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Subscribe • Advertise Friday, June 11, 2021 Volume 9 | Issue 114

5G Auction of Mid-Band Spectrum Set for This October By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief The FCC established the application and bidding procedures for Auction 110, the auction of spectrum in the 3.45 GHz band. Bidding is scheduled to start on October 5.

FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called the auction a critical step toward delivering on the promise of 5G. “This auction will bring us closer to 5G service that is fast, secure, resilient, and most importantly, available across the country.”

Auction 110 will offer up to 4,060 new flexible-use licenses in the 3.45 to 3.55 GHz band divided into ten, 10- megahertz blocks licensed by Partial Economic Areas. In the first phase of the auction, the clock phase, bidders will bid on generic blocks in each geographic area. In the second phase, the assignment phase, they will bid on frequency-specific license assignments. Continue Reading

AT&T Achieves First U.S. C-Band Commercial Equipment Call By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor AT&T has completed its first call using C-band spectrum, with a 5G test device using a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 5G Modem-RF System, a Nokia AirScale baseband and a 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) 64T64R C-band radio.

The milestone was achieved in Detroit by engineers from both AT&T and Nokia, who jointly worked to demonstrate the potential of the newly available n77 spectrum (n77: 3700 MHz to 3980 MHz). The test used one of Nokia’s mMIMO antennas that is designed to operate in the n77 C-band in conjunction with the latest Nokia 5G software.

“The joint team will continue to test performance ahead of commercial network deployment, which is anticipated to begin later this year,” the carrier said.

Tony Seyfried, AT&T Tech Vendor Manager, is leading a team in Detroit, and another team in Plano, Texas, which is led by Paritosh Rai, who oversees AT&T’s 5G Project Management Office, are searching for sites, planning equipment upgrades and engaging with tower partners and radio vendors. Continue Reading

Two TowerCos, Two Strategies By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor American Tower (NYSE: AMT) and Crown Castle International (NYSE: CCI) rank among the leading tower companies in the world. Beyond that similarity, each company’s growth strategy is completely different.

Tom Bartlett, American Tower President & CEO and Dan Schlanger, Crown Castle EVP & CFO, shared their respective companies’ perspectives at this week’s virtual National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) REITweek 2021 investor conference.

The best way to think about AMT is as a pure macro tower play. Once it completes its Telxius Towers acquisition from Madrid, Spain-based Telefónica, AMT will grow its base by 31,000 towers to more than 216,000 towers in 21 countries. This deal makes AMT the largest publicly held tower company in the world, second only to China Tower’s 2,000,000 sites in terms of tower count. (See, American Towers’ Global Ambitions) Continue Reading

Altice’s U.K. Division Acquires a 12 Percent Stake in BT Group Altice’s U.K. unit, under billionaire owner Patrick Drahi, acquired a 12.1 percent stake in BT Group (British Telecom) yesterday. The value of the deal was reported at around £2 billion (US$2.83 billion), according to The Guardian. With the purchase, Altice U.K. becomes BT’s largest shareholder, putting them a notch above Deutsche Telekom based on the stock analyst platform MarketScreener.

Altice U.K. owns French operator SFR and is a separate company from Altice U.S. and Altice Europe which Drahi took from public to private status in early 2021. “BT had a significant opportunity to upgrade and extend its full-fiber broadband network to bring substantial benefits to millions of households across the U.K.,” Drahi said. “We fully support the management’s strategy to deliver on this opportunity.”

BT said in a statement it welcomed, “all investors who recognize the long-term value of our business and the important role it plays in the U.K. We are making good progress in delivering our strategy and plan.”

Verizon Unveils On Site 5G as a Private Non-standalone Network Solution Verizon Business yesterday announced the launch of On Site 5G. The carrier is billing it as its first commercially available, private 5G network solution in the U.S. The new networks will be custom-designed and managed by Verizon for use at indoor or outdoor facilities in an effort to provide high-speed, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity. On Site 5G is a non-standalone private network that combines 5G Ultra Wideband small cells with the LTE packet core and radios of On Site LTE. It is designed to work both in and outside of public 5G Ultra Wideband coverage areas.

“On Site 5G opens the commercial floodgates for the promises of 5G Ultra Wideband, allowing large enterprises and public sector organizations to custom tailor a 5G experience for any premises that demands it,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, Chief Revenue Officer of Verizon Business. “It’s the bespoke business service for what we do better than anyone else: build 5G networks that enable even the most advanced wireless, MEC, and IoT capabilities for customers on the cutting edge.” Continue Reading

June 10, 2021 at Close

DISH Network Drops on J.P. Morgan Downgrade Shares of DISH (NYSE: DISH) took a five percent dip on Wednesday, dropping to around $41 per share following a downgrade by J.P. Morgan, according to Barron’s. At close of the day yesterday, DISH was trading at $40.06 per share.

Analyst Philip Cusick of J.P. Morgan recommended the stock be reclassified from Neutral to the equivalent of a Sell rating while raising his year-end price targets from $38 to $45. Cusick said the company’s potential future success as a wireless phone provider was “uncertain.”

“First, building a wireless network is very hard and there is a long history of new networks with coverage/quality problems in the first few years,” Cusick said. “Second, we believe that DISH, with only ~114 MHz of spectrum, will struggle to succeed against carriers with 2-3 times that much, or be forced to buy substantially more spectrum in future auctions, which it doesn’t have funds for now.” Cusick also said the carrier may have too far to go in the 5G race to catch up with its competitors.

Maryland Cell Tower and Water Tower on Butterfly Lane Transform As Frederick, Maryland takes down its old water tower, a new one is being built to replace it, reports the Frederick News-Post. The cell tower equipment occupying the water tower has moved to temporary host poles but the two may be reunited once construction is complete. A proposal under consideration suggests that instead of keeping the towers together, Frederick may want to split up the team.

Carriers AT&T and T-Mobile are waiting to relocate to their new home. If the plan to erect a separate cell tower is approved, there would be room for up to five carriers. Additional carriers would mean additional revenue for the city, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000 per year. Ron Wingfield, the project manager from the city’s Department of Public Works, pointed out that the new water tower will be 25 feet lower than the old one, which would diminish the height of any attached cell tower antenna.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission also recommended that a new location for the cell tower would allow it to be placed further away from a playground. Wingfield noted that as the emergency equipment is housed elsewhere, adjusting the cell tower site would have no negative impact on emergency services. Once approved, the cell tower construction will be handled by Milestone Communications.

Massachusetts Firefighters Train For Tower Rescues on Local TV Tower Whether a tower worker experiences trouble on the job or a foolhardy amateur decides to start climbing, experienced rescue personnel could be called to save a life at any time. As WJAR-TV reports, firefighters in Massachusetts ran drills to train for such an emergency. A dozen departments gathered at the 900-foot tower in Rehoboth to experience actual climbing conditions.

North Attleborough Fire Department Chief, Chris Coleman, recognizes how dangerous it can be when a tower climber finds him, or herself, in danger. "These injuries can be serious," he said, "Because they're in a harness, and if they get stuck up there and they're suspending, that's something called suspension trauma. As soon as that pressure from the harness is released, then that goes to the central circulation of your heart and can potentially seriously hurt you.” Continue Reading

Raistone Capital Offers Telcos and Contractors a Cash Flow Lifeline

Raistone Capital is a financial technology firm specifically geared towards “democratizing access to working capital” for small and medium enterprises. In 2017, the company was incubated within a full-service investment bank and broker dealer trading over $100 billion per year with over 3,000 active investor trading counterparties.

Shortly thereafter, it spun out into an independent company and it is jointly owned by the broker dealer, a $30BN+ family office and the world’s largest wealth management company. Raistone has grown by 300% per annum for the last three years and having completed a Series B capital raise, is on track to continue that momentum, according to Dave Skirzenski, Founder and CEO, Raistone Capital. Skirzenski has over twenty years of experience in financing supply chains.

As Inside Towers has reported, the telecom industry has struggled with extended payment terms. “Large corporates are extending their payment terms 30, 60, 90, 180, even 270 days, not because they want to be bad citizens but because they’re measured in the capital markets based on the efficiency of their cash conversion cycle,” explains Skirzenski. Continue Reading

House Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Infrastructure Bill UPDATE A bipartisan group of lawmakers has crafted a $1.25 trillion infrastructure spending package. The group, which calls themselves the House Problem Solvers Caucus, unveiled the measure after talks collapsed this week between the White House and a group of GOP lawmakers led by West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito.

The Problem Solvers framework, however, includes less money for broadband internet access — $45 billion, compared to $65 billion in the last public offer Capito’s group made.

The new plan includes more than $761 billion in new spending over eight years. That Senate GOP group had offered a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure plan, roughly a third of which was new spending above the “baseline” amount the government would normally spend to sustain current infrastructure, reported Roll Call. Continue Reading

New Concerns Push Timeline on Getting China Bill Passed UPDATE Legislation to bolster U.S. technology manufacturing in an effort to make the nation more competitive with China is on track to be one of the few major bipartisan achievements this year — but not without overcoming more hurdles in the House, according to The Hill. In a 68-32 vote on Tuesday, the Senate passed a roughly $190 billion science and technology bill to boost U.S. competitiveness with China.

The Senate bill invests several billion dollars into U.S. semiconductor production, Inside Towers reported. House members, meanwhile, are preparing to advance their own measures to boost scientific research. The reconciliation process between both chambers to iron out differences in the measures can take weeks before a final bill goes to the White House. Continue Reading

California Oakland’s Maritime Port Sets Up Private LTE Network Using CBRS The Port of Oakland, CA is getting a private LTE network using Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), one of the first ports to use this solution in the U.S., reported Container Management. Geoverse will provide the private network for Oakland Maritime Support Services (OMSS), a truck and container parking facility located at the port.

The CBRS deployment at the port is expected to be a model for other locations around the US, according to Geoverse CEO Rod Nelson. “This deployment is proving to be a first for the support of new use cases with CBRS, demonstrating how these networks are really a good fit for these maritime environments,” he added. Continue Reading

Ohio State Asks Court to Declare Google a Public Utility On Tuesday, Ohio officials filed a lawsuit against Google, asking the court to declare the company a public utility. According to Reuters, the designation would prevent the search giant from giving preferential treatment to its products and services.

"When you own the railroad or the electric company or the cell phone tower, you have to treat everyone the same and give everybody access," Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement.

The lawsuit alleges Google produces biased search results in favor of its products, even if other responses are more relevant. "Google uses its dominance of internet search to steer Ohioans to Google's own products - that's discriminatory and anti-competitive," Yost added. Continue Reading

Huawei Slate of New Products Powered by HarmonyOS 2 The Trump Administration took many steps over the last four years to isolate China in general and Huawei in particular. In one of its last official actions in January, it revoked chipmaker Intel’s licenses to sell to the Chinese company. Previously, in May 2019, President Trump placed Huawei on the list of companies that may not do business with any organization that operates in the United States, Qualcomm, Google and Intel, in particular.

“With the Huawei-U.S. ban in effect, the company has had to completely revamp how it creates and releases smartphones. It also faces mounting scrutiny from other nations, many of which rely on Huawei for wireless networking equipment,” according to Android Authority.

On June 2, in Shenzhen, China, the world caught a glimpse of how Huawei will design, build and market its products in the future if the digital iron curtain stays in place. Continue Reading

Missouri Kirksville Turns to Mark Twain to Stay Connected Upon re-evaluating its wireless and real estate options, Kirksville, MO has decided to move UScellular equipment from the water tower to the Mark Twain Communication tower. As KTVO-TV Kirksville reports, the removal was precipitated by the decision to decommission and remove the host water tower.

Assistant City Manager, Ashley Young, explained the appeal of rehousing UScellular on an existing structure. "All of this, you know, to essentially ensure that we don't have four new or at least now three new cell towers popping up across Downtown Kirksville," said Young, "So we can utilize that real estate for more beneficial purposes."

Young added that AT&T and Verizon are expected to join UScellular atop the 190 foot Mark Twain Communication tower. However, T-Mobile has elected to relocate to a different location, said Young. When the move is complete, T- Mobile will operate from another cell tower located behind Kirksville City Hall.

Inside Towers Pro Panel: Workforce Development

If you missed last week's highly-attended Pro Panel, there are a few ways you can still capture the key takeaways:

Watch the video replay here. Listen to the audio on the Tower Talks podcast via our website, Spotify, iTunes, or Amazon. Read some of the highlights here.

CTG is Hiring

Communications Tower Group (CTG) is an experienced developer, owner and manager of wireless Infrastructure assets. CTG has Communication Towers, Distributed Antenna Systems and related Fiber infrastructure throughout the South. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC our group continues to expand our footprint and is seeking qualified candidates to join us here locally. Current opportunities for the following positions are open in the headquarters (click links for more details).

Program Manager Collocation and Sales Manager

All interested and qualified candidates can email their resumes to Ricardo Loor at [email protected].

PerfectVision Hiring Multiple Positions

PerfectVision's Infrastructure Solutions division is hiring several positions in Sales and Operations throughout the U.S. We are looking for additional Customer Pickup Specialists and Inside Sales Specialists in our California, Texas, Illinois, and Arkansas locations. We are also looking for a sales-driven candidate to fill our new Southeast Regional Manager position.

For 42 years, PerfectVision has been a leader in the Telecommunications Industry specializing in end-to-end solutions in manufacturing, sales, and distribution. We carry over 10,000 products, provide customers and authorized retailers a diversified product portfolio, and offer fulfillment and installation services supporting turn-key fulfillment nationwide.

Come join a company with an established history and continuous growth. Click here for more information and to apply. Feel free to email with any questions here.

Gorge, WA contributed by Scott Birdsell.

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Managing Editor: Jim Fryer Washington Bureau Chief: Leslie Stimson Business Editor: John Celentano Technology Editor: Sharpe Smith Contributing Analyst: Martha DeGrasse Reporter: Keara Piekanski Marketing & Advertising: Megan Reed Creative & Advertising: Cara Aston Advertising: Phil Cook

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