A delegation of NATE leaders, consisting of personnel ranging from tower technicians, foremen and company owners, participated in a 5G technology themed event at the White House in Washington, D.C. this afternoon. The NATE members were invited to participate by President Donald Trump, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and key officials at the White House. At the event, President Trump delivered …
Will 8,000 new satellites end the digital divide? Public safety advocate is skeptical
By Andrew Seybold – Guest Columnist FirstNet is required by law to build out in rural America as it builds out in larger markets. This was included in the law passed by Congress in 2012 to ensure public safety will have broadband services where they are needed, when they are needed. In the United States, various federal government agencies offer grants and low or …
LMC council members WIA and EWA lock horns over 800 MHz expansion process management
Two of the Land Mobile Communications Council’s 16 members – the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (WEA) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) are at odds with each other after a year-long effort has failed to identify a viable approach to arrive at a consensus among the Business/Industrial (BI) and Public Safety (PS) frequency advisory committees (FACs) on how best to process …
SBA breaks the prized $200 mark and Crown to break ground for a 13-story 420K square-foot headquarters
SBA Communications (SBA) made another record high today with its stock closing at $201.49, the first towerco of the big three ever to break the prized $200 plateau. The day’s range was from $199.87 to a record high of $201.99. American Tower closed at $196.22, Crown Castle at $128.51. SBA will be releasing its first quarter result on April 29. In …
Ugly cell sites can be rejected leads 20 Fast-Forward Friday news stories
Article Media San Francision can reject 5G equipment it views as too ugly Bloomberg SC school district’s cell phone tower program draws scrutiny FITSNews WIA’s Adelstein: 5G deployment faces a skills gap RCR Wireless News How a Trump admin ruling could hurt effort to improve data coverage in Syracuse’s poor areas Syracuse.com Deadline to adopt and publish small cell facility …
First ‘brick’ has provided workers with an enjoyable 46 years of infrastructure builds. Thanks, Marty!
Forty-six years ago today on April 3, 1973, Marty Cooper changed the course of history when he made the first call from a handheld, portable phone in midtown Manhattan. With the transformative impact of smartphones being felt by industries across the globe, and as the first 5G smartphones hit the market in 2019, Wireless Estimator and the National Association of …
U.S. tied with China in global 5G race, new report finds
The U.S. is tied for first with China in global 5G readiness, according to a new report from global telecommunications research firm Analysys Mason. Making an influx of spectrum available to America’s wireless industry over the next five years will help secure America’s 5G leadership, add $391 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.8 million new jobs according to …
QualTek expands Midwest presence with acquisition of Vertical Limit
QualTek, a leading provider of turnkey solutions, including engineering, installation, fulfillment, recovery logistics and program management to the North American telecommunications and power sectors, is pleased to announce it has acquired Vertical Limit LLC, a highly-respected provider of infrastructure services to the wireless telecommunications industry. The acquisition of Vertical Limit continues QualTek’s expansion strategy across North America as demand from …
Legacy Telecommunications elevates Brierly to Vice President
Industry veteran JM Brierly has been promoted to Vice President of Legacy Telecommunications, LLC. Brierly has served as the Branch Manager of the Eastern, WA for the wireless infrastructure, RF solutions, standby power and remote services firm for the past 5 years. Brierly has been a true leader within Legacy Telecommunications for the past 14 years, Legacy stated in a …
With prank videos and articles, industry was also ‘GraviHook’ed on April 1
If April 1 isn’t your spouse’s or a loved one’s birthday or other special date, the day sneaks up on you along with a number of April Fools’ Day articles and videos, oftentimes catching you off guard as Wireless Estimator’s Huawei CFO’s Releasei and Dust Spectrum articles did to over 8,000 viewers yesterday, many of them not catching on until …
Huawei CFO’s release requires her to show how she swapped out cell site circuit boards
Tina Glandian, the attorney for ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett, shocked the nation this morning when she announced that she has brokered a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to have all financial fraud charges against Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou dropped, her extradition hearing to the U.S. terminated, and all records sealed. Wanzhou was scheduled to have her first …
Widespread Nebraska flooding hits home in the wireless industry with a missing business owner
The recent flooding in Nebraska caused by snow melt, ice jams and rain is being seen as the most destructive event ever seen and roads have been washed away as well as bridges, a dam, and it has buried houses, some up to their roofs. Sadly, the historic catastrophic flooding is expected to continue across parts of the Missouri and …
Three key leaders appointed to National Wireless Safety Alliance’s Board of Governors
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) has announced that Stephanie Brewer, Compliance Coordinator for MUTI-Sabre Industries Telecom Services, Neal Brown, Department Manager of Wireless Development at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative Inc. and Sonya Roshek, Vice President, Field Services for B+T Group have been appointed as new members of the Alliance’s Board of Governors. NWSA, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, is a national …
American Tower’s stock goes through the ceiling as Crown Castle and SBA reach record highs
American Tower Corp. (AMT) reached record high trades this morning of $187.80, shrugging off analyst Jim Cramer’s March 4 bearish outlook on the stock when it was $178.57. On March 11, ATC rewarded investors by hiking its dividend to 90 cents. Eight executives had planned stock sales on March 10 at a price of $181.61 per share, with the largest …
Rescue crews still searching for victims following 23 tornado deaths
Rescue crews are still searching this morning for victims underneath smashed homes, trees and other debris caused by a tornado that ripped through Alabama Sunday afternoon, overwhelming the Lee County coroner’s office. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones says crews with dogs and drones have combed over the hardest-hit areas, but there are many other areas that they still have not …
Blue sky wireless workforce shortage projections aren’t grounded with reliable data
No stranger to manlifts, climbing cell sites, and even ascending a 2,000-foot tower, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr joined a Vinculums crew on Wednesday to troubleshoot a cell site along a highway outside of San Jose, Calif. According to Carr, the problem turned out to be a bad connector on a sector’s transmission line. The Vinculums team, with Carr’s assistance, had it …
Windstream’s distress funding, reorganization keeps Uniti from closing its doors
UPDATE: February 28, 2019 – Uniti Group Inc. was expected to release its fourth quarter and year end 2018 results after the close of trading today, but announced that it is postponing them to no later than March 18, 2019 so that it can continue to assess the impact of the bankruptcy petition by Windstream Holdings, Inc. February 27, 2019 …
Sprint’s 5G service to launch in May starting in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City
Today at MWC Barcelona, Sprint announced that standards-based 5G is now on-air, with commercial service expected to launch starting in May. Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City are expected to be among the first cities to offer commercial 5G service; with Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington D.C. also slated to launch in the first half of 2019. At launch, Sprint said its customers can expect mobile 5G coverage ranging …
Two deals add 1,100 towers to Phoenix Tower International’s portfolio
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Phoenix Tower International (PTI) announced that it has reached an agreement with Uniti Group to acquire the ownership rights relating to over 500 wireless communication tower sites located across Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua. Terms of the transaction remain confidential between the parties. The amount of the sale was approximately $100 million. Speaking about the transaction, PTI CEO, …
The 5G paradox is the need for more offloading options: WIA white paper
The Wireless Infrastructure Association’s (WIA) Innovation & Technology Council (ITC) released a report titled “The 5G Paradox: The Need for More Offloading Options in the Next-Generation Wireless Era,” which explores the need for additional bandwidth and offloading techniques as next-generation 5G wireless services begin to roll out. The white paper explains that wireless networks need to be prepared for the …