Harmoni Towers Acquires Parallel Infrastructure to Create Top 10 Private Towerco

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Harmoni Towers has agreed to acquire Parallel Infrastructure, a tower platform and build-to-suit provider. The transaction creates one of the top ten largest private independent tower companies in the U.S., with more than 2,000 built and in-construction towers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  Palistar Capital LP, which backs Harmoni, expects to provide ample growth financing into the combined platform, according to Omar Jaffrey, Managing Partner and Founder of Palistar. The combined company will have locations spanning the country across 41 states, with the capacity to build hundreds of towers per year in all regions of the U.S. "Palistar expects, over time, to deploy in excess of $1 billion via equity and debt financing into the combined platform in order to promote the expansion of the business,” Jaffrey said. Continue Reading

Bidding Ends in Auction 108

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

After 73 rounds, bidding ended yesterday in the 2.5 GHz auction. Final, total gross bids were more than $427.7 million, according to the FCC. There were 82 qualified bidders for about 8,000 county-based, flexible-use licenses of spectrum in the 2496–2690 MHz band. Many of the licenses up for auction for wireless use must be shared with incumbent educational broadband services users. That’s why the total amount of money the auction raised was not expected to be as big as previous FCC auctions. Bidders won 7,872 licenses and the Commission held back 145. Analysts predicted T-Mobile would be the big winner in the auction. NewStreet Research said yesterday with the auction behind it, T-Mobile “has cleared all the visible hurdles to share repurchases.” NSR acknowledged “the board still needs to sign off for them to start, and there could be other factors we can't see.” Continue Reading

T-Mobile, Starlink Face Heavy Lifting for Satellite Cell Phone Plan

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

UPDATE T-Mobile and SpaceX have a lot to figure out before they can begin testing the ability of Starlink broadband satellites to connect to cell phones next year. Inside Towers reported on Friday concerning their plan to fix dead spots in cell phone coverage with broadband satellites. However, SpaceX needs to develop a much bigger and more powerful rocket to carry heavier satellites into space. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk describes the heavier and more powerful antennas needed as “the most advanced in the world, we think.” Cell phones operating on T-Mobile will be able to access SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink V2 satellites, set to launch next year. The massive antennas will be able to emulate a cell tower, reports The Washington Post. If there is no local coverage available, phones will automatically connect to the satellites traveling overhead at 17,000 miles per hour. Musk says the antennas will also need to compensate for that satellite speed. Continue Reading

Best Laid (Fiber) Plans Fall Apart In Vermont

Two communication districts in Vermont planned to jointly build and operate an open access fiber network to serve communities with unreliable access to high-speed broadband. However, plans fell apart last week. VTDigger reported that Lamoille FiberNet and Northwest Fiberworx nearly inked a deal with Google Fiber, but the ISP walked away. Google Fiber said it lacked confidence in Lamoille FiberNet and the project, so it declined to become the first ISP on the network. 

According to Sean Kio, executive director of Northwest Fiberworx, the company still wants to build, own and maintain an open access network in the three counties it serves. However, he added that without the addition of Lamoille FiberNet's customers (14,000 addresses), it couldn't meet Google Fiber's 42,000 minimum addresses requirement. Continue Reading

Brookfield to Invest up to $30B in Intel U.S. Chip Factories

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) on Tuesday agreed to jointly fund up to $30 billion for the U.S. company's chip factories in Arizona. The move fuels Intel's ambition to bring more chip production onshore without weighing on its balance sheet, reports Reuters. Brookfield's infrastructure affiliate will invest up to $15 billion for a 49 percent stake in the expansion project. Intel will retain majority ownership and operating control of the two chip factories meant to make advanced chips in Chandler, AZ.   The investment is an expansion of an agreement signed by Intel and Brookfield in February to explore finance options to help fund new Intel manufacturing sites. The two companies didn't disclose specific terms, though parties expect the deal to close by the end of this year. David Zinsner, Intel's finance chief, told analysts the interest rate was between 4.4 percent and 8.5 percent, which is more expensive than debt financing but cheaper than equity financing, according to Reuters. Continue Reading

Report: Wireless Faces Stiff Competition to Deliver Internet Speeds

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

For all the talk about people “cutting the cord,” cable maintains a lock on almost half of households’ access to the internet. Mobile wireless came in fourth at 11.7 percent behind fiber to the home (FTTH), 21.3 percent, and digital subscriber lines, 13.1 percent of the market. Fixed wireless came in fifth with 3.1 percent of the market, according to a report funded by the Fiber Broadband Association.  But fiber is nipping at cable’s heels with 45 percent faster download and 4.7 times faster upload speeds. Known as the high-cost alternative, fiber has also reduced its cost-per-bit by 90 percent over the past decade, according to “A Detailed Review: The Status of U.S. Broadband and The Impact of Fiber Broadband,” which was authored by RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting. Continue Reading

Senators Press FCC to Reverse Ligado Decision

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

A bipartisan group of senators, including the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, are again trying to persuade the FCC to reverse a 2020 decision to allow Ligado Networks to build out a broadband network in the L-band for mobile 5G transmissions. Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged the Commission to reconsider granting the license modification request of Ligado Networks.   The lawmakers say Ligado’s plans risk interference with GPS reception and Satellite Communications operations. Joining Inhofe and Reed were Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). Continue Reading