Riding the line to reach a work station on a tower is thought by some individuals to not be the best safe practice for ascending or descending. However, as identified in the National Association of Tower Erectors’ (NATE) safety video released today – Riding the Line – the procedure is safe and there have been no incidents of injuries or …
Repack is kick-started after FCC’s auction results are unveiled
T-Mobile, Dish Network and Comcast were the top bidders in the incentive spectrum auction for 70 MHz of airwaves, according to an FCC announcement that will now jumpstart the nation’s long-awaited repacking efforts. The Commission now commences a 39-month transition period to move broadcast stations to new channel assignments. The first group of stations to move channels is scheduled for …
NATE goes full bore into the beltway to address industry’s and nation’s priorities
Timed to coincide with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s declaration of April 2017 as “Infrastructure Month”, executives of the National Association of Tower Erectors were in Washington, D.C. last week for a series of legislative and regulatory meetings. During the productive week, the NATE delegation, consisting of Chairman Jim Tracy, Board of Directors member John Paul Jones, Executive …
WIN’s Arizona meeting will feature Women of NATE, safety initiatives
The National Association of Tower Erector’s (NATE) Wireless Industry Network (WIN) will be hosting a Southwest Regional Meeting on Wed., May 3, 2017 at the Hilton Phoenix Airport in Phoenix, Ariz. The event will focus on key industry safety initiatives and offer tremendous networking and professional development opportunities for attendees. A feature session will be on Women of NATE (WON), presented …
NATE spreads its wings with new technology membership category
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced that it is offering a new Technology membership category. The Association made the announcement at the 2017 International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) in Las Vegas, Nev. this week. The NATE Technology membership category is classified for any company whose primary source of revenue is derived from the manufacturing, sales, design and use …
Broadcast repack video is truly a must see for all tower techs
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) released a Broadcast Repack safety video during the NATE UNITE 2017 Keynote Luncheon sponsored by T-Mobile. The timely video is the second to debut as part of Volume 2 of the NATE Climber Connection series and coincides with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently concluding the bidding phase of its historic incentive auction, …
Black & Veatch exec Martin Travers joins National Wireless Safety Alliance’s Board
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) has announced that Martin Travers, Group President of Black & Veatch, has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Travers was nominated and formally appointed to serve in this leadership role during the NWSA Board of Directors meeting held in Fort Worth, Tex. on March 2, 2017. NWSA, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, is a national non-profit …
NATE sets new all-time attendee, exhibitor marks at 2017’s conference
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that last week’s NATE UNITE 2017 Conference in Fort Worth, Tex, set new attendee and exhibitor records. The Association said that 1,801 individuals registered to attend NATE UNITE 2017. This total eclipses the organization’s all-time conference registered attendee total in its 22-year history, exceeding the previous attendance registration record of 1,614 at …
AT&T’s FirstNet award in the bag rumors ignore court’s near-term expected ruling
Rumors at last week’s Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona that FirstNet was set to award America’s first nationwide network for first responders to AT&T would require judicial clairvoyance to be accurate since the award is in an ongoing procurement process that will be decided by U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan. Oral arguments in Rivada Mercury’s lawsuit …
Lone Survivor hero wows hundreds of NATE attendees with harrowing survival tale
Decorated retired Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell paced back and forth in front of almost 900 attendees at NATE UNITE 2017’s keynote address yesterday, effortlessly herding them from the Fort Worth, Tex. convention center to a Hindu Kush mountain top in Afghanistan in 2005 surrounded by Taliban fighters who killed Luttrell’s three team members. But through his courage, training, and …
NWSA lauds America’s first trailblazing telecommunications tower technicians
Workers successfully complete assessments; recognized with professional NWSA Certification The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced the names of individuals who are among the first workers to obtain NWSA Telecommunications Tower Technician (TTT) certification at an educational session that was held Tuesday in conjunction with the NATE UNITE 2017 Conference in Fort Worth, Tex. The following industry workers have obtained …
Tower Family Foundation and NATE announce the 2017 Ernie Jones Memorial Scholarship recipient
The Tower Family Foundation and National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today jointly announced that Elyse Massey, a junior Civil Engineering major from Evansville, Indiana, has been named as the 2017 recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. Through her time at the University of Evansville, Elyse Massey has …
Executives Tracy, Miller and Little elected to lead NATE in 2017
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that Board of Directors’ members Jim Tracy, Jim Miller and Ben Little were elected to serve on the Association’s Executive Committee for the upcoming year. The Association made the announcement on the first day of the NATE UNITE 2017 Conference and Exposition in Fort Worth, Tex. Jim Tracy, CEO of …
Texas space program post says student was never in danger while climbing tower
A representative of the Eldorado Space Program, an Eldorado, Tex. high school program that teaches students to design instrumentation packages and launch them into space, said on its Facebook page Saturday that a cover story photograph in the March edition of QST published by the National Association for Amateur Radio, represented an inaccurate, unsafe depiction of a student climbing a …
Cover girl climber shot could send high schoolers to their death
Commentary – The March issue of a well-respected magazine published by The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) will most likely latch onto the literal lunacy award for depicting in a photograph the most egregious tie-off violations one could imagine. In QST’s latest edition, their antenna issue, the cover shows a picture of Chase Mertz of Eldorado, Tex. climbing a …
Wireless infrastructure movers and shakers to converge in Fort Worth
NATE UNITE 2017, the National Association of Tower Erectors’ annual conference, to be held Feb. 27 through March 2 in Fort Worth, Tex., is expected to rival a record-setting number of visitors to the event that is clearly regarded as the largest and most comprehensive show in the U.S. for the wireless infrastructure industry. The exhibition is already breaking last …
NATE releases an updated detailed resource for tower site drone usage
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the 2nd Edition of the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Operations Around Vertical Communications Infrastructure resource document available to all interested parties at no charge. The newest edition of this valuable safety resource is a by-product of collaboration between the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Committee and other prominent representatives from the commercial …
NATE brings to life new ANSI/ASSE A10.48 standard with a polished video presentation
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a safety video highlighting the new ANSI/ASSE A10.48 Standard. The video is the first to debut as part of Volume 2 of the NATE Climber Connection series. The A10.48 Standard – Criteria for Safety Practices with the Construction, Demolition, Modification and Maintenance of Communications Structures has been described as a game-changer …
NATE’s free Train-the-Trainer and Fall Prevention Worker training courses available
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) will be facilitating one Train-the-Trainer Course and twelve Fall Prevention Worker Training Courses throughout the United States in 2017. NATE is pleased to offer these training courses free of charge to members and non-members, and anticipates that the sessions will achieve the Association’s objectives of having a nation-wide impact, helping small businesses establish …
NATE elects three incumbents and new board member Randel Scott
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the official results of the 2017 Board of Directors election, announcing that candidates Jim Tracy, CEO of Legacy Telecommunications, Inc. in Burley, Wash.; Jim Miller, President of EasTex Tower, LLC in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Ben Little, CEO of Centerline Solutions, LLC in Boulder, Colo. were re-elected and will retain their …
