FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the U. S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) was being myopic with fiberoptic when it released its new rules that will govern the expenditure of $42.5 billion in grants authorized by Congress in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Carr is concerned that the NTIA’s guidelines are not focused on …
Industry engineers are now able to identify best practices for tower mount analysis, courtesy of TIF
The Telecommunications Industry Foundation (“TIF”) announced the publication of a new White Paper on tower mounts that involved the efforts of many individuals from across the industry. As mounts continue to support existing equipment and the deployment of new technology including 5G hardware, the quantity, size, and weight of equipment on towers and mounts continues to increase. These loading increases combined with …
Broadband industry questions NTIA fiber czar’s $42 billion dollar priority that might be illegal
At a hearing on February 16, 2022, Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator, informed House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology members that “…we need a technology-neutral approach to funding broadband projects and the focus on fiber will only get us so far.” Explaining how NTIA would ensure that States would take …
Dish must again face lawsuit that it used two sham companies to save billions of dollars in spectrum buys
Dish Network Corp. will be required to face a whistleblower’s False Claims Act (FCA) spectrum license lawsuit for the second time following a Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling yesterday. The carrier is alleged to have used sham small businesses to win FCC licenses worth billions of dollars. A three-judge panel agreed that Vermont National Telephone Co. showed …
Biden favoring fiber in $42 billion broadband funding could kick other technologies and contractors to the curb
The Biden administration formally started its $42.45 billion initiative on Friday to bring reliable and affordable high-speed broadband internet to everyone in the U.S. by the end of the 2020s. “In the 21st century, you simply cannot participate in the economy if you don’t have access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is overseeing the distribution …
DigitalBridge and IFM shell out $11 billion for data center company Switch
DigitalBridge Group Inc. and IFM Investors have announced they have agreed to buy data center operator Switch Inc. for $11 billion, including debt, marking the latest deal in the digital asset sector. Last November, American Tower announced the acquisition of CoreSite for $10.1 billion, in which the company paid $170 per share for 25 data centers, 21 cloud on ramps and …
Mobilitie mobilizes into U.S. military bases with the acquisition of Signal Point Systems
Mobilitie, a BAI Communications company and a leading wireless infrastructure provider in the United States, has closed on an agreement to acquire Signal Point Systems, Inc. (“Signal Point”), a well-established telecommunications infrastructure provider focused on U.S. military bases. The acquisition unites both telecommunication industry leaders under a common ownership structure with a shared mission to accelerate world-class 5G and broadband connectivity for …
They do every day, but especially tomorrow tower techs should walk and climb proudly
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association unveiled a commemoration declaring Wednesday, May 4, 2022 as Tower Technician Appreciation Day. For the sixth consecutive year, a day has been set aside by NATE and the industry to pay tribute to the important work that communications infrastructure technicians conduct daily to enable a connected world. NATE encourages member companies and industry stakeholders …
Hundreds of tower techs told ‘squeezed’ workers could benefit from CWA Tower Climbers Union
Last month, 11 employees of QualTek’s Nevada location filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRF) for a union election for admittance to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, the first-ever company to ask for representation. During a Tower Climbers Union/CWA national town hall yesterday that took advantage of many wireless workers being off on Sunday afternoon, …
NATE and OSHA encourage participating in a national safety stand-down next week to prevent construction falls
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association is urging its members and all wireless industry companies and stakeholders to actively participate in next week’s OSHA National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. NATE and OSHA are requesting that employers set aside time throughout this week to facilitate safety meetings and activities in order to have an open discussion with their …
Simpson, Blakeslee and Hillabrant appointed to Tower Family Foundation leadership positions
The Tower Family Foundation announced today a series of appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership team. Mike Simpson, Chief Procurement Officer of T-Mobile USA Inc, has been seated to serve on the Tower Family Foundation Board of Directors. Additionally, Kenny Blakeslee CEO of Apex Site Solutions and Christian Hillabrant, COO of Tillman Infrastructure, have been appointed to the Tower Family …
Board of Health issues Verizon a cease-and-desist order for ‘unfit’ tower but now needs $84k to defend it
Tomorrow, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Board of Health (BoH) officials will ask the City Council to back up their cease-and-desist order against Verizon Wireless to discontinue their use of a cell tower at 877 South Street, requesting $84,000 in legal fees for two outside attorneys, although some members believe their attempt will be futile. The BoH issued an emergency order on April …
Fengate grabs undisclosed number of U.S. towers in nine states
Fengate Asset Management (Fengate) announced closing on the acquisition of a significant portfolio of high-quality wireless communications towers, located in nine states across the United States, from Florida-based TowerCom, LLC (TowerCom). Fengate is managing this acquisition on behalf of the Fengate Infrastructure Yield Fund and its affiliated entities, including an investment fund owned by LiUNA’s Pension Fund of Central and Eastern …
Raising the Barr for above and beyond customer service, especially when lives are at stake, is ASK’s mission
To gain and keep loyal customers, successful companies go above and beyond with customer service and support. Pat Barr, who humbly entitles himself as Albuquerque, NM-based ASK Tower Supply’s technical specialist, takes that to a higher level, and in the process, is most likely saving lives of emergency services personnel and those individuals who they safely return to their loved …
SPX announces acquisition of International Tower Lighting
SPX Corporation (“SPX”) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of International Tower Lighting, LLC (“ITL”), a private company headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee. ITL is a leader in the design and manufacture of highly-engineered Aids-to-Navigation, or “AtoN” systems, including obstruction lighting for telecommunications towers, wind turbines and numerous other structures. ITL also hosts monitoring and support services for …
Subcontractor’s ‘shoddy concrete’ work proves to be costly for Crown Castle in Baltimore
The Baltimore, MD City Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced last Wednesday that the City’s Department of Transportation (DoT) has fined Crown Castle [NG Atlantic] Fiber LLC (Crown Castle) $447,000 after the OIG found that 450 small cell sites Crown built were not constructed in accordance with asphalt and concrete code requirements. The OIG’s office began investigating last year …
Appeals court won’t revive Martha’s Vineyard AT&T cell tower lawsuit
Fears about radio frequency emissions affecting a Martha’s Vineyard man’s medical equipment and property value weren’t enough to allow a husband and wife standing to sue over the previous construction of an AT&T cell tower on the island, a Commonwealth of Massachusetts appeals court ruled yesterday. Appellants Dana and Robert Strayton, who live on the island in Edgartown, filed a …
Massachusetts high court rules police must get a judge’s warrant before running tower dumps
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court authorized some broad police searches of cell-phone location data Friday, but also set limits on police activity to control mass surveillance and intrusions against innocent people’s privacy. The case arose from seven tower dumps that were obtained covering areas around six robberies including one that resulted in the death of a Boston store clerk in …
Pieter Nel elevated to CEO of American Tower Europe; Julian Plumstead takes M&A Post
American Tower Corporation, one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts and a leading independent owner, operator and developer of telecommunications real estate and infrastructure, continues to grow in Europe. Pieter Nel was appointed CEO for Europe, one of the key markets for the multinational. Pieter has more than 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector and has spent more than a …
Nationwide strike of contractors averted after carriers and towercos agree to meaningful concessions
An organized work stoppage action by U.S. wireless contractors that could have exceeded the breadth of economic damage caused by the steel workers strike of 1919, that shut down the nation’s steel industry, was averted yesterday after carriers and tower owners offered concessions to offset untenable matrix pricing being offered for 5G installations. The call to action for a national …
