The City of Virginia Beach has released a review draft of proposed design guidelines for co-locating small cell infrastructure on existing structures, such as streetlights and police camera poles, rather than erecting a new structure. If a new structure is required, the city is strongly encouraging incorporating meters and equipment cabinets into the base of the pole, rather than erecting …
Pai chooses public auction for C-band spectrum as Intelsat sinks
The FCC is ready to start a public auction for C-band spectrum with the objective of developing 5G wireless connectivity in the mid-band spectrum, according to an announcement today from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai made his plans clear today, in a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Pai had …
Mexican telecom battle broadens at the border over 700 MHz interference
Thousands of Verizon customers, from El Paso, Texas to San Diego, California, are still fighting to get decent coverage that is being blocked after Mexican wholesaler Altán Redes introduced service three months ago In August, Mexican-based Altán Redes launched wireless service along the border using the 700 MHz band, the same one that Verizon Wireless uses, resulting in Verizon subscribers …
No reason given after an expected slam dunk Mississippi site approval gets denied
Verizon Wireless was barred from erecting a sorely-needed cell tower in the southern part of Jackson, Mississippi, after a single resident raised concerns about RF dangers and the aesthetic value of a 150-foot monopole, according to a lawsuit filed by Verizon against the Jackson City Council for violating the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TCA). In the complaint, Verizon said that …
AT&T exits the tower business with $680 million sale, eventual owners are still unknown
AT&T, the nation’s seventh-largest tower owner, slightly behind InSite Wireless Group, is exiting the business, selling more than 1,000 of their towers for $680 million to Peppertree Capital Management, Inc.(Peppertree) according to an announcement by the company preceding yesterday’s earnings call where Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman & CEO, discussed selling non-core assets. AT&T will lease back capacity on the towers as part …
Mid band drives the dialogue at MWC LA 2019’s opening keynote
Former FCC Commissioner and current CTIA CEO Meredith Atwell Baker said during yesterday’s opening keynote at MWC Los Angeles that the U.S. has the first and fastest 5G networks in the world, reveling in the knowledge that “innovators now have a platform to create on,” with innovations that will move quickly from the lab to users’ lives in no time. …
The pink carrier continues to put contractors in the red as they withhold payments
When T-Mobile canceled 5G upgrades and new builds nationwide in late August, a spokesperson informed Wireless Estimator that they were managing capital expenditures “as we do every year, and we continue to invest billions to build out our network aggressively, expanding LTE coverage and performance while simultaneously laying the foundation for broad, nationwide 5G in 2020.” A month later, it was revealed that …
Carr applauds tower climber program that will expand America’s 5G workforce
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr lauded the announcement that the South Dakota Board of Technical Education has approved the creation of a new Wireless Infrastructure Technician Certification program at Southeast Technical Institute in South Dakota in partnership with VIKOR Teleconstruction. “Earlier this year, I announced a jobs initiative to expand America’s 5G workforce. Industry estimates that it needs to fill another 20,000 …
T-Mobile-Sprint merger passes along party lines at FCC, but deal is still in limbo until December
The FCC approved the controversial T-Mobile-Sprint $26.5 billion merger along party lines today, closing the FCC’s review. Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted against the deal, with Rosenworcel being the most vociferant. “We’ve all seen what happens when markets become more concentrated after a merger like this one. In the airline industry, it brought us baggage fees and …
Carriers hiding 5G maps from the FCC as it readies 130 construction permit auctions and 22 more articles
ARS Technica says AT&T and other mobile carriers are trying to hide detailed 5G maps from the public despite constantly touting the supposed pace and breadth of their 5G rollouts, while Inside Radio reports that the FCC is preparing to dole out 130 construction permits for new FM stations via an online auction. Article Media AT&T and other carriers want …
Swarztrauber, FCC Chairman Pai’s new policy advisor, is well-versed on towers and wireless infrastructure
UPDATE: September 30, 2019 – In the FCC’s official statement announcing that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed Evan Swarztrauber as his policy advisor, Pai said, “I’m pleased to have Evan join our team. Having served in Commissioner Carr’s office, he brings a wealth of experience on telecom issues and is well positioned to advance our policy agenda.” Commissioner Brendan Carr …
T-Mobile stops paying its contractors, keeping its market managers in the dark
Commentary In late August, Wireless Estimator broke the story that T-Mobile had pulled many of their contractors’ purchase orders and would not be providing any additional fourth quarter builds throughout the nation, forcing wireless contractors to assess their financial position in order to maintain the additional crews that they staffed early in the year to meet T-Mobile’s promised projects. It’s …
Starks rips into Huawei, stating that a ‘rip and replace’ equipment program could cost $1 billion
In an address to attendees of the Competitive Carriers Association’s convention in Providence, Rhode Island yesterday, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he’s focused on communications network security and slammed Chinese manufacturer Huawei, stating they pose a national security risk. His message was of great interest to the regional operators in the audience, many of them who have the suspect gear …
Journal retracts paper alleging RF dangers coverup; author says ‘Big Wireless’ made them do it
Magnetochemistry, a peer-reviewed international scientific journal, retracted an article they published on May 5, 2019 from a controversial New Zealand researcher who believes that scientists are suppressing evidence that people are being harmed by radiofrequency radiation. Susan Pockett, a psychologist at the University of Auckland in her paper titled “Conflicts of interest and misleading statements in official reports about the …
Climbing Commissioner Carr puts boots on the steel again in South Dakota
Last month, South Dakota picked up a monumental $705.5 million out of the FCC’s $5 billion rural broadband funding. And yesterday, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr was in the state getting an elevated view as to how those funds will benefit rural America. Carr climbed to the 100-foot level of a 330-foot guyed tower in Mitchell to view first-hand the installation …
South Carolina’s cell sites getting walloped by Hurricane Dorian
Florida was spared Hurricane Dorian’s wrath Wednesday with the FCC identifying that of the affected counties that total 9,711 cell sites, there were only 13 outages, 3 that were damaged, 9 out due to transport problems, typically issues with wireline networks that route traffic to and from cell sites, and only 1 out of service due to a power outage. …
Hurricane Dorian still in a gray area of where it will strike Florida this weekend
It’s still unknown where the potential landfall will be for Hurricane Dorian in Florida, a possible Category 4 major hurricane with wind speeds beginning at 130 mph. For the past two days, projections have changed from it hitting Cape Canaveral to this morning’s 5:00 A.M. NOOA model showing West Palm Beach, approximately 125 miles south, as being in its crosshairs. Early …
T-Mobile cancels 5G upgrades and new builds nationwide, possibly crippling some contractors
Beginning last Friday, contractors started getting calls from T-Mobile’s market managers informing them that most purchase orders they had for new builds and 5G upgrades were going to be put on hold until 2020 unless materials for the project were sitting in a warehouse. The news came as a shock to many wireless contracting companies that had been counting on …
Color privilege, gen sets, graffiti used as ploys to deny 5G deployments: WIA
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clarify its rules to facilitate broadband deployment by promoting collocations on existing wireless facilities. As part of its request, WIA has asked the FCC to rectify an unnecessary barrier to broadband deployment due to the divergent treatment of compound expansions around wireless facilities. These petitions are based on the FCC’s explicit authority …
With a likely fine on the horizon, AT&T reaches a truce in an FTC data throttling lawsuit
AT&T has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a 2014 lawsuit that alleged the wireless carrier of deceiving its unlimited-data subscribers when it slowed their connection speeds, according to a court filing Friday. The parties requested a 90-day stay so the FTC could finalize the proposed settlement, the value of which wasn’t disclosed. The FTC sued …
