NATE Announces 2013-2014 STAR Initiative Participants

This week at the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show in Hollywood, Florida the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced the member companies who have been approved to participate in the NATE STAR Initiative Program for the 2013-2014 year. The NATE STAR Initiative was designed to help companies operate safely while recognizing tower erectors who voluntarily adhere to higher standards. The NATE STAR Initiative emphasizes Safety, Training, Accountability and Reliability by asking participants to commit to requisite levels of training, site safety audits and the implementation of safety programs while adhering to industry best practices.

“NATE Start Initiative Participants are among a growing community of NATE members who demonstrate a commitment to the highest level of tower safety,” said Senior Staff Associate Shelly Trego. “Thanks to the leadership and attention to detail by the participants, the implementation of the practices defined by the STAR Initiative will continue to increase the level of safety and vigilance in the industry.”

New this year, the participants will receive rate discounts on designated training courses offered on the soon to be unveiled NATE Exchange. The NATE Exchange will be a website allowing companies to connect with the most up-to-date training courses that are offered throughout the industry.

To view a complete list of the 2013-2013 STAR Initiative Participants, please click here. NATE believes in “Safety from the ground up” and works to provide a unified voice for tower erection, maintenance and service companies.

“Safety never ends,” Chairwoman of NATE, Pat Cipov explained at the Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum event earlier this week. “The solution is certain: we are all responsible for safety and we need to make sure each employee goes home at the end of the day.

Crown Castle Will Release Third Quarter Results Later This Month

 

Crown Castle International announced that they will release their third quarter 2013 results on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 after the market closes. Crown Castle has also scheduled a conference call for Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 10:30am.

Crown Castle owns, operates, and leases towers and other infrastructure for wireless communications. Crown Castle offers significant wireless communications coverage to 98 of the top 100 U.S. markets and to substantially all of the Australian population. Crown Castle owns, operates and manages over 30,000 and approximately 1,700 wireless communication sites in the U.S. and Australia, respectively. 

Why Are The Major Tower Companies Focused On North America?

At the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show in Hollywood, Florida earlier this week the four CEO’s of the major tower companies gathered to discuss hot topics within the industry. John Adelstein wanted to know why the focus of these companies is mostly domestic.

“We’ve built a foundation in the US and try to deploy US mobile into emerging markets. We look at the financial risk and the economical risks involved with those markets. There are usually no tower companies in emerging markers, but this is our home base and we’ll always look to enhance our infrastructure and further develop here in the U.S. as well as internationally,” Steven Marshall, Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division of American Tower.

Ben Moreland, CEO and President of Crown Castle, explained that, “The North American market is the most attractive market in the world. We’ve added over 7,000 sites last year. We’re certainly looking into other markets in North America. We’ve looked at South America and Eastern Europe but we’re going to stay with our strategy to become a leader in the North American market.

Jeff Stoops of SBA Communications noted that, “We decide where we want to capitalize the company. It’s all about creating the most value for our public shareholders.”

It was agreed upon that the tower industry is a global industry, but deciding which markets to expand in depends on the goals of the companies and whether or not it makes the most sense financially for the public shareholders and the company at large. 

PCIA’s Tower CEO Roundtable Provided Great Insights Into The Industry

The tower industry is expanding quickly in order to keep up with the demand for mobile and broadband technology. Wednesday October 9^th the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show gathered the four CEO’s from the major tower companies in the United States. Benjamin Moreland was appointed President and CEO of Crown Castle International in July 2008. Jeffrey Stoops is President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of SBA Communications Corporation. He has been CEO since January 1, 2002. Steven Marshall was named Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division of American Tower in March 2009. Marc C. Ganzi was the Chief Executive Officer of Global Tower Partners.

These men came together to discuss their thoughts on the future of wireless and the state of the industry. John Adelstein, president of the PCIA, moderated the roundtable and started off asking American Tower’s CEO about their acquirement of Global Tower Partners. “We are absolutely delighted. We are very pleased. They have really great assets and when you combing those with American Tower’s assets we have over 50,000 communications sites,” Marshall said. “We welcome the many members of the team from across the nation to the American Tower team.”

With American Tower’s acquisition of Global Tower Partner’s, Marc Ganzi referred to his current position as “unemployed.” However, Ganzi noted that they have a portfolio of towers in Mexico that they need to get back to work on by building up and buying assets. “Mexico is a market that is growing and it’s a market with a lot of promise,” Ganzi said.

Having all of these CEO’s gathered at the same convention allowed Adelstein to ask them about their opinions regarding the efforts of the PCIA and whether or not they are making a difference in the industry. PCIA has a dedicated Government Relations staff that represents our members' interests at all levels of government by educating key policy-makers about the critical role wireless infrastructure plays in our nation's communications network.

Ganzi remarked that, “It’s no longer NIMBY (Not in My Backyard), it’s YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard). People are now saying, ‘I work at home and I need to be connected.’ It’s part of the fabric of how we connect to our families and I think that’s been a mind shift at the local level. We exist to help accelerate the build out and reduce cost. To me, that’s why we worked hard on the hill to get that legislation passed.”

Jeff Stoops of SBA Communications believes that, “On the federal side we’re in pretty good shape. On the state side, there’s always room to improve.”

PCIA and other wireless organizations have been working hard to decrease barriers that make it difficult for the wireless infrastructure to be built. Their efforts are starting to pay off with the federal government restriction the reasons state and local governments can give to veto a tower proposal. 

Sprint CEO To Speak About Emerging Technology

Earlier this week at the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show, Sprint’s CTO and Senior Vice President of Technology Development and Corporate Strategy, Stephen Bye, discussed how important mobile technology is to our everyday lives and how we need to make certain we have the infrastructure to support it. Bye talked about how Sprint’s vision is to connect people and pointed out that this is an extremely important task.

On October 22, 2013 Sprint’s CEO, Dan Hesse, will speak at the Executives’ Club of Chicago Global Leaders Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Hesse will discuss how wireless has altered our daily lives over the past ten years and will explain how innovations in wireless technology are transforming the world we've come to know.

Hesse was named CEO of Sprint in December 2007 and before that he was the CEO of Embarq Corporation, a $6 billion telecommunications services company.  The Executives' Club is Chicago's premier membership and business forum.  For more than one hundred years, The Club has been a valued resource for Chicago's business leaders – connecting members, and providing opportunities for strategic relationships.