Four years ago, Wireless Estimator reported that some members of Pittsfield’s Board of Health privately doubted their own cease-and-desist order against a Verizon cell tower would survive a legal fight — even as the board voted to spend $84,000 defending it. On Thursday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed those doubts were well-founded, ruling that the board never had the …
AT&T loses bid to pause California’s copper service rules while lawsuit proceeds
A federal judge in California has rejected AT&T’s attempt to temporarily halt state rules requiring the company to keep providing basic telephone service, dealing the carrier a setback in its broader campaign to exit copper infrastructure nationwide. U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez of the Southern District of California denied AT&T’s request for a preliminary injunction on July 16, ruling from …
American Tower’s rights to Detroit cell site upheld a second time, case heads back to appeals court
Adamo Construction, LLC has filed a new appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals challenging a Wayne County Business Court ruling that, for the second time, rejected the company’s bid to unwind American Tower’s rights to a cell tower site on Detroit property Adamo bought secondhand for $45,000 after it was sold off in a tax foreclosure. American Tower’s interest …
Westlake, Texas refuses to surrender: Town appeals fed’s order to grant cell tower permit to Vertical Bridge
The Town of Westlake, Texas — the wealthiest municipality in the Lone Star State — took another step this month in its ongoing fight against a federally ordered cell tower permit, filing its record excerpts with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on June 1 as the appeal moves into active briefing. The filing, lays out …
Supreme Court rules 8-1: The FCC has constitutional authority to fine telecommunications companies
The U.S. Supreme Court today handed the Federal Communications Commission a significant enforcement victory, ruling 8-1 that the agency has the constitutional authority to impose financial penalties on telecommunications companies through its in-house adjudication process — without first providing a jury trial. The decision, issued in the consolidated cases FCC v. AT&T and Verizon Communications v. FCC, resolves a years-long …
Peppertree and Goldman Sachs affiliate win a sweeping New York court contempt ruling in tower dispute
Affiliates of private equity firm Peppertree Capital Management and a Goldman Sachs affiliate have moved a long-running Latin American telecommunications tower dispute closer to a forced sale after a federal judge again held Terra Towers Corp., Telecom Business Solution (TBS), and telecom executive Jorge Hernandez in civil contempt. In a sharply worded ruling issued May 7 in the Southern District …
Families win $18.2 Million verdict in tower deaths, but bankrupt Nexius and Myndco may leave them with pennies on the dollar
A Delaware jury has awarded $18.2 million to the families of two brothers killed when an articulated boom lift toppled onto power lines at a Bethany Beach cell tower site in November 2020. The verdict against general contractor Nexius Solutions, Inc. and its internal training affiliate Myndco, Inc. came after nearly four years of litigation and a ten-day trial that …
$7.5M sewage spill, coverage fight, and contractor collapse expose fiber drilling risk as BEAD work surges
A Florida sewage spill tied to an AT&T fiber project is now at the center of two lawsuits—one seeking damages, the other seeking to avoid paying them—highlighting how a single underground strike can trigger a chain reaction of liability, insurance disputes, and contractor failure. In a complaint filed April 24, 2026, the City of Lake Worth Beach is seeking more …
$13M lawsuit threatens rural broadband network as American Tower seeks equipment removal
UPDATE: May 12, 2026 — American Tower and AtLink Services agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, without prejudice. Each party shall bear its respective attorneys’ fees and costs. A federal lawsuit filed in January, winding its way through court filings, is exposing financial cracks in a rural broadband expansion story that had been celebrated as one of telecom’s most promising buildouts. …
Crown Castle says DISH defaulted on payments, terminates tower agreement claiming $3.5 Billion owed
Crown Castle Inc. issued a press release late this afternoon, stating that DISH Wireless has defaulted on its payment obligations, prompting the tower operator to terminate its wireless infrastructure agreement and seek recovery of more than $3.5 billion in remaining payments purportedly owed under the contract. The announcement came just hours after DISH filed its formal response Friday evening to Crown …
Verizon sues Kansas City condo association over threatened interference with rooftop cell site
Verizon Wireless has filed a federal lawsuit seeking emergency injunctive relief against a Kansas City, MO condominium association, arguing that planned rooftop construction could interfere with a long-standing cell site and disrupt wireless service for thousands of customers across the city. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, available here, Cellco Partnership, …
Crown Castle follows American Tower’s lead, suing DISH for attempting to walk away from its MSA
Crown Castle has become the second major tower operator to sue DISH Wireless after the carrier notified infrastructure partners of its intent to shed large portions of its wireless business through spectrum-sale transactions. Just weeks after American Tower filed suit demanding that DISH honor its long-term lease commitments despite the pending spectrum sale, Crown Castle has taken the same position, …
From arbitration to Peppertree execs’ arrest warrants, Continental Towers dispute spreads across borders
A federal judge in New York has issued a civil contempt ruling against DT Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Terra Towers Corp., after the company failed to turn over documents related to an ongoing criminal investigation in Guatemala. The order, issued on November 6, 2025, is tied to efforts to enforce an arbitration award of more than $300 million issued …
Tilson’s $200 million Gigapower lawsuit is sold to Winston I LLC for an undisclosed amount
Bankrupt Tilson Technology Management has sold its $200 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against Gigapower — the AT&T and BlackRock-backed open-access fiber venture — to Winston I LLC, a Delaware-registered entity that now assumes control of the litigation, according to a Purchase Agreement filed in Tilson’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The price and financial terms were not disclosed in the publicly available …
The great telecom invoice factoring illusion: How New York financier Carriox Capital fooled the money men
New York-based Carriox Capital II LLC and its related companies — once presented as agile financing vehicles in telecom receivables — are now buried in Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings that reveal a staggering $552 million secured debt and almost no remaining assets. According to court documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, HPS …
NTCH lawsuit against T-Mobile alleges $20 million in lost tower development revenues
NTCH, Inc. and several of its affiliates are pursuing a high-stakes lawsuit against T-Mobile USA, Inc. in King County Superior Court in Washington, accusing the wireless carrier of breaching a contractual commitment that was supposed to provide the tower builder with at least 100 new development opportunities under a Build to Suit Master Services Agreement (MSA) signed in 2015. NTCH …
Contractor ASG sued in federal court over WARN Act violations; execs named in New Jersey complaint
Just one week after broadband infrastructure company Allstate Sales Group, Inc. (ASG) abruptly froze operations and delayed paychecks, leaving an estimated 500 workers jobless, a federal class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The complaint, brought by former ASG Vice President of Electrical Sales Joseph Horling on behalf of himself …
Tilson’s $22 million sale to ITG Communications underscores the deep discount of a distressed auction
Wireless Estimator’s early presumption that Tilson would ultimately sell at a “fire sale” price following its bankruptcy has proven correct. Despite the company’s July balance sheet superficially showing more than $361 million in assets, Tilson announced in a press release Friday that it had selected an offer from ITG Communications, LLC for approximately $22 million as the highest and best …
Radio Activo wins order to stop American Tower from tearing down Nevada broadcast site; power shutoff stands for now
A federal judge in Nevada granted Radio Activo Broadcasting LLC a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking American Towers LLC and Insite Towers, LLC from decommissioning, dismantling, or removing the 190-foot self-supporting tower that carries the broadcaster’s signal, but declined to require American Tower to restore electrical service to the site immediately. American Tower provides power for the site, constructed around …
‘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 …
