Friday, September 26, 2014 Volume 2 | Issue 186 nTelos and Sprint Upgrade Cell Sites Across the Country

In May 2014, Sprint and nTelos announced they would extend their Strategic Network Alliance (SNA) through 2020. Sprint customers gained access to nTelos’s recently launched 4G LTE network and nTe- los has accessed Sprint’s 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum. Jennifer Fritzsche, Senior Analyst at Wells Fargo, and her team hosted nTelos CFO, Steb Chandor, and SVP Finance, Craig Highland. Fritzsche reported that, “NTLS noted it will be building tri-band LTE (800MHz/1.9GHz/2.5GHz) in its Strategic Net- work Alliance (SNA) footprint, but not on every cell tower. We continue to believe NTLS will evaluate cell sites which make the most sense from a return stand- point (both based on its own customers' and S traffic). The sooner NTLS completes the 4G network the better positioned it is to take advantage of the growth in data from both Sprint customers and its own subs. Management did acknowledge its main challenges in building the network faster is the structural loading capacity on the existing tower infrastructure and availability of contractor crews (common theme heard from many of our tower contacts.)” Sprint’s agreement with nTelos builds on initiatives announced in March by Sprint, the Competitive Carriers Association and NetAmerica Alli- ance that seek to accelerate the deployment of 4G LTE coverage throughout underserved American communities.

AT&T Upgrades County to 4G

Lima, Ohio, is finally coming out of the dark ages thanks to AT&T’s tower upgrades. “I think this is going to go a long way in taking us forward in the future,” said Jed Metzger, president and CEO of the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce. “This telecommunication infrastructure will improve the quality of life for our residents here, but more importantly, for our businesses.” While AT&T is just now getting around to bringing 4G LTE to Lima, customers have been enjoying the technol- ogy since December 2012. AT&T has been working on bringing 4G to Lima for about a month and the service is installed at 17 of 18 cell towers in the county. The last is being worked on, said AT&T engineer Steve Evanoff, and in the meantime, the one tower without 4G coverage shouldn’t affect users, as it is in Lima near other towers, according to LimaOhio.com.

Inside Towers Page 1 LBA Brings Internet to Alaskan Village for First Time

It’s easy to take the technology we have for granted but some places still don’t have cell phone or Internet access in the . Recently Lawrence Behr Associates, which is the technical services unit of LBA Group, provided a solution critical to facilitating the first high speed ter- restrial Internet for a small village in Alaska. According to the company, “This AM detuning solution was needed on a new microwave relay tower to protect the signal pattern of the only AM radio station serving the small village of Kotzebue. LBA Director of Site Services, Michael Hayden, took on the challenge of leading the project in the hostile conditions above the Arctic Circle. The new GCI tower was right next to the KOTZ-AM tower and threatened to disrupt the AM radio station’s broadcast service to the remote population. GCI, Alaska’s largest network provider, called upon LBA for an effective, fast so- lution. AM protection, or detuning, was required to properly protect KOTZ-AM and to comply with the Federal Communications Commission rules. LBA designed and manufactured a DetunipoleTM spe- cifically for this microwave tower.”

Benchmark Data Solutions Acquires 10 New Towers

The Canadian company, Benchmark Data Solutions, which provides communication and technology rentals, has recently acquired 10 communications towers that are fully portable and ready for imme- diate use. "These towers are unguyed and will be able to be set up in less than two hours, allowing for quick response," explains Bevan Hoynick, President of Benchmark Data Solutions. Hoynick says that these 10 new portable communication towers "do not require any guying to the ground, so a very small footprint is required on congested work sites."

SOLiD Launches 5W DAS and CityDAS Wireless Densification Solutions

DAS and small cell technology have become very popular with the rise in data usage so your cell phone will work in crowded venues and indoors, far away from the macro sites. However, outdoor small cells haven’t been implemented quite like the indoor technology. There are a lot of challenges to installing outdoor DAS, which is why SOLiD launched the in- dustry’s first 5W distributed antenna system (DAS) to ad- dress the increasing demand for high-speed, high-capacity LTE wireless coverage for indoor and outdoor locations. The company unveiled CityDAS, which integrates the SOLiD 5W into a street pillar for deployment in densely-populated urban areas. The CityDAS enables small cell-like capacity to augment the macro network and collocate other services. The solutions represent a response to macro network cover- age and capacity pressures and the business requirement to support future growth through a single infrastructure while hosting multiple operators and services. One of the challenges for outdoor small cells is cost. According to SOLiD, this new modular 5W DAS design lowers operational costs guar- antees RF power control and delivers 150MHz to 3GHz – all on a single strand of fiber. In addition the 5W utilizes convection cooling so it can be deployed virtually anywhere including indoor and out- door locations under harsh conditions. Hopefully, outdoor DAS and small cells will be deployed quickly in the future as it’s difficult to place a macro site in the middle of a metropolitan area.

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Motley Fool: 5 Things AMT Management Wants You to Know

Anders Bylund at the Motley Fool, a multimedia financial-services company, discussed how Ameri- can Tower’s raised revenue doesn’t tell the whole story about the company. “American Tower's management jumped on the horn with industry analysts, ready to dig much deeper into the second quarter. They had a lot to say, but these are five of the most telling quotes from that call. Spoiler alert: You'll see a lot of ‘growth’ talk here.” Deconstructing American Tower's growth "We constructed 276 domestic towers in Q2, and in addition purchased or extended the remaining term on almost 600 of our ground leases with the extensions averaging about 30 years. Our interna- tional rental and management segment generated revenue growth of 29% or nearly 39% on a core basis during the quarter. Of this core growth, about 18% was organic with the balance driven by nearly 8,000 new assets we have acquired since the beginning of Q2 2013,” said Tom Bartlett, CFO. Bylund explained, “American Tower owns and operates more than 21,000 broadcast and cell towers in the domestic market, and leases another 7,200 tower sites. That's up from 16,600 company- owned and 6,400 leased towers for the same period in 2013, or a 21% larger American network. The international footprint grew by 19%, led by large acquisitions in Mexico and Brazil. The company is still hungry for further expansion, especially abroad. Moreover, American Tower is growing its sales faster than it builds and buys new towers. The company is inserting new customers in existing towers, and also has enough negotiating leverage to raise prices when old contracts come up for renewal.” Continue reading here.

Inside Towers Page 3 New Cell Tower Approved in Sealston,

After a recent unanimous vote by the King George Board of Supervisors in Sealston, Virginia, Veri- zon has been granted a special exception permit to build a 195-foot tower. The tower will support a minimum of four panel antennas at various locations. The permit requires space to be reserved for the county’s use. Nearby property owner Jeane Bullock said some 10 years ago there was a request in the area, and she understood it was denied because of safety concerns for those at Sealston Ele- mentary School, and asked why it’s okay now. Chairman Joe Grzeika said he had no memory of any safety issue related to the request. Jack Green, director of the county’s office of community develop- ment, said a 350-foot tower was approved in that timeframe but was never built. “There was nothing brought up at that time in regard to safety,” he said. Supervisor Ruby Brabo wanted the representa- tive from Verizon to address concerns about potential health issues, but county attorney Eric Greg- ory stopped that request in its tracks. “RF emissions cannot be discussed and cannot be a factor in the board’s decision as a matter of federal law,” Gregory explained.

Tower Brings Opponents to Local Missouri Planning & Zoning Meeting

The Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission in Harrisburg, Missouri, recently voted 4-3 to recommend the approval of a conditional use permit for a proposed Verizon tower. This vote was pretty controversial considering that it came directly after an hour of public testimony, most of which opposed the 180-foot tower. “What was the point, then, of opening up this meeting to express our concerns?” asked Patty Beringer, after seven others, including her husband, Jeff, spoke out against the proposed cell tower site. P&Z Commissioner Carl Freiling, who voted against the request, told the crowd that because of federal regulations, “local discretion is limited” when dealing with telecom- munication towers. Neighboring property owners cited concerns about appearance, health, property values and endangered bats. Mike Douchant of Dolan Realty presented the request on behalf of Verizon Wireless for the tower. “From our point of view, this is pretty much what we call a cookie- cutter,” Douchant said, citing “overall minimal impact to the community at large” while meeting the need to connect the dots of transmission towers to improve the network for mobile phone service providers. The 10,000 square foot tower site would be fenced in and include a small structure for equipment and a 180-foot galvanized monopole. Douchant described the site as “virtually mainte- nance-free.” “It’s a really pretty remote location,” he said. The county commission will meet on Sep- tember 30 to take final action on the request. “What I heard tonight was the neighbors don’t want it,” said Commissioner Michael Poehlmann. Kevin Murphy, who said the towers are “a necessary evil in our times,” added that “nobody wants it in their back yard.”

Focus Returns to Town Hall Tower

The debate over a Verizon cell tower in Falmouth, Maine, was put on hold recently after a public hearing was postponed after a request from Verizon. Now that the Verizon tower is on the back- burner, attention has focused on AT&T and an agreement to replace the current public safety com- munications tower behind the Falmouth Town Hall with a new monopole tower. The new tower would be 120-feet tall and feature a 20-foot antenna. This is compared to the old tower which is 80- feet tall with the same height antenna. It was used when the police department was at that location, but according to Town Manager Nathan Poore, has been "disengaged" since 2008, when the depart- ment moved to a new location. "After technical review of the tower, AT&T decided a new tower would be needed," Poore explained. The new tower would have room for up to three cellular service providers, including AT&T, which would cover all costs for the installation. AT&T would lease the land for the tower from the town. The initial lease would be for 10 years, but it could be renewed three times, each for an additional five years, for a maximum of 25 years. AT&T would pay the town $36,000 a year plus inflation costs. 30 percent revenue would go to the town if any cellular carriers were added to the tower.

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