New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, representing the five New York City pension funds, has successfully secured agreements with leading telecommunications infrastructure firms—SBA Communications Corporation (SBA), American Tower Corporation (American Tower), and Crown Castle—to improve their reporting on worker safety at communication tower sites. Lander emphasized the difficult conditions faced by tower workers, noting, “From dizzying heights to challenging …
DigitalBridge is betting a quarter billion dollars on its competitors becoming more profitable
On Monday, during its second-quarter earnings call, SBA Communications cited a slowdown in U.S. carrier activity, similar to previous announcements by American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle, whose Q2 activity had declined a whopping 50%. DigitalBridge Group, whose tower arm Vertical Bridge has 11,000 owned and master-leased towers, will release its quarterly report on Friday and takes no comfort in …
Dish meets its 70% buildout deadline with assistance of three major towerco partners
Dish Wireless announced yesterday that as of June 14, the carrier is offering 5G broadband service to over 70 percent of the U.S. population, giving more than 240 million Americans access to its technology. This marks a significant milestone for Dish and the U.S. telecom industry, as Dish designed, built, and deployed a first-of-its-kind 5G network in three years. Dish …
Aggravated over aggregator Everest’s ‘multi-million dollar scheme’, Vertical Bridge files a lawsuit
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC has filed a lawsuit against competitor Everest Infrastructure Partners (EIP), alleging that it ran an unfair “multi-million dollar scheme to unlawfully improve its market share” at Vertical Bridge’s expense through trade secret misappropriation, interfering with existing contractual relations and false advertising. Vertical Bridge, the tower arm of Digital Bridge, requests that EIP provide an accounting of …
‘Amazing’ milestone of 10,000-plus trade certifications in a six-year time span achieved by NWSA
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced that the organization has officially surpassed 10,000 trade certifications issued to workers in the communications infrastructure industry. NWSA reached the 10,000 credentials mark in a six-year time span, having started offering trade certification programs to the industry in late 2016. “I would like to congratulate the National Wireless Safety Alliance on achieving this …
The backstory of a teen tower climber rescue: It took a village
A Fox 8 News viewer yesterday afternoon sent Wireless Estimator an email with a link to an article on the Ohio TV station’s website that a 15-year-old boy had been rescued off of a 190-foot cell tower. With few details, it stated, “As the fire department’s ladder was not tall enough, rescuers had to put together a climbing crew, which took a …
Fatal fall of a 29-year-old tower tech from a 300-foot Louisiana tower is industry’s first 2022 death
OSHA is investigating the death of a 29-year-old tower technician who fell from a guyed tower in Florien, LA, late Friday afternoon. According to multiple sources interviewed by Wireless Estimator, Jose Garcia, a resident of Mexico, fell from an unknown elevation off of a 300-foot tower owned by SBA Communications of Boca Raton, FL. The site is located off of …
A reverse stock split is oftentimes cautionary, but DigitalBridge Group says it’s all part of the grand plan
A reverse stock split oftentimes signals that a company is trying to stay listed on major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, where a company’s shares are required to not trade below $1 for 30 consecutive days. NYSE-traded DigitalBridge Group announced yesterday that within the next three months the company expects to have a reverse stock split in …
Towerco stocks tank as Communication Services Sector declines 33% and REIT Index shaves 23%
Towerco stocks notched a slight increase on Friday, but they’re still way off their 52-week highs. All four of the publicly traded companies saw significant declines beginning in December 2021, with considerable losses last week. DigitalBridge Group is down a reeling 45%, while Crown Castle Int. Corp. declined 26%, and SBA Communications Corp. saw a 25% drop. American Tower Corp. …
After decades of leadership, SBA’s Bagwell and Hunt are retiring, Cane and Koenig to succeed them
SBA Communications Corporation (SBA) today announced that Kurt L. Bagwell, Executive Vice President and President – International, and Thomas P. Hunt, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, will retire from their current titles and roles effective January 1, 2023. Succeeding Bagwell and Hunt will be two long-time SBA officers and industry veterans. Richard Cane, currently Senior Vice …
MasTec, SBA and DigitalBridge announce new leadership roles
Ava L. Parker – MasTec Ava L. Parker has become a member of MasTec’s board of directors, according to a company press release. She joined the board as a Class III director in MasTec’s staggered board structure, MasTec said. “Parker serves as president of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach County, one of Florida’s largest higher education institutions,” MasTec said. …
Key execs believe certified tower technicians will lead the nation’s continuous build programs
Attendees at NATE UNITE 2022 were provided an executive level overview of how field personnel will be taking control of their future as the wireless workforce becomes increasingly dependent upon new skillsets that will be required of technicians. The session, which also identified why companies are motivated to assist in their success, was presented by Mark Ciarfella, EVP, Domestic Operations, …
WIA’s chief Jonathan Adelstein ends 10 years of service as he takes on new role at Digital Bridge Group
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) announced today the upcoming departure of President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adelstein. Adelstein has accepted a position as Managing Director and Head of Global Policy and Public Investment for DigitalBridge Group, beginning June 1. A candidate search is being launched to identify his replacement. “These last ten years were among the most fulfilling of …
Bogus BLS averages put larger wireless contractors at a greater risk of being red-flagged
Avetta and other compliance vendors continue to use the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to initially assess the safety culture and performance of wireless contractors through metrics such as the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) average. Compliance vendors red flag contractors if their TRIR exceeds the BLS’s current TRIR averages, even though they are aware …
The unvarnished Tennessee truth: Trained tower techs will save lives
The nation’s tower techs take pride in their work and their ability to safely rescue a fellow worker if the occasion ever arises. Most techs will spend their career never having to perform an emergency rescue on a tower, but when it’s necessary, it’s nice to know that the men and women working alongside you have you covered. Such was the case …
SBA’s Bernstein says ‘it’s time to tell the world’ about Skyfish’s drone photogrammety and $20M in funding
American autonomous drone maker Skyfish has secured over $20 million in venture funding led by Henry Wolfond, CEO of Bayshore Capital, and Steven Bernstein, the Chairman of SBA Communications. “After speaking with Skyfish customers, we quickly understood that Skyfish is unique in the commercial drone world, producing precise ‘engineering grade’ drone enabled photogrammetry and 3D Models of infrastructure,” said Bernstein. …
Police err on the side of caution in investigating SBA cell tower power failure in NY
WKTV of Utica, New York broke the story Sunday morning that was picked up by area and industry media that police were investigating damage to a cell phone tower on Mohawk Valley Community College property, causing an event that was taking place on campus to be moved to another location. One report stated that the tower was set on fire. …
Verizon signs C-band deals with Crown Castle and SBA Communications
Verizon inked deals with Crown Castle and SBA Communications, two vertical realtors already hosting Verizon infrastructure equipment, to speed deployment of C-band equipment in preparation for the launch of 5G Ultra Wideband and fixed wireless broadband service on this newly acquired spectrum. Verizon secured an average of 161 MHz of C-band spectrum nationwide in the recent FCC auction, which will allow Verizon to …
Colocations unknown as a sealed deal with American Tower provides DISH with it final site selections
American Tower Corporation and DISH Network Corporation announced today that they have entered into a master lease agreement through which DISH may lease space on up to 20,000 American Tower communications sites. Through the agreement, DISH will secure access to American Tower’s extensive U.S. portfolio of communications sites as it deploys its new nationwide 5G network, and American Tower will …
SBA inks a master lease agreement with DISH for its 5G network
DISH and SBA Communications Corporation today announced a new long-term master lease agreement providing DISH access to SBA’s extensive nationwide portfolio of wireless communication sites. The announcement builds upon DISH’s continued progress in acquiring access to the essential infrastructure needed to deploy its greenfield 5G network coast to coast. As part of the agreement, DISH will lease towers from SBA, …
