The tornado that tore through East Nashville, Tennessee Tuesday morning shredded one of the nation’s largest tower technician training facilities to pieces, but through the support of many individuals and companies, ComStar LLC was back up and running in less than 24 hours, with only “minor hiccups,” President Rick Ledford informed Wireless Estimator. Knowing that the tornado had cut a …
Fuentez, Haldane, Nicks and Siegel to join National Wireless Safety Alliance Board of Governors
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today that Paul Fuentez, Central Region Director of Environmental, Health and Safety at Ericsson, Andy Haldane, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Tower Engineering Professionals (TEP), Joe Nicks, Director of Safety for PeakNet Services and Robert Siegel, Executive Director at ENSA North America have been appointed as members of the Alliance’s Board of …
NATE’s quarter century show expected to be the best ever
Raleigh, North Carolina will host NATE UNITE 2020 beginning Monday as communications infrastructure contractors and suppliers come together to benefit from the association’s 25th conference and exposition, widely regarded as the premier wireless infrastructure show in the nation. Trying to identify the best educational or training sessions to attend is challenging because they’re all exceptional and are being presented by …
Judge’s T-Mobile merger okay expected to boost construction spending
A federal judge today ruled in favor of T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint in a deal that would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and create a new telecommunications giant to take on rivals AT&T and Verizon. United States District Court Judge Victor Marrero’s decision in Manhattan, was announced regarding the lawsuit filed in June by attorneys general from …
CommScope joins growing list of companies canceling plans to attend Mobile World Congress 2020
CommScope has announced that the safety and well-being of their employees is a top priority and with the continued global threat of the Coronavirus, the company has made the decision to cancel their appearance at Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC) scheduled in Barcelona later this month. “This is not a decision our executive team took lightly, and although the likelihood …
DOJ says States thwarting T-Mobile deal disrupts U.S. merger policy as T-Mobile asks court to move forward
State officials will “wreak havoc” on companies’ ability to merge if they disagree with federal regulators and block deals on their own as 10 states are trying to do with the T-Mobile/Sprint marriage, the chief antitrust official of the Justice Department said during a speech to the Media Institute in Washington D.C. yesterday. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim’s surprising swipe at …
NCCCO and NWSA launch new Telecommunications Tower Rigger Certification
The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) and the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today the official launch of the Telecommunications Tower Rigger Level I (TTR-I) Certification Program. Established collaboratively between NCCCO and NWSA, the new TTR-I certification was adapted from NCCCO’s Rigger Level I program and specifically addresses those with responsibility for handling and moving …
New Jersey homeowner’s legal stand against a Verizon tower site collapses in his second appeal
An Alexandria Township, N.J. homeowner has lost his legal battle against Verizon placing cell antennas atop a power line tower adjacent to his property. Glenn Fodor, who lives on Route 579, appealed the approval of the township’s Land Use Board on December 21, 2017 before the Hunterdon County Superior Court, to allow 12 antennas on top of the 150-foot power …
NATE weighs in regarding FAA’s digital license plates in the sky, requesting relief on 400′ limitation
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has weighed in with their comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks to require the remote identification of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the airspace of the United States, and the ability of people on the ground to determine the identity of …
Court to decide if City of Colorado Springs monopole can be beefed up by Vertical Bridge
Vertical Bridge Development, LLC has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado for a ruling that the City of Colorado Springs is violating federal laws by not allowing the company to modify an existing tower that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower. According to the complaint, Vertical Bridge manages a …
Miller digs into obstacles of broadband deployment, providing solutions to U.S. Senate committee
National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) Chairman Jimmy Miller, President at MillerCo, Inc. in Gulfport, Mississippi, provided expert witness testimony at this morning’s U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. regarding “The 5G Workforce and Obstacles to Broadband Deployment”. The hearing was convened by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, …
Macro towers, 20K more trained tower techs and new skill sets needed to roll out 5G says FCC
Although small cells and 5G were high on the list of topics during yesterday’s U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation’s hearing on Industries of the Future, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly emphasized that 5G deployment requires more than just sound spectrum policy to be successful, and macro towers and additional worker skill sets are needed “It will need a …
Two bills presented, one for California backup power, another for power to Florida for siting
Two bills are being introduced, one in California for a mandatory backup power requirement and another in Florida that would allow for the state to bypass local governments for siting if public safety is at risk. After reviewing data from the FCC that identified 874 cellphone towers were offline during an Oct. 27 power shutoff during wildfires that affected millions …
FCC scraps 4G subsidy program and plans to dole out $9 billion for 5G in rural areas
The FCC said yesterday that it plans to scrap a $4.5 billion subsidy program for 4G LTE in rural areas and in its place launch a $9 billion fund to bring 5G wireless to hard to reach parts of the country. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the new fund will help carriers pay for 5G deployments in sparsely populated, hard-to-reach …
Pai chooses public auction for C-band spectrum as Intelsat sinks
The FCC is ready to start a public auction for C-band spectrum with the objective of developing 5G wireless connectivity in the mid-band spectrum, according to an announcement today from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai made his plans clear today, in a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Pai had …
Arkansas tech dies in Mississippi during erection of 348-foot self-supporting tower
An Arkansas tower technician died Saturday after he fell approximately 80 feet from a self-supporting tower being constructed in Mississippi. It was the eighth industry fatality this year. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the deceased as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas. Womack’s employer, provided to Wireless Estimator by an individual knowledgeable about the fatality, could not be …
Afraid of having its contractors fail or bolt, Sprint introduces its ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program
Stating that it was concerned that it might not be able to maintain 5G construction crews, Sprint has unveiled its all-new ‘Same Day Pay’ financing program, providing day-of compensation to its 5G network builders and suppliers by shortening administrative overhead and collapsing the overpayment process as far as it can go. The Sprint ‘Same Day Pay’ program is a part of the …
Oklahoma Congressman Mullin’s American Tower site visit captured in NATE video
NATE today released a video highlighting U.S. Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) recent site visit to an American Tower-owned communications tower located in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Congressman Mullin represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District and is a member of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee where he has championed important communications and workforce development legislation. The video shines a spotlight on the …
‘Pay to play’ Avetta has industry’s contractors concerned about it becoming a monopoly
Concerns about the time, expense and frustration of contractors that are forced to use client onboarding companies such as BROWZ and Avetta surfaced on January 30, 2019, when Wireless Estimator released the survey results of financial and administrative roadblocks set up by carriers and towercos that could derail America’s race to 5G. Two weeks later on February 14, 2019, Avetta announced the …
After T-Mobile throws contractors under the bus it provides lofty merger promises
When T-Mobile announced its new commitments Thursday to sway legislators to put pressure on 10 state attorneys general to settle their Sprint merger lawsuit, one of its top initiatives upon completion of the merger, was to create more job opportunities than either standalone company. The new employee count is impressive, an additional 11,000 by 2024. However, the Communications Workers of …
