In a statement Monday, Verizon, the nation’s largest mobile carrier called upon carriers to not use the term 5G for services until they use actual 5G hardware and radio standards. It was obvious that it was directed towards AT&T whose recent over the air upgrade displayed a “5G E” logo on certain Android devices in lieu of the standard LTE …
T-Mobile says they didn’t lie about their 4G LTE coverage, and possibly underestimated it
T-Mobile has emphatically denied an allegation by the Rural Wireless Association (RWA) in an FCC filing on Dec. 10, 2018 that it lied about the extent of its 4G LTE coverage. RWA said they were concerned about overstated coverage by Verizon and T-Mobile that have been borne out by challenge process data. “The vast majority of test points showed non-qualifying …
AT&T issues its annual colo-pricing storm warning to the nation’s tower owners
In 2016, Bill Hogg, AT&T’s president of technology operations, made the clarion call to towercos that they must lower their lease rates because their model is “not really sustainable”. Last November, Susan Johnson, SVP of Global Supply Chain, AT&T in announcing an agreement with Tillman Infrastructure to build affordable sites that could be shared by AT&T and Verizon to pressure …
Carriers weigh in on using ‘fatally flawed’ coverage maps for dishing out universal service funds
The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) has joined the chorus of concern as to the possibility that some wireless carriers falsely reported information about their coverage areas to the FCC, therefore violating mapping rules pertaining to the Mobility Fund Phase ll reverse auction, as reported by Wireless Estimator. CCA Sr. V.P. Tim Donovan testified during a House Communications and Technology hearing …
FCC investigating whether there were any Pinocchio presentations in carrier coverage maps
The FCC has opened an investigation into whether some wireless carriers falsely reported information about the coverage areas to the agency, therefore violating mapping rules pertaining to the Mobility Fund Phase ll reverse auction. In halting the $5.4 billion program, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, said in a statement, “My top priority is bridging the digital divide and ensuring that Americans …
42 dead in Paradise fire as telcos assist in providing emergency communications
Forty-two people have died as a result of the wildfire in Northern California that wiped out the town of Paradise, making the Camp Fire the deadliest in state history. The death total is expected to rise since hundreds of residents are still unaccounted for. Carriers were quick to provide cell service support since the area has lost a number of …
Carriers’ fuzzy Hurricane Michael outage math doesn’t add up
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week chided carriers for their slow progress in restoring wireless service in areas close to where Hurricane Michael made landfall. He called it “completely unacceptable.” Yesterday, he complimented broadcasters for their stellar job. “Another familiar aspect is local radio and TV broadcasters were unsung heroes in their first informer roles and in the aftermath,” Pai …
Verizon taking lion’s share of blame for continuing Hurricane Michael site outages
Hard-hit Bay County, Fla. is showing, according to FCC data, that 30% of its cell sites are still down as of Oct. 22, 2018 from Hurricane Michael. A week ago, that percentage was at 62%. (See data below.) Recent news reports indicate that Verizon, a key carrier for Panama City and outlying suburbs in Bay County is still struggling to …
‘Hallelujah’ heard from Mexico Beach Mayor as Verizon service is restored on his phone
Hard-hit by Hurricane Michael’s devastating winds and cut fiber lines, Bay County, Fla. saw little improvement yesterday in the number of cell sites that were down, going from 216 the day before to just 214, but this afternoon there was a marked improvement in service as the dominant carrier in Panama City and Mexico Beach, Verizon, brought service back to …
Tower techs shouldn’t be the Rodney Dangerfields of field services professionals
Carriers frequently extol the skills of their purported in-house talent pool required to build out 5G or manage restoration efforts following hurricanes, but in most cases, those workers are from industry infrastructure contractors. Last month, Wireless Estimator pointed out that in a Sprint promotional video CEO Michel Combes said that Sprint was going to be successful because of “Our people that you …
Thanks to nation’s unsung tower techs, Florence’s NC cell site outages are down 77%
When Hurricane Florence’s full tally of cell site outages was identified in North Carolina on Sept. 15, tower crew restoration companies had already been servicing many of them, and the 1,063 outages were reduced dramatically to 787 the following day. Restoration efforts in North Carolina have brought the total of sites out of service to just 245, a 77% improvement …
Carriers’ post-hurricane snow job promos beginning to flood the media
Carriers are trying to outdo each other in presenting how well their network faired following Hurricane Florence’s slow destructive dance across the Carolinas. Now a tropical depression, Florence is still a life-threatening storm as widespread flooding continues to destroy homes and cut off communities from resources and cell service. Yesterday, in a press release, Verizon said their “network continues to withstand …
Hurricane Florence’s ‘ground zero’ cell tower starts to be battered by storm’s outer rain bands
There was no collective sigh of relief from wireless infrastructure technicians and management as Hurricane Florence was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 2 storm early this morning. Instead, news that the storm has widened and may stay over the coast of the Carolinas for a longer period of time, causing extensive flooding and cell site fuel resupply …
FCC’s newly minted plan will clear the way for cheaper and faster 5G deployments
The FCC will vote in three weeks on a plan to accelerate next-generation 5G wireless networks around the U.S. by overriding some local rules that they believe will hold up deployment. FCC Commissioner Brendar Carr announced at a press conference today in Indianapolis that the plan is targeting deployment of small cell transmitters that are oftentimes subject to local delay …
Plane crash toppling Louisiana tower leads Fast-Forward Friday articles
Fast-Forward Friday is Wireless Estimator’s latest news offering that provides an overview of relevant industry news stories presented during the week by other media that were not covered by our staff, along with a link to the article to go upstream and read it in its entirety. After all, the articles’ authors did all the heavy lifting, and capsuling their content and …
Twister kayos Verizon self-supporting tower in Minnesota
A tornado touched down in Fosston, Minn. Sunday night taking out a 265-foot Verizon self-supporting tower, but sparing the equipment building, a fuel tank and the structure’s foundations.. Verizon will be providing temporary service to the small community of 1,500 residents. The buckled structure also supported the city’s owned and operated cable TV systems. Antennas that receive local channels were also …
Verizon’s ‘Bubba’ remark angering community is first in dozens of Fast-Forward Friday articles
Fast-Forward Friday is Wireless Estimator’s latest news offering that provides an overview of relevant industry news stories presented during the week by other media that were not covered by our staff, along with a link to the article to go upstream and read it in its entirety. After all, the articles’ authors did all the heavy lifting, and capsuling their content and …
Verizon appears to be disingenuous in stating contractors are paid within 30 days
Although Verizon’s payment term for construction contractors has been 30 days in past master service agreements (MSA), according to preliminary data obtained by Wireless Estimator in its active Terms of Payment Survey, the carrier has been pressuring contractors to accept 90 days. Most companies are pushing back, but a smaller segment of contractors said they are accepting the delayed payment terms …
AT&T and Verizon believe wireless is competitive, others strongly disagree
AT&T, in replying to the FCC’s request for comments as to the state of mobile wireless competition, informed the FCC in a filing that the answer is a slam dunk for the agency since the Commission “has the easiest call it has ever had to make…the wireless marketplace is, quite obviously, ‘effectively competitive’.” The carrier also said, “Competition has never …
‘Disruptive’ tower builder Tillman gets bankrolled with a billion dollars
Build-to-suit developer Tillman Infrastructure, currently building sites in over 36 states across the U.S., will receive up to $1 billion in additional funding from La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and global investment manager AMP Capital, with an initial investment of $500 million. Tillman’s biggest clients are AT&T and Verizon. Both carriers last year announced a joint …
