Sprint’s High Wireless Act Without A Net?

Yesterday Inside Towers reported how Wall Street watchdog Seeking Alpha embraced Sprint’s plan to generally go tower-less, hoping to shave costs to a minimum by creating small cell networks on utility poles from California to Maryland with the help of Mobilitie LLC. But a revolution in the way a carrier densifies its service will not go unnoticed by anyone with skin in the game. And, Wall Street has that. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal profiled the Overland Park, KS operation in an article headlined “Sprint’s Wireless Fix: More Telephone Poles,” with the subhed, “Plan to improve network delayed as communities struggle with the unusual antenna requests.”
John Saw, Sprint’s chief technology officer, told the newspaper “It’s not a new concept. All carriers are trying to ‘densify’ their networks.” He added that Sprint’s goal is to be “cheaper and faster and more innovative” than its rivals. While other carriers are also hopping they can attach more antennas to existing utility poles “cash-strapped Sprint aims to take the concept further than rivals: It is hoping to install as many as 70,000 antennas in the public right of way over the next few years. By comparison, it has 40,000 traditional antenna sites on towers or rooftops,” WSJ reporter Ryan Knutson wrote. Continue Reading

NATE’s 2016 #ClimberConnection Campaign Uses Social Media to Share Safety Tips

By Benjamin Horvath
Inside Towers Special Correspondent
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Indiana Wireless Association’s 2016 Summer Newsletter. The IWA is committed to providing an industry voice for wireless companies across the Hoosier state.

Most tower climbers go through annual training so that they’re familiar with the requisite skills needed for their occupation, one that is potentially lethal if safety precautions are not taken. And while this regular training is oftentimes sufficient education for climbers, it’s still important for voices in the industry to consistently reinforce best safety practices and tips. With the explosion of new mediums of information (social media being the most prominent), there are now more ways than ever to capture climbers’ attentions.  Continue Reading

Dycom Pays Goodman Networks $107.5M for Certain Wireless, Wireline Assets

The 47-year-old Palm Beach Gardens operator will get Goodman’s wireless construction services in Texas, Georgia, Southern California and other markets. The new assets are expected to produce revenues ranging from $150 million to $165 million over the next twelve months, the companies said in a joint press release.Goodman expects the transaction to enable the company to shift its strategic focus towards its field services and professional services business segments while continuing to de-leverage and strengthen its financial position. The purchase price of $107.5 million is subject to adjustments for working capital and other specified items. Dycom (NYSE: DY) said it will be financed through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under the company’s senior secured credit facility.
 
The companies offered no specifics about what exactly the deal entailed. Dycom is known for its construction, engineering, site locating, fulfillment and program management.  Continue Reading

Note to Towerland: Use This Time to Prepare for the Rush!

It has been a week since the Wireless Infrastructure Association folded its tent in Dallas and went home to the nation’s capital to prepare for next year’s Wireless Infrastructure Show in Orlando, May 22-25. So there’s been some time since to ponder what exactly was the take away message for the tower industry from the 2016 gathering.
 
First, 2016 is a “trough year”, the year that buffers the truly slow down period from the go-go years. It ‘s a time to catch your breath, find your wallet and keys, and recharge for the coming busy season that is expected over the next decade.

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U.S. Appeals Okays Law Enforcement Use of Stingrays Without Warrants

Police departments will not need search warrants before using Stingrays to obtain tower and cell site information while tracking a suspect’s mobile phone. That’s the 12-3 ruling yesterday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court in Richmond, VA held that the Fourth Amendment permits law-enforcement officials access to records created by service providers that show which cell towers mobile phones connect to when they are in use, the Wall Street Journal reported.
 
With the full bench of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voting, the decision allows investigators to get the information under the legal theory that it has been disclosed to third parties — in such instances, telephone companies, Politico said. Continue Reading

Verizon Reaches Tentative Deal With 36,000 Strikers

After 13 days of talks at the U.S. Department of Labor, the six-week old strike by labor unions against the mostly landline and Internet side of Verizon appeared to have reached a tentative agreement Friday afternoon. U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced that Verizon and the unions have reached an “agreement in principle” on a four-year contract. He said he expects Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) striking workers to be “back on the job next week,” CNN reported. One twist on the possible deal is that it opens the door to Verizon’s wireless retail store entering into a union contract. Both the company and the unions confirmed a deal had been struck but specific details were not released.
 
However, the Communications Workers of America said Verizon has agreed to add “good union jobs” on the East Coast as part of the agreement, CNN said. The CWA also said the agreement will improve the living standards of working families, and paves the way for the first contract for wireless retail store workers. Continue Reading

FCC Fines Chinese C.T.S. Technology Co. $35M For Jamming Devices

The agency slapped the Chinese manufacturer with a heavy fine — $34,912,500 – on Wednesday “for marketing 285 models of signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers via its Aiswa.com website,” wrote the Enforcement Bureau’s Marlene H. Dortch in a four-page Forfeiture Order on Wednesday.

“These devices, which were advertised for sale to U.S. consumers, were designed to disrupt a variety of communications systems, including all major cellphone networks, WiFi systems, and even Global Positioning System (GPS) channels,” Dortch wrote. “Some of the more dangerous devices were advertised as having the capacity to jam communications for a distance of over one-half mile. C.T.S. Technology in fact sold several of these high-powered jamming devices to undercover FCC personnel, who had posed as consumers, and shipped the equipment to the United States.” Continue Reading