At last week’s Oppenheimer’s 20th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference, AT&T CFO John Stephens said that he expects the carrier’s overall capex to increase as a result its FirstNet build over the next three to four years with work beginning this year with the states that have opted in. “What we expect is that it will be one of …
FCC is back at full strength with Rosenworcel and Carr’s confirmation
UPDATE: August 3, 2017 -The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm the nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to the Federal Communications, returning the FCC to full strength with five members. Rosenworcel, a former Commissioner and Capitol Hill staffer previously joined the FCC in 2011. Her new five-year term is retroactive to July 2015 and runs through 2020. She …
Circuit court confirms that the FCC set fair utility pole attachment rates
The Eighth Circuit denied a petition from the nation’s power and electric companies for review of a 2015 Federal Communications Commission order governing the rates utilities may charge telecommunication providers for attaching their networks to utility-owned poles. The court found the pricing decision to be just and reasonable, holding that the term “cost” in Pole Attachments Act, 47, U.S.C. 224, …
Mobilitie thumbs its nose at Houston’s pedestrians as it plants poles in the middle of sidewalks
After the City of Houston, Tex. Public Works and Engineering Department recently became aware that numerous DAS nodes had been installed on sidewalks, a City engineer promptly red-tagged at least one monopole that was erected by MasTec North America, Inc. for Mobilitie, LLC. It also prompted the department to issue FAQs on network nodes, below, that were released today. Council …
Sales execs Lien and Cooper to push B+T Group’s continued growth
B+T Group Inc. announced this week that Patrick Lien has joined the company as vice president of sales and business development, and Grant Cooper will be the Tulsa Okla.-based company’s National Account Director. The company is continuing its push to grow nationally, providing services to major telecommunications carriers, tower owners and asset managers with a wide variety of engineering, construction …
CTI Towers secures $20 million debt facility from CIT Group
CTI Towers, a fast-growing wireless tower company, recently procured a $20 million debt facility with CIT Group Inc. The facility allows CTI Towers to continue its growth through building and acquiring wireless tower assets. The facility also provides CTI Towers with the potential to tap into an additional $20M once the initial $20M is drawn. CTI Towers presently owns 208 towers …
NAB attacks Microsoft’s slick rebooting of failed white spaces rural broadband plan
Before the salad forks were lifted at yesterday’s media luncheon in Washington where Microsoft President Brad Smith was readying his Rural Airband Initiative that would use white space spectrum, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) attacked Microsoft’s proposal as “the height of arrogance.” In a press statement, NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton said, “It’s the height of …
Centerline Solutions’ new CEO is ably positioned to lead the company’s growth
Centerline Solutions, a leading provider of wireless infrastructure services to the telecommunications industry headquartered in Golden, Colo., has named Tom Prestwood as the company’s new CEO. Prestwood brings over 30 years of experience in the wireless and broadband telecom industry, including a successful track record of scaling growing businesses and orchestrating collaborations among carriers, tower operators and infrastructure providers. He …
Tower painters forced to take a two hour break after their man lift malfunctions
Two painters were rescued from a cell tower near the old Belleville Police Station today in Belleville, Ill. The men were painting the tower and were using a rented lift. Officials said their bucket was more than 120 feet high when it got stuck. Emergency crews were called in and two firefighters used a separate lift for the rescue. The …
Dumb RF engineer who shut down smart meter base stations is sentenced to jail
In 2014, a radio frequency engineer upset after being fired from his job which required him to set up base stations that employed omni directional antennas on communications towers to monitor water meters, took revenge upon his unnamed employer and hacked into base stations to shut them down. He also changed the radio frequency for communications. and altered the code for …
NATE’s all-time high membership count is attributed to benefits
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that it had established a new all-time record of 828 member companies, a continuing increase in membership that the Association has seen for a number of years. NATE’s 828th member is Construction & Telecommunication Services, Inc. of Danvers, Mass. “NATE member companies encompass all layers of the wireless infrastructure chain and …
Carrier CEOs chew on Trump’s ear to clear the path and speed up small cell installations
President Donald Trump offered backing for emerging technologies such as next-generation wireless and unmanned aerial vehicles in a meeting yesterday with the heads of telecom giants AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and drone companies such as Trumbull Unmanned as well as venture capitalists and health care providers. Wireless makes some strange bedfellows During the meetings in the East Wing, Trump …
WIA endorses Trump administration apprenticeship reforms, TIRAP welcomes 12 contractors
The Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) announced today that 12 companies have signed agreements to be Participating Employers in the nation’s only telecommunications apprenticeship program. This pledge from private businesses will accelerate the fulfillment of TIRAP’s goal to address the skills gap in the telecommunications industry by adopting an apprenticeship model, which is …
NATE, WIA – everyone else – welcomes Rosenworcel’s return engagement to the FCC
President Donald Trump said he would nominate Jessica Rosenworcel to fill a Democratic seat on the FCC. The expected nomination was applauded throughout the nation. Rosenworcel served as a commissioner until the end of 2016 when lawmakers failed to take up her renomination under former President Barack Obama, handing Republicans a 2-1 majority on the five-seat commission which has allowed …
Orange is the new knack – for selling tower siting sizzle and not the steak
After a 10-year effort to improve public safety communications in Douglas County and Highlands Ranch, Colo., erection of a 150-foot public safety radio tower began yesterday morning after sales and use tax funding became available and a private developer said it would assist in providing a location for an artistic structure – a monopole with two side-mounted omni antennas gingerly …
Steven Marshall elected Chairman of Wireless Infrastructure Association
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) today announced that Steven Marshall, Executive Vice President and President of the U.S. Tower Division at American Tower Corp., was elected to serve as Chairman of the WIA’s Board of Directors. Marshall has served on the WIA Board of Directors since 2010 and brings a depth of industry experience and business leadership to WIA. He …
Crown sues Hempstead, N.Y. over consultant’s delay tactics and high fees for DAS nodes
National DAS-provider and tower owner Crown Castle has brought suit against the Town of Hempstead, N.Y., alleging that the Town unlawfully delegated its review authority to a third-party consultant for 14 initial applications for authorization to install, operate and maintain DAS facilities in the Town’s public rights of way. Crown, in its complaint, said that the consultant, Center for Municipal …
Calculating the job risk online, cell tower technicians are ‘doomed’ – but it’s unlikely
A study that has been kicking around since it was published by researchers at Oxford University in 2013, has gained a second life in the last few months after two online entrepreneurs made it easy to find out how susceptible 702 occupations were to being replaced by machines. The university report by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne was created …
Sioux Falls Tower’s corporate office groundbreaking assists with its continued growth
Employees and associates gathered to celebrate the ground breaking for the new corporate office for Sioux Falls Tower and Communications on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D. President & CEO, Craig Snyder, kicked off the ceremony by talking about their humble beginnings and Sioux Falls Tower’s successes within the past 30 plus years. “Faith and perseverance have been common themes that …
CCA slams AT&T again, this time asking FCC to reject FiberTower spectrum buy
The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) believes that AT&T will not allow their carrier members to remain competitive if the FCC allows AT&T to acquire bankrupt FiberTower’s 650 terminated licenses. In a filing with the FCC Wednesday, CCA said that instead of the planned acquisition, the FCC should recover and re-auction the unconstructed spectrum in the 39 GHz band, and potentially …
