On Monday, California Democratic State Senator Bill Hueso tweaked his proposed bill to prohibit a city or county from adopting or enforcing any regulation on the placement or operation of a communications facility in the rights-of-way by a provider that is authorized by state law. His amended SB649 bill removed requiring an escrow deposit or performance bond for removal of …
Dumb RF engineer who shut down smart meter base stations is sentenced to jail
In 2014, a radio frequency engineer upset after being fired from his job which required him to set up base stations that employed omni directional antennas on communications towers to monitor water meters, took revenge upon his unnamed employer and hacked into base stations to shut them down. He also changed the radio frequency for communications. and altered the code for …
FCC investigating unlawful transactions after contractor takes ownership of 40-plus towers
A Wisconsin wireless contractor discovered a flaw in the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) database, and changed the ownership of more than 40 towers from multiple carriers and tower owners into his company’s name during the past five months without the rightful owners being notified by the agency, according to FCC documents and sources knowledgeable of the illegal transfers. Sprint, …
Crown socks Southeastern N.Y. with multiple rights of way-involved lawsuits
Crown Castle filed another lawsuit in federal court on Thursday against the Town of Oyster Bay, N.Y. seeking to have its permits reissued to install microcells in residential neighborhoods. The action follows a recently filed complaint against the Town of Hempstead as reported by Wireless Estimator on Friday where Crown Castle sued over a consultant’s delaying tactics and high fees …
Crown sues Hempstead, N.Y. over consultant’s delay tactics and high fees for DAS nodes
National DAS-provider and tower owner Crown Castle has brought suit against the Town of Hempstead, N.Y., alleging that the Town unlawfully delegated its review authority to a third-party consultant for 14 initial applications for authorization to install, operate and maintain DAS facilities in the Town’s public rights of way. Crown, in its complaint, said that the consultant, Center for Municipal …
Industry applauds OSHA / FCC’s long-awaited Communication Tower Best Practices guide
The FCC and OSHA today released their Communication Tower Best Practices guide following a concerted joint effort on industry safety when the two agencies began the initiative with a workshop in Washington, D.C. in 2014 and continued the effort with another group of industry stakeholders in 2016. Although the guide is advisory in nature, and is not a standard or regulation, …
FCC Enforcement Bureau adds another three violations to broadcaster’s tally
It is likely that Cortaro Broadcasting, a Coolidge Ariz. company that owns, KCKY-AM, a Spanish language religious broadcaster, might hold the title for operating a small station with the most FCC violations when last week Cortaro was cited for not having a property fence, and the gates in both individual tower fences were held closed with a loose loop of chain …
Broadband investment heads south, 5G Michigan trials soar successfully
Samsung, Cisco deliver multivendor end-to-end 5G trial with Verizon Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Cisco, in partnership with Verizon, today announced the successful deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field, which took place in Ann Arbor, a suburb of metropolitan Detroit, Mich. Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans for customer trials of 5G technology for …
AT&T’s tower-centric drone software could sunset a number of head counts
More than 30 years ago, Art Pregler directed the Air Force’s complex mission of taking full sized multi-million-dollar fighter aircraft, converting them into drones, and then shooting them out of the sky with new advanced weapons systems. Today, as director of AT&T’s National Mobility Systems, Pregler’s role is just the opposite, requiring him to ensure that the carrier’s experimental drones remain …
NATE video stresses how riding the line is safe when using best practices
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 …
Ivanka puts in a hostile bid for 3M, wants crown jewel DBI-Sala
April 1, 2017 – Traders were turned topsy-turvy yesterday afternoon after The Wall Street Journal reporter Ryan Knutson, in an exclusive interview with Ivanka Trump, said she had made a hostile bid for Maplewood, Minn. industrial giant 3M, offering a 46% premium for the company’s stock which closed Friday at $191.33. “Thulin [Inge G., 3M Chairman and CEO] will be hard-pressed …
New Washington telecom construction safety regs could see widespread adoption
Exclusive “quick links” document is available for rule review The State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries has submitted a 106-page Safety Standards for Telecommunications proposal for public review that is expected to be adopted in July following three public hearings. And even though it would just affect those companies working in Washington, it is possible that a number of other …
Adelstein drives home need to remove regulatory barriers at South Wireless Summit
Jonathan Adelstein, CEO and President of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), delivered a keynote address at the annual South Wireless Summit here today in which he highlighted the crucial work the association is doing in Washington and in state capitals across the United States to remove barriers to the deployment of wireless infrastructure. “Creating a predictable business environment helps us …
Rappelling tower tech may be disqualified from receiving workers compensation
The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that a tower tech who disobeyed his supervisor’s instructions not to use a controlled descent and fell, severely injuring himself, may not be entitled to workers compensation benefits, reversing a Georgia Court of Appeals decision. Tower technician Adrian Burdette, employed by Chandler Telecom L.L.C. of Eatonton, Ga. during November 2012, according to the ruling, …
New tower construction regulations could be on the way if the CWA gets its way
New OSHA regulations directed at the wireless construction industry that were expected to be proposed in 2017 appeared to get a stay of execution when it seemed that the new administration will put a freeze on new regulations – especially since President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 30 that for every new regulation, agencies would have to toss …
WIA presses for small cells on pole facilities with its detailed primer
Attaching small wireless antennas and associated equipment – such as distributed antenna system (DAS) remote units, remote radio units and self-contained small cells – on existing poles or structures significantly improves the coverage and capacity of mobile networks, according to a new white paper titled “Small Cells on Pole Facilities: A Primer on How Utility Poles, Street Lights and Traffic …
Pennsylvania mayor arrested for burying graves during cell site construction
Update: Feb. 19, 2017 – Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz dismissed the case against the Mayor of Shamokin, Pa. yesterday of allegedly desecrating graves, citing a lack of evidence. In a statement, Mayor William Milbrand said, “I knew that I did nothing wrong, but I also knew that some members of the Shamokin Police Department were angry at me and they …
U.S. broadband infrastructure spending consensus is at $20 billion
With President Donald Trump’s “America’s Infrastructure First” policy calling for $1 trillion in new investment to improve the nation’s infrastructure, broadband will play a critical role in connecting the country’s citizens, communities and businesses, and according to an all-star panel brought together by USTelecom that spoke before the National Press Club in Washington yesterday, that need will most likely require …
AT&T’s end run around municipalities might have put Mobilitie out of the game
DAS-provider Mobilitie LLC’s petition to the FCC for a declaratory ruling to promote broadband in the U.S. by prohibiting excessive charges for access to public rights of way was championed by AT&T, at least in Ohio, where the carrier last month lobbied for and successfully sneaked in an amendment inside a bill regulating puppy mill providers. The questionable legislative procedure …
Black & Veatch’s Benjamin Afton appointed to safety alliance’s board of governors
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today that Benjamin Afton, Safety & Health Manager for the Telecom Business Line with Black & Veatch in Overland Park, Kan., has joined the organization’s Board of Governors. Afton was appointed to fill one of the seats reserved for the Large General Contractor sector of the industry. “The wireless construction industry is …
