End of an Era as Carriers Turn Off the Last of 3G

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

At the beginning of this year, Verizon and UScellular threw the final switch, turning off the last of the major 3G networks. The move follows the denouement of the 3G networks of AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in February, May and July, respectively. The 3G network shutdowns free up spectrum between 850 MHz and 2 GHz, which will be “refarmed” and used for 5G. Shutting down a network can be messy, leaving customers with useless devices. To that end, Verizon pushed back its original date in 2019 to minimize disruptions and allow users to move to newer technologies. Along with handsets, 3G-connected alarm systems were some of the victims. Verizon said that 99 percent of its customers have moved to 4G LTE or 5G, with less than one percent still accessing the 3G network. Continue Reading

What Are the Top 3,000 Stories Going to Be For 2023?

By Jim Fryer, Inside Towers Managing Editor

Scrolling down the list of the roughly 3,000 stories we covered in 2022, yes, folks, 3,000, I was struck by the mix of subjects we covered. Not only did the nuclear family of our focused interest, towers and the people that use them, continue its frantic pace in ‘22, but a bevy of acronyms kept cropping up like never before: ORAN, VRAN and LEO.  Our coverage of the satellite industry doubled from the prior year forcing us to admit it as a category that we entitled “Spacing Out.” Not only did we expand reports on what’s happening in the cosmos but the progress of undersea cabling was a frequent visitor to our pages. All connected by what? Data centers, another perpetual weekly subject and one of the more actively bought, built or bartered items on the Inside Towers menu. Continue Reading

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