Fall Claims Life in Storey County, Nevada

The Storey County Nevada Sheriff’s Department confirmed the death of a tower tech just east of Patrick, NV on Friday. The climber, whose name is withheld pending confirmation, was working, according to sources, on a modification for Sprint on a site owned by American Tower located at 1200 Waltham Way. Sources said the climber fell 80-to-100 feet from the 252-foot structure. He was reportedly an employee of Broken Arrow Communications (BACOM). The company closed for the weekend early Friday afternoon and representatives were unavailable for comment.

Funds are being collected for the family of the deceased by two venues:

• The Hubble Foundation
• Tower Family Foundation

FCC’s Pai and Rosenworcel Quarrel Over 5G Auction Rules

The FCC established procedures Wednesday for the third auction of high-band, flexible-use licenses suitable for 5G. This auction of upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz spectrum bands will be the largest spectrum auction so far, offering licenses covering up to 3,400 megahertz.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel sparred during the vote, with Rosenworcel partially dissenting from her colleagues. Rosenworcel said 16 countries have auctioned spectrum for 5G services and made mid-band spectrum their priority. She ticked off a list that included Japan, Germany, South Korea, the UK and the United Arab Emirates, among others. “But in the United States, we have yet to auction a single swath of mid-band spectrum,” said Rosenworcel.  

Rosenworcel cautioned: “It’s increasingly apparent that the United States is alone in its mission to make millimeter wave spectrum the core of its domestic 5G approach, and if we continue on this path, prioritizing high band airwaves, we are going to have a serious problem. We will find ourselves on the sidelines, as mid-band spectrum becomes the core of worldwide 5G service. That means less scale, higher costs, interoperability challenges, and less security as other nation's technologies proliferate.” Continue Reading

Amid High Drama, FCC Votes to Open 2.5 GHz to Wireless Use

The FCC voted Wednesday to update its rules for the 2.5 GHz band to make this mid-band spectrum available for advanced wireless services. The 2.5 GHz band is the single largest band of contiguous spectrum below 3 GHz. It offers favorable coverage and capacity characteristics for next-generation mobile services, according to the Commission. The contentious vote partially split along party lines, with the majority Republicans saying the band is underutilized and the minority Democrats countering the item is unfair to the schools and educational systems that now use the spectrum.

Inside Towers reported Commissioner Brendan Carr has been querying some current users of the so-called Education Broadband Services (EBS) spectrum, saying some are not using the funds for the purpose which they’re intended, but diverting the money to other uses — like political purposes. “We need to get to the bottom of these shady practices. Strong enforcement is especially important right now, because this order allows national nonprofits and all other 2.5 GHz license holders to sell their licenses potentially at great profit.”

Carr also says the current 30 percent build-out obligation is “out of step” with the performance requirements the agency imposes on other wireless licensees and should be raised to 80 percent. The Report & Order doesn’t specify that, he said, but creates a way to do so in the future. Continue Reading

CTIA Study Shows Spectrum Efficiency Increased 42 Times Since 2010

U.S. wireless providers increased their spectrum efficiency 42 times since 2010, according to a new white paper released by CTIA, the wireless industry association. U.S. wireless networks handled 948 million megabytes for every one megahertz of spectrum in 2010. They now handle 39.9 billion MBs/MHz due to significant industry investment in networks and technology.

Facing a growth curve in mobile data use—which nearly doubled last year alone—and as 5G places more demand on wireless networks, wireless providers are investing billions to increase their spectrum efficiency. "This paper conclusively demonstrates that America's wireless providers are excellent stewards of their spectrum assets, a limited natural resource," said CTIA SVP/CTO Tom Sawanobori.

The wireless industry increased their network spectral efficiency by refarming existing spectrum, quickly deploying new spectrum assets and deploying denser wireless infrastructure. These efforts helped U.S. providers serve over 589,000 subscribers for each megahertz of spectrum. That’s more than twice that of Japan, three and a half times that of Germany, and four times that of the U.K., according to CTIA. Continue Reading

Crown Seeks Court Help to Fight Hempstead, NY

Crown Castle sought an injunction against the town of Hempstead, NY in federal court after Hempstead cancelled its license agreement and demanded the company remove all 152 small cell nodes within the town’s right-of-way (ROW.)

Crown alleges Hempstead threatened to remove the equipment itself if Crown did not, by the end of the day, on July 6, at Crown’s cost. “With this illegal termination, demand, and threat,” the town breached the ROW license agreement and “violated Sections 253 and 332 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which limits the power of municipalities to regulate the deployment of telecommunications facilities and personal wireless service facilities,” writes Crown in its complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Crown Castle also seeks a temporary restraining order to stop the town from removing the facilities from the ROW. Given the short time-frame, Crown sought an expedited review. Crown filed the document June 28. The court gave Hempstead until July 17, to explain why the town should not be prevented from removing Crown’s equipment. Continue Reading

Congresswoman Offers C-Band Compromise

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, released a discussion draft of a compromise bill to repurpose C-band spectrum. The “WIN 5G Act” proposes a consensus-based, compromise approach to rapidly and equitably reallocate spectrum between the frequencies of 3.7 GHz-4.2 GHz, commonly referred to as the “C-band.” It also incorporates a framework to reallocate spectrum between 3.45 GHz-3.55 GHz for commercial wireless use, provides research and development resources for commercializing additional spectrum, and creates and funds an all-new Rural Broadband Deployment Fund.

Matsui says the measure will, “ensure that spectrum is reallocated rapidly, that the maximum amount of C-band spectrum is made available for wireless use, and that consumers and C-band distribution are protected throughout the transition.” She believes the compromise is necessary to clear any legal challenges that would arise by adopting any existing proposal. Continue Reading

Tower Scare Chases California Preschool

Another California school is getting prominent network coverage by a local CBS news station in Sacramento. KOVR-TV, the same station that aired the Ripon, CA tower cancer scare (later sourced to carcinogenic chemicals in the drinking water) aired a two-part report last week on a preschool that is facing closure over the erection of a nearby Verizon monopole. The Ripon story was cited as one of the causes for the panic.

According to the report, the school has been faced with closure, due to the sudden appearance of a monopole near a preschool housed in a shopping mall.  At least 34 families have given notice to Kids, Inc. that they are pulling their children out of the school when the tower gets turned on sometime next month. The tower, a camouflaged mono-palm design, was unanimously approved by the Folsom Planning Committee in July 20, 2016, due to its proximity to the Palladio Mall and the need for coverage in the high-traffic area. Continue Reading