Storm Takes Down a Famous 1,480-Foot Tower in South Dakota

By Jim Fryer, Inside Towers Managing Editor

Photos and video courtesy of VIKOR Teleconstruction A television tower, owned by Gray Media Group and the home of KDLT-TV, was one of many structures damaged in a storm that swept through South Dakota last week, according to the broadcaster. It is doubtful, however, any of the other weather-ravaged properties had achieved the world-wide attention of the iconic tall tower that dominated the plains twenty miles west of Sioux Falls. The loss of the 1,480-foot behemoth, built in 1976 and located near Salem, was mourned by the crews who climbed it and the companies that serviced it. VIKOR Teleconstruction CEO Craig Snyder said, “Sad to see it go. In the 1980s, we spent a lot of time working on that tower. The TV antenna got turned off after they built a new tower during the high definition transition.” He added, “But the owner didn't have the heart to take it down so the only work on the tower for years has been light bulb replacement and preventative maintenance.” Continue Reading

5G Obstacles and Opportunities Vetted at Connect (X)

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

The rate and reach of 5G deployments are a concern among mobile networks operators and their contractors and suppliers. That was the topic of discussion at Connect (X) this week in a panel moderated by Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers contributing analyst and Network Builder Reports tech journalist. Participating on the panel were: Michael Pelletier, Vice President, Sales & Business Development, Arcosa Telecom Structures, Christian Hillabrant, Chief Operating Officer, Tillman Infrastructure, and Ross T. Krutchen, Vice President, Wireless Operations, Mears Group. The panel acknowledged the 5G opportunity in robust mobile data consumption that is expected to double over the next two to three years. That demand is driving extensive wireless infrastructure builds. But the timing and rate of deployment is under stress from a variety of factors. Continue Reading

View From the Top Panel Discusses Strengths, Weaknesses of Towers

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Photo by J. Sharpe Smith   With three strong carriers, a fourth carrier actively building out nationally and a lot of spectrum, speakers on the “View From the Top” panel on the second day of Connect (X) in Denver, said the outlook is extremely good for towers and for wireless infrastructure. However, uncertainty in the economy, nationally and around the world, is having an impact more than in the past.  Moderated by Jonathan Adelstein, President and CEO, the panel comprised Alex Gellman, CEO and Co-founder, Vertical Bridge; Steve Vondran, Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division, American Tower Corporation; Jeff Stoops, Director, President and CEO, SBA Communications; and Jay Brown, CEO, Crown Castle International. Continue Reading

Adelstein Highlights Wins, Expansion as He Opens Connect (X)

 By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Photo by J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers

As he opened his last Connect (X) show as the President and CEO of WIA, Jonathan Adelstein said he’s most proud of the advocacy organization’s successes at all levels of government, including on Capitol Hill, at the White House, at the FCC, and in state legislatures. “We’ve had huge wins in Congress over the past 10 years. We expanded colocation, and compound expansion, by right under Section 6409. We saved the industry $250 million on unnecessary tower marking rules,” he said in Denver on Tuesday.

Adelstein also cited the FCC’s adoption of rules to streamline wireless infrastructure siting, and two-thirds of the states have enacted small cell bills that follow WIA’s model. The lobbying organization won a framework in Congress for a flexible, all-the-above approach, including fixed and mobile wireless, along with fiber. Continue Reading

Connect (X) Kicks Off Live From Denver

The Wireless Infrastructure Association’s (WIA) 2022 Connect (X) conference got underway in Denver yesterday with its Annual Golf Tournament followed by an Infrastructure Developers Forum Meeting and a TEC Workshop on the Impact of 5G on Wireless Infrastructure. A full range of sessions begins today that run the gamut from Densifying the 5G Network to State of the State Wireless Associations.

WIA President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein will provide the opening remarks followed by keynote addresses from Mark Dankberg, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board and Executive Chairman at Viasat, Inc and Dave Mayo, Executive Vice President - Network Deployment at DISH Network. Various breakout sessions include: Connecting the Unconnected – From Smart Cities to Satellites; WiFi and Private Cellular Network Coexistence; Can Rural Deployments Make Money and Bridge the Digital Divide? and more. Tuesday events will conclude with the Sixth Annual Music Movement & Connect (X) Charity Concert.  For a full schedule of events, click here.

Inside Towers will be there with staff and provide coverage of the event with Technology Editor Sharpe Smith; Business Editor John Celentano; Managing Editor Jim Fryer and Advertising Account Executive Tony Louis.

Canada Joins the Exodus from Huawei, ZTE 5G Equipment

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Huawei and ZTE will soon see another international customer slam its door on their 5G technology. The Government of Canada is banning the use of equipment supplied by them because it has “serious concerns” that they could be directed by foreign governments in ways that would harm Canadian interests.  “Today, the Government of Canada is ensuring the long term safety of our telecommunications infrastructure,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Canada Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “As part of that, the government intends to prohibit the inclusion of Huawei and ZTE products and services in Canada’s telecommunications systems.” Continue Reading

NTIA: 34 States and Territories Sign Up for Internet for All Initiative

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Source: NTIA The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) says 34 states and territories plan to participate in the Administration’s Internet for All initiative, which will invest $45 billion to provide affordable, reliable high-speed internet for everyone in the country by the end of the decade.     Since NTIA began accepting applications for the initiative last Friday, the following states and territories have sent in their letter of intent or indicated they will participate: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, United States Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Continue Reading

Carr Wants Mandatory Network Disaster Resilience Rules for Wireless Carriers

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called for the FCC to update the wireless resiliency framework for disasters that carriers follow to speed communications restoration following crises. Currently, the program is voluntary. Carr proposes making it mandatory. He urged quick action, citing the proliferation of wildfires out west and the approach of the 2022 hurricane season. The current framework stems from 2016. Carr commends the wireless industry for “stepping up to the plate” back then. “With the passage of time and experience learned under this framework,” he says, he believes it’s time to build and expand on it. Continue Reading

Verizon Budgets an Extra $149 Million of CapEx Into Florida Market

Verizon announced it is responding to Florida’s exponential and unexpected population increase by allocating an additional $149 million to its local capital spending to meet skyrocketing demands on the network.

From January 2020 to April of this year, more than a quarter of a million of its wireless customers have moved to Florida, and data traffic has spiked, according to the carrier. The company cites that since early 2020, rush-hour traffic in Miami has increased by 364 percent, in Tampa by 135 percent, in Orlando by 408 percent, in West Palm Beach by 165 percent, in Fort Myers by 173 percent, in Collier by 257 percent, and in Glades by 271 percent. 

“We are used to seeing seasonal increases in population in Florida and have always accommodated those temporary fluctuations with temporary network assets to add capacity at various times of the year,” said Kyle Malady, EVP and President, Global Networks and Technology. “With the evolution of the distributed workforce resulting from the pandemic, we’re seeing more people permanently change locations to Florida, and other places. Experiencing the impact of this influx, we revised our forecasting models and are pouring additional capital into the state to grow our coverage and capacity to meet the increased demands.” Continue Reading

5G mmWave Use Cases Touted as Moneymakers

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

There are a number of different ways that carriers can get a quick return on investment from the deployment of millimeter wave technology, according to Philippe Poggianti, Vice President, Business Development, Qualcomm France, who led a master class, titled “5G mmWave Business Insights,” during last week’s Qualcomm 5G Summit, held in San Diego.  If the mmWave nodes are strategically located, the return of investment will be faster and require less initial rollout, according to Poggianti. A study by Bell Labs shows that deployments in just 2,000 high density locations covering 24 percent of subscribers on a daily basis will provide a 55 percent ROI in four to five years. Some of the first deployments of mmWave infrastructure are occurring in stadiums by Verizon in the U.S. commercially, as well as in Germany on a pre-commercial basis. They will be followed by train stations, airports, indoor shopping malls, and outdoor hotspots where people congregate. Continue Reading

NTIA’s “Internet for All” Launch Sparks Swift Reaction, Pro and Con

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee are concerned over comments that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo made about the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week.   Raimondo went to Durham, NC, on Friday to launch the Administration’s Internet for All initiative. It will invest $45 billion with the goal of providing affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for everyone in the U.S. by the end of the decade. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will administer and implement the program. She said governors can send their letters of intent to receive the broadband money. Each state gets $5 million to help officials consult with residents and write its plan. Continue Reading

Infrastructure Business Strength Not Reflected in Stock Prices

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

For more in-depth industry insights, subscribe to Inside Towers Intelligence To look at recent stock prices of infrastructure companies – towers, fiber, data centers – one might think that these companies are badly underperforming. On the contrary, the leading infrastructure companies and their mobile network operator customers reported solid financial gains for 1Q22 and even raised their full-year 2022 guidance of key operating metrics. The chart compares our proprietary Wireless Infrastructure Value Index to the NASDAQ composite index over a 52-week period dating back to May 7, 2021. The Value Index comprises 12 leading infrastructure companies: three tower companies (American Tower, Crown Castle, SBA Communications), five data center companies (Equinix, Digital Realty Trust, Iron Mountain, Switch, Cyxtera Technologies), two fiber companies (Lumen Technologies, Uniti Group) and two diversified infrastructure companies (Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, DigitalBridge Group). Continue Reading

Revolutionary Technology Catapults Satellites into Space

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Image courtesy of Spinlaunch Just when you thought the delivery of satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) had been forever revolutionized by Elon Musk, a Long Beach, CA-based spaceflight tech development company comes up with the idea to use a centrifuge to literally fling satellites into space. The company, SpinLaunch, promises to be an alternative method for launching 440-pound LEO satellites into space using one quarter of the fuel, at one tenth of the cost, multiple times per day.   Traditional fuel-based rockets use boosters that expend millions of cubic feet of methane or thousands of pounds of hydrogen. SpinLaunch, however, uses a ground-based, electric powered kinetic launch system, which relies on high-speed centrifugal forces — G forces — to propel the satellite into orbit, like a track and field athlete spinning and throwing the discus. Continue Reading

5G and NFT May be Synonymous Someday

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

To find the use cases for 5G, it helps to look at the rise of other technologies. Take, for example, experiential NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are being used by fans in areas like sports, fashion and gaming.  In the future, NFTs will evolve from being used to authenticate, buy and sell JPEGs of pieces of art to experiencing augmented reality and mixed reality, which will demand more bandwidth. The additional spectrum will help reduce latency and create a “more immersive” experience, according to David Cash, founder of Cash Labs, which focuses on NFT experiences. This is where 5G comes in. Continue Reading

Industry Bemoans Verizon Exit From Drone Services, Sort of

 By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology EditorIn a shift to robots on the ground, Verizon Wireless has told its customers that it is ending the operations of Skyward drone services in the coming weeks. Skyward provided drone operations management software for airspace access, safe workflows, and compliance, as well as consulting.

“This was not an easy decision,” Verizon told its customers in an email. “The Verizon Robotics team will be focusing our efforts on ground robot management, connectivity services, and solution development.” Continue Reading

Lawmakers Push for Full Funding of USDA Rural Broadband Programs

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are joining 21 of their colleagues to push for full funding of the USDA rural broadband loan and grant program for Fiscal Year 2023. The 2018 Senate-passed Farm Bill increased the annual funding authorization level of the USDA broadband program to $350 million. Congress also authorized supplemental funding of $1.9 billion over 10 years for the ReConnect Pilot program in the Infrastructure Law, an extra $2 billion investment on USDA programs for expanding broadband in rural areas. Continue Reading

FAA Urges Airlines to Update Radio Altimeters

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

UPDATE The FAA is urging airlines to retrofit or replace older radio altimeters that receive transmissions from outside their authorized frequencies — specifically 5G signals on the nearby C-band. The FAA met Wednesday with telecom and airline industry officials, reports Reuters. Radio altimeters are authorized to use the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band, while 5G C-band licenses are for 3.7 to 3.98 GHz. Some older altimeters can’t filter out the C-band emissions. Continue Reading

FCC Grants More Than 4,000 Flexible-Use 3.45 GHz Wireless Licenses

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The FCC on Wednesday granted 4,041 flexible-use licenses for wireless services in the 3.45 GHz band to winning bidders in Auction 110. The auction closed in January.  The five bidders with the largest total gross bids were: AT&T: $9.1B; DISH (bidding as Weminuche): $7.3B; T-Mobile: $2.9B; 345 Spectrum: $1.3B and UScellular: $579M. Verizon did not bid, Inside Towers reported.  The five bidders winning the most licenses were: AT&T: 1,624; DISH: 1,232; UScellular: 380; Cherry Wireless: 319 and T-Mobile: 199. Continue Reading

Transportation Secretary Predicts 5G Near Airport Issue to Linger Over Summer

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The dispute over the safety of 5G C-band signals near airports will linger past the summer deadline for reaching a solution. That’s according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He told the Senate Appropriations Committee last Thursday that dialogue between all parties is encouraging, and AT&T and Verizon agreed. Buttigieg said a possible technological fix to concerns about potential interference to airplane radio altimeters from 5G operations by Verizon and AT&T remains “a top concern,” reported CNET. He told lawmakers he’ll continue to keep a close eye on interference concerns. The inter-agency dispute pitted the FAA, the airline industry, and the Transportation Department against the FCC and wireless carriers. The White House got involved as well at the last minute. It resulted in flight cancellations in January and twice delayed 5G rollouts for the carriers, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

U.S. Wireless CapEx Outlook Stays Positive

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

The big three U.S. mobile network operators – Verizon (NYSE: VZ), T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and AT&T (NYSE: T) – in their 1Q22 earnings reports, gave the industry a positive indication of their planned network investments. The outlook through 2025 bodes well for a sustained high level of capital expenditures to modernize and expand their networks. Based on guidance provided in their Investor Day presentations and in their earnings calls, it appears that full-year 2022 will be the peak year reaching $46 billion among these three MNOs, then tapering out through 2025. On top of the Big 3 tally for 2022, DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) expects to invest about $2 billion, UScellular (NYSE: USM) planned spending is in the $750-800 million range, and the regional wireless carriers will invest around $300-500 million. Continue Reading

New Bill Would Free Up More Mid-Band Spectrum for Wireless Broadband

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Members of Congress introduced a bill to free up more spectrum for wireless broadband use. If passed, the Spectrum Innovation Act of 2022 would mean faster speeds and more responsive networks for consumers, according to sponsors. In addition to up to 200 MHz of spectrum auctioned for mobile broadband, this bill will help usher in new, innovative, and flexible spectrum uses. That’s according to bill sponsors, Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and John Thune (R-SD) and U.S. Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Bob Latta (R-OH). “The federal government must leverage every tool at its disposal to ensure every American has a reliable internet connection, and that’s exactly what this bill does,” said Luján, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband. His Senate colleague Thune, who is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, said the bill builds on the work of his Mobile Now Act, which became law in 2018, by freeing up much-needed mid-band spectrum. Continue Reading