Facts that would have made better reading and more sense By Ken Schmidt After reading Wireless Estimator’s article, “Towercos tank after radical unconfirmed report of government competition,” and seeing the original article from Re/code on Friday, I felt compelled to respond. It seemed reckless to me that a website like Re/code could publish an unconfirmed report, have it copied by …
Towercos tank after radical unconfirmed report of government competition
Report seen as ‘nonsense’ by siting professionals UPDATE, Jan. 19, 2016 – Deep diving industry expert Ken Schmidt has provided a detailed analysis of why Re/code’s “improper deductive reasoning” in their article doesn’t dovetail with available information regarding Sprint’s Next Generation Network. The story, published on Jan. 15, 2016, claimed that Sprint would be relocating its cell sites from American Tower Corporation …
Wireless workforce and supplier requirements for 2016 continue to be mostly upbeat
To project whether 2016 will be a banner, bust or somewhere-in-between year for wireless construction, and service and supplier providers, one has to simply search for the devil or angel that’s always in the details. Unfortunately, conflicting details and limited industry information clouds accurate projections. But the industry overall appears to be still creating jobs and there should be a robust …
Court rules that AT&T will stand trial in tower injury lawsuit along with other defendants
AT&T, Inc. was denied its request last week to be removed from a personal injury lawsuit brought by Thomas Jeglum, 26, against the company in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania after the California tower tech suffered serious injuries when he fell in 2013 from a stealth tower site in Allentown, Pa. while performing an AT&T Mobility LTE upgrade. Judge John M. …
Lack of tower crews and antenna manufacturers cited as reasons to revisit repacking deadline
The National Association of Broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider the 39-month repacking window following next year’s TV spectrum incentive auction. The trade group commissioned a study from Digital Tech Consulting. The study concluded that the Commission’s three-month window for filing for construction permits falls well short of the actual time needed to submit and process the …
Crown Castle will reinstate gag order keeping them from discussing carriers
Crown Castle CEO Ben Moreland said yesterday during the company’s Q3 conference call that Crown’s executives used to refrain from speaking with any specificity about carrier deployments, but “over the last couple of years, we’ve sort of relaxed that standard, and probably spoken a little bit too much occasionally around specific carrier deployment plans.” But Crown’s easing of carrier build …
FCC Commissioner’s new tower builds is based on a hazy crystal ball
Commentary — Making subsidies more flexible and removing legal hurdles are two of several changes the Federal Communications Commission should make to advance wireless infrastructure development, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said Wednesday at the Competitive Carriers Association conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Another adjustment they should consider is providing their Commissioners with research that they’ve unearthed to provide direction rather than …
CM refuses $100,000 in back overtime as Crown Castle asks to put her case on hold
A former construction manager was offered $100,000 plus her attorneys’ fees by Crown Castle USA, Inc. to settle claims for back overtime wages she said she was due after she worked for 43 weeks that ended February 9, 2015, but she didn’t accept the offer and may now be responsible for her attorneys’ costs moving forward in a case that …
T-Mobile and Verizon tie for high LTE speeds in the U.S. but America gets a failing grade
T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are almost tied for the fastest U.S. LTE data speeds, according to OpenSignal, a network testing firm. However, the U.S. was ranked number nine in the world for coverage, but received failing grades for its LTE speeds overall. Verizon was identified as having the most LTE coverage in America, followed by AT&T, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Sprint …
Small cells to be given extreme test during high Pope visit traffic
Crown Castle International’s devout Catholics might be praying to St. Vincent Ferrer, patron saint of builders, that their small cell network will support the data tsunami expected on Sept. 26-27, 2015 along the historic Benjamin Franklin Parkway, stretching from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Logan Square, during Pope Francis’s inaugural visit where more than one million people are expected …
Key analyst likes Crown Castle, but sees American Tower with less acquisition exposure
Morningstar analyst Michael Hodel has provided an excellent overview of the industry’s three publicly-traded companies, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International, and SBA Communications. Whereas there are almost daily yawn-inducing recommendations from analysts, Hodel’s insight and extensive analysis is worth the read. Although Hodel has previously said that his favorite amongst the towercos is Crown Castle, because he thinks it …
American Tower’s CEO unloads 47,000 shares and the 48-hour silly cycle begins
When a corporate insider such as an officer or director buys or sells their company’s publicly-traded stock they’re required to file a Form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. American Tower Corporation Chairman, President and CEO James Taiclet did that yesterday when he sold 47,000 shares in a transaction that occurred the day before at a price of $100.99, …
New top 100 U.S. tower owners unveiled with some first-time players and loss of a key owner
Wireless Estimator released today its top 100 tower companies in the U.S. that identifies the same three top consolidators as in previous years, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International and SBA Communications taking the lead. Although first place American Tower is slightly ahead of Crown in the Top 100 U.S. Tower Companies list by less than 200 towers, it is an …
Boca Raton, Florida is fast becoming the corporate hub of choice for tower owners
Thanks to early siting entrepreneurs Jeffrey Stoops and Marc Ganzi, Boca Raton, Fla. is fast becoming the hub for tower owners’ corporate offices as witnessed by numerous key players’ offices in a two mile stretch along and off of Congress Ave. SBA Communications CEO Stoops used to run his company from its corporate office off of Broken Sound Pkwy., almost within shouting …
National Wireless Safety Alliance’s Board selected to guide assessment and certification programs
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) unveiled the organization’s inaugural Board of Governors roster today in an industry-wide announcement. The NWSA is a national non-profit assessment and certification organization that is under development to provide thorough, independent assessments of knowledge and skills and provide verifiable worker certification in order to enhance safety, reduce workplace risk, improve quality, encourage training, and …
In a surprise move, SBA walks out with cash and away from its investment in DAS
Five year DAS ride for SBA unexpectedly ends In a deal that took many industry observers by surprise, DAS developer ExteNet Systems, Inc. announced that Digital Bridge Holdings and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners will recapitalize the company with more than $1 billion dollars, and Digital Bridge’s CEO Marc Ganzi will assume the position of Chairman of the Board. Key members of …
Crown Castle’s tenants per tower take a slight dip as revenues show a marked increase
Although Crown Castle’s site rental revenues for the second quarter were up $26.3 million over its 2014 quarter, the tower owner’s average tenants per tower for sites operated for 10 years or longer fell off slightly in all BTAs. The tenant per tower average in the top 100 BTAs for sites operated 10 years or more was 2.9 compared to …
Tower contractor’s owner refutes report that his worker fell from a tower
A Massachusetts contractor said that, although he had a worker who sustained jobsite injuries, his tower technician did not fall from a Crown Castle International tower yesterday in Gorham, Maine, as reported by a Maine newspaper. In a Portland Press Herald article, based upon a police ‘news release,’ an employee of Centerline Communications of Raynham, fell from the 300-foot guyed tower while …
In lieu of double time pay, New Jersey police have tech spending time in jail
While most industry workers were celebrating July 4th with a well-deserved day off, tower technician Louis Lucas, 45, was one of the few that had to be on duty to service a cell site at 1191 Williamstown Rd., Gloucester Township, N.J. That’s the story he told Gloucester Township Police Corporal M. Pickard, but upon further investigation after Pickard saw Lucas …
Former Crown Castle chief and three key leaders to be inducted into Wireless History Foundation
The Wireless History Foundation (WHF) announced today that it will honor four individuals at its annual awards dinner on September 8, 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. The inductees are John Kelly, Brian McAuley, Larry Movshin and Sue Swenson. The key industry movers and shakers join wireless luminaries such as Marty Cooper, inventor of the cell phone …
