A bill working its way through Congress could be one of the most significant boosts the tower and telecom siting and contracting industry has seen in years — and it may be one step closer to becoming law by tonight. H.R. 2289, the American Broadband Deployment Act, introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), is a sweeping federal bill designed to …
Verizon’s promise of transparency for contractors is a fiction — and the FCC should take notice
Commentary — Verizon made a promise. It made that promise not in a private email or an offhand remark at a trade show, but in a formal framework agreement — one that its own representatives negotiated with NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and, by extension, with the Federal Communications Commission. The promise was straightforward: fair pricing reviews, regional flexibility, …
Carr tops out at 2,000 feet: FCC Chairman climbs NC broadcast tower, shines spotlight on tower crews
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr went 2,000 feet above ground on April 9, 2026, ascending one of the tallest broadcast towers in the United States in New Bern, North Carolina—an effort aimed at highlighting the work of America’s telecommunications workforce. The climb took place on the 1,999-foot WCTI/WYDO tower, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting and serving WCTI-TV and co-located WYDO. A crew …
Kiss Cam love story ends the moment Verizon’s terms were unveiled last night
For approximately 12 seconds yesterday, the telecom contractors industry achieved something remarkable: everyone looked happy. AT&T and Verizon executives had invited NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association’s directors and administrators to a Washington Nationals game, a gesture of appreciation following the much-discussed framework agreement among the carriers, NATE, and the FCC. Under the stadium lights, it looked like progress had …
The DISH default crisis: How EchoStar’s spectrum exit could endanger the wireless tower ecosystem
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) commissioned The Brattle Group to assess the economic fallout from DISH’s contract defaults — and the findings warn of rent hikes up to 10.7%, slower 5G and 6G deployment, and destabilized smaller tower companies, with consequences that ultimately reach every American wireless subscriber. In late 2025, DISH Wireless LLC declared its long-term master lease agreements …
FCC fast-tracks Comcast pole dispute, issuing “first-of-its-kind” order in 60 days to protect BEAD buildout
The FCC says it has just proven a new enforcement tool can do what broadband builders have asked for years: resolve pole-attachment disputes quickly enough to keep construction moving. In what the agency is calling a “first-of-its-kind” action, the Commission used its new Accelerated Docket process—run by the FCC’s Rapid Broadband Assessment Team (RBAT)—to resolve a pole attachment complaint in …
Fern’s ice loading strains power and backhaul, towers remain upright under design standards
A January 26, 2026, Communications Status Report issued by the Federal Communications Commission provides a nationwide snapshot of how communications networks performed as Winter Storm Fern moved across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The report is based on carrier submissions through the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which the FCC activated and expanded as freezing rain and ice spread into additional …
Kennedy’s RF inquiry raises questions, but little immediate concern for wireless sector over health risk
As the FCC advances a deregulatory push to accelerate 5G and soon 6G infrastructure deployments, a potentially competing health-policy track is emerging within the Trump administration: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is moving to launch a new federal study examining the health risks of cellphone radiation. The development is surfacing just as the FCC wraps the …
FCC’s ‘Build America’ proposal draws widespread opposition as comments top 3,000
Filings in the FCC’s Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireless Deployments proceeding (WT Docket No. 25-276) began appearing in late October 2025, weeks before the formal comment period, and have continued steadily as the docket has grown to more than 3,000 submissions. While the NPRM’s publication in the Federal Register triggered the formal deadlines—December 31, 2025, for initial comments and January …
Local governments warn FCC expansion of permitting authority could trigger litigation
Local governments are warning the Federal Communications Commission that attempts to expand its authority over broadband and wireless infrastructure permitting could result in court challenges, according to the most recent filings in the agency’s ongoing “Build America” proceedings. In reply comments filed December 19, 2025, municipal organizations and local officials argue that the FCC lacks apparent statutory authority to impose …
Why Sen. Luján forced the FCC’s “Independence” question — and why Carr let it end with a website change
The most contentious moment in this week’s Senate oversight hearing of Federal Communications Commission leadership had nothing to do with spectrum auctions, broadband deployment, or media ownership. Instead, it revolved around a single word that has defined the agency for nearly a century: independent. By the end of the exchange, that word had disappeared from the FCC’s website (View Video …
FCC presses Supreme Court to combine Verizon and AT&T fights over massive fines that vacate jury trials
The Federal Communications Commission is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Verizon’s challenge to a $46.9 million location-privacy fine together with a parallel case involving AT&T’s vacated $57 million penalty, saying the Court should resolve—once and for all—whether the agency may impose large monetary forfeitures without offering companies a jury trial. The government told the justices that the two …
NATE and AT&T reach a landmark deal — What it means for the tower-contracting industry
In a move that could rewrite the business model for how America’s wireless infrastructure gets built and maintained, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and AT&T recently reached an agreement to overhaul longstanding contracting practices. According to NATE, the deal includes fundamental changes the association expects will “advance material aspects of the tower construction ecosystem,” including phasing out the “turf …
The race for mid-band spectrum: Why speed and scale matter for America’s wireless future
By Iain Gillott, Vice President of Technology & Innovation, WIA Even better than Stella getting her groove back, the FCC got its spectrum auction authority back thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). And with it, an obligation to auction at least 800 MHz of spectrum within eight years, with a minimum of 100 MHz (but likely more) of Upper …
Boost turns to bust: American Tower sues to stop DISH ditching tower rent; towercos could lose $9 billion
American Tower has taken DISH Wireless to federal court, warning that the company’s recent multibillion-dollar spectrum selloff does not excuse its continued obligation to pay rent on thousands of cell towers across the United States—and that the financial fallout for the tower industry could be immense. In a declaratory judgment complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District …
NATE and CCA cheer FCC’s push to speed America’s broadband builds and cut red tape
Two key industry groups, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), applauded the Federal Communications Commission for advancing an item from its September Open Meeting yesterday, aimed at expediting broadband buildouts and removing unlawful state and local barriers that slow infrastructure deployment. Both actions align with Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Build America” agenda, unveiled in July at …
Tower crews lose work as Boost’s open RAN ambitions as the nation’s fourth carrier collapse
The prospect of Boost Mobile emerging as an actual “fourth national carrier” has collapsed following EchoStar’s multi-billion-dollar spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX. Together, the transactions dismantle Dish/EchoStar’s original 5G greenfield buildout and confirm that the U.S. market will remain dominated by the Big Three—AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile—for the foreseeable future. AT&T deal: Spectrum sale and RAN takeover In late …
AT&T to buy EchoStar spectrum for $23B, adding 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses across ~400 U.S. markets
AT&T said it will acquire a nationwide bundle of wireless spectrum from EchoStar for about $23 billion in cash, a move the company says will bolster its 5G coverage and capacity and accelerate growth in both wireless and home-internet services. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in mid-2026. Under a related agreement, AT&T and …
‘Tracking device’ ruling: Court upholds $92M fine; T-Mobile and Sprint’s pay-first move ends jury bid
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld $92 million in Federal Communications Commission forfeitures against T-Mobile and Sprint for failing to safeguard customer location data. Writing for a unanimous court, Judge Florence Y. Pan, joined by Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Brad Garcia, rejected the carriers’ bid to vacate penalties tied to 2018–2019 …
Issa Asad, Q Link founder, sentenced to five years for largest criminal FCC fraud in U.S. history
In a stunning fall from grace, Issa Asad, the 51-year-old founder and CEO of Q Link Wireless, was sentenced this week to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to orchestrating one of the largest fraud schemes ever prosecuted involving a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program. The Florida-based telecom executive, whose company built its business under the FCC’s Lifeline …
