More Toys, Tablets, and Phones Results in More Towers and Small Cells

Every time Apple or Microsoft introduces a brand new, must-have product the demand for wireless capabilities skyrockets. At NATE UNITE 2014 in San Diego, Michael Fitch, Principal of Fitch Strategies and former President and CEO of PCIA, shared that newer smart phones use about 600x the amount of data than feature phones, and tablets use about 800x more data. This is driving the demand for wireless infrastructure, but it’s also dictating what type of infrastructure we need. Rural America is a huge expanse of geography and there, towers will very much be the preferred option instead of crowded, metropolitan areas. However, this wasn’t always the case. “A few years ago it was macro site towers. In a few exceptional circumstances a DAS installation was justified,” Fitch explains. “At that time the industry was not as enthusiastic about DAS, it was expensive, more complicated, unlike the tower side DAS hadn’t sorted itself out. If there was going to be host sites or the mobile carriers were going to build and install their own DAS sites. There were a number of issues of DAS in the front end, but the situation flipped when people realized the benefits of DAS compared to macro cell sites. So then there was a pressure to do DAS instead of macro sites for a while. All of that has leveled out to a large degree. Local jurisdictions understand that they each have their trade offs and they each have their issues—as does most infra in one way or another.” Continue reading here. 

Tower Upkeep Plays a Big Role When Using Data in Court Cases

When prosecutors attempt to use cell tower data in criminal cases, there are a lot of important factors regarding the tower that matter. For a long time, the information collected by towers was referred to as “junk science” by law enforcement agencies that saw the unreliability of cell phone tracking in the field. However, with technological advancements this data has been used to convict criminals and secure prison time. Currently, tower data is being used in the case against two men who are charged of killing a California Pinyon Pines family in 2006. The reliability of this technology is being questioned and a lot of what determines reliability deals directly with the towers. Michael Cherry of Virginia-based consulting firm Cherry Biometics Inc. spoke to The Desert Sun explaining, “Factors such as tower maintenance, the use of temporary towers and the load of traffic on the cell network can bounce calls around to different towers. As long as multiple towers are within range, a call doesn’t have to go to the closest tower or the tower with the strongest signal.” In order for police and attorneys to use this information to prosecute criminals, it’s important to maintain the equipment on your towers.

CTI Towers, Inc. Secures $30 Million Debt Financing; Closes First Third-Party Tower Acquisition

Earlier this week, CTI Towers, Inc., announced that they had secured up to $30 million in debt financing and closed its first-part acquisitions, purchasing five towers from a major wireless carrier. CTI Towers, Inc., is a wireless tower operator with more than 800 towers throughout the U.S.

By acquiring these 5 towers, CTI Tower’s continues to grow outside the Comcast portfolio, where a large majority (230) towers came from. The company is looking to secure towers within regions with high-demand for wireless capacity.

“We remain committed to helping our customers meet deadlines for new cell sites and network deployment,” said Tony Peduto, Chief Executive Officer, CTI Towers. “We will continue to seek strategic acquisitions to fuel growth as the wireless industry responds to the demand for wireless broadband services.” 

CTI Towers has already had interest from the major carriers regarding equipment on the towers to bring their customers better service. The towers CTI Towers acquired are located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. With the demand for mobile increasing dramatically, it’s becoming necessary to expand our wireless infrastructure to deal with these capacity demands.

 “As the personal computing device and smartphone industry took off, we recognized mobile network operators would eventually need to fortify their mobile networks to meet consumer demand for mobile Internet access at scale,” said David Zilberman, Venture Partner at Comcast Ventures and CTI Towers Board Chairman. “We’re excited to see CTI Towers grow its footprint and enhance its ability to deliver even more tower inventory across the country, helping all wireless carriers keep their networks in-stride with consumer demand.”

Is AT&T Close To Selling Their Towers to Crown Castle?

There was a steady buzz of excitement throughout the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show earlier this week, but when Bloomberg reported that AT&T is close to selling towers to Crown Castle the questions and curiosity only increased.

“AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, is near an agreement to sell its wireless towers to Crown Castle International Corp, people familiar with the matter said,” Bloomberg reported.

While there were no specific details given, AT&T has been looking to sell some of their towers for a few months now. This news broke back in September, but now AT&T may have found the perfect offer.

“People with knowledge of the matter said in September the assets could fetch $5 billion.The sale would bolster AT&T’s balance sheet as it undertakes a $14 billion network upgrade, plans a stock buyback that may top $11 billion, and considers acquisitions in Europe,” according to Bloomberg.

No one from AT&T or Crown Castle was willing to comment on this news so it’s still uncertain whether this deal will be finalized or not. AT&T has about 10,000 towers, which generate about $326 million in annual revenue as other companies pay to lease space on the facilities, according to JPMorgan research analyst Phil Cusick. The towers may contribute cash flow of about $216 million a year, and a sale at 17-times that figure would fetch about $3.7 billion, he said in a note in August. (Source: Bloomberg)

FCC Shutdown: What Does This Mean For You?

If you tried to access the FCC’s website yesterday you realized that along with the government shutdown the FCC shutdown as well taking their website with it. Even the FCC tweeted, “We're sorry, but FCC will not be tweeting or responding to @ replies during the government shutdown.” So what exactly does this mean?

Well the FCC posted their Plan for Orderly Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations and it explains that, “Suspended activities include, among many others: Consumer complaint and inquiry phone lines cannot be answered; consumer protection and local competition enforcement must cease; licensing services, including broadcast, wireless, and wireline, must cease; management of radio spectrum and the creation of new opportunities for competitive technologies and services for the American public must be suspended; and equipment authorizations, including those bringing new electronic devices to American consumers, cannot be provided.”

However, the FCC explains that telecommunications companies must continue to use the Network Outage Reporting System, which will remain available during the shutdown. These companies will still be able to filed reports of telecommunication service disruption because this information is essential to maintain and improve the reliability and security of the telecommunications infrastructure.

But Inside Tower’s has good news for you! Our IT Database has been seamlessly updated to the FCC’s ASR database.  It features a user-friendly interface to look up towers and tower owners, and the ability to customize lookups and export the results.

• Need to find an ASR number?
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The Inside Towers Database is Your Solution

Our database:

• Is easy to use
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Email us at editor@insidetowers.com, visit our website at http://insidetowers.com/it_database/, or give us a call at 904.285.3239 to see how our database can help you during the FCC shutdown.

150 Feet of Wire Stolen From Ohio Cell Tower

This week in Athens, Ohio 150 feet of wire was stolen from a Verizon Wireless Cell Tower. Verizon reported that the wires on the ground outside of the control office were also cut. The copper wire was also removed from the tower after the thief climbed the tower and unbolted it. Thankfully, cell phone service was not interrupted because of the theft. The cell site had last been visited on August 19^th.   

Cell Tower Carrier Behind on Rent in New Jersey

The Lebanon Township in New Jersey voted at the beginning of August to approve a second carrier contract on an existing cell tower. This approval allowed Nextel to place equipment on the tower as well as outlined provisions for other companies to use the tower.  Even though Nextel has been using the tower for a few months now, they have not been paying rent to the township as agreed upon.

Mayor Tom McKee said it was not yet time to send default notice as suggested by a resident. Invoices have been sent, McKee said, but the language in the contract "doesn't give us a leg to stand on." (Source: NJ.com)

Durham County Planners Take A Look At New Rules For Cell Towers

Durham, North Carolina city and county planners are checking with the elected officials next week about rewriting the rules regarding the placement of cell phone towers. This spring it was requested by members of the Joint City/County Planning Committee to tighten the laws concerning the review process for concealed towers and towers disguised as trees.

“Planners suggest regarding such towers as concealed only if they’re placed inside ‘an existing cluster of trees’ that covers at least 500 square feet, and only if they’re no taller than 20 feet above ‘the tallest tree within the cluster,’ according The HeraldSun.

For unconcealed towers, currently the law for stipulates that the Durham Board of Adjustment, the City Council, or the County Commissioner must approve the placement.

“The proposed changes are reacting to the controversy that erupted in south Durham after representatives of Sprint secured permission to place a ‘concealed’ tower next to St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church off N.C. 751 Because it’s to be camouflaged as a tree, Durham’s existing rules allowed the plan to be approved by the City/County Planning Department without a public hearing,” The Herald Sun reported.

However, the changes in the law are coming because residents believe that Sprint’s 120-foot tower will not be concealed seeing as it will be bigger than any of the trees around it. 

New Castle Police Are Looking For Thieves Who Stole Copper From Cell Tower

The New Castle, Pennsylvania police are working to determine who is responsible for stealing the copper wiring from a power substation and a cell phone tower. The first theft was reported last Saturday when approximately 30 feet of copper wire was cut from a Verizon cell tower.

Ever since 2007, metal theft increases have popped up over the United States—even the number of manhole cover thefts increased substantially between 2007 and 2008. A black market for copper has emerged over the past few years, which is why the stealing of copper wiring has been increasing. The closing price of copper per pound yesterday was $3.24. 

AT&T Loses Fight to Rancho Rio City Council

Even though AT&T put up a good fight with the city council of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, last night the council voted 4-3 to decline AT&T’s appeal to build a cell phone tower in Sabana Heights Park. The tower was going to be disguised as a 65-foot clock tower near a neighborhood playground.

AT&T tried to be flexible and work with the nearby residents. They suggested making the tower shorter and less wide but they said they couldn’t change the location. "We were trying to accommodate the residents' concerns about the size and it interrupting their views and we want to take that into consideration, but we really do have to have a tower somewhere," AT&T spokeswoman Karen Kruse said. (Source: KOB.com)

AT&T considered other locations but they either weren’t possible to construct on or they wouldn’t provide enough new cell phone coverage to the area. 

New Cell Tower Law Requires Owners To Gain Board Approval For Modifications

In the Village of Williston Park, New York a new local law was approved last week that will require cell tower owners to obtain board approval for major modifications to existing towers and have the Building Department sign off on minor modifications.

“Any major modification will be treated as an application for a new facility,” said village attorney James Bradley during a public hearing on the law. “We’re attempting to adopt a statute that makes sense for the village.” (Source: The Island Now)

The city is now considering major modifications to be a “substantial increase” in the height of the cell tower. The new law defines a substantial increase as a mounting of the existing antenna or antennas higher than 22 feet, six inches above the principal roof line of the structure where the cell towers are located. Once these changes are approved, they will be effective for five years and the approval will need to be renewed by the village Building Department after this time frame.

Residents of Jackson, New Jersey Satisfied After Cell Tower Plan Is Pulled

Wireless Edge Towers had submitted a proposal for 120-foot tower near a residential community and I-95. During a zoning board meeting on August 7^th, the company withdrew their application. Even though residents of Jackson were unhappy with the proposed location of the tower, they tried to be flexible by proposing two other locations in Jackson for the cell tower.

Because the members of the community were so vocal about their opposition of this cell tower, Wireless Edge Towers pulled the plan from the proposed location and are now looking for other sites to construct their tower.

Wireless EDGE was formed in 1998 by a group of experienced telecommunications professionals to serve municipalities, public agencies, commercial real property owners and telecommunications carriers with their expertise in the design, development and management of wireless telecommunications facilities.

Cellular Antennas To Be Upgraded On California Water Tower

The Yerlington City Council approved a proposal from Verizon Wireless to upgrade the cellular antennas on the city’s water tower located on California Street. Verizon will remove six existing panel antennas and replaced with the six new panel antennas while also adding five small equipment cases underneath the antennas.

According to RGJ.com, city manager, Dan Newell, said this change “brings us into the new millennium,” and noted that it should allow more phone calls on the local Verizon cellular system, which could be valuable in case of emergencies or big events.

This project will consist of Verizon removing the older analog cellular antennas from the water tower and replacing them the slightly smaller and new digital antennas. Hopefully, once this project is complete there will be improved cell phone coverage for Verizon customers in the area.

Cell Tower Catches Fire In Sanford, FL

Today in Seminole County, Florida a cell phone tower located near Historic Goldsboro Boulevard caught fire. The tower crew was doing welding work when the fire started. There were four employees working on the tower while one was working off-site. The five employees were uninjured; although, one worker was treated on the scene for chest pains.

WFTV reported that, "'It's going to be minimum cellphone service in the area. Cellphone service might be spotty in the area, depending on who your carrier is,' Robles said.”

Firefighters are concerned that the cell tower could collapse. According to Seminole County officials, HWY 17-92 is temporarily closed from 3^rd Street to 20^th Street. (Source: WFTV)

Hurricane Sandy Task Force Recommends Better Construction

President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force released their “Rebuilding Strategy” Monday, August 19^th. Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of 2012, with 286 fatalities and $68 billion in damages. The task force was created to get families back into their homes, get small businesses up and running, and help communities rebuild their critical infrastructure.

One of the recommendations made by the task force is to help, “develop a resilient power strategy for telephone and internet communication systems and equipment, so that our ability to communicate when it’s most necessary is less vulnerable to disaster.”

The FCC reported that Hurricane Sandy knocked out 25% of wireless cell towers and about ¼ of cable services in 10 states. One of the task force’s main strategies is to, “ensure the region is rebuilt in a way that makes it more resilient – that is, better able to withstand future storms and other risks posed by a changing climate.” (Source: Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force Strategy)

Deadline For NATE STAR Initiative Is August 31st

With 10 tower technician accidents in 2013 alone, safety has become a big topic among the wireless tower industry and the National Association of TowerErectors is working hard to encourage members of the tower industry to take safety seriously.

The NATE STAR Initiative was designed to help companies operate safely while recognizing tower erectors who voluntarily adhere to higher standards. The NATE STAR Initiative emphasizes Safety, Training, Accountability and Reliability by asking participants to commit to requisite levels of training, site safety audits and the implementation of safety programs while adhering to industry best practices. (Source: NATE).

This initiative is open to all NATE members who employ tower climbers and NATE encourages all eligible members to take part in this program to show their dedication to tower climber safety. NATE lists a few of the benefits of this program:

•     The NATE STAR Initiative provides a tested and proven method for NATE members to have a direct impact on the safety of tower technicians.
•     On a larger scale, the STAR Initiative is NATE’s next step toward establishing an industry wide culture of safety. The results of this program will help further define what should be expected of qualified tower erectors.

After completing this program you will receive a certificate signed by the NATE Chairman and Executive Director. Enrollment is open from July 1^st to August 31^st each year and this is the only time of the year when new participants are accepted. To learn more about the NATE STAR Initiative and learn about the enrollment process, please click here. This is an excellent opportunity to have an impact on safety in the tower industry and demonstrate that you embrace the highest standards to safeguard your employees.  

AT&T Proposes Cell Tower in Lincoln Park

AT&T has been diligent in their attempts to lease property from the Department of Public Work’s George Cobb Land site because they would like to build a cell tower there.

Stephen Canning of North Jersey reported, “Lincoln Park was first approached by AT&T in early 2011 about the idea and subsequently went out to bid for the right to lease the property. AT&T turned out to be the high bidder, but talks to lease the land and construct a tower fell apart after the sides couldn't agree to terms. Recently however, AT&T approached the borough again about the idea and seemed willing to compromise with Lincoln Park.”

The reason this project fell through before was because Lincoln Park didn’t like the idea of colocators on the cell tower. Colocators are companies that will place their own antenna on an already constructed cell phone tower.

"The borough gets a percentage of the rent from those colocators, but we don't want to have to enter into contract with each one of them and have to manage each one of them," Borough Attorney Tiena Cofoni said. (Source: North Jersey)

This deal is not final because the borough still has to go out to bid and it’s not certain that AT&T will be the highest bidder. 

Cell Tower To Be Installed By Start Of Canfield Fair

A 100-foot cell phone tower will be installed just in time for Ohio’s Canfield Fair. This tower will help improve cell phone coverage at the fairgrounds as well as allow people to have better access to the fair’s mobile app.

Emmalee Torisk of Vindy.com reported that, “Last year, many fair- goers had difficulty getting reception on their cell phones, said Craig Myers, vice president of the fair’s 17-member board of directors, at the board’s roundtable meeting Tuesday.”

AT&T’s portable tower will remedy the issue of too much usage and inadequate coverage in the area. The tower will be taken down after the fair. The fair runs from August 28^th through Labor Day Weekend. This year will mark the 167^th year of the fair in Canfield, Ohio.

“Bev Fisher, fair manager, said she anticipates the tower will offer an improved experience for users of the fair’s mobile app, which remains mostly unchanged from last year,” Torisk reported. 

Brevard County Discusses Plan For Cell Towers

Photo courtesy of Tim Shortt

Tomorrow, Brevard County Florida commissioners will hold a workshop to discuss the issues surrounding the location of cell phone towers and other communication towers in the county. Telecommunications consultant, CityScape Consultants Inc, plans to make a presentation that focuses on a more systematic approach when it comes to the location of the towers so they do not run into neighborhood opposition.

Dave Berman of Florida Today reported that, “County planner, Geroge Ritchie, said county officials plan to discuss whether to begin more actively marketing county-owned properties as potential sites for cell towers, as a way for the county to generate revenue from leasing the land.”

The County Commission already votes on applications for new towers twice a year, rather than considering them throughout the year. This workshop is open to the public and officials of local cell companies, cell tower builders, and several county departments will more than likely be there to give their input as well.