A Georgia broadcaster was awarded $520,000 in damages on February 16 following a trial on its claim that an outside attorney botched its federal license application for a Class A low power television station statement of eligibility. The malpractice award stemmed from an incomplete application that would have been acceptable to the FCC if four boxes were checked. However, The …
Massachusetts high court rules police must get a judge’s warrant before running tower dumps
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court authorized some broad police searches of cell-phone location data Friday, but also set limits on police activity to control mass surveillance and intrusions against innocent people’s privacy. The case arose from seven tower dumps that were obtained covering areas around six robberies including one that resulted in the death of a Boston store clerk in …
SCOTUS turns down Santa Fe 5G conspiracists’ last chance to expose First Amendment abuse
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday crushed an environmental group’s final attempt to resurrect its constitutional claims alleging that the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico exposed residents to dangerous levels of radiation by installing telecom equipment in public rights-of-way by declining to review the matter. The Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety petitioned the high court to …
Lawsuit filed against Georgia city after its Council slights a Shriners’ site for T-Mobile
Municipal Communications of Atlanta, GA filed a lawsuit against Columbus, GA and its mayor and council members stating that it is violating federal law by blocking its requests to build a T-Mobile cell tower that’s necessary to improve coverage in the area near heavily trafficked I-185. Though T-Mobile already has 37 cell sites in Columbus, Municipal told a Georgia federal …
D.C. Court puts an end to Children’s Health Defense’s ‘wireless wild west’ OTARD charges
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Federal Appeals Court on Friday rejected a challenge to the FCC’s decision to amend its over-the-the-air reception device (OTARD) rule to remove a commercial use restriction. The justices stated in their opinion that the FCC had “sufficiently explained that its Order ‘does not change the applicability of the Commission’s radio frequency exposure requirements’ and …
New York dings Frontier and RG&E $5 million each for noncompliance with pole attachment safety rules
The NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) has reached two joint settlement agreements valued at $10 million that resolve penalty amounts for alleged violations against Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. (RG&E) and Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Inc. (Frontier). The settlements reached on August 12, 2021, come after a PSC investigation found that Frontier and RG&E allowed non-conforming pole attachments to remain …
Rullex and Ansco get into legal fray over $113K of downtime and troubleshooting
A project management and construction company is suing another management and contracting firm that is managing AT&T site builds for allegedly failing to pay invoices submitted for downtime and troubleshooting. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on June 21, Rullex Co., Inc., is suing Georgia-based Ansco & Associates LLC for not …
Fifth Circuit clears the way for an FCC rip and replace approval day
The FCC’s July 13 meeting will have commissioners voting on congressionally mandated changes to replace insecure network equipment from Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei. While Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was busy last week putting the finishing touches on the rip and replace program, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday removed a judicial roadblock that could have prevented the program …
A 911 vertical location solution success might be better solved by Google and Apple, not a $300,000 fine
Commentary Earlier this month, FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington said that the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau (EB) erred in taking AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to the woodshed and fining them $100,000 each for not meeting their obligations by April 3 to provide 911 location certifications by using Z-axis data that would allow first responders to know where the caller …
Ohio’s lawsuit seeking public utility status for Google confuses tower owners
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a landmark lawsuit yesterday, asking the court to declare Google a public utility, reining in the ways the powerful search engine provides search results to Ohioans. “Google uses its dominance of internet search to steer Ohioans to Google’s own products–that’s discriminatory and anti-competitive,” Yost said. “When you own the railroad or the electric company or …
FCC, carriers asking SCOTUS to permanently put Portland’s ‘David & Goliath’ 5G order concerns to bed
The FCC, DOJ, carriers and wireless organizations strongly voiced their opinions last week to the U.S. Supreme Court that the high court should not consider the City of Portland, Oregon’s request to reopen challenges to the FCC’s 2018 orders that allowed the nation’s wireless operators to standardize the installation of 5G small cells on the local level in municipal rights …
COVID-5G conspiracist and serial litigator wants 10th Circuit to revisit New Mexico 5G cell tower ruling
The Tenth Circuit abandoned its judicial duty when it shot down most of the constitutional claims in March in a lawsuit accusing Santa Fe, NM of exposing residents to dangerous radiation levels by installing telecom equipment in public rights-of-way, a local alliance group has told the court. The Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety along with Monika Steinhoff, …
Broadband trade groups sue NY over $15 internet mandate. Gov. Cuomo says, ‘Bring it on’
Trade groups representing internet service providers sued the state of New York on Friday, alleging that a new mandate requiring ISPs to offer low-income internet plans capped at $15 each signed two weeks ago oversteps the state’s regulation authority. The lawsuit was filed by industry associations including the New York State Telecommunications Association, CTIA- The Wireless Association, ACA Connects – …
Terra Towers’ lawsuit against Torrecom alleges Peppertree and Goldman conspiracy
Majority shareholders of the telecommunications infrastructure firm Continental Towers LATAM Holdings Limited have filed a lawsuit against the Weston, FL-based company Torrecom Partners, LLC. The complaint alleges a conspiracy in coordination with Continental’s minority shareholders, Goldman Sachs and Peppertree Capital Management, to depress the company’s value and force a merger that would enable Continental’s minority shareholders to squeeze its majority …
Long Island town believes it has the right to deny applications for nodes with ugly antennas
The Town of Hempstead in Long Island, NY, last week aggressively replied to a summary judgment bid from Crown Castle that accused Hempstead of unfairly blocking the towerco from building 48 DAS nodes. In their response, Hempstead said that on January 18, 2017, Crown Castle submitted applications for the first 14 of 48 DAS nodes in the town’s right-of-way. The …
Pittsburgh is ‘illegally’ pocketing $580 on street light small cell fees says AT&T in a lawsuit
AT&T is suing the City of Pittsburgh for allegedly failing to meet the FCC’s shot clock requirements and for asking excessive fees for new cell structures in the city’s rights-of-way. The carrier states that the fees and delays for installing small-cell network equipment along city roadways have prevented AT&T from providing service to the area and violates the federal Telecommunications …
Lack of training kills a high school day laborer climber and his employer claims it was his own fault
Lakaram Karanjeet was working part-time for Rise & Rise Wireless, Inc. while he was in high school. He died on June 28, 2019 when he fell from this New Jersey 150-foot monopole. An investigation by Wireless Estimator into a lawsuit brought against multiple defendants exposes a wireless construction contractor that had no safety programs in place, few owned assets and …
Third strike against small Colorado telco requires it to reimburse the U.S. $6.75 million
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled March 15, 2021 that a rural telecommunications carrier based in Alamosa, Colorado owes the FCC $6.75 million for improperly claimed Universal Service Funds (USF) it received between 2005 and 2010. In 2016, the FCC demanded that Blanca repay the $6,748,280 in funds it received which it was not entitled. Blanca …
Crown Castle sues after it’s told that its landlords have to agree to not build a competitive structure
Crown Castle Towers, AT&T, and Sprint have brought a federal lawsuit against the Town of Riverhead, N.Y., the Town Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board and the Town’s building administrator for alleged “unreasonable delays” and “unsupportable effective denials” of their application to erect a 120-foot monopole. The template nature of the complaint, in part, is similar to the many …
DC Judge questions the existence of FDA working groups cited in FCC’s RF exposure order
A D.C. Circuit panel judge yesterday, during oral arguments, appeared unconvinced of the Federal Communications Commission’s support of their findings that cell phones and other connected devices pose no risks to human health. The Environmental Health Trust, Children’s Health Defense, Consumers for Safe Cell Phones and ten individuals filed a lawsuit against the FCC for review of the Commission’s order. …
