The Federal Communications Commission today announced settlements with Sprint and Mobilitie in two separate but related investigations into whether the companies completed proper tower registration as well as environmental and historic impact reviews prior to construction of wireless infrastructure facilities. The investigation was most likely initiated last April after Event Driven identified that Sprint appeared to have been complicit in providing …
Citing national security concerns, Trump kayos $117 billion Broadcom-Qualcomm deal
UPDATE: March 14, 2018 – President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom in its hostile takeover bid of U.S. chip-maker Qualcomm earlier this week, and the Singapore company said today it is officially withdrawing its $117 billion bid. Broadcom Ltd. said it was disappointed as it withdrew its proposed candidates for the board at Qualcomm Inc., but assured in its announcement that …
Sprint wants to put an end to tribal fees costing 24% of a small cell’s installation cost
In a short letter to the FCC with four photographs , Sprint has easily identified the outdated review processes that have become a significant barrier to 5G deployment with small cells. According to Sprint Senior Counsel Keith C. Buell, the tribal review process that is part of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) allows fees to be levied against Sprint …
Replacing Robbiati, Combes is Sprint’s newest financial chief
Known for his decades of industry experience and a reputation for cost cutting, Michel Combes will join Sprint Corp. as CFO and president on Saturday, replacing outgoing CFO Tarek Robbiati. Robbiati has been cutting costs at the nation’s smallest of the four major U.S. wireless carriers and analysts are questioning how much further Sprint can slash costs. After a merger …
Big tower build bonanza for towercos and contractors announced by Sprint
Sprint CFO Tarek Robbiati last week gave the industry an early holiday present – thousands of new towers to be built across the nation. At the 45th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications conference, Robbiati said the carrier intends to spend upwards of $4 billion on its network during fiscal 2017, which ends in March 2018, and expects to increase spending …
AT&T and Verizon threaten the big three towercos with a new Tillman 200 tower scheme
In a move clearly positioned as a threat to major tower owners to lower their lease rates, AT&T, Verizon and Tillman Infrastructure announced a joint agreement today to build hundreds of cell towers, with the potential for significantly more new site locations in the future. Last year during an investors conference, Bill Hogg, AT&T’s president of technology operations, said that …
T-Mobile and Sprint call off their oft-rumored marriage plans; towerco stocks love it
T-Mobile announced that it has ceased talks to merge with Sprint, as the companies were unable to find mutually agreeable terms. “The prospect of combining with Sprint has been compelling for a variety of reasons, including the potential to create significant benefits for consumers and value for shareholders. However, we have been clear all along that a deal with anyone …
Towercos headed for some stiff competition with formation of Lendlease Towers
When Lendlease recently entered the U.S. tower market in May with its purchase of Parallel Infrastructure’s 450 towers, it is likely that major tower operators viewed the acquisition as a missed opportunity and another competitive thorn in their rosy future, and possibly shrugged off Lendlease Americas CEO Denis Hickey’s statement that he would expand those holdings. True to his promise, …
Lack of on-site generators, COWs, contributes to Puerto Rico’s still horrendous cell service
After Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic devastation of Puerto Rico’s cell sites, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai directed his staff last week to reach out to American Tower, SBA Communications and Crown Castle “to see how we can work together to address Puerto Rico’s communications needs,” However, according to over a dozen industry professionals interviewed by Wireless Estimator, the answers are already known …
The world’s first all-wireless small cell just got its Sprint “wings”
Chief Operating Officer, Technology, Sprint, Günther Ottendorfer explains the new technology By Günther Ottendorfer Chief Operating Officer, Technology, Sprint There’s magic in the air for Sprint customers! Our newest technology innovation, Sprint Magic Box, has taken to the sky as the world’s first all-wireless aerial small cell. When we launched Sprint Magic Box in May, we hinted that this unique …
FCC says wireless carriers remain competitive, but not by building new cell sites
Carriers captured high grades for competitiveness, according to the FCC’s Twentieth Mobile Wireless Competition Report, an annual analysis of whether there is effective rate rivalry with wireless operators Although the 34-page report provides a wealth of additional information to support competitiveness, according to Jonathan Adelstein, President and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), anybody who has turned on a …
T-Mobile and Sprint marriage announcement is imminent according to romance reports
In February, Reuters broke the news that Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile U.S. was reportedly planning a renewed bid to acquire rival Sprint after a previous reverse attempt was thwarted by regulators. Joined by CNBC, Reuters is again reporting that the romance has fired up again and a deal could be expected by the end of next month. But it’s not …
Carriers’ cell site outages to the FCC will not match their marketing hype
Commentary Although the nation’s four major carriers are reporting cell site outages in affected areas of Hurricane Irma to the FCC, and the Commission is providing daily compilations for a snapshot in time, such as today’s outages in Florida of 13.4%, carrier public relations officials are beginning to spin their hardened site assets at speeds off the Saffir-Simpson scale. On …
Sprint turns around with its first profit in three years
Sprint Corporation today reported operating results for the first quarter, including net income for the first time in three years at $206 million and the highest Adjusted EBITDA in nearly 10 years at $2.9 billion. The news saw its stock soar up over 10% in early morning traiding. The company also reported net operating revenues of $8.2 billion, its fourth …
Charter Communications snubs SoftBank’s proposed merger
Cable giant Charter Communications said that it is not interested in acquiring Sprint following reports that Sprint’s owner, SoftBank proposed a merger with Charter. “We understand why a deal is attractive for SoftBank, but Charter has no interest in acquiring Sprint,” Charter spokesman Alex Dudley said in a statement, although SoftBank reportedly proposed the merger that would combine Sprint and …
Carrier CEOs chew on Trump’s ear to clear the path and speed up small cell installations
President Donald Trump offered backing for emerging technologies such as next-generation wireless and unmanned aerial vehicles in a meeting yesterday with the heads of telecom giants AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and drone companies such as Trumbull Unmanned as well as venture capitalists and health care providers. Wireless makes some strange bedfellows During the meetings in the East Wing, Trump …
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, …
Son’s love for the un-carrier blossoms again after ending their quiet period
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said today that his first pick for a merger with Sprint would be T-Mobile, but the billionaire and founder of SoftBank said at a news conference in Tokyo that all comers are welcome. ““Our top choice remains T-Mobile. We will be open and sincere as we aim to launch negotiations. We’re basically open to anything. If …
Report: Sprint approved ‘trial’ for Mobilitie to build sites without regulatory compliance
A humorous anecdote heard in siting corridors is that distributed antenna system (DAS) providers are secretly funding Mobilitie so that they can look good in comparison since the California-based developer is well-known for installing DAS poles in community rights of way without getting permission. Their typical answer, when discovered, is that there was a misunderstanding with a zoning or permitting …
Mobilitie is zero for two in its move to install New York monopoles
Mobilitie is back in the news again after submitting an application in Washington County, N.Y. for a cell tower in Kingsbury and commencing work in Easton without getting proper approval. According to the The Post-Star, Mobilitie applied for a county highway work permit, “which is normally used when a homeowner wants to put something temporarily in the county’s right-of-way. Usually …
