FCC Plans to Regulate BDS Rates, Industry Howls

The FCC in April proposed new rules for Business Data Services (BDS) as part of “an internet protocol environment” but met with wide industry disapproval this week as more than four dozen comments were filed against the plan to regulate rates.

Multichannel News reported that the FCC wants to put a price cap regulation “for cable operators’ business services, in the category now called BDS that used to be called special access.”

Critical comments spanned from industry trade groups to carriers to major towercos. Crown Castle, with more than 40,000 towers for shared wireless infrastructure, argued that “commenters who supported rate regulation ‘completely ignore or merely pay lip service to this critical investment dynamic.’” The company continued with its argument, stating that “rate regulation would be antithetical to the commission’s goal of promoting network investment by competing providers and thereby increasing competitive alternatives for BDS” and said that “rate regulation would deter investment.” Continue Reading

FCC Agreement To Streamline Deployment Met With Approval

The FCC’s recent Amended Co-location Agreement is drawing applause from industry representatives.  Jonathan Adelstein, CEO and President of WIA  said, “The Wireless Infrastructure Association commends the FCC for its collaborative and ongoing effort to promote the efficient and responsible deployment of wireless broadband. The FCC is taking a big step forward by streamlining the review of small cell and Distributed Antenna System (DAS) deployments under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This agreement shows how government entities and industry can work together to deploy wireless infrastructure while also protecting historic resources. The action the FCC takes today will enable 5G technologies of tomorrow by reducing a regulatory barrier to wireless infrastructure deployment.” Adelstein said yesterday. Continue Reading

Alaska’s Budget Cuts Puts GCI Out In The Cold

As a result of the State of Alaska’s failure to approve a 2016 fiscal plan, General Communications Inc. (GCI) has announced it will decrease its spending by 20 to 25%, reports the Alaska Journal of Commerce in a recent article.
 
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker put forward a plan to fund the state government by restructuring the state’s Permanent Fund. Although passed in the Senate, the House failed to vote on the bill, leading Walker to veto $1.3 billion in state spending. 

GCI had originally planned to spend roughly $210 million in 2017 on expanding its rural presence within the state, which it had been doing by “adding redundancies to existing broadband networks,” says the article. Continue Reading

NATE Releases Weather Conditions Video

Video Unveiled as Part of NATE’s #ClimberConnection Campaign Series

(Watertown, South Dakota) – The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a Weather Conditions Video as part of the Association’s 2016 Climber Connection campaign. 

The video features testimonial footage of a tower technician discussing the temperature extremes that industry workers are often exposed to when performing work at a communication tower site. The segment depicts the symptoms associated with heat and cold stress and the importance of proactive recognition and awareness of these symptoms. Additionally, the video also includes practical, life-saving treatment steps for workers to adhere to when experiencing the varying degree of symptoms related to extreme heat and cold exposure. Continue Reading

Analyst: Why 5G Won’t Happen (At Least Not Any Time Soon)

The new marketing buzzword across media platforms is “5G”. With the growth of the telecom sector over the past decade, the general public has come to expect innovation as inevitable, and thus 5G has become the presumed future of the industry. 
 
But not so fast, said Peter White, Principal Analyst and Founder at Rethink Technology Research.
In a recent article, the research company made its case on why 5G “is in danger of never happening or… not happening in the manner and timescale that we are being told.” Continue Reading

AT&T Preps For Comic-Con With COWs And COLTs

Comic-Con is coming to San Diego later this week, and with that, AT&T is bringing in help that sounds more like it belongs on the farm than relieving mobile data needs.
 
More than 100,000 people are expected at the event, according to Times of San Diego, so AT&T is rolling in a cell on light truck (COLT) at the San Diego Convention Center, a COW (cell on wheels)... Continue Reading

Twenty-eight Rural Wireless Carriers Bidding In The 600MHz Auction

Last Friday, the FCC released its approved bidder list for the ongoing 600 MHz spectrum auction which includes 28 companies who have been given “rural wireless bidding credits,” reports telecompetitor.com. These credits will enable rural carriers to submit bids that are 15% higher than they will actually have to pay in order to obtain spectrum. 
 
Phase 1 of the auction concluded last month, and Phase 2, in which carriers bid on spectrum television stations are willing to relinquish, is expected to begin next month. Spectrum used for television is well suited for rural deployment due to its wide-ranging propagation, decreasing the number of towers needed to cover a large area. Continue Reading