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 …
Adelstein drives home need to remove regulatory barriers at South Wireless Summit
Jonathan Adelstein, CEO and President of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), delivered a keynote address at the annual South Wireless Summit here today in which he highlighted the crucial work the association is doing in Washington and in state capitals across the United States to remove barriers to the deployment of wireless infrastructure. “Creating a predictable business environment helps us …
WIA chair believes 50-foot small cells are reasonable, urges congress to remove barriers
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), Thomas A. “Tam” Murray, today urged members of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to continue its work toward streamlining the widespread deployment of wireless broadband in communities throughout the United States. He also informed the subcommittee that WIA was “tremendously in favor of long lease …
Public broadcasting stations take a huge hit in Trump’s budget lite
President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget cuts, released late last week, left the wireless industry basically unscathed except for some cuts to rural broadband efforts that are said to be duplicated elsewhere. But the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) took a huge hit on President Trump’s wish list, losing $445 million, which could result in a number of rural stations …
NYC says ‘we’re done waiting,’ and sues Verizon over fiber rollout
In correspondence sent to New York City on Friday, Verizon said they were looking forward to “constructive dialog” to resolve the City’s Fios build-out concerns. New York wasn’t as accommodating when it slapped Verizon with a lawsuit on Monday. In a complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court, New York City contends that Verizon is in breach of a …
WIA outlines convincing small cell deployment barriers nation faces
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) filed formal written comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its “Streamlining Deployment of Small Cell Infrastructure By Improving Wireless Facilities Siting Policies” proceeding. In its filing, WIA stressed the importance of maintaining a fair and competitive marketplace to promote the widespread deployment of wireless infrastructure in communities across the United States. More importantly, …
Kansas mayor is perplexed why FCC chief singled out his city’s broadband
During a press conference yesterday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai singled out a small Kansas community that he said had 75 residents that could possibly receive economic prosperity if they were to be provided with adequate broadband services, but City of Allen Mayor Charles Eastman said he’s not quite sure as to how that would be achieved – or if the city …
DAS debuts at University of Iowa as ATC’s lawsuit still dawdles in court
U.S. Cellular announced on Wednesday that it has completed its DAS network at the University of Iowa Carver-Hawkeye Arena and Kinnick Stadium, much to the chagrin of American Tower Corp. (ATC) who is suing the university and its Board of Regents after they yanked a 2013 contract that ATC says is still in effect. “The new network system supports a …
Municipal representatives unveil Georgia’s ROW agreement with Mobilitie
After meeting with representatives of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week, city and town leaders from Massachusetts, Georgia and Minnesota, as well as a representative of the National League of Cities, presented them with what they believe could be a model template for telecom installations in public rights of way. During the meeting, they urged the Commission to avoid …
WUSF-TV is one of the first casualties of incentive auction
After 50 years of broadcasting, WUSF-TV has announced that it will go off the air later this year, now that the University of South Florida has sold its public broadcast license for more than $18.75 million during the FCC’s incentive auction. According to university officials, the price was far below what they anticipated receiving. Last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai …
Commissioner O’Rielly tackles questionable waste in backup network funding
The adage, any publicity is good publicity, may have backfired on the Arlington, Virginia Public Schools (APS) after an article in ARLnow.com was read by FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and he dashed off a letter to the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) that could possibly kayo funding for APS’s backup fiber network because he believes that “ratepayer dollars are being …
FCC gavels in $19.6 billion in auction, CTIA is already lobbying for another one
Bidding in the clock phase of the FCC’s incentive auction ended last week with wireless companies and others ponying up $19,632,506,746 for 70 MHz of new broadband spectrum, and although it was lower than a number of analysts’ projections, it was still the second largest auction ever. The U.S. Treasury will get approximately $7.6 billion and trade group CTIA is …
Pence’s $260 million tower deal legacy for Indiana is terminated
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced today that the Indiana Finance Authority has terminated contract discussions with Agile Networks which struck a tentative deal last September with the state to lease its communications towers while Vice President Mike Pence was Governor. As reported at that time by Wireless Estimator, Agile and Pence said that negotiations had been finalized for an agreement …
Straight Path secures $17.5 million to help pay off FCC fines
Straight Path Communications Inc. announced it has secured $17.5 million in new debt financing, expanding the company’s options as it continues to explore strategic alternatives for the company. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced a settlement valued in excess of $100 million with the company to resolve an investigation of Straight Path’s failure to deploy wireless services …
WIA presses for small cells on pole facilities with its detailed primer
Attaching small wireless antennas and associated equipment – such as distributed antenna system (DAS) remote units, remote radio units and self-contained small cells – on existing poles or structures significantly improves the coverage and capacity of mobile networks, according to a new white paper titled “Small Cells on Pole Facilities: A Primer on How Utility Poles, Street Lights and Traffic …
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 …
FCC Commissioner contends more broadband subsidies may not be the best route
Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been open to the idea of spending $20 billion in broadband funding as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal, as recently reported by Wireless Estimator, but one Republican Federal Communications Commissioner is arguing that the approach has “serious potential drawbacks.” “For the sake of efficiency and soundness, if new government money has to be …
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 …
Pennsylvania mayor arrested for burying graves during cell site construction
Update: Feb. 19, 2017 – Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz dismissed the case against the Mayor of Shamokin, Pa. yesterday of allegedly desecrating graves, citing a lack of evidence. In a statement, Mayor William Milbrand said, “I knew that I did nothing wrong, but I also knew that some members of the Shamokin Police Department were angry at me and they …
Chairman Pai forms broadband deployment committee to close digital divide
At Ajit Pai’s first open meeting as the Federal Communications Commission’s Chairman, he emphasized the need to close the digital divide, and he believes the creation of a broadband deployment advisory committee that will be active for two years will assist in that effort. However, he didn’t discuss how he would proceed on key rules that he opposed under the …
