An Illinois man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge accusing him of shutting down power to more than 80 cellphone towers across Missouri and Illinois to steal copper from the sites. He was arrested in Pike County, Missouri when a County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the lights go out on a guyed tower near Eolia, and was indicted on …
New Jersey homeowner’s legal stand against a Verizon tower site collapses in his second appeal
An Alexandria Township, N.J. homeowner has lost his legal battle against Verizon placing cell antennas atop a power line tower adjacent to his property. Glenn Fodor, who lives on Route 579, appealed the approval of the township’s Land Use Board on December 21, 2017 before the Hunterdon County Superior Court, to allow 12 antennas on top of the 150-foot power …
Don’t thread or step (bolt) on me: Crown responds quickly to community’s tattered flag concern
The stars and stripes were flying whole again yesterday morning in Towamensing Township, Pennsylvania on a Crown Castle monopole after residents pressured the company to take down a tattered American flag that had been flying for months in the Carbon County community of 4,429 residents. Numerous local TV and news outlets championed the cause of township officials and residents who …
Three cable snatching West Virginians arrested following seven site break-ins
Three men have been accused of seven break-ins at cell tower sites in West Virginia that authorities said caused phone outages for anyone in the area with an emergency. The first reported incident was on August 19, 2019. On January 13 and 14, 2020 the same cell tower in Giles Hollow was broken into. Johnnie Boggess III, 30; James Canfield, …
American Tower’s revenues will tank in India if government fees create a carrier duopoly
India, once the darling of tower companies looking to expand their international footprint, is not where towercos might want to be today with the potential for a considerable tenancy drop if Vodafone Idea collapses under the weight of government license fees totaling $6.2 billion that are due by January 23, 2020. Vodafone Idea may not be able to pay the …
Court to decide if City of Colorado Springs monopole can be beefed up by Vertical Bridge
Vertical Bridge Development, LLC has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado for a ruling that the City of Colorado Springs is violating federal laws by not allowing the company to modify an existing tower that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower. According to the complaint, Vertical Bridge manages a …
Pennsylvania techs shot at by a more than tipsy felon who is now behind bars after seven shots
A Pennsylvania man, reportedly intoxicated, was arrested by police after he returned to the scene of his alleged crime of firing gun shots at tower techs while they were working on a 400-foot guyed tower in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. According to a report from the Hanover Township Police Department, officers were dispatched to a tower owned by Crown Castle off of …
Four dead after plane crashes into guyed tower in Southern Montana
Update: January 17, 2020 – KPVI ran a touching piece on the four men who died: Before deadly plane crash, sobriety brought 4 victims together. January 14, 2020 – Four Billings, Montana men were killed Saturday in a plane crash when the pilot reportedly hit a communications tower near Dunn Mountain north of Billings. According to authorities, the single-engine Cessna 183 crashed …
Border Protection seeking your suggestions on how to protect a 320-foot tower with vulture-proof netting
Federal officials are asking the industry to rescue a Customs and Border Protection self-supporting tower that has been taken over by 300 vultures in Kingsville, Texas. They’ve issued a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain viable sources of supply, industry practices and answers that will assist them in providing what they believe will be a deterrent – a 320-foot tall …
Scripps pays $1,130,000 to FCC to settle tower lighting issues
Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC has agreed to pay a $1,130,000 penalty to settle an FCC investigation into malfunctioning TV tower lights used to alert nearby airplanes. The settlement order adopted by the FCC concludes an agency investigation that began after a small plane crashed into a TV tower near Kaplan, Louisiana in 2018. The tower was operated by a subsidiary …
MTN’s Africa and Uganda joint venture acquired by American Tower for $523 Million
American Tower Corporation has reached an agreement for the acquisition of MTN’s 49% stakes in the company’s joint ventures in Ghana and Uganda. Valued at approximately $523 million, the deal is due to close by March subject to the standard regulatory conditions. The news follows American Towers’ completion of its purchase of Eaton Towers Holdings which will add 5,700 communications …
T-Mobile axing its projects led a baker’s dozen top news stories during 2019
The top stories in 2019, according to Wireless Estimator readership analytics, followed previous years’ subject matter favorites based upon the site’s in depth and exclusive articles as well as its comprehensive coverage of industry fatalities. T-Mobile’s unexpected new build cancellations in August came in first with 41,362 views. However, a Crosby product recall in November for certain 7/8” shackles surprised …
Vertical Bridge closes out the year with record-breaking philanthropy funding driven by employees
Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC, the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, has announced that, with its matched employee donations, it has donated more than $1.5 million to charitable organizations in 2019. This is the firm’s largest annual contribution since its founding in 2014 and a nearly 20% increase over last year. Since Vertical Bridge’s founding …
Industry veteran Mitch Henry named as Chief of Staff at CTI Towers
Longtime tower industry veteran Mitch Henry has been named Chief of Staff at CTI Towers. In his new position, Henry will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at the company. “I have known Mitch for almost 20 years and have the utmost admiration for him. He has a complete understanding of the business and has a keen sense of …
American Tower and SBA’s tower source in Brazil has now become their key competitor
For many years, both SBA Communications and American Tower Corp. have eyed Brazil as an excellent country to buy and build wireless infrastructure to serve the world’s fifth-largest country with 210 million people. Adding to their portfolios, in 2012 American Tower acquired 1,800 towers from Telefonica’s Vivo. Also, in 2012, SBA inked a deal for 800 towers from Vivo …
Toppling a 500-foot structure, ice isn’t nice to a Nebraska tower
A weekend winter blizzard in Chadron, Nebraska that included freezing rain and heavy snow powered by 50-60 mph winds, collapsed a 500-foot guyed tower owned by Eagle Communications, Inc., headquartered in Hays, Kansas The Saturday storm knocked out Eagle’s Double Q Country/KQSK radio station in addition to disrupting service for the Dawes County Sheriff’s Office, Northwest Rural Public Power District, …
SBA gets an unwanted assist from Mother Nature in Pennsylvania tower swap-out
In 2017, SBA Towers II, LLC petitioned the Ferguson Township, Pennsylvania Board of Supervisors to replace an existing 181-foot self-supporting tower located at 200 Jackson Trail in the Rothrock State Forest. SBA entered into a ground lease in 1995 with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but the tower became structurally unsound over the years and in 2017, SBA said that the tower …
Employer of inexperienced 1099 tower tech who died Saturday was laden with OSHA violations
Neither OSHA nor Oktibbeha County authorities have released the employer’s name of 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas who passed away on Saturday after falling from a 348-foot self-supporting tower that was being erected in Longview, Mississippi, but according to knowledgeable sources, the company was Pegasus Tower, Inc., an OSHA citation-laden company from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Pegasus …
Arkansas tech dies in Mississippi during erection of 348-foot self-supporting tower
An Arkansas tower technician died Saturday after he fell approximately 80 feet from a self-supporting tower being constructed in Mississippi. It was the eighth industry fatality this year. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the deceased as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas. Womack’s employer, provided to Wireless Estimator by an individual knowledgeable about the fatality, could not be …
Afraid of having its contractors fail or bolt, Sprint introduces its ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program
Stating that it was concerned that it might not be able to maintain 5G construction crews, Sprint has unveiled its all-new ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program, providing day-of compensation to its 5G network builders and suppliers by shortening administrative overhead and collapsing the overpayment process as far as it can go. The Sprint ‘Same Day Pay’ program is a part of the …
