Dr. Michael Marcus, a former forceful proponent of new technology at the FCC for 20 years, who is recognized for getting the FCC to adopt rules for the 60 GHz mmWave bands in 1995, has taken AT&T to task for using a photograph of a small cell in Indianapolis in a Feb. 23 presentation to the FCC that he believes …
AT&T and Verizon threaten the big three towercos with a new Tillman 200 tower scheme
In a move clearly positioned as a threat to major tower owners to lower their lease rates, AT&T, Verizon and Tillman Infrastructure announced a joint agreement today to build hundreds of cell towers, with the potential for significantly more new site locations in the future. Last year during an investors conference, Bill Hogg, AT&T’s president of technology operations, said that …
Media is hoodwinked on ‘new’ federal Crown Castle siting lawsuit
A press conference was held Thursday morning in front of the Nassau County, N.Y. Supreme Court building announcing that a lawsuit has been filed by several Long Island homeowners challenging what they believe is Crown Castle’s installation of hundreds of unregulated and untested wireless facilities. Broadcast, print and digital media were there and sucked up the staged presentation with CBS2’s …
Towercos headed for some stiff competition with formation of Lendlease Towers
When Lendlease recently entered the U.S. tower market in May with its purchase of Parallel Infrastructure’s 450 towers, it is likely that major tower operators viewed the acquisition as a missed opportunity and another competitive thorn in their rosy future, and possibly shrugged off Lendlease Americas CEO Denis Hickey’s statement that he would expand those holdings. True to his promise, …
Lack of on-site generators, COWs, contributes to Puerto Rico’s still horrendous cell service
After Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic devastation of Puerto Rico’s cell sites, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai directed his staff last week to reach out to American Tower, SBA Communications and Crown Castle “to see how we can work together to address Puerto Rico’s communications needs,” However, according to over a dozen industry professionals interviewed by Wireless Estimator, the answers are already known …
High angle rescue brings down two tower techs in North Carolina
Two workers had to be rescued after being unable to get down from an approximately 125-foot Crown Castle monopole in south Charlotte, N.C. Thursday night. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, two techs were working on the tower, located at 1800 Rama Rd. when one of the men became ill. The other tower climber proceeded to help his coworker, but couldn’t assist …
Crown Castle disputes whistleblower’s claim that it hid millions in fees from New York
A whistleblower lawsuit filed on Dec. 28, 2015 alleging that Crown Castle International has cheated New York out of millions of dollars by hiding fees it received from wireless carriers that were supposed to be split with the State has been unsealed in N.Y. State Supreme Court. The U.S.’s largest operator of towers and DAS systems is accused of filing …
Crown Castle makes a $7 billion bet on going horizontal with Lightower
Crown Castle International Corp had reportedly made an offer to acquire Lightower Fiber Networks for more than $7 billion, including debt, according to Reuters. Another company courting an acquisition of Lightower was Uniti Group Inc., Reuters said. Formed by Berkshire Partners, Lightower’s network extends over 33,000 route miles throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, providing dense connectivity to over 22,000 service …
SBA chief takes a payday; Crown takes new Florida office space
SBA Communications CEO Jeffrey Stoops recently sold 94,289 shares of SBA stock at an average price of $133.76 for a total value of $12,612,096. However, the chief executive is still hanging on to 329,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44 million. The company’s shares hit an all-time high on June 2, closing at $138.69. The all-time low …
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, …
Response time to rescue tower tech was way too long claims caller
Update: June 14, 2017 – According to tower technician Jake Caldwell of Avon, Ind., he had been on the tower and had a mishap with a grinder and cut his arm pretty badly. “Upon hearing my screams, one of my buddies on the ground came up and rescued me. All in all it took seven minutes to get me from tower …
Crown socks Southeastern N.Y. with multiple rights of way-involved lawsuits
Crown Castle filed another lawsuit in federal court on Thursday against the Town of Oyster Bay, N.Y. seeking to have its permits reissued to install microcells in residential neighborhoods. The action follows a recently filed complaint against the Town of Hempstead as reported by Wireless Estimator on Friday where Crown Castle sued over a consultant’s delaying tactics and high fees …
Crown sues Hempstead, N.Y. over consultant’s delay tactics and high fees for DAS nodes
National DAS-provider and tower owner Crown Castle has brought suit against the Town of Hempstead, N.Y., alleging that the Town unlawfully delegated its review authority to a third-party consultant for 14 initial applications for authorization to install, operate and maintain DAS facilities in the Town’s public rights of way. Crown, in its complaint, said that the consultant, Center for Municipal …
American Tower cracks the mighty ‘500’; Crown Castle is catching up
Fortune has debuted their 2017 Fortune 500 List, described as the ultimate testament to a company’s success, and American Tower went from an aspiring vertical realtor at position No. 526 last year to breaking into the exclusive club in 2017 to position No. 449 with revenues of $5.8 billion. Crown Castle International, the only other industry candidate vying to join …
Crown sued for not having climbing safety devices on Texas tower
A Michigan tower tech is suing a lift manufacturer and a tower owner in Harris County Texas District Court for more than one million dollars, alleging their negligence caused him to fall and suffer injuries in Richardson on January 29. Stevin Ammerman filed a complaint May 31 in Harris County Texas District Court against Safway Group Holdings LLC, Crown Castle …
Crown inks lease for new 56K sq. ft. Alpharetta, Georgia office
Crown Castle has signed a 55,622 square-foot lease at 8000 Avalon, a 224,000 square-foot office development that was completed last month in Alpharetta, Ga. It is expected that they will move their current Alpharetta operations, less than three miles from 8000 Avalon, in November to the new high rise office building. The 86-acre complex offers almost a half-million square feet …
Crown sues Rye as SBA’s bread winner sells $12.6 million of his stock; AT&T strike ends
Crown Castle International has filed a lawsuit against the City of Rye, N.Y. after the City Council rejected a proposal that allowed Crown to install wireless equipment in the community’s rights of way. In its complaint, Crown said Rye improperly refused to grant the company access to public rights of way to expand an existing network of small cells, or …
Simon and DeBroux will chair new FCC broadband deployment working groups
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed members to serve on two Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) working groups. The Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure Working Group will be chaired by Ken Simon, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Crown Castle, and Removing State and Local Regulatory Barriers Working Group’s chairman is Robert DeBroux, Director, Public Policy and Federal Regulatory Affairs, …
Tower tech’s 150-foot fall in Mississippi is nation’s second 2017 fatality
Update: May 3, 2017 – Kris Edward Runyon, 39, has been identified as the tower technician who fell from a Crown Castle guyed tower near Meridian, Miss. yesterday evening and was pronounced dead at the scene. A resident of Portsmouth, Ohio, Runyon had been working for D&K Nationwide Communications Inc. of Bristol, Conn. for the past year, but according to the …
Crown ‘s California fiber miles increase by 1,900 with Wilcon buy
Crown Castle International Corp. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Wilcon Holdings LLC for approximately $600 million from Pamlico Capital and other unit holders of Wilcon. Wilcon is a fiber services provider that owns approximately 1,900 route miles of fiber, primarily in Los Angeles and San Diego. Pro forma for the proposed acquisition, …
