American Tower Enjoys ‘Double-Digit Revenue Growth,’ Ups Dividend 30%

There is joy in Beantown for the folks at American Tower Corp. The Boston-based international tower conglomerate on Friday reported total revenue soared more than 22 percent to $1.28 billion in its fourth quarter ending December 31, 2015, and that property revenue increased 21.5 percent to $1.251 billion. Per share earnings were $1.27 beating Barclay’s estimate of $1.21 but off from the third quarter’s $1.31 per share earnings. Continue Reading

When The Saints Come Marching Home …

Coach Sean Payton’s Motivational Message Enthuses NATE UNITE 2016 Attendees

New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton delivers the NATE Unite 2016 keynote address on Wednesday before a full house in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. NATE Executive Director Todd Schlekeway said Payton delivered “an outstanding message that focused on teamwork and perseverance. Continue Reading

Ernie Jones Remembered by Scholarship

$2,500 Scholarship to be Awarded Annually to Civil Engineering Student

New Orleans, LA – The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) and the Tower Family Foundation yesterday announced the creation of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN. The announcement, honoring the legacy of the late Ernie Jones, was made at the Awards Luncheon during the annual NATE UNITE 2016 Conference here.

The Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship will be a $2,500 scholarship awarded annually to a junior or senior level civil engineering student at the University of Evansville’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. Continue Reading

Tracy, Miller and Carlson elected to NATE’s Executive Committee

New Orleans, LA. — On Sunday, the eve of the National Association of Tower Erector’s 21st conference and expo in New Orleans, NATE Unite 2016, the board of directors met to elect the association’s Executive Committee for the coming year.  Jim Tracy of Legacy Telecommunications, Inc. was elected to serve as NATE Chairman, Jim Miller of EasTex Tower, Inc. was re-elected Vice Chairman, and Kari Carlson of Tower Systems, Inc. was re-elected to serve as NATE Secretary/Treasurer. 

Tracy has been a member of the NATE Board of Directors for five years With his election, he becomes the 6th Chairman in NATE’s 21-year history. Miller has been a member of the NATE Board of Directors for seven years and been active in leadership roles as Board Oversight for the Safety & Education Committee and a member of the Legislative & Regulatory Committee. Carlson has been a member of the NATE Board of Directors for nine years and has also served on the Association’s Financial Committee and Industry Relations Committee. Continue Reading

NATE Unite 2016 TO Be Record-Breaking Event In Big Easy

New Orleans, LA., February 22, 2016 – Some 1,600 members of the tower industry are expected to converge on the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center here today for the start of the National Association of Tower Erectors’ NATE Unite 2016, a four-day intensive event that will include educational seminars on tower, small cells and DAS along with safety programs and equipment displays. 
While attendance is expected to be at a record high for the 21-year-old NATE, a record-high 138 exhibitors will be fanning out across the 1.1 million-square-foot convention floor.
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Stefan Wattermann, 28, Dies in Iowa Tower Fall

Tri-State Tower of Marion, IA yesterday confirmed to Inside Towers that Stefan Watermann, 28, a tower technician for the company, died Wednesday in an apparent fall from a tower while working in Hamilton County, IA. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department told Inside Towers its dispatcher was notified at 4:52 pm. A Tri-State staffer said Watermann lived in Anamosa, IA, but could not provide additional information, noting that the incident is still under investigation. It is unclear who owned the tower or the exact cause of the accident. Continue Reading

5G Gets Its Push

The push is on to get 5G into consumers’ hands. Like tomorrow. But first, it has to be invented, refined and out there. The good news is that’s already happening. Just last week a pair of U.S. senators introduced, as 360Law described it, “bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing the airwaves available for next-generation wireless services and reducing barriers to broadband deployment.”

U.S. Sens. John Thune, (R-SD), and Bill Nelson, (D-FL), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, introduced the Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless, or Mobile Now, Act on February 11. 360Law added the bill codifies President Barack Obama’s 2010 directive to make 500 megahertz of spectrum available for wireless broadband use.” Continue Reading

American Tower: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Okay, Josh Cantrell didn’t say exactly “don’t worry, be happy” about American Tower’s stock price but the headline over his article in SeekingAlpha.com did read: “American Tower: Investor Worries Overdone.” On February 10, he said, “American Tower’s stock price has been punished of late and currently sits at a 52-week low. The market seems to be running from companies with high levels of debt and/or high P/E multiples. AMT has both.”

But Cantrell reasoned that AMT debt and high P/E “are attributable to aggressively measured growth initiatives around the globe, rather than irresponsible spending or mismanagement.” He also believes that medium- to long-term prospects “look very promising for AMT and growth story remains intact.” Continue Reading

FCC-DOL Tower Climber Workshop Drives Home Safety

WASHINGTON, DC — The upcoming repacking of TV stations and the subsequent auction of spectrum has the potential for creating an historic demand on the tower industry, particularly on tower climbers. And that’s cause for a stepped-up concern for safety.

The FCC and the Department of Labor have joined forces to reduce communications tower-related fatalities and injuries. Yesterday, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) hosting a workshop on tower climber safety and Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) at FCC’s Washington headquarters that featured a virtual Who’s Who in the tower industry.

By FCC estimates, as many as 90 industry movers-and-shakers took part in the workshop. Continue Reading

Springfield, IL Residents Warm to Tower Relocation Plan

A proposal to relocate and erect a 175-foot tower, 75-feet higher than a nearby tower that it could replace near Iles Park, got a cool reception from Springfield, IL residents on Monday. But once they learned Crown Castle could pay the town $14,500 annually and the proceeds could be used to improve the park, they warmed to the plan. Derek Harms, executive director of the park district, said the proposed location for the cell tower would cause minimal, if any, impact on how people currently use the park or any future development plans, the Springfield Journal-Review reported.
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Desert Town Installs “Shot Clock” To Speed Tower Decision Process

The Barstow, CA City Council unanimously approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance that will specify requirements for approving future cell tower proposals, including a so-called shot clock. The ordinance supposedly addresses new California legislation and FCC rules. Barstow, whose main street is part of the original US Route 66, is a transportation hub in the Mojave Desert for railroads and highways, and is expecting future population and tower growth.

According to the Desert Dispatch, the shot clock is the “time from submittal of project to the time the city or county has to approve or deny the project.” Continue Reading

Crane to Train Residents of Indian River Shores on What 135’ Really Is

Standing in the presence of an average NBA player, the typical basketball fan would have a tough time guessing the player’s exact height.  And it’s probably even harder to guess how high a 135-foot tower would be sticking into the sky. But the folks in Indian River Shores, FL will get a better idea around midday today. Town officials say a crane will be extended 135-feet into the air from 12:30-to-2 pm at the electric substation at the west end of Fred Tuerk Drive. The crane then moves to the north side of the Town Hall complex, 6001 State Road A1A, from 2 to 3:30 pm.

“We encourage all interested residents to be sure to view the crane at these locations,” Town Manager Rob Stabe told tcpalm.com. “This will help them gain a reasonably accurate idea of what it would look like if a tower were to be installed." Continue Reading

Tailgating Pot Smoker Suspected Of Tower Battery Thefts

Oh, wow man! This is a case of a buzz gone bust. It started off as a normal traffic stop. Deputies in Carroll County, GA pulled over motorist Dexter Sterling James of Stone Mountain, GA. on January 27 for following too closely. But investigators now believe James, 45, could be connected to a string of thefts at cell towers ranging from Texas to North Carolina.

When a deputy approached the newer model silver Chevrolet Silverado, he smelled marijuana. James, who was wearing a brightly colored safety vest and white construction hat, also had a tower company employee’s lanyard dangling from his neck. (It later turned out the credentials were vintage, tower company officials told authorities James hadn’t worked for the company for at least four years.) With consent, deputies searched the vehicle — which was complete with a yellow strobe siren on the top of the cab — and found a small amount of marijuana and a pair of bolt cutters and other tools. They also found several large cell batteries in the bed of the truck, according to the Times-Georgian newspaper of Carrollton. Continue Reading

Technology Companies Plan for Super Bowl 50

Sunday’s game between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos is sure to be an epic matchup, and preparations are well under way to make sure each gigabit, snapchat, selfie and all-around posts go down without a fumble.

Verizon has been planning for Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium for two years. Verizon engineers will count gigabits during the big game in “a pair of bungalows” south of the Bay Area, FierceWireless reports. Network World reports that about 100 engineers will oversee Verizon’s network “through real-time feeds that indicate the number of phones connected and the total amount of data being used.” Continue Reading

Cobb County, GA Planners Recommend 165’ Monopole on Church Grounds

Despite neighborly opposition, Cobb County, GA.’s five-member Planning Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend approval of a proposed tower to be constructed on the grounds of Wildwood Baptist Church in Acworth, GA. That’s about 11 miles north of Marietta. Yesterday, MariettaDailyJournalOnline.com reported “the final decision to approve the special land use permit could come at the February 6, Board of Commissioners zoning meeting.” Continue Reading

Florida Town Considers Tower Up to 135’ If Necessary

Indian River Shores on Florida’s East Coast has invested $15,000 in an independent consultant to tell city council members how tall a tower should be to meet the town’s communications needs. Some 3,500 people live in the area and the town was originally prepared to approve a 50-foot tower but council members are now open to permitting construction of a tower up to 135-feet if it is determined there is serious deficiency in cell coverage, reports the TC Palm. Their other concern is building a tower capable of addressing the town’s public safety needs.

“The issue is to get the best possible service,” said Mayor Brian Barefoot. “And we need to build the tower in a location that is the least offensive to the largest number of people.” The council’s action last week Barefoot said, did not approve a specific tower, location or which carriers would provide service, the newspaper reported. Continue Reading