Tower Talks With Inside Towers

As wireless service providers deploy more frequency bands on towers, the incidence for interference increases dramatically.While we refer to interference from radios at other cell sites as active interference, signals reflected from RF transmissions within a tower site create harmonics that are equally of concern. This type of RF interference is referred to as passive intermodulation interference or simply, PIM. PIM can originate from poor or worn cable connectors at radios or antennas.We are finding now that PIM also can be produced from what we call “non-RF sources” such as mechanical or structural elements on or around the tower.Chris Stockman, Product Line Manager, CommScope discusses with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor the various sources of non-RF PIM and how to mitigate this type of interference problem. Support the show

This is your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of July 12, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

Rural connectivity remains a hot topic.Tens of millions of Americans in underserved or unserved live without quality broadband service.Certainly, the pandemic amplified the need for reliable broadband connections, especially in small towns and rural communities.Much government funding for rural broadband has gone towards fiber cable solutions deployed over long distances to serve relatively few customers. Yet cost-effective wireless solutions often have limited capabilities.Is 5G a viable alternative to fiber for reliable broadband connections? What are the infrastructure challenges for deploying 5G in these markets? And what are the related process challenges for acquiring sites, obtaining municipal approvals, and building the sites?John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor discusses these important rural connectivity challenges with Edwige Robinson, T-Mobile Senior Vice President, Central Region, Network Engineering & Operations, and Rodney Carter and Michael Long, Attorneys and Team leaders in the

This is your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of July 6, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

This is your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of June 28, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

This is your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of June 21, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

This is your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of June 14, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

Your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of June 7, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

If you missed last week's highly-attended Pro Panel you can now capture the key takeaways here on our Tower Talks Podcast. Panelists included Cesar Ruiz, President & CEO, Learning Alliance Corporation, Todd Schlekeway, President & CEO, NATE, Heather Gastelum, Sr. Manager, National Site Safety, T-Mobile, Jonathan Eastman, President, VIKOR , Support the show

Your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of June 1, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

In a Special Edition of Tower Talks, Inside Towers’ co-founders, George Reed and Eddie Esserman, join Business Editor John Celentano to discuss the introduction of a new publication.Inside Towers is launching ‘Intelligence by Inside Towers’ or simply, ‘Intelligence’. This new publication is a significant departure from our regular daily newsletter.Rather, it is a quarterly publication that offers a ‘deep dive’ into the wireless infrastructure ecosystem to identify market trends, evaluate mobile network operators and infrastructure company capital expenditures, offer investor perspectives, assess relevant M&A transactions, and more.As an annual subscription service, Inside Towers Intelligence includes four quarterly reports and an exclusive Intelligence briefing following each published report.Join the call to gain some interesting insights into Inside Towers’ newest publication or visit www.insidetowers.com/intelligence for more information or to subscribe.Support the show

Your Inside Towers Weekly Recap for the week of May 24, 2021. For more wireless infrastructure news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Support the show

Join Inside Towers Managing Editor Jim Fryer in this second installment of “Tower Masters” as he talks with Tarpon Towers CEO, Ron Bizick, ll. This series focuses on the men and women who, for decades, have not only survived, but thrived as independent operators in the wireless infrastructure field. They have a unique perspective to share and Mr. Bizick is certainly no exception.Bizick is the Co-founder and CEO of Tarpon Towers, a Florida-based company he started in 2007 that now has roughly 400 sites in its portfolio. Prior to that, he was the COO and Executive Vice President of Global Signal. He began his tower career joining SBA in the first six months of their inception in 1990 and rose to Executive Vice President and COO before departing 12 years later.Support the show

Tower climbing has been cited as one of the most dangerous jobs anywhere. Even though industry associations and government agencies go to great lengths to establish safety standards and practices, working above ground level is still dangerous.Beyond just working at heights, a big part of the problem is the physical toll that climbing up and down tall structures demands. Fatigue becomes a critical factor and raises the risk level for workers.Tools are available to assist climbers in a variety of at-height work activities on cell towers, wind turbines, utility high-power transmission towers, and more.Bryant Bertrand, CEO of Ronin Revolution has been instrumental in developing such tools. He discusses with John Celentano, Inside Towers’ Business Editor, his company’s invention of, and applications for, the Ronin Lift, an ascender product designed to assist climbers.Support the show

Tower leasing is a big topic these days.U.S. mobile network operators, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, are upgrading or modifying master lease agreements with the Big 3 public tower companies, American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications, as these MNOs implement their 5G network builds.Big 3 towercos cater to MNO near- and long-term needs. But mid-tier and small tower owners and landowners often get into uncomfortable negotiations when MNOs want to locate on their tower or build a tower on their land.What leasing terms and conditions should apply? What are appropriate lease rates? And how are these rates determined?Ken Schmidt, President, Steel in the Air, an expert on site leasing, unpacks these issues in conversation with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.Support the show

First responders – fire, police, emergency medical services - have for years relied on dedicated communications during emergencies using land mobile radios, those walkie talkie devices they all wear.These narrowband voice communications systems now work together with broadband 4G LTE systems from FirstNet for a whole new way for first responders to communicate via voice, data, and video.New technologies are providing first responders with enhanced capabilities for communicating both outdoors and inside buildings. Next generation 9-1-1 dispatch architecture is being launched to support these broadband advancements, and whether spectrum should be dedicated to public safety applications or shared with the mobile network operators is debated at many government levels.Andy Seybold, an authority on public safety communications, shares his insights on these points and more in conversation with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.Support the show

‘Data analytics’ and ‘digital twins’ are becoming commonplace terms as the telecom business changes and grows. These terms refer to more and better digitized site information about towers and other wireless infrastructure. Better information means accurate details about the site structure, the installed equipment, and the condition of that equipment.Better site information ultimately means better decision-making by tower companies and their wireless service provider customers on dispatching tower crews to install, modify, or maintain wireless equipment at any site. Capturing site data and analyzing that data is no longer just nice to have. Increasingly such data is required as the pace and associated cost of wireless deployments picks up. New companies are undertaking the site data gathering tasks, then organizing and presenting that data in ways to support the decision making.Join John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor in conversation with Dan Ciprari, co-Founder & CEO and Sam McGuire, Director of

Announcements of companies buying or selling towers, either as a standalone transaction or as part of a larger infrastructure deal, are happening on a regular basis.The wireless industry is in an active period with demand growing for towers and other infrastructure assets to support 5G roll outs and various wireless broadband applications.Recent valuations on towers are as high as they have been for some time.But what is a tower worth? And what does a typical tower buy or sell transaction look like?Clayton Funk, Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey joins John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor to share his insights on how to set a price on a tower, and the mechanics of a tower deal.Support the show

The telecom industry is in a high cycle of new wireless infrastructure construction of macro towers, small cells, and fiber for 5G and broadband applications.Through the pandemic, the infrastructure work continued as telecommunications proved to be the essential service.While all the field work is good news for engineering and installation firms that build the network for the carriers, these companies have their hands full with managing work activity to meet schedule and budget deadlines.Typically, they are handling multiple projects for a range of customers, often in geographically dispersed markets.Rowena Okialda, Director of Organizational Development at MODUS joins John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor to discuss the issues and challenges of managing multiple frontline infrastructure projects and how they’ve integrated the Sitetracker into every day operations. Support the show

Before building towers or small cells, wireless carriers must obtain approvals from the local government in whose jurisdictions the infrastructure is being deployed.Increasingly, carriers want to install small cells on telephone or utility poles, on streetlights or in rights-of-way.More than just reviewing and approving carrier plans, municipalities must adhere to FCC rules that govern the process including the ‘Shot Clock’ timing mandate, and the Small Cell Order.Often, what the carriers want and what the municipalities are willing to approve are at odds, leading to litigation.Part of the problem is that local governments generally lack a basic understanding of telecommunications or are not adequately staffed to handle the volume of requests. COVID-19 compounded the problem as many government offices were closed.John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor discusses the situation with David Witkowski, Founder and CEO of Oku Solutions, an advisor and educator to both municipalities and carriers on navigating