A tower tech in Mexico turned off the power to an American Tower site to perform routine maintenance and within minutes three armed men in fatigues embroidered with a prominent drug cartel logo braced him in the site’s compound since their “parasite” antennas on the structure for their narco-network went down. He was released with a warning “I was so nervous… …
Tower crews who had the ‘hard part’ in the nation’s successful repack singled out by FCC chief
On yesterday’s 39-month repack deadline date, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expressed sincere thanks to broadcasters, wireless and tower companies, tower crews, Congress and his staff for making the broadcast spectrum repack a success. During remarks he made during a webinar panel presentation to the American Consumer Institute, Pai lauded individuals responsible for the world’s first incentive spectrum auction and transition starting …
Arson ruled out after Virginia church’s shrouded bell tower goes up in flames
Members of the New Highland Baptist Church attended drive-in services yesterday and were visually reminded of the burnt out hull of their 125-foot bell tower that was set ablaze Thursday night in Mechanicsville, Virginia in their parking lot off of New Ashcake Road. The good news shared at the morning service is that the structure’s owner, American Tower Corp., will …
Double homicide cell site victims identified; deceased company owner’s partner puts up a $5,000 reward
For the three team members of Harley and Sibs Logistics LLC of Thomaston, GA, last week’s scopes of work required them to install power plants, batteries and equipment at three AT&T cell sites, a project that the company has performed many hundreds of times in the past. After picking up the equipment in their rented Penske box truck at a …
Two cell site electricians shot to death while performing an AT&T upgrade in Florida
UPDATE: June 22, 2020 – The two cell site workers that were shot to death have been identified. They were found by the mother of a co-owner of the logistics company that was killed. Additional information is available here. The bodies of two electricians were found early this morning inside an AT&T equipment shelter at a monopole site in Jacksonville, …
Cops collar the nation’s first cell tower terrorist accused of setting fire to two California sites
Police arrested a Riverside, California 27-year-old man last week for allegedly torching two cell towers in Fontana and trying to burn a third structure using “homemade incendiary devices”. The Fontana Police Department said that Bryan Uriel Guzman was arrested on Thursday, June 11 and charged with arson to property, arson of structures and attempted arson. Bail for Guzman was set …
All Quiet on the Western Wireless Front as the infrastructure industry enjoys a peaceful weekend
Concerns about the possibility of Saturday’s Global 5G Protest Day bringing out anarchists bent upon setting fire to cell tower sites or vandalizing them in other manners were well-founded but failed to materialize this weekend. Picked up by major news outlets, Wireless Estimator first reported on Thursday that companies were taking the threats seriously and asked wireless workers to be vigilant …
Sprint’s unauthorized use of NYC townhouse’s wall should be worth over $2 million lawsuit claims
A New York City husband and wife filed a lawsuit against Sprint and T-Mobile on Monday, alleging that they installed 5G antennas without their permission and violated the terms of a contract they made with Sprint eight years earlier. According to the complaint, Sprint allegedly had previously installed a cell site on a residential townhouse immediately adjacent to the one …
An Alabama miracle: Two men are alive after a rigging failure collapses the 349-foot tower they were on
UPDATE: June 15, 2020 — OSHA has identified that the company decommissioning an AT&T sector in Seale, Alabama when the structure collapsed was Strong Tower Enterprises of Brownwood, Texas. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, the tower techs that miraculously survived when they rode the tower down from about the 225-foot level were Qualyan Moore and an unnamed minor, …
Wireless workers asked to be vigilant Saturday due to possible attacks against infrastructure
Some activist groups have declared Saturday, June 6, 2020 as Global 5G Protest Day, resulting in associations and carriers as well as contractors warning the industry to be extra vigilant to ensure worker safety and protect the nation’s infrastructure. One key contractor is warning the industry to not take the situation “lightly”. Ericsson, in an “abundance of caution” to ensure the …
NATE’s 5G video highlights government and industry collaboration
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today unveiled a News Bulletin video highlighting how collaboration between the wireless industry and stakeholders at the federal, state and municipal levels can expedite the 5G deployment process in communities across the United States. The video’s release is timely since the FCC is slated to vote on Commissioner Brendan Carr’s 5G Upgrade Order next …
Rig operator dies after falling into a 35-foot drilled pier foundation for a Verizon monopole
A foundation drill rig operator died yesterday morning in South Lake Tahoe, California while in the process of completing a drilled pier foundation for a 115-foot Verizon monopole to be erected off of Al Tahoe Boulevard just south of Lake Tahoe Community College. According to authorities, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue received a call at about 9:45 a.m. and enlisted …
OSHA levies largest fine in its history involving a tower tech’s death: $141K
With one Willful and two Serious violations, OSHA has cited Pegasus Tower Co. for exposing employees to falls after a fatality at a Starkville, Mississippi, worksite. The tower erector faces $140,720 in penalties, the highest fine ever issued by the agency that involved an industry fatality. John Wayne Womack, 43, of Mountain View, Arkansas suffered a fatal fall from a …
Attorney’s lawsuit claims Verizon’s contractor put him at risk and a 5G pole cheapens his realty by $128K
An Atlanta attorney representing himself and 110 of his neighbors in a class action has filed a lawsuit against Verizon Wireless claiming that the carrier sent unmasked contractors to his City of Sandy Springs, Ga. home, in a “corporate invasion,” that put his family and neighbors at risk of contracting COVID-19 as well as diseases rumored to be linked to …
Top towerco execs enthusiastic about the industry’s future
Executives gave upbeat assessments of the tower industry on the “View From the Top: Tower Executive Roundtable,” moderated by Jonathan Adelstein, President and CEO of the Wireless Industry Association during its virtual Connect (X) All Access conference yesterday afternoon. Panelists included Jay Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Crown Castle; Alex Gellman, Chief Executive Officer, Vertical Bridge; Jeffrey Stoops, President …
Connect (X) All Access is a resounding success as the industry eagerly awaits familiarity
In a sampling of 16 attendees and two exhibitors at yesterday’s Connect (X) All Access virtual conference that replaced the Wireless Infrastructure Association’s (WIA) COVID19-cancelled Miami Beach event that was to begin on Monday, they all gave rave reviews to Wireless Estimator. Although the still available virtual event was missing what the Florida show publicized as a huge benefit, the …
Feds warn of attacks against towers and techs that maintain them
The nation’s telecommunications companies are being warned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that extremists, fueled by a conspiracy theory linking 5G cellular networks and the coronavirus, may escalate attacks against employees and infrastructure. “We assess conspiracy theories linking the spread of COVID-19 to the expansion of the 5G cellular network are inciting attacks against the communications infrastructure globally …
A fourth Crown Castle tower is torched by arsonists in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee police and the city’s fire department are investigating a cell phone tower fire that occurred Monday night that is currently being considered to have been set by vandals. The structure, a 300-foot self-supporting tower located behind 3513 Southern Ave., is owned by Crown Castle. It is the fifth cell tower fire that has reportedly been set by arsonists …
T-Mobile plans for 15,000 new macro sites and $60 billion in CAPEX over the next five years
Even with COVID-19 constraints, T-Mobile is upgrading 1,000 existing sites per month and will be expanding its nationwide macro base station footprint by 15,000 towers during the coming years, said Neville Ray, the carrier’s president of technology during a J.P. Morgan investor conference Tuesday. “So far, so good,” he said. “We are ramping up in this environment and not actually slowing …
If found to be “essential” workers, tower techs would get a $13 hourly pay boost under HEROES Act
Yesterday, House Democrats unveiled their coronavirus assistance bill, which will include measures to keep families online through the duration of the pandemic and possibly provide a huge pay increase to telecom field workers. It will also provide a new direct cash stimulus check for $1,200. The 1,800-plus page HEROES Act with $3 trillion in funding, will have about $5.5 billion …