Telecom Assets Hold Value as Economy Becomes Unsettled

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Even with today’s higher interest rates and inflationary environment, the market for telecom infrastructure properties remains very robust. That’s according to Pinpoint Capital Advisors, a boutique corporate finance advisory firm specializing in the wireless tower, fiber and data center sectors. Both lenders and equity providers are finding the assets extremely attractive, according to Adrian Grandilli, CFA, Associate Vice President. However, the mix of interested investors is skewing away from private equity firms and toward institutional groups. “We're already seeing an increased appetite from infrastructure and institutional investors who have the ability to transact at these lower returns brought on by higher borrowing costs and inflationary pressures,” said Grandilli, who has worked on a number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital raising mandates since joining Pinpoint in 2016. Continue Reading

PerfectVision Delivers Solutions for 5G Deployments

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Being set up as a manufacturer and a distributor, PerfectVision is positioned to fulfill the bills of material seen on many 5G deployments. The company has six warehouses strategically placed throughout the U.S., which allows it to provide a two-day turnaround from the point of purchase, to 95 percent of the country. Patrick Noonan is the Fiber Optic Product Manager at PerfectVision. “Our fiber-optic product offerings reach almost every segment of the business, from the large backbone of the communications network across the country, to cell sites, homes, and businesses,” Noonan said. PerfectVision added fiber-optic products to its catalog in 2013 when they expanded into the wireless infrastructure business, supporting all the aspects of telecom network infrastructure from design to deployment. Its product line includes passive components that pass the signal along using either cable or connectors. Continue Reading

Feeding the Fiber Frenzy

By Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers Contributing Analyst

At a recent UBS investor conference, AT&T COO Jeff McElfresh described the wide reach of his company’s multi-billion dollar fiber investment. “There are more or less about 10,000 neighborhoods where women and men are digging dirt, laying the fiber and installing service today across this nation,” he said.  Men and women trained to install fiber optic equipment are finding plenty of work as telcos, ISPs, electric utilities and municipalities race to close the digital divide. Demand for fiber technicians is exploding, and in some areas the need for wireless workers appears to be moving in the opposite direction. Continue Reading

FCC Votes to Require Carriers to Use Location-Based Routing of 911 Calls

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

As many as 23 million wireless 911 calls may be mis-routed each year, according to the FCC. Yesterday, Commissioners proposed rules to better target wireless 911 calls and texts to eliminate that problem.  Historically, wireless 911 calls have been routed to 911 call centers based on the location of the cell tower that handles the call. But if a 911 call is made near a county or a city border—the nearest cell tower may be in a neighboring jurisdiction. That means the call needs to be re-routed, costing critical emergency response time, and wasting resources. Continue Reading

Spending Bill Extends FCC Auction Authority, Leaves Out Rip & Replace

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Democratic and Republican appropriators released a $1.7 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill on Tuesday. That sets up a race to the finish line for the 117th Congress by the end of this week. The more than 4,000-page package contains a three month extension for the FCC’s auction authority — to March 9, 2023. But money to fully fund Rip & Replace was left out. The fund to reimburse smaller carriers to remove untrusted equipment from their networks and replace it with new gear has a $3.08 billion shortfall, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

Simington Calls for Mandatory Security Updates for Wireless Devices

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington called on his agency colleagues to change the Commission’s equipment authorization rules and mandate manufacturers to provide security patches for wireless devices. Not doing so puts the country’s wireless networks at risk, he says. “Hundreds of millions of devices are in active use in this country—more every day, and in more applications—are susceptible to known security vulnerabilities, exposing us to theft of private data and to attacks on the integrity of our public and private networks. But some manufacturers and sellers of these devices plan to do absolutely nothing about it,” he told the annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy and Regulation conference on Thursday. Continue Reading

Ericsson Portrays Positive Outlook Despite Expected Slowdowns

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

Ericsson senior managers presented their perspectives on the telecom equipment market over the next several years during the company’s Capital Markets Day, held on December 15. The big takeaway is that Ericsson expects the global radio access network equipment business to be “flat” for several years. However, it expects the 5G RAN market will grow by over 11 percent a year over the next three years.  Sales in North America, Ericsson’s biggest market accounting for 39 percent of 3Q22 sales, continued to grow with strong 5G demand. However, aggregate U.S. mobile network operator capital expenditure is expected to peak in 2022, and then decline somewhat in 2023, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

Two Broadcast Towers Fall in South Dakota

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The winter storm that moved through much of the country this week knocked down two TV towers in South Dakota on Wednesday. The larger, 1,700-foot TV tower is owned by Nexstar KDLO-TV. An adjacent 800-foot tower also fell that day, according to NorthPine. The Inside Towers database indicates the tower was built in 1978.   Antennas for Alpha Media’s KDLO-FM were also on the larger tower under a lease agreement. KDLO is back on-air, broadcasting from a backup facility, notes Inside Radio. The station says it’s broadcasting with reduced signal strength and coverage, but listeners can also tune in online at: www.gowatertown.net. Continue Reading

American Tower Sued for $1B for Allegedly Breaching LatAm Deals

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Terra Towers Corporation filed a lawsuit against American Tower International in a Miami-Dade court on Tuesday, accusing them of breaching a $1 billion acquisition and development deal across numerous Latin American markets, collectively known as Project Codu.  Terra and Terra TBS own the majority of shares in Continental Towers, which owns and operates cell phone towers primarily in Central America, Peru and Colombia. Beginning late in 2017 and throughout 2018, Terra and American Tower negotiated the proposed acquisition of the towers owned by Continental Towers and DTH, an affiliate of Terra. Continue Reading

T-Mobile Expands 5G Network with New Mid-Band Spectrum Layer

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced that it has expanded its Ultra Capacity 5G nationwide coverage and capacity. The company says it is adding a “massive boost” to its Ultra Capacity 5G network with a new nationwide layer of 1900 MHz mid-band 5G spectrum. Use of 1900 MHz spectrum dates back to 2G when Sprint launched the U.S.’s first Personal Communications Service digital cellular network in November, 1995, in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. T-Mobile garnered that large swath of 1900 MHz spectrum when it merged with Sprint in April 2020. Today, T-Mobile commands an aggregate national weighted average spectrum depth of 323 MHz across the various 5G mid-band frequencies it owns. The 178 MHz of EBS/BRS 2.5 GHz spectrum that it also gained in the Sprint deal represents the lion’s share. The 1900 MHz band adds another 66 MHz. The company also has 37 MHz of AWS-1 (1.7/2.7 GHz) spectrum. The remaining 42 MHz is primarily 27 MHz of C-band and 12 MHz of 3.45 GHz, won in FCC Auctions 107 and 110, respectively. Continue Reading

EU Regulators Loosen Restrictions for 5G State Aid

To achieve The European Commission’s goal of delivering 5G to all European households by 2030, regulators have adopted new legislation regarding state aid rules to enable more accessible financing and rollout of high-speed broadband. Reuters reported that the Broadband Guidelines will provide “an up-to-date framework to support the digital transition and reflect technological, regulatory and market developments.”

“The revised Broadband Guidelines adopted today are a major step towards a successful European digital transition. They will make it easier for member states to support the deployment of performant broadband networks in insufficiently connected areas. This will benefit consumers, businesses, and the public sector,” said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy. “By reducing the digital divide, the new rules will further contribute to correcting social and regional inequalities across the EU.” Continue Reading

CCA, NATE, WIA Urge Congress to Close “Rip & Replace” Funding Gap

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Several telecom associations, including the Competitive Carriers Association, NATE and WIA, banded together to urge lawmakers to fully fund “Rip & Replace” before the 117th Congress adjourns. The program was mandated by Congress in 2019, to remove equipment from U.S. communications network gear from Huawei and ZTE deemed to pose a threat to America’s national security and replace it with gear from trusted vendors. This July, the FCC identified a more than $3 billion shortfall in the program, Inside Towers reported. “Absent the funding of this shortfall, carriers could only be reimbursed for approximately 40 percent of their costs, which would preclude them from completing the process,” say the associations in a letter to Senate and House leadership. Continue Reading

U.S. to Spend $1.5B on Domestic Cell Network Gear Production

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The federal government plans to invest $1.5 billion to help spur a standards-based alternative for the gear at the heart of modern cellular networks. The NTIA confirmed the money will go toward domestic alternatives to current wireless network equipment. That could help telecoms faced with replacing network equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE that the U.S. has deemed to be a threat to national security. The NTIA will launch the Innovation Fund program, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson confirmed on Twitter, according to Broadband Breakfast. The funds will come from the Chips and Science Act, the $280 billion legislation meant to fund U.S.-based chip research and manufacturing. "The highly consolidated global market for wireless equipment creates serious risks for both consumers and U.S. companies,” Davidson told Axios. Continue Reading

Thune Begins Broadband “Oversight” Effort

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

In his role as Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, GOP Whip John Thune (R-SD), said he’s launched a nationwide “oversight effort” to review numerous broadband programs spanning several federal agencies. The goal “is to hold these agencies accountable and ensure that previously authorized broadband funding is being used in the most efficient way possible to protect taxpayer dollars,” he says. In a letter to broadband associations, think tanks and other stakeholders, Thune seeks input on the current broadband regulatory structure. “Every federal dollar that has been spent should go toward the stated purpose of expanding connectivity to truly unserved areas,” says Thune. “Congressional oversight has been noticeably absent in these areas, and there is serious concern that the federal government would repeat previous mistakes where agencies’ gross mismanagement of broadband funds fell on the backs of taxpayers across the country.” Continue Reading

Fate of FCC Nominee May Depend on GA Runoff

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Prospects for the administration’s nominee to fill the open Democratic slot at the FCC — Gigi Sohn — may hinge on the outcome of Tuesday’s Georgia U.S. Senate runoff, sources told CNBC. Sohn is more likely to get a vote for her nomination if Democrat Rafael Warnock wins, insiders said. Likewise, Sohn’s candidacy may never come to a vote if Warnock’s opponent, Herschel Walker, wins.   A Warnock win would give Democrats a 51-to-49 Senate majority. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is the only Democrat who still doesn’t support nominee Gigi Sohn and the extra vote would mean the Republicans cannot stop the nomination as she would get through in a tie, sources said. Key Republicans don’t believe Sohn, a longtime public interest lobbyist and Counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, can be impartial if elevated to the position of an FCC Commissioner, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

Verizon C-band Deployments Ahead of Schedule

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) says that its ongoing C-band rollout is a full 13 months ahead of the original schedule and continues to accelerate. Less than 21 months after garnering the lion’s share of C-band licenses in FCC Auction 107 and after securing early access to the top 30 markets this year, Verizon confirms that it has already surpassed its goal of providing coverage to 175 million people by the end of 2022, a month ahead of schedule. It now says that its 5G Ultra-Wideband service will be available nationwide in Q1 2023. Along with providing greater coverage, particularly in rural and suburban areas, Verizon will enhance network capacity by activating 100 MHz of C-band spectrum in many markets. This bandwidth expansion is a significant step up from the 60 MHz that was provisioned with the first C-band deployments. Once all of its licensed spectrum is made available, Verizon will have up to 200 MHz of C-band spectrum deployed in many markets. The company suggests this wide bandwidth will provide very high connectivity speed and throughput capacity. Continue Reading

Orange Reduces Energy Use Across Europe

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

With Europe facing an energy crisis due to Russia’s cutting off of gas supplies, French-based MNO Orange is stepping up its efforts to reduce its energy consumption across its European footprint, which includes Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. To reduce short-term stress on the national energy grid in France, Orange has committed to switching part of its network onto battery power for an hour during peak periods. By doing this, Orange will effectively remove 5 percent to 10 percent of its spot energy usage from the grid, saving up to 20 megawatts of electricity. The carrier’s effort to reduce stress on energy networks across Europe comes in addition to its overall strategy to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact with the aim of becoming net-zero carbon by 2040. Orange has been improving the energy efficiency of its networks in the process of converting to 5G and optimizing data centers with the latest free cooling technologies. As a result, in 2021, CO2 emissions were reduced by 12.1 percent compared to 2015, with a target of 30 percent reduction by 2025. Continue Reading

U.S. Urges FCC to Block Undersea Cable to Cuba

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

A U.S. government committee urged the FCC to deny an application to connect Cuba to the United States through a new undersea cable landing station to handle internet, voice and data traffic. The Justice Department-led panel known as "Team Telecom," said the proposal raised national security concerns because the cable-landing system in Cuba would be owned and controlled by Cuba’s state-owned telecommunications monopoly, Empresa de Telecommunicaciones de Cuba S.A. It would also be the only direct, commercial undersea cable connection between America and Cuba, reports Reuters. The U.S. government in recent years has been scrutinizing undersea cable connections especially involving China. Around 300 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet, carrying 99 percent of the world’s data traffic. Continue Reading

Alex Beiro, Jr., Virginia Wireless Association President, Dies

By Jim Fryer, Inside Towers Managing Editor

Alex Beiro, Jr. and pictured with his foursome at the October 13 VAWA Golf Outing

Alex Beiro, Jr., President of the Virginia Wireless Association (VAWA) died unexpectedly last week. Beiro recently served as host to over 200 golfers in Williamsburg, VA at the association’s annual outing. On a personal note, I was honored to be asked to play in his foursome for the event and not only enjoyed his company but witnessed the respect, good humor and camaraderie he shared with all of the attendees. Beiro died of an apparent heart attack, November 19, at his home in Alexandria, VA. Most recently, he had worked at Jacobs Engineering as a Zoning Manager and had served in similar posts with NXG and NB+C. Virginia Wireless Association Vice President Michael Harvey said, “Alex and I worked together for many years on the VAWA Board of Directors. When Alex took over as President he brought an inspired, innovative approach, always pushing the Association in a positive direction. He was a dedicated leader who brought great ideas and a positive attitude. Alex was passionate about helping those in the community and the industry through his platform. His love for his sons shined through in all that he did and were the center of his universe. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.” Continue Reading