties’ property ‘expert’ taken over the coals in successful AT&T $1.69 million reduction
Living up to the state’s sobriquet, “Show Me,” senior Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) hearing officer Amy S. Westermann asked the counsel for five county property assessors – Caldwell, Daviess, Harrison, Henry and Mercer – to identify how they assessed AT&T Mobility’s 23 cell towers following AT&T’s STC complaint to have them reviewed and reassessed. Attorney Patricia Hughes complied, providing …
AT&T seeks to kayo Sprint’s ‘fake’ 5G Evolution lawsuit since consumers don’t understand 5G standards
AT&T has asked a New York federal court to dismiss a false advertising lawsuit filed by Sprint on Feb. 7, 2019 that alleges AT&T is deceptively marketing its upgraded 4G service as “5G Evolution,” arguing that Sprint can’t prove that their 5G Evolution ads make an express claim and “by attaching ‘Evolution’ to the term ‘5G’ the ads invoke the …
Ugly cell sites can be rejected leads 20 Fast-Forward Friday news stories
Article Media San Francision can reject 5G equipment it views as too ugly Bloomberg SC school district’s cell phone tower program draws scrutiny FITSNews WIA’s Adelstein: 5G deployment faces a skills gap RCR Wireless News How a Trump admin ruling could hurt effort to improve data coverage in Syracuse’s poor areas Syracuse.com Deadline to adopt and publish small cell facility …
Services set for New Jersey tower tech who died after falling from Georgia monopole
UPDATE: March 27, 2019 – Services have been set for Devon James Collins who passed away on March 21, 2019 in an industry accident. He attended Pinelands Regional H.S., and graduated from Oakcrest H.S. in Mays Landing, NJ. Devon not only loved climbing cell towers, but he loved and cherished the tower family he gained and grew into nationwide over the …
Free Press: FCC broadband gains overstated leads Fast Forward Friday news
Article Media Free Press: FCC broadband gains overstated B+C Huawei sues U.S. as ‘last resort’ to fight government ban UPI Was a cell tower illegally built in an Atlanta neighborhood AJC South Korea delays commercial 5G service over phone and carrier issues VB AT&T expects to hit second FirstNet buildout Milestone by year-end Missiona Critical Interoperability debate dominates carrier-selection panel …
FCC admits to and fixes ASR flaw that allowed 40-plus illegal tower ownership changes
The FCC will enact a new procedure for reporting tower ownership changes in their Antenna Structure Registration System (ASR) on Feb. 14, 2019 to reduce the risk of unauthorized changes being made. The new process was propelled after the FCC found, as reported exclusively by Wireless Estimator, that in early 2016, a Wisconsin wireless contractor discovered a flaw in the ASR …
Contractor survey uncovers some startling financial statistics that could trigger a 5G train wreck
In their drive to lower capex as they roll out 5G, carriers have created a troubling national Achille’s heel – a contractor base that has many companies swimming in debt with serious cash flow problems, according to results of an extensive nationwide survey taken by Wireless Estimator. The wireless contractor survey that was completed last quarter by 263 vetted companies, clearly indicates that …
Comments on contractor roadblocks set up by carriers that will derail America’s 5G race
Deeply concerned about the unsustainable state of wireless contracting, company executives provided 328 optional comments in Wireless Estimator’s extensive survey that was unveiled today. Armed with anonymity, it’s not possible to verify the accuracy of their statements. But it’s clear that their comments, in most cases, were well-thought-out summaries of the difficulties they are facing as carrier capex cuts, extended …
Carriers either ignore or are unaware of contractors’ higher than average truck roll expenses
Wireless contractors can’t be profitable with the hourly rates set by carriers and turfing contractors in many markets or the rates that they have to use to successfully win a bid, according to company executives who registered their concerns in an extensive nation-wide survey taken by Wireless Estimator that will be released this week. “They treat us like we’re a …
AT&T lays out its strategy for 5G for America’s 15 million businesses
Businesses are leading the 5G revolution, and AT&T is going to give its business customers a full 5G toolbox. They state that they are the first carrier to publicly lay out what they’re making available to help businesses get the most out of this technology. America’s 15 million businesses increasingly look to technology to drive outcomes, but their needs range drastically …
Three carriers give three Pinocchios to AT&T for its false ‘5G E’ claims
In a statement Monday, Verizon, the nation’s largest mobile carrier called upon carriers to not use the term 5G for services until they use actual 5G hardware and radio standards. It was obvious that it was directed towards AT&T whose recent over the air upgrade displayed a “5G E” logo on certain Android devices in lieu of the standard LTE …
AT&T issues its annual colo-pricing storm warning to the nation’s tower owners
In 2016, Bill Hogg, AT&T’s president of technology operations, made the clarion call to towercos that they must lower their lease rates because their model is “not really sustainable”. Last November, Susan Johnson, SVP of Global Supply Chain, AT&T in announcing an agreement with Tillman Infrastructure to build affordable sites that could be shared by AT&T and Verizon to pressure …
Deaths, cancer concerns attributed to AT&T cell site are unfounded leads Fast-Forward-Friday
Article Media Deaths, cancer concerns attributed to AT&T cell site are unfounded Sonoma West Times FCC committtee proposes tax on websites to pay for rural broadband ARS Technica CWA, Dish, NTCA, part of new colaition opposing Sprint/T-Mobile Deal ECN AT&T: Ten predictions for the next 25 year WIA Verizon to buy out more than 10,000 employees, take a $4.6B …
Carriers weigh in on using ‘fatally flawed’ coverage maps for dishing out universal service funds
The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) has joined the chorus of concern as to the possibility that some wireless carriers falsely reported information about their coverage areas to the FCC, therefore violating mapping rules pertaining to the Mobility Fund Phase ll reverse auction, as reported by Wireless Estimator. CCA Sr. V.P. Tim Donovan testified during a House Communications and Technology hearing …
FirstNet hits one-third completion mark, AT&T’s network capacity to grow by 50% in 2019
According to AT&T CEO Randolph Stephenson at a UBS Communications Conference yesterday, the carrier is six months ahead of its contracted FirstNet deployment schedule, and the public-safety initiative will result in increasing the capacity of its network by 50% by the end of 2019. “We made a full-court press to pursue the FirstNet bid and win it. And there were …
National Wireless Safety Alliance announces Board of Governors leadership appointments
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 …
