The Patriots and Falcons will match up in Houston Sunday at NRG Stadium, and the nation’s wireless carriers are kicking off their public relations campaigns this week to show how they’ll be capable of handling whatever their subscribers throw their way. But unlike today’s odds where New England is installed as a three-point favorite over the Falcons, the odds of …
FCC chief appoints a new top cop and other staff leaders
Michael Carowitz, who has been deputy chief of the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, was named by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as his acting chief of the Enforcement Bureau, which had been headed by Travis LeBlanc. FCC observers expected that LeBlanc would be replaced since Pai has oftentimes complained about the enforcement group’s management. The enforcement bureau is the …
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 …
It’s a one-woman show against Mobilitie’s rights of way crusade
Mobilitie might have met the one woman in America who has the best chance with the FCC to have the agency bridle, what she describes as, the distributed antenna system (DAS) provider’s desire to “run roughshod over local communities” as it attempts to reduce rights of way fees that they say will impede future 5G growth. But Mobilitie has the …
Commuters use NYC’s new subway cell coverage to castigate the MTA for delays
Almost all underground subway stations in New York City had cell phone coverage from the nation’s top four carriers on Monday, a year ahead of service, according to state and city officials. In addition, Wi-Fi has been installed a full two years ahead of schedule. Commuters welcomed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) early delivery that was made possible by Governor Andrew …
AT&T to roll out giant eyeballs and drum sets to support inauguration
The nation’s wireless carriers are ready for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 in Washington D. C. with increased network capacity with AT&T providing what might be the best coverage in the District – or at least it appears that way as the nation’s second largest carrier promotes its innovative and largest temporary network it has ever provided. Two …
American Tower CFO: T-Mobile, Sprint merger would strengthen the tower industry
If the big four carriers morphed into three majors through an acquisition, American Tower EVP/CFO Tom Bartlett believes that no matter how it all shakes out, “it’s all good for the tower industry and our business, in particular, here in the United States.” Bartlett was interviewed by Batya Levi yesterday at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in Manhattan, …
Sprint’s parent company to add 50K new jobs and invest $50 billion
President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday that SoftBank Group Corp., the parent company of Sprint Corp. will invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States. Making the announcement standing next to Masyoshi Son, Sprint Chairman and CEO of SoftBank, which owns more than 80 percent of Sprint, neither Trump nor Son mentioned Sprint other than Son stating that …
American Tower reacts to Sprint and T-Mobile merger rumors
Update: Nov. 14, 2016 – SBA Communications Corp. provided an update to its exposure to both companies in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In the papers, SBA said that as of the end of Q3, T-Mobile and Sprint each represented around 16% of its total site leasing revenue. Revenue generated from each of T-Mobile and Sprint overlapping sites represents …
Pittsburg communications confab focused upon industry safety issues
Safety officials from carriers, tower owners, regulators and training companies converged in Pittsburg, Pa. last week at the 2016 Environmental, Health & Safety Communications Panel (EHSCP) symposium hosted this year by Crown Castle. A wide variety of topics related directly to the communications industry were presenting during the well-attended sessions. A panel discussion on the upcoming Washington State Standard, was …
Sprint’s small cell delays may be worse than the industry thinks
By Ken Schmidt Sprint and Mobilitie’s innovative plan to build mini-macros Back in June of this year, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran a story about Sprint’s use of “sidewalk utility poles” as a core element of their efforts to improve the Sprint network while reducing ongoing network operating expenditures. The article suggested that Sprint may have been delaying network …
FCC’s new sweeping Spectrum Frontier rules will open up 11 GHz of spectrum
The FCC today adopted new rules for wireless broadband operations in frequencies above 24 GHz, making the United States the first country in the world to make this spectrum available for next generation wireless services. Building on the successful, flexible approach to spectrum policy that enabled the explosion of 4G (LTE), these rules set a strong foundation for the rapid …
Sprint’s small cell deployment snags seen related to permitting difficulties
Sprint’s plans to deploy up to 70,000 small cells throughout the country have hit a number of permitting roadblocks, according to an article by Ryan Knutson of The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday that indicates that the Overland Park, Kan.-company is struggling to roll out its small cell densification network project. Sprint’s primary contractor for the turnkey installations is Mobilitie …
Sprint’s emergency response team is ready for the 2016 hurricane season
Sprint says it is ready to help customers stay connected and mitigate impact to its network if a hurricane makes U.S. landfall during the 2016 hurricane season which runs from June 1 to November 30. On the eve of the season, many weather experts are predicting an active tropical storm season with an increase in activity as compared to the …
Sprint’s anticipated spending for 2016 takes a 40% haircut
Sprint’s announcement that it is going to invest $3 billion in network expansion during fiscal 2016, which started for the carrier on April 1, 2016, is a sharp decline from fiscal 2015’s $5.4 billion which was already down $0.7 billion from 2014. Last year, Sprint indicated it would spend $15 billion over three years on network build-outs, financing some of …
Eyes are on Sprint as T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon provide favorable capex reports
Although subscriber growth is a good indicator of a carrier’s favorable outlook by analysts, capex is the tailwind of wireless infrastructure providers, and this week’s news deflated the sails of a number of analysts who have speculated that carriers would cut their capex in early 2016. In his typical over the top presentation with a 360-degree camera, T-Mobile CEO John …
Carriers agree upon network resiliency framework for disasters and emergencies
Carriers today said they’re in agreement on how to facilitate information-sharing in an effort to improve network resiliency before, during and after natural disasters and emergencies. House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone and CTIA the Wireless Association released the “Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework” with the backing of AT&T Inc., Sprint Corp., T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon …
Tower capacity concerns recognized at CCA’s keynote discussion
While all panelists agreed at yesterday’s Competitive Carriers Association’s Mobile Carriers Show keynote discussion in Nashville that unlicensed spectrum use by carriers was already in play, with subscribers using Wi-Fi connections, C Spire CTO Stephen Bye said carriers would have to be aggressive in making the experience better for consumers. “Unlicensed has an important role in the delivery of services, …
Sprint’s racist ‘ghetto’ video was in exceptionally bad taste
Commentary – Sprint has pulled a video ad on Twitter in which a waspy giggling white woman describes rival T-Mobile as “ghetto.” The below ad opens with Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure sitting with “Actual Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T customers,” asking them about Sprint’s competitors. The Bolivian/American told his preppy audience, “I’m going to tell you a carrier name, and …
FCC auction has kicked off with NAB and NATE still ticked off
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) auction to buy spectrum from television stations, repack the spectrum, and then sell it to wireless providers, kicked off yesterday with broadcasters having to make a commitment as to whether and how they would participate. But a 39-month post auction deadline is seen as too compressed by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). And the …
