Update: February 23, 2021 – The technician that was taken to the hospital with hypothermia was responding to a maintenance issue for a tower site on Mt. Vision, about three road miles southeast of Nelson Peak and at thousand feet lower in elevation that transmits programming for KBYU-FM and KBYU-FM HD-1 and KBYU-FM HD-2. The company he is employed by is BYU …
Seven new tower agreements signed by DISH as ATC and SBA await word on their offers
As DISH constructs the nation’s first cloud-native, Open RAN-based 5G wireless network, the company announced today it has signed seven new tower agreements. These agreements, with Harmoni Towers, Mobilite, Parallel Infrastructure, Phoenix Tower International (PTI), Tillman Infrastructure, Tower Ventures and Vogue Towers, provide DISH access to more than 4,000 towers and wireless infrastructure assets coast to coast. The vendors will also …
Legislation reintroduced to address the telecommunications workforce shortage
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today reintroduced the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act, legislation to address the shortage of trained workers necessary to fill next-generation jobs in the telecommunications industry in communities throughout the country. NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors …
Verizon to double the number of its mmWave sites this year
To take over more of the country’s competitive landscape, Verizon said it will be making investment in mobile networks for the expansion of 5G Ultra Wideband in new and existing markets, the densification of the wireless network to manage impending traffic demands, and the continuous installation of the carrier’s fiber infrastructure across the US. During its Q4 earnings report, Verizon …
DC Judge questions the existence of FDA working groups cited in FCC’s RF exposure order
A D.C. Circuit panel judge yesterday, during oral arguments, appeared unconvinced of the Federal Communications Commission’s support of their findings that cell phones and other connected devices pose no risks to human health. The Environmental Health Trust, Children’s Health Defense, Consumers for Safe Cell Phones and ten individuals filed a lawsuit against the FCC for review of the Commission’s order. …
Geo catch puts California man behind bars for Verizon cell site batteries theft
A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stealing four deep-cycle batteries which were used to power a San Bernardino, California Verizon cell tower site, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. On January 14, a suspect cut two padlocks to access the cell towner site at 17101 State 330 Highway. Unbeknownst to the thief, the batteries were equipped with …
Maine city and its planning board’s monopole siting spat could result in $1,000-a-day contempt fines
Bay Communications III LLC of Mansfield, Massachusetts wants to erect a 120-foot monopole on 182 Camden Street in Rockland, Maine and has had to resort to asking a federal court to find the city and its planning board in contempt of court for failing to follow through on a negotiated settlement reached in a November 12, 2020 U.S. District Court …
NATE requests COVID-19 vaccination priority status for industry’s technician workforce
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has sent letters to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Governors Association to request that the telecom industry’s technicians be accorded priority status in the COVID-19 vaccination hierarchy the CDC has recommended and that states are now tasked with distributing. The NATE letters make …
American Tower enters Europe in $9.4 Billion Telefonica deal
American Tower Corporation today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with Telefónica, S.A. (“Telefónica”), under which it will acquire Telxius Towers, comprising approximately 31,000 existing communications sites in Germany, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina. The total consideration for the transaction is approximately €7.7 billion (approximately $9.4 billion at current foreign exchange rates), subject to customary closing adjustments. …
Tower tech is undergoing surgery after a 140-foot fall in New York
A tower tech fell approximately 140 feet from a guyed tower in Lawrence, New York yesterday at about 11:00 a.m. while doing a T-Mobile upgrade, according to individuals knowledgeable of the accident. St. Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene off of Ferris Road and the technician was taken by Tri-Town Rescue to Canton-Potsdam Hospital. The man, in his …
Colony Capital’s Los Angeles roots replanted in Boca Raton as part of its corporate realignment
Colony Capital, Inc. announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles, California to Boca Raton, Florida, effective as of January 1, 2021. In addition, Colony announced the appointment of select corporate officers to new roles as part of its ongoing digital transformation. Digital Colony, the company’s digital infrastructure investment management business has been based in Boca Raton for …
Sadly, 2020’s top stories were fatalities and structural failures
What were the most-read stories published by Wireless Estimator this year? It’s not surprising to learn that any media with a large audience of contractors, tower owners, tower techs, engineers, safety professionals, and vendors would find that two topics – fatalities and structural failures — dominate the list. According to Google Analytics, the most viewed article in 2020 was the …
Guy wire cutting crime spree topples one Texas tower, destabilized a 1,000-footer
A tall tower crew is on site in Wichita Falls, Texas, stabilizing a 1,050-foot TV broadcast tower owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., off 4500 Seymour highway. It is one of two towers that had guy wires cut early Friday morning, with a 450-foot structure giving way to actions of those that authorities have stated committed a “serious felony”. The …
Tower tech succumbs from 260-foot fall while endeavoring to bring broadband to the Spokane tribe
UPDATE: December 17, 2020 – James Shumate’s obituary and services information have been added below. December 16, 2020 — A 24-year-old tower technician was killed Saturday, December 12, 2020 when he fell from a tower near Fruitland, Washington. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, James Everette Shumate of Houston, Texas was at approximately 260 feet on the structure while …
American Tower is undaunted by Dish’s 20,000 tower deal with Crown, they’ll wait for their turn
When questioned as to whether Crown Castle will become the main beneficiary of Dish Network’s entry into the carrier space during a UBS Global TMT conference call earlier this month, American Tower CFO and Treasurer Rod Smith said that history might be the best prophet to identify if his company will profit. Smith said he thought it was “great” that …
Structures with small cells get a revisit in 2020 update released by Telecommunications Industry Foundation
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Our society has an ever-increasing need for information, video, smart devices, smart infrastructure and all things telecommunications related. The need for these services will continually drive the innovation of the telecommunications industry; the most recent development being the introduction of 5G technologies and the continuing densification of existing networks. As a result of these developments, the …
2021 isn’t going to be a banner year for Sprint decoms, contractors to see surge in 2022: Sievert
During a UBS investor webcast last week, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that the carrier is taking down Sprint’s network on an “isolated basis,” but decommissioning work – the bread and butter of wireless contractors – is mostly a 2021 and 2022 endeavor. Sievert informed UBS moderator John Hodulik that T-Mobile likely will begin its serious shutdown efforts of the …
Tower Family Foundation eclipses $1 million milestone of support to tower workers and families
The Tower Family Foundation announced today that the organization has surpassed the $1 million of giving milestone. Since its inception only six years ago, the Tower Family Foundation has awarded a total of $1,017,250 in donations and scholarships to eligible tower workers and their families, officially exceeding the $1 million threshold of philanthropy. The Tower Family Foundation is a 501(c)(3) …
Off the time card, former tower tech is arrested for multiple transmission line decoms
A 32-year-old tower tech was arrested last week for allegedly breaking into three North Carolina cell tower sites on September, 14, 15 and 22 in Wake Forest and Creedmoor, and stealing copper, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. The Sheriff’s Office charged Kenneth David Voncannon VII of Durham with injury of real property, injuring wires of …
Crown Castle shaves 250 from its employee ranks as part of its ‘long-term goals’
Rumors of layoffs at Crown Castle began in early October when an anonymous poster on layoff.com wrote that the company had laid off 70 people in the West. On November 6, there was a report that an additional 57 layoffs were made on the business’s tower side. Last Thursday, another poster said that hundreds of people were let go, identifying them …
