American Tower Corporation (ATC) will be closing its office in Boca Raton, Fla. at 750 Park of Commerce Blvd., and laying off many of their 56 employees, according to a Florida worker adjustment and retraining notice dated March 1. Terminations are scheduled to begin on May 1. The office is located within a stone’s throw of Digital Bridge’s headquarters and …
Tower tech in Kansas is injured after falling approximately 25 feet
Update: March 20, 2017 – The tower tech that was injured on March 15, 2017 while dismantling a tower in Salina, Kan. is still in the hospital, but recovering, according to an individual knowledgeable of the accident. Randy Smith was employed by his own tower company operating under the business name of Randy Smith Tower Services of Rolla, Kan. March …
Utility commissioners tell the FCC to ‘tread carefully’ with municipal streamlining petition
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) recently applauded the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai for initiating the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, but came down hard on what it sees as the FCC’s desire to preempt the traditional authority of State and local authorities by replacing intrastate regulation of rights-of-way, pole attachments, and other telecommunications facilities or services of …
WIA outlines convincing small cell deployment barriers nation faces
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) filed formal written comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its “Streamlining Deployment of Small Cell Infrastructure By Improving Wireless Facilities Siting Policies” proceeding. In its filing, WIA stressed the importance of maintaining a fair and competitive marketplace to promote the widespread deployment of wireless infrastructure in communities across the United States. More importantly, …
FCC Commish: New tower marking regs could affect 50,000 towers; needs tweaking
By Michael O’Rielly – FCC Commissioner Having worked on numerous legislative efforts over the years, I have seen that it is not uncommon for very well-intentioned provisions contained within larger bills passed by Congress and enacted into law to lead to unintended negative consequences. One such provision recently enacted in an FAA Authorization statute is causing a considerable level of …
Broadcast repack video is truly a must see for all tower techs
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) released a Broadcast Repack safety video during the NATE UNITE 2017 Keynote Luncheon sponsored by T-Mobile. The timely video is the second to debut as part of Volume 2 of the NATE Climber Connection series and coincides with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently concluding the bidding phase of its historic incentive auction, …
Broadcaster taunts American Tower who could easily pull the plug on its stations
UPDATE: March 10, 2017 – A Jackson Hole, Wyo. Broadcaster most likely doesn’t agree with the cautionary idiom of not biting the hand that feeds you. Radio stations KMTN, KZ95, KJAX and KID broadcast from American Tower’s towers and the stations’ owner was given until March 8 to either pay ATC over $500,000 it owed in back lease payments or negotiate a …
Kansas mayor is perplexed why FCC chief singled out his city’s broadband
During a press conference yesterday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai singled out a small Kansas community that he said had 75 residents that could possibly receive economic prosperity if they were to be provided with adequate broadband services, but City of Allen Mayor Charles Eastman said he’s not quite sure as to how that would be achieved – or if the city …
Mobilitie’s DAS marketing illustrations are labeled as ‘quite deceptive’
Distributed antenna systems provider Mobilitie, whose national focus is to provide Sprint with sites in community rights of way to assist in densifying their network, recently made a presentation to local government telecom officials in Southern California at the States of California and Nevada Chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications and Advisors (SCAN NATOA). Mobilitie, in its presentation, provided …
New Jersey cell tower tax ruling could have a wide-ranging impact
The nation’s most profitable toll road, exceeding over $1 billion annually in revenue, will be slightly less profitable following a New Jersey tax court decision handed down last Friday that will require it to pay city taxes on a cell tower on its property in Elizabeth. The ruling could also have other municipalities assess whether towers located on turnpike property …
Municipal representatives unveil Georgia’s ROW agreement with Mobilitie
After meeting with representatives of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week, city and town leaders from Massachusetts, Georgia and Minnesota, as well as a representative of the National League of Cities, presented them with what they believe could be a model template for telecom installations in public rights of way. During the meeting, they urged the Commission to avoid …
Pence’s $260 million tower deal legacy for Indiana is terminated
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced today that the Indiana Finance Authority has terminated contract discussions with Agile Networks which struck a tentative deal last September with the state to lease its communications towers while Vice President Mike Pence was Governor. As reported at that time by Wireless Estimator, Agile and Pence said that negotiations had been finalized for an agreement …
Pilot dies after clipping guy wire of Vertical Bridge Texas tower
The pilot of a small airplane was killed when he crashed in Rusk County, Tex. yesterday on a clear afternoon on County Road 497 after its wing reportedly clipped a 449-foot tall tower’s guy wire, according to Rusk County Office of Emergency Management spokesperson David Chenault. Chenault informed Wireless Estimator that the plane was an older Cessna. The guyed tower, …
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 …
Judge: American Tower can’t evict tenant owing over $500,000
A U.S. bankruptcy court judge in Utah has ruled that American Tower Corporation (ATC) cannot kick its tenant off of a number of their towers until March 8, 2017 if ATC and Rich Broadcasting Idaho, LLC (RB) do not reach an agreement on amended or new leases – an action that is highly unlikely. According to court documents, RB owns radio …
Bankrupt Limitless Mobile wants to reject 140 cell tower leases; creditors cry foul
UPDATE: January 27, 2017 – The bankruptcy court has agreed to a revised motion to reject the leases of Limitless Mobile. It stated, “For each Lease, any Tower Equipment remaining on or at the Tower or the associated premises is hereby deemed abandoned pursuant to section 554 of the Bankruptcy Code, effective January 30, 2017.” Tower owners can now remove …
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 …
Michigan okays two licenses to Mobilitie, but disavows DAS
The State of Michigan Public Service Commission has approved Mobilitie Management LLC’s application to provide facilities-based basic local exchange service throughout the state, but the Commission’s approval doesn’t provide the California-based company freedom to provide distributed antenna systems (DAS) or provide installations without obtaining required building permits. In its approval, the Commission noted that based upon the concerns expressed by …
Point-to-point super flyway broadband network may not have enough planes
California-based Airborne Wireless Network (AWN) believes, like Facebook envisions, that it has the answer for being able to assist in providing broadband throughout the world by using aircraft. Whereas Facebook is attempting to use unmanned drones, with its first attempt ending in a return-trip crash, AWN want to use the world’s existing commercial aircraft to create a meshed carrier network. The company …
ATC picks up 66 towers while CTI Towers picks up 125 new sites
American Tower Corporation (ATC) has purchased 66 towers from Brazil’s TIM Cellular S.A., and CTI Towers, Inc. has acquired the marketing rights to 125 commercial properties. ATC paid $8 million for the 66 towers as part of a continuing deal that began in 2014 when TIM said it would sell up to 6,481 towers. Currently, 5,753 towers have been sold. …
