After a 21-year-old Sevier County, TN man fell to his death last May after climbing a tower atop Bluff Mountain, his parents have filed a lawsuit against the county, saying it didn’t do enough to keep people away from climbing the self-supporting tower. Allen J. Morton III fell from a tower on Green Top Road on May 26, 2021. The …
Lynk successfully deploys world’s first commercial-ready cell tower in space with service later this year
Lynk Global, Inc., a leading satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company based in Falls Church, Virginia, today announced the successful April 1, 2022 launch, deployment, and initial on-orbit check-out of Lynk Tower 1. The spacecraft is the company’s sixth ‘cell-tower-in-space’ satellite and is now in position to become the world’s first commercial cell-tower-in-space, according to a press statement. Lynk Tower 1 is the first satellite …
North Carolina ring of cell site copper thieves arrested after lengthy investigation
The Buncombe County North Carolina Sheriff’s Office has charged 12 people in a cell site transmission line copper theft ring after a lengthy investigation, authorities said on March 30. The damage was estimated to be worth $331,000. Buncombe County detectives as well as the McDowell County and Mitchell County Sheriff’s offices worked for weeks to investigate and arrest the suspects, a press …
Nationwide strike of contractors averted after carriers and towercos agree to meaningful concessions
An organized work stoppage action by U.S. wireless contractors that could have exceeded the breadth of economic damage caused by the steel workers strike of 1919, that shut down the nation’s steel industry, was averted yesterday after carriers and tower owners offered concessions to offset untenable matrix pricing being offered for 5G installations. The call to action for a national …
U.S. towerco is bid up in down under 2,000 tower deal that went to ATN and Singtel for $2.7 billion
UPDATE – April 1, 2022: Macquarie Asset Management today announced that, alongside its coinvestors, it has entered into binding agreements with Australia Tower Network (ATN), owned by AustralianSuper and Singtel, for the sale of 100% of Axicom for $2.7 billion (US). Earlier reports said that the assets, formerly Crown Castle’s towers, were expected to fetch approximately $2.1 billion US. American …
Verizon Jackson Pollock-type pole is perhaps first 5G artwork cell site
When Verizon Wireless first began installing 5G light poles last March in Harrisburg, Pa., for reliable connectivity for their subscribers, some residents didn’t know that they were telecommunications structures and questioned what was the purpose of the large cylinder at the top? Some neighbors said they believed they might be gunshot detectors. However, as Verizon began to build a projected …
Phoenix Tower to acquire 3,226 towers From Cellnex Telecom in France
Boca Raton, FL-based Phoenix Tower International (“PTI”) announced that it has completed a definitive agreement — subject to the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) approval — with Cellnex Telecom to acquire 1,226 telecommunications sites in very dense areas in France adding SFR as a second major MNO client of PTI in France. Simultaneously, PTI with its Joint Venture Partner Bouygues Telecom will be acquiring 2,000 …
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 …
Drone rulemaking committee recommends that the FAA establish a new beyond visual line of sight rule
The FAA’s UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) has published its final report with recommendations that will benefit contractors and towercos if they are enacted. To fly BVLOS currently, operators must seek waivers or exemptions from the FAA, a lengthy and difficult process that is more likely not to be approved. The Small UAV Coalition …
Free cryptocurrency replaces stock options in United Telecom Systems’ unique benefits package
It’s not cryptic for Gen Z adults and millennials; they get it. Cryptocurrency is gaining popularity throughout the world since traditional savings accounts have an embarrassingly low-interest rate that is being stripped away by the country’s highest inflation rate in the past four decades, and traditional IRAs are suffering due to current global issues. Georgia-based United Telecom Systems, LLC (UTS) also gets …
American Tower reportedly a contender for 41,000 Deutsche Telekom towers for $20 billion
American Tower is reportedly a key contender for a 41,000 Deutsche Telekom towers acquisition. Deutsche Telekom reportedly started the sales process for its mobile towers business as part of broader efforts to maximize the value of its infrastructure assets. Reuters reported the Germany-headquartered operator is working with Goldman Sachs as adviser in the sale of its 40,600 towers, which the …
Tower tech is seriously injured after falling from an unknown height inside a Florida water tower
The condition of 26-year-old tower technician Brandon O’Neil of Orlando, FL is unknown after he fell from an unknown height inside a water tower in Palm Coast, FL, on Tuesday evening and suffered serious injuries. A Flagler County press release said that the technician “was atop the tower when he fell approximately 120 feet,” which is being repeated in media …
Ontivity lands industry veteran Joe Cecin as its CEO as Eric Chase assumes role of executive chairman
Ontivity, formerly Enertech Holdings, a leading national provider of wireless infrastructure services, announced today that Joe Cecin has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. An industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Cecin is responsible for overseeing the operations of all companies under the Ontivity umbrella, including Enertech Resources, ET Tower, Legacy Telecommunications, CMS Wireless, and …
Win $100 by guessing the number of attendees at NATE UNITE 2022’s record-breaking show
Step back Raleigh, North Carolina and make room for Las Vegas, Nevada as the host of NATE – The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association’s largest attended conference in the association’s 27-year history. The event ended Thursday. In 2020, a record was set with 2,416 registrants. However, this year, according to an early tally that will not be finalized until next Monday, the LED Capital of the …
A ‘better together’ philosophy has Entertech rebranding as Ontivity
At the NATE UNITE Show in Las Vegas this week, Enertech Holdings, a national-scale wireless infrastructure services provider, announced in a launch video shown at the ‘Vertical Freedom’ film premiere, its decision to rebrand as Ontivity. In what may be the trade show’s first ever exhibitor wardrobe change, the company’s booth branded as Enertech Holdings on the opening day of …
Lawsuit filed against Georgia city after its Council slights a Shriners’ site for T-Mobile
Municipal Communications of Atlanta, GA filed a lawsuit against Columbus, GA and its mayor and council members stating that it is violating federal law by blocking its requests to build a T-Mobile cell tower that’s necessary to improve coverage in the area near heavily trafficked I-185. Though T-Mobile already has 37 cell sites in Columbus, Municipal told a Georgia federal …
Violent Florida contractor guilty of $16 million DOD kickback and bribery conspiracy gets 15 years
A former Florida cell site contractor was sentenced on Friday to 15 years in prison for orchestrating a bribery and kickback conspiracy and committing fraud in connection with a contract for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG). According to court records and evidence presented at trial, beginning in 2010 and continuing through 2015, William S. Wilson, …
As the labor pool tightens, contractors are sweetening employment offerings with bonuses
Wireless contractors and other infrastructure companies are offering bonuses to attract new hires and are rewarding employees who refer job seekers from other companies as well as inexperienced candidates that remain with the company for a set period of months. A review of Wireless Estimator help wanted ads found many companies offering from $1,000 to $5,000 sign-on bonuses as a carrot …
Bogus BLS averages put larger wireless contractors at a greater risk of being red-flagged
Avetta and other compliance vendors continue to use the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to initially assess the safety culture and performance of wireless contractors through metrics such as the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) average. Compliance vendors red flag contractors if their TRIR exceeds the BLS’s current TRIR averages, even though they are aware …
Proposed OSHA heat stress rule should be looked at from a tower climber’s elevation: NATE
OSHA states that it is aware that 70% of heat-related deaths and serious illnesses occur within the first few days of work, and upwards of 50% occur on the first day of work for workers who have not been acclimatized to hazardous heat, and recommends a reduced schedule of strenuous work in outdoor or indoor settings. The agency believes that …
