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Tuesday, March 13, 2018 Volume 6 | Issue 50

Streamlining or Steamrolling? NY Governor Proposes Rules for Small CellsLast year, when Verizon Wireless submitted 12 small cell applications for a neighborhood near the University ofBuffalo, Amherst enacted a moratorium on the construction of new towers and gathered a committee to analyze andrevise local zoning regulations. Now those municipality-level regulations may be usurped by state-wide protocol, asNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo has introduced a budget proposal to adopt a uniform, statewide permitting andreview process for the installation of small cell nodes, according to a report from The Buffalo News. Localgovernments and interest groups like the Association of Towns and the New York Conference of Mayors are pushingback, citing state overreach in decisions traditionally made at the local level.

Verizon supports the governor’s proposal, which the company believes will “promote private investment in state-of-the-art telecommunications networks at no cost to taxpayers," according to David Lamendola, Verizon’s director ofstate government affairs for New York. New York would join 13 other states who have already introduced similarproposals to streamline the installation of small cell technology, Lamendola told The Buffalo News. In addition tohelping Verizon meet customer demand, Lamendola explained that the proposal may also bring new jobs to the state.Continue Reading

Inside Towers Reader Takes Action on Story, Develops Bird Deterrent SystemWildlife Defense Systems, Inc. (WDSI) announced yesterday that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreementwith Hightower Communications of La Grange, NC to market, install, and maintain the company’s new Raptor II CellTower Bird Deterrent System (VIDEO).

“We were fortunate that Hightower Communication Founder Joel Hightower read a reprint of an article written aboutus in Inside Towers and contacted us. To have a company with their history and reputation work with us on thedevelopment and marketing of the product has given us a tremendous advantage in bringing the right products to themarket," said WDSI President Frank Woodward.

The Raptor II platform utilizes Wildlife Defense Systems' patented tone technology which has increased yield by 30-40 percent in crops affected by birds, deer, and other nuisance animals; and provides industry leading deterrentsolutions for the solid waste industry. Continue Reading

Project Loon Winds Down in Puerto RicoUPDATE With communication service in Puerto Rico returning to normal levels, Project Loon plans to “wind down” itsservice to the island. Project Loon, which belongs to Alphabet moonshot company X, tweeted thanks to partners likeAT&T, “who made it possible to deliver basic connectivity” to 200,000 people over the last few months. Project Loonworked with the government of Puerto Rico, the FCC, FAA, FEMA, spectrum partners and international aviationauthorities on the project, Inside Towers reported.

Project Loon floats high-altitude balloons up to 12 miles above ground to deliver internet connectivity to rural areas.The company believes the service would provide communications to more people for less money than providing basestations and laying fiber.

A change in how it flies balloons made its service to Puerto Rico possible, forming balloon clusters and keeping themtightly over an area. Salvatore Candido is the principal engineer for Project Loon, who led development of the balloonnavigation system. He told IEEE Spectrum, each balloon has a solar-powered pump that moves it up or down byadding or releasing air. That way, balloons can move in and out of winds in the stratosphere. Continue Reading

Tarrytown, NYParallel Gets to Build MTA MonopoleThe FCC gave the okay for PI Telecom Infrastructure LLC (Parallel) to build a monopole for wireless service inTarrytown, NY. The telco is acting on behalf of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority.

In 2015, Parallel proposed to build an 180-foot structure, consisting of an 150-foot monopole with a lightning rod andwhip antenna on top, on a site owned by MTA, adjacent to an electric substation for the Metro-North Railroad stationin Tarrytown. MTA plans to use the monopole as part of its Police Department’s Metropolitan Regional Radio System.The MTA says the structure would also improve E911 access.

The Tarrytown railroad station is recognized as “architecturally and historically significant as a representative exampleof a late nineteenth century railroad station (1890),” according to the New York State Historic Preservation Office(NYSHPO). NYSHPO agreed with Parallel, the structure would have no effect on several historic properties withinone-half mile of the proposed tower site. Continue Reading

Mobile World CongressPredictions: 5G Will Support “Hundreds of Thousands” of DevicesEarlier this month, tech and telecommunications companies met at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain to

show off their plans for 5G, reported AdWeek. The exponentially faster data processing and media downloads thisnext-generation wireless affords, will enable self-driving cars, the Internet of Things (IoT) and more.

While widespread availability of 5G won’t come until at least 2020, cities like New York, Las Vegas, Sacramento, andAtlanta will get a chance to preview Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint’s 5G networks this year.

According to Mark Hung, an analyst at Gartner, even though towers today can support hundreds or thousands ofdevices, 5G could help scale the Internet of Things from “hundreds and thousands to hundreds of thousands.”Continue Reading

March 12, 2018 at Close

Trump Blocks Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm

UPDATE President Donald Trump issued an order yesterday, prohibiting Broadcom Ltd’sattempted takeover of Qualcomm, citing national security, reports Reuters. What wouldhave been a $117 billion deal was shot down on recommendation by the Committee of

Foreign Investment in the U.S (CFIUS). "There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Ltd.," by acquiring Qualcomm, "might take actionthat threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said. According to Bloomberg, the decisionwas announced shortly after the chief executive officer of Broadcom, Hock Tan met with officials at the Pentagon tosalvage what would have been ‘the biggest technology deal in history.’ CFIUS arged that if Broadcom bought Qualcomm, it would likely cut costs at the American company and lose itsleverage against Chinese rivals like Huawei, allowing China to dominate the 5G wireless forefront. It also said thatBroadcom defied an interim order, requiring that it give a panel five business days’ notice before it took steps toofficially relocate to the U.S., says Engadget. According to the Washington Examiner, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said, “This decision is based on the factsand national security sensitivities related to this particular transaction only and is not intended to make any otherstatement about Broadcom or its employees, including its thousands of hard-working and highly skilled U.S.employees.”

CTIA Supports Small Cell Siting Rule UpgradeCTIA-the Wireless Association, is all for the FCC’s planned vote next weekto streamline siting regulations for small cells to advance 5G deployment.Part of what the agency plans to do is eliminate federal environmental andhistoric preservation reviews to site wireless infrastructure for small cellsthat are not on Tribal land or reservations, Inside Towers reported.

In an OpEd published in The Hill, CTIA President/CEO Meredith Attwell Baker says such a move could free-up, up to$1.6 billion in network deployment. Rather than coming from taxpayers, Accenture said the money would come fromcost-savings, as a result of the streamlined small cell rules.

Small cell deployment for 5G means wireless carriers will need to install hundreds of thousands of small antennasclose together. “[B]ut many rules and regulations for infrastructure are decades old, put in place when 200-foot talltowers were the norm,” states the former FCC Commissioner. Continue Reading

FloridaTower Building Permits Issued in Jacksonville 3/12/18

4050 Barnes Road, construction of telecommunications tower, Calvin Presbyterian Church, $140,000. L&KElectric Inc.7030 103rd St., 9830 Mining Drive, replacement of antennas and existing cell tower for Sprint Communication,$130,000 combined. Atlantic Tower Services Source: Florida Times Union

Japanese Carrier Partners With Utility For Infrastructure NeedsJapan-based online retailer Rakuten agreed to a deal to use some of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s infrastructureas it moves to become the country’s fourth major wireless operator, according to Mobile World Live.

The partnership will allow Rakuten to use the power company’s transmission and telecoms towers, and aims toreduce the cost of rolling out its wireless infrastructure across the country, Japan Today reported. Rakuten plans toapply for a spectrum licence in the 1.7 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands. The deal is pending approval by Japan’s Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communications.

Tokyo Electric Power Company operates a rental program for its infrastructure, which also includes rooftop facilitiesand utility poles. Rakuten plans to lease facilities at 500 to 1,000 sites, mainly in the Kanto region, The Japan Timesreported. Rakuten plans to invest up to $5.6 billion to build a network and and may make agreements with otherpower companies, the Times said.

Register for NATE Webinar, Becoming NWSA CertifiedOn Wednesday, March 14 at 10 a.m. CDT, Duane MacEntee, Executive Director of the National Wireless SafetyAlliance (NWSA), will conduct a live NATE webinar entitled Becoming NWSA Certified. This webinar session willeducate attendees on NWSA’s transformative and nationwide certification programs available to the communicationstower industry workforce and will guide participants through the steps required to obtain NWSA credentials.

NWSA’s certification examinations are aimed at developing a safer, more knowledgeable industry workforce throughthe organization’s individual technician certification process. The philosophy is that if the technician’s knowledge and

skills are improved, the skills of the workforce, as a whole, will rise within the industry. The credentialing programallows customers to verify an individual’s in real-time status with online verification. Register for the webinar here.

New YorkOld Broadcast Tower to Get Replaced With Carrier Tenants AddedUPDATE Pamal Broadcasting wants to replace their WHUD radio tower built in 1957 at 22 Sky Lane and replace itwith a shiny new replica capable of housing multiple carriers, according to the Highlands Current.

The Philipstown Zoning Board of Appeals will hear the proposal that will accomodate not only Sprint and VerizonWireless, but will also house upgraded equipment for Putnam County emergency services. Verizon and HomelandTowers are currently suing the city for denying them a permit in another part of town as reported in Inside Towers onMarch 9.

Thomas Lannon, the director of information technology and geographic information systems for Putnam Countydescribed the WHUD tower as “critical for our emergency radio system” but said the existing structure tower cannotsupport the county’s equipment, the Highlands Current reported.

The inaugural spring showcase will run in Inside Towers the weeks of May 13 and May 20. We will be spotlighting asegment of the industry each day. The timing is ideal, as it is right before and during the WIA’s Connect X show. Thisis a great opportunity to reach OUR audience, leaders in the telecom industry, with YOUR latest products andservices.

Only ONE product or company per segment will be featured, so this is an exclusive opportunity. At the end of theshowcase, a beautiful PDF booklet of the features will be highlighted in our newsletter, on our website and blasted outover social media. It can also be shared with your customers. Categories being offered are:

Monday, May 14: Antennas/RFTuesday, May 15: Safety Category FullWednesday, May 16: Shelters, Enclosures & Temporary Towers Category FullThursday, May 17: DAS/Small CellsFriday, May 18: ConstructionMonday, May 21: DronesTuesday, May 22: Site Acq/Real Estate Category FullWednesday, May 23: Business ServicesThursday, May 24: Electrical

Friday, May 25: Concealment Category Full

First Come, First Served.

Take advantage of this special opportunity to join the Inside Towers team.Inside Towers has over 8,400 subscribers and over 15,000 social mediafollowers. In the last two years, our newsletter clicks have increased 301% andour web page views have increased 230%. To keep up with it all, we areseeking a Director of Advertising. Unlimited income potential. Location isflexible as the job can be handled remotely. For more details on the position,please email us. The candidate should possess the following attributes:

At least 2-3 years of sales experience, preferably digitalKnowledge of wireless infrastructure and financial services is a plusCommunications or business degree is preferredEffective communicator and presenter, written and verbalSelf-motivated and proactive professional with proven track record of resultsHard-working, trustworthy individual with positive attitude

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The foundation being poured for Southern Towers' 240’ monopole in Hoover, AL. Contributed by David French.

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Managing Editor: Jim FryerWashington Bureau Chief: Leslie StimsonWriters: Cara Peer & Keara M. Piekanski

Marketing: Megan Reed Creative: Cara Aston Advertising & Classifieds: Phil Cook | Mike Dryden

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