UPDATE: Following the announcement of the FTC’s final rule, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce swiftly filed a lawsuit challenging the prohibition of non-compete clauses. The lawsuit contends that the FTC lacks the necessary authority under the FTC Act to regulate unfair competition methods. Moreover, according to the “major questions doctrine” as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, the rule should be …
Dale Heath elected as Vice-Chair of TIF, Karmen Rajamani and Anthony Castillo added to Board
The Telecommunications Industry Foundation (TIF) has elected Dale Heath as its Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. The organization also announced that Karmen Rajamani and Anthony Castillo will join the TIF Board. Heath replaces Vice-Chair Scott Stekr, who has stepped down to support the entire industry as he has accepted his appointment to the editorial committee for TIA’s TR …
South Florida Broadband Careers Awareness Day is expected to set the national template for other states
South Florida will host the first national Broadband Careers Awareness Day, a broadband industry coalition led by Broadband Careers and supported by Junior Achievement of South Florida and Neptuno USA, Corp. Open to the public at no charge (REGISTER HERE), the promoters have provided an opportunity for telecommunication companies, education providers, industry associations, and representatives of state, local, and federal …
Passionate about tower safety, CITCA offers TATE training at no cost to stop human trafficking
CITCA has announced that the company has partnered with the TATE Initiative (Telecommunications Against Trafficking & Exploitation) to begin implementing their RAN (Recognize And Notify) certification training into their climbing, rescue, and rigging programs. The certification program only takes about 30 minutes to complete and is available at no charge. You can easily take the training course on the CITCA website, available …
SEMC is keeping the industry’s workers safer through its research and testing of equipment
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today unveiled a video shining a spotlight on the important research and testing initiatives of the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Committee (SEMC). The video is the third to debut in Volume 6 of the Association’s popular #ClimberConnection series. The #ClimberConnection video highlights the SEMC’s role in conducting real-world testing and providing detailed information applicable to …
Pathwave and Safety LMS announce purpose-built integration for verifying and automating certifications
Pathwave, a purpose-built tool for the telecom industry, announced an integration with Safety LMS, a training partner and certification provider for tower climbers and riggers, for verifying and automating certifications in real time. This new collaboration between Pathwave and Safety LMS is the first to provide Certification Verification to the telecommunications industry within a purpose-built tool for crews and their …
With powered ascenders more prevalent in the industry, NATE unveils its 2022 white paper guide
NATE: The communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today officially released the 2022 Guide for Powered Ascender Use on Antenna Supporting Structures White Paper. This 10-page document is intended to address the use of Powered Ascenders in conjunction with a fixed synthetic rope for personnel ascending, descending and work positioning on telecommunications structures. There is not a recognized standard in the United …
From Davie to DC, Vertical Freedom premieres rev up excitement for its long-awaited November 1 release
With two premieres in a week, Vertical Freedom, an epic, feature-length documentary film highlighting the professional and personal lives of six communications infrastructure workers to be released on November 1 on 18 video platforms, gave attendees a first-hand look at their compelling stories. Last evening, coupled with a workforce development panel that included NATE President and CEO Todd Schlekeway, NATE …
Installing networks right is VIAVI’s forte, and free webinar for tower techs and contractors will show why
If you want to install wireless networks right the first time, you’ll want to register for VIAVI Solutions’ best practices for testing cell sites during installation to increase efficiency and avoid revisits webinar presented by solutions expert Steve Gale on October 20, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. VIAVI Solutions, a leader in Fiber Optic and RF test and measurement …
$160,000 Harwood grant to develop free electrical safety awareness training for telecom workers
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor – OSHA to receive a $160,000 Susan Harwood Targeted Topic Training Grant for the 2022-2023 program year. The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program awards grants to nonprofit organizations competitively. Awards are issued annually based on Congressional appropriation. The new curriculum to be …
Newly minted tower techs will receive their training on IsoTruss’s carbon fiber towers
IsoTruss, Inc., an engineering, design, and manufacturing services provider, today announced the donation of two patented IsoTruss® carbon fiber cell towers to the Learning Alliance Corp. (LAC) center located in Tampa, FL. The donation will support LAC’s workforce development initiative in training cell tower climbers and technicians for the wireless telecom infrastructure industry. LAC partners with businesses in the wireless industry, which …
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 …
Although workforce training is an industry priority, a national survey of CEOs says it’s low on their list
As the war in Ukraine continues to escalate, a new survey of CEOs and Directors, released by the Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), found that Russia is the top policy priority they want the President and Congress to address this year. Labor shortages were also a top priority. However, workforce training was one …
Unionization of tower training company provides CWA with a foot in the door they intend to exploit
In the past few months, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) has been quietly attempting to unionize wireless contractors and has made inroads with employees of two mid-sized companies, according to sources who have informed Wireless Estimator of the CWA’s efforts. Today, the CWA made its intentions known by spearheading their campaign with a press release announcing that workers at …
AT&T claims an above average restoration percentage as carriers bring sites back up in Louisiana
Through the dedicated resources of the men and women on the front lines providing logistics and services, cell site outages in Hurricane Ida-affected parishes in Louisiana have been reduced to 28.5%, from Tuesday’s 38.1%, according to the FCC’s September 1, 2021 daily communications report. Within a day, hard-hit Assumption Parish went from an outage of 94.7% to 42.1%, with Terrebonne …
Senate Commerce Committee passes Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee passed the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act today, legislation to address the shortage of trained workers necessary to fill next-generation jobs in the telecommunications industry in communities through the country. The Bill, S. 163, introduced by Senators John Thune (R-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Gary Peters (D-MI) heads to the full …
Lack of training kills a high school day laborer climber and his employer claims it was his own fault
Lakaram Karanjeet was working part-time for Rise & Rise Wireless, Inc. while he was in high school. He died on June 28, 2019 when he fell from this New Jersey 150-foot monopole. An investigation by Wireless Estimator into a lawsuit brought against multiple defendants exposes a wireless construction contractor that had no safety programs in place, few owned assets and …
Telecom leaders partner to develop industry-tailored human trafficking prevention training
Leaders in the telecommunications industry have partnered with 3Strands Global Foundation (3SGF), a Sacramento-based nonprofit working to end human trafficking throughout the US. The goal is to educate telecommunications professionals on the signs of human trafficking and train them on how to recognize, notify and report the crime. The partnership was initiated and spearheaded by Kenny Blakeslee, President and CEO …
NATE’s free 5G small cell deployment training courses open for registration
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced today that the registration process is open for the first, five 5G-Small Cell Deployment Training sessions that will be facilitated by the Association in 2021. Overall, 12 5G-Small Cell Deployment Training Courses will be hosted nationwide in 2021 and will be offered free of charge to industry employees and employers due to a Susan …
NATE’s record 185 STAR Initiative participants take advantage of following the gold standard for safety
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association announced the member companies, listed below, who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program for the 2020-2021 year. NATE has proudly accepted 185 participating companies in this year’s STAR Initiative which represents a record number of companies since the inception of the program. The STAR Initiative will be entering its …
