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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Crane collapse takes the life of a 51-year-old Texas industry worker
Update: April 26, 2017 – The cell tower compound that RMCI’s crane toppled into is owned by Crown Castle International. April 25, 2017 – A 51-year-old industry worker was killed yesterday afternoon when a crane tipped on its side in downtown Dallas, Tex., crashing into a cell tower compound in the 1700 block of Arts Place, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue …
Landa’s mobile towers play a key role in the nation’s missile defense
During the past week when you heard the words “missile defense,” it’s likely your first thoughts dwelled upon the widening concern by the U.S. over the development of a bevy of new missiles by the erratic North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un and the need for America and other countries to protect themselves from incoming missiles. But there’s another …
No barriers in the way of the un-carrier’s drive to support tower techs/veterans
All carriers and tower owners support the need for a safe environment for tower techs, but T-Mobile has unfailingly gone the extra mile in its deeds and donations. The un-carrier, consistently ranked for having the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network speeds for its 72-million-plus subscribers, has quickly and deservedly captured a reputation for having the greatest concern for the safety of …
SoftBank spectrum bids and a T-Mobile/Sprint buy are based on suspect sources
SoftBank Group, Inc., Sprint’s parent company, may revive selling the carrier to T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The news agency said that SoftBank is reportedly frustrated with Sprint’s growth and is ready to give up control of the company and take a minority interest in T-Mobile. With limited information provided by Reuters’ sources, …
T-Mobile’s Hail Mary pass falls short after Super Bowl data rank tanks
T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray most likely knew that there was no possibility of the carrier sporting high data usage numbers at Super Bowl 51 Sunday, and used the same game play that it did last year. Ray tried to exploit his opponents’ slow speed during the most watched sporting event in America with T-Mobile’s download and upload speeds of …
Up to 50 gazillion terabytes of data could be used at Super Bowl 51
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 …
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 …
California appeals court upholds small cells ruling against Crown, T-Mobile and ExteNet
A California appeals court ruled against T-Mobile, Crown Castle and ExteNet Systems last week when it affirmed a lower court ruling allowing the city of San Francisco to enforce broad aesthetic control regarding where small cells are placed. San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2011 requiring wireless companies to obtain a wireless facility site-specific permit before installing or altering wireless …
