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Subscribe • Advertise Thursday, December 17, 2020 Volume 8 | Issue 244

Georgia Utilities Commission Offers $1 Pole Attachment Fee for Underserved Areas Electric Member Cooperatives, (EMC's) willing to expand broadband services into underserved regions of Georgia, will benefit from a lower cost of doing business, reports the Moultrie Observer. Passed unanimously by legislators, HB 244 includes provisions to entice companies to extend their services to parts of the state that currently lack adequate digital resources.

The state Public Service Commission (PSC) announced that rates for the attachment of broadband technology to utility poles will increase in areas already served by broadband. However, starting on July 1, the EMC's will only charge telecom providers $1 for pole attachments in underserved areas. The "One Buck Deal" is part of Georgia's plan to address the digital divide.

“With today’s vote, the Georgia PSC is giving broadband providers access to utility infrastructure at a cost of next-to- nothing in the locations where Georgia needs broadband the most,” Georgia EMC President/CEO Dennis Chastain told the Observer. “With today’s decision, EMCs are poised and ready to partner with broadband providers across the state to help them expand into our rural service territories.” Continue Reading

Tower Tech Fatally Injured in Fall

Inside Towers sources have confirmed that 24-year-old James Shumate of Houston, TX was killed in a fall from a tower in Spokane County in northeastern Washington. Although details of the accident are unknown, sources said Shumate was employed by Quality Tower Services based out of Houston. He was working on a 260-foot tower last Saturday, December 12, when the accident occurred. The Spokane County Sheriff’s office was not available for comment.

Donation funds are being established by:

Hubble Foundation Tower Family Foundation

AST & Science Going Public with $1.8 Billion Valuation of Satellite Venture On Wednesday, special purpose acquisition company New Providence announced that it would take Texas-based AST & Science public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) deal. CNBC reported that satellite broadband company AST will have an equity value of $1.8 billion. AST will list on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ASTS, likely in the first quarter of 2021.

AST is building a satellite network called “SpaceMobile,” designed to deliver broadband from space directly to . The company’s first experimental satellite launched in April 2019 and plans for a second launch are slated for late 2021.

The second satellite is estimated to cost $48 million, according to AST. The SPAC deal will fund the development of SpaceMobile through “phase one,” giving AST “enough capital to launch our first 20 satellites,” said AST Chairman/CEO Abel Avellan. Continue Reading

Pai Welcomes Industry Efforts to Improve WEA Geo-Targeting FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Wednesday praised the standards organization Alliance for Industry Solutions (ATIS), for its efforts to improve the geographic accuracy of Emergency Alerts. Wireless carriers rely on ATIS for standards to comply with the FCC’s enhanced WEA geo-targeting requirement, which specifies that alerts must be delivered to 100 percent of the target area with no more than a one-tenth of a mile overshoot. Where not technically feasible, wireless providers must continue to deliver alerts to their best approximation of the target area.

In September, Chairman Pai asked ATIS to develop best practices to further enhance geo-targeting.

“ATIS’ WEA standards specify a range of permissible values for wireless providers and equipment manufacturers to use as parameters for enhanced WEA geo-targeting, particularly when mobile devices are in motion,” Pai noted in a letter. He said the best practices should consider and address the following: Continue Reading

Dielectric Installs New Antenna as WSEW-FM Changes Tower Sites Dielectric is helping Maine-based radio station, WSEW-FM, settle onto its new tower site just across the border in New Hampshire with more signal strength from a new antenna. The FM will start to use its new transmission system from Barrington, NH in the early days of 2021, with a new Dielectric DCR-H FM antenna installed and ready to radiate.

WSEW moved from its longtime tower site in Sanford, Maine to improve signal strength for higher populous areas in New Hampshire. WSEW also updated its RF system.

“While the location change brings us closer to higher-density populations, we needed a completely new antenna system design with a difficult to achieve directional pattern,” said Ron Malone, President of Word Radio, who operates and administrates WSEW and four other Non-Commercial FM stations in Maine and New Hampshire. “Dielectric delivered the circular polarization we needed to reach our audience with greater signal quality and stability than our current antenna. We also now have a well-engineered antenna built to withstand challenging climate for the decades ahead.” Continue Reading

December 16, 2020 at Close

DISH Network Announces Convertible Notes Offering DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) plans to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $2 billion aggregate principal amount of convertible notes. DISH Network also expects to grant to the initial purchaser an option to purchase up to an additional $300 million aggregate principal amount of the notes to cover over-allotments, if any. The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including 5G network buildout costs.

The notes will be unsecured obligations of DISH Network. Upon any conversion, DISH Network will settle its conversion obligation in cash, shares of its Class A Common Stock, or a combination of cash and shares of its Class A Common Stock, at its election. The interest rate, the initial conversion rate, and other terms and conditions of the notes will be determined by negotiations between DISH Network and the initial purchaser of the notes.

The notes will only be offered and sold to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933.

Idaho Action to Block Tower in Sawtooth Slips on Appeal Opponents of a cell tower project in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho lost an appeal to have their objections heard again, reports the Idaho Press. In denying the request, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said, “Those requests were made in good faith, and I certainly applaud them for their effort,” adding that another hearing would be merely a "cumulative" attempt to repeat things that have been said before.

“We’ve already heard these comments,” said Wasden. “I’m not saying they’re not important, but I am saying that most of them, as I’ve seen them, have been contrary to fulfilling our constitutional duty to obtain the maximum long-term return from state endowment lands." Continue Reading

Federated Wireless: ESC CBRS Networks Work December marks a year that shared spectrum networks using the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band have been in full commercial operation. Federated Wireless CTO Kurt Schaubach says in a blog post that “well over” 100,000 CBRS radios have been deployed.

At the core of the deployment of shared spectrum is a sensor network that can securely detect when naval radar needs access to a portion of the spectrum. Commercial users can then be moved onto other channels, ensuring maximum spectral efficiency. This is the Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network. Both Federated and operate as SAS administrators; Google and CommScope jointly developed an ESC. Continue Reading

Texas Cities Evaluate Broadband Options for the New Year The cities of Bryan and College Station, Texas are in the early stages of exploring a city-owned broadband network. According to KBTX-TV, both cities’ officials say each municipality began pursuing this project to bridge the digital divide between the different neighborhoods and demographics within their city limits.

“That means understanding who has access to what services,” City of College Station Chief Information Officer Sindhu Menon said. “We also have an interest in if there is a way to improve the quality of services.”

Both cities have reached out to other municipalities with broadband networks to understand the risks and rewards. According to the City of Bryan Chief Information Officer Bernie Acre, the project will cost at least $100 million to complete. Acre added that the city’s consultant estimates that 580 miles of fiber is needed to complete the project regardless of variables. Continue Reading

Frontier Names New President & CEO, Former Head of Vodafone U.K. Frontier Communications Corporation (OTC: FTRCQ) will appoint Nick Jeffery as the company’s next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 1, 2021. Jeffery will succeed Bernie Han, who will step down as President and Chief Executive Officer on that date. Han will remain on Frontier’s Board of Directors and guide the CEO transition until emergence from Chapter 11, at which point Jeffery will join the Board. Jeffery was hired under the conditions set forth by Frontier’s Restructuring Support Agreement.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Jeffery most recently served as CEO of Vodafone U.K., overseeing one of Vodafone Group Plc’s largest businesses. Jeffery also spent over a decade at Cable & Wireless, one of the world’s largest wireline companies, where he led the U.K. and international markets business units.

Robert Schriesheim, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board, stated, “We are pleased to commence the next phase in our ongoing transformation as we prepare for emergence from Chapter 11 by announcing our intent to name Nick Jeffery as our next CEO.”

SQUAN Appoints Rob Feiler as New President and Chief Operating Officer SQUAN announced yesterday the appointment of Rob Feiler as its new President and Chief Operations Officer. In his new role, Feiler will support SQUAN in executing the company’s strategy and vision, while leading continued growth efforts through strategic partnerships. Feiler will oversee all daily operations for SQUAN and will lead cross-divisional growth through process improvement and systems enhancement.

Prior to SQUAN, Feiler served as a Vice President with Altice where he led WiFi expansion and Enterprise Sales up until the end of 2017. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President at ACE Hardware where he was responsible for the turnaround and growth, site acquisition, existing and start-up operations across the entire East Coast Regional footprint across 5,000+ locations under an International co-op.

“Rob will add ballast and consistency to the core of our operations while we continue to improve our processes and systems. We look forward to having him on our team,” said SQUAN CSO/EVP Keith Pennachio.

A Workforce Discussion with NATE's Todd Schlekeway & Consultant, Dr. Gemma Frock

We all rely heavily on our service and wireless devices to stay connected, especially through this pandemic.

With mobile data demand surging and 5G deployments ramping up, the need for qualified tower technicians to install and test infrastructure is greater than ever.

Yet there is a critical shortage of tower techs. Thousands more are needed. NATE - The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association recently conducted its 2020 Workforce Survey to find out where its members stand on handling increased field work and importantly, the challenges these contractors face in hiring and sustaining field force levels.

John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor discusses with Todd Schlekeway, NATE President and CEO, and Dr. Gemma Frock, consultant to NATE, what the survey findings mean for wireless workforce development. Hear this and much more on the podcast, available on our website, Amazon Music, Spotify and iTunes.

Recent Releases Latest posting from the FCC 12/15/20 Click Here

Wrong Email for NATE Member Services Coordinator In yesterday’s edition, in a story entitled Get Updated DHS-CISA Access Letter for NATE Members we inaccurately posted the email address of NATE Member Services Coordinator Jill Rethke. Her correct address is: [email protected].

Click on the image above to access the link featured in the tweet

Woodbury, TN contributed by Cara Aston. Email your tower shots or upload them here. Please be sure to include the tower location. Remember to follow us on Instagram!

Managing Editor: Jim Fryer Washington Bureau Chief: Leslie Stimson Business Editor: John Celentano Reporter: Keara M. Piekanski Marketing & Advertising: Megan Reed Creative & Advertising: Cara Aston Advertising: Phil Cook

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