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| T-Mobile CFO Says “We’re Responsible For AT&T and Verizon Improvements” |
 T-Mobile CFO Braxton Carter says 2016 was a year of “incredible growth and valuation” which sets the stage for 2017. Both he and CTO Neville Ray hinted at a big company announcement coming yesterday from Las Vegas, promising it would be both disruptive and innovative.
Speaking at CES on Thursday, T-Mobile President/CEO John Legere and COO Mike Sievert announced the next phase of the company’s “Un-carrier Movement” and unveiled moves aimed at eliminating what they say are some of the worst customer pain points in wireless today. The execs said T-Mobile is putting an end to “crazy” monthly fees and added taxes, giving consumers the power to change the price they pay, and even putting money back in their pocket for unused data.
T-Mobile’s LTE footprint now reaches 3 million in the U.S., compared to zero three years ago. It has 251 million low-band customers and is on-track to complete its Chicago deployment this year. Continue Reading
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Connecticut
AT&T Appeases Connecticut Siting Council With “Faux Silo” Tower Plan |
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When AT&T proposed a 194-foot tower in East Lyme, CT to replace an existing 150-foot cell tower whose lease was expiring at the end of 2017, the company received some backlash from residents in the community. So, they offered an alternative—a 105-foot faux silo tower.
Earlier this week, the Connecticut Siting Council issued a decision in favor of the silo tower, which will be constructed a few hundred feet from the existing tower, reports theday.com. The silo tower will be constructed simultaneous to the demolition of the current tower.
The silo tower will cost “considerably more,” as noted by the decision, but the Council cheered AT&T’s willingness to offer a solution generally approved by the community. In addition to the silo, AT&T will construct a 35-foot-by-50-foot equipment shelter designed to look as a barn to retain the community’s rural appearance.
The Council pointed out several benefits to the silo tower design, as its decision noted “less site work to develop, presents less of a challenge to control stormwater runoff, requires less clearing of mature trees that are favored by tree-roosting bats, provides acceptable wireless service to AT&T, is located on a parcel currently used to support a telecommunications facility, and utilizes a stealth tower application that would have less of a visual impact on the surrounding area and fits in with the theme of the past agricultural use of The Orchards development." |
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Connecticut
Last Laugh of the Mohegans, Landowner Sues Tribe After They Nix Nearby Tower |
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In a story related to the one above, a landowner who had been approached by AT&T for a site in East Lyme has brought litigation against the Mohegan Tribe. AT&T considered the landowner’s property to construct the tower, but reconsidered due to the Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office raising concerns that the cell tower would disrupt ceremonial stone groupings on adjacent land.
In March, a Superior Court judge dismissed the landowner’s case that sought a deposition of members of the Office. The property has already filed an appeal to the state Appellate Court and has filed a concurrent action in Mohegan Tribal Court. |
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Citi 2017 Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference
American Tower’s Focus is on its 20,000 Lease Agreements |
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 One of the main things American Tower Corporation is focused on for 2017 is strengthening is master lease agreements. President/CEO Jim Taiclet said the current real estate model for ground and rooftop leases that includes amendments and escalators “is absolutely durable.”
The price of rent per gigabyte of late has come down over the years. “Our goal is to provide [tenants] the lowest life cycle cost,” he said at the Citi 2017 Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas on Thursday. “We have some 20,000 leases,” and roughly one-third of each major carrier is on one of his company’s towers. “Those networks will be out there for some time.”
A goal for 2017, is to acquire fill-in towers and small cells both here and in other countries. “We like small cells and want to grow” those even though the company hasn’t seen a good return on them yet, according to Taiclet. DAS prototypes in venues like a casino or shopping mall or outdoors at a racetrack or stadium “drives multi-tenant leasing.”
Asked how the award of the FirstNet deal might impact towercos, Taiclet said generally, it will result in “more equipment being placed on U.S. infrastructure,” however how that can affect a bottom line is “highly dependent” on who the winning party is, the nature of the agreement between that party and the federal government, plus anything that’s required of the carrier and the timing of those requirements. “We don’t know any of this now. Overall, I think equipment will be deployed in a way it’s never been before.” |
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| Sorry ‘Boomers and Gen-Xer’s, For Verizon It’s All About the Millennials |
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 Verizon is focused on appealing to millennials. “We’d like to do better” and that means a shift in how the company thinks about content. Three to five years ago, Verizon’s relationship with content providers was linear.
Now, company execs speak with content providers about “addressing multiple audiences on multiple platforms,” says Marni Walden, EVP & President of Product Innovation and New Businesses. In Verizon’s world, that translates to mobile devices, the desktop platform and in-car telematics.
The National Basketball Association gets it, she told the Citi 2017 Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference. “If you limit your content to the TV screen in the family room, there will be audiences you don’t get.” Continue Reading |
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Show your friends and colleagues what they’re missing.
Click on the button above which will open an email that includes the link to sign up for Inside Towers.
Fill in your friend’s email address, CC: megan@insidetowers.com and send away. You could win a $100 Amazon gift card.
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California
Rancho Bernardo Residents Fight Faux Eucalyptus Tree Tower  VIDEO |
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 Angry Rancho Bernardo residents are not giving up their fight against the construction of a 60-foot cell tower on Oaks North Golf Course, according to KFMB/CBS8. The proposed T-Mobile tower would be within 150-feet of homes, and would be covered by a faux eucalyptus tree.
"We are just horrified that this is going to happen in our neighborhood," said a resident of the area to KFMB/CBS8. Residents with a view are opposing the tower because they fear potential health risks. Nearby trees that hide the pole from view are dying and residents are concerned someday the tower will be in plain view.
Neighbors have been vocal for months with the Rancho Bernardo's Development Services Committee. During meetings with the committee, residents expressed their concerns over their home values. Continue Reading |
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Wisconsin
U.S. Cellular Says No to City Council Over Tower Relocation VIDEO |
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 A Wisconsin state law may help prevent a skirmish between U.S. Cellular and the Waukesha City Council over the carrier’s plan to construct a 106-foot tower in a neighborhood. The law restricts the power of local municipalities to decline tower requests based on height, appearance or location.
U.S. Cellular has already reached an agreement with Buen Samaritano United Methodist Church to build the tower on its property, which will replace a nearby tower whose lease is expiring, reports CBS-58. After initially supporting the tower, the church has changed its mind after hearing from concerned citizens over the location of the proposed structure.
Considering the contract and state law that restricts municipality’s zoning authority over wireless structures, there is little the Waukesha City Council can do except approve the structure. “Given the way the state law is written, our hands are tied,” said Alderman Joe Pieper, a member of the City Council. Continue Reading |
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FCC to Speed Up Auction Bidding Again |
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The FCC is boosting the speed of auction bidding again in an effort to end round four by January 13.
Inside Towers reported there are now three one-hour bidding rounds per day (up from two last month) in the online auction of broadcast spectrum. The agency will up that to four one-hour rounds per day starting January 10, Multichannel News reports.
Bidding in stage four began December 13; at that time, there was about a $20B difference between what wireless bidders offered and the FCC-determined price for broadcast spectrum. |
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2017 Telecom Predictions
By the Law Firm of Keller and Heckman, Telecommunications Division |
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 As we look forward to more telecommunications news in 2017, we offer our predictions for what is to come.
“Under a Republican Chairman, the FCC likely will pursue a much ‘lighter touch’ in regulating wireless providers, telecom carriers and cable companies, particularly for smaller services providers. Chairman Wheeler’s proposed decision on price cap carriers’ special access service rates likely will be scaled back, despite extensive studies and analyses relied upon by the FCC staff supporting the proposed decision.” – Doug Jarrett, Partner
“Small cell wireless attachments will begin to live up to their hype and start overburdening a lot of utility personnel and distribution pole plants.” - Tom Magee, Partner
“The FCC and Congress will develop an alternative plan for T-Band after realizing that plans to transition the band from private land mobile radio use to commercial common carrier operation are not practicable.” – Greg Kunkle, Partner Continue Reading |
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Latest posting from the FCC 1/5/17 |
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Finding tower data doesn’t have to be a strenuous, complicated process. We’ve created a streamlined platform to search over 150,000 tower records and related tower owner information. It is seamlessly updated to reflect data in FCC’s ASR database. The information is organized through a user-friendly interface (Windows). The database offers plenty of easy-to-navigate features. Customize lookup fields, pinpoint tower locations on Google Maps, develop tailored reports, export them to Excel and more.
Get the details here or email us for information about this valuable industry tool. |
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Towers in Germany contributed by Nane Lotte Pannenbäcker @nane2921 via Instagram!
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Keep current throughout the day.
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