The Red Devils: Connecting on the Field of Battle

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Monday, November 12, 2018 Volume 6 | Issue 221

Paratroopers from the Army's 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Red Devils, are on the front lines of military technology, testing phone connectivity under battle conditions at Fort Bliss in Texas. The Fort Bliss Bugle explains the unique field concerns that soldiers face. While civilians rely on a network of cell towers to connect their calls, the Army has to carry its own network with it. The digital network that was in force, Nett Warrior, had too many limitations and was unwieldy to use. “Nobody was using the Nett Warrior devices,” said Maj. Andrew Miller.

Armed with commercial available smartphones and tablets, the soldiers began their assault on the new Integrated Tactical Network (ITN). The ITN seeks to extend the range and flexibility of communications on the field. Following the lead of the Special Operation Forces team, the Army set out to create a decentralized system that would allow soldiers to talk within their units without needing to link back through a command center first. The signal would also need to circumvent attempts to jam a signal or disrupt satellite communications. The Red Devils have continued to test the ITM during each continued phase of its development. Continue Reading

Seattle Tower Site Fire Cause Under Review Authorities are trying to determine what caused a tower fire Thursday morning for a master FM antenna at the Tiger Mountain tower site. Jim Dalke, Editor of the SBE Chapter 16 newsletter, told Inside Towers the master antenna suffered “major damage.” The damage appears to be confined to the antenna array on the tower. Antenna manufacturer ERI was slated to visit the site over the weekend to investigate the amount of damage and the cause.

Six FMs that transmit from the site are affected: KSWD, KBKS, KJAQ, KNUC, KQMV and KZOK. All are now temporarily transmitting from their Aux facilities on nearby Cougar Mountain.

The Tiger Mountain site is about 20 miles east of Seattle. The master antenna is a 32-bay array on a self-supporting 300-foot tower, according to Dalke. American Tower owns the structure and antenna array. Transmitter buildings below were not damaged.

Rough terrain made it difficult for firefighters to access and they had to search for a way to reach the tower. The fire was put out quickly and no injuries were reported, according to KIRO-TV. Comments? Email us.

FCC’s Carr and San Jose Mayor Go Mano-a-Mano Over 5G FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo were going tit for tat over 5G on Twitter last Thursday.

In an Op-Ed published in Friday’s New York Times, titled, “Why San Jose Kids Do Homework in Parking Lots,” Liccardo says the FCC must do a better job to provide broadband in low-income neighborhoods. Several cities sought to make deals with wireless infrastructure providers to deploy small cells on streetlight poles, according to Liccardo. “However, the telecommunications industry has quietly worked to usurp control over these coveted public assets and utilize publicly owned streetlight poles for their own profit, not the public benefit," he writes. He alleges the Commission has pushed an “industry-friendly proposal to mandate that cities offer below-market, taxpayer-subsidized lease rates to telecommunications providers that want to use streetlight poles.”

He’s referring to the new small cells order, led by Carr, that the FCC passed in September. It would set limits on how long municipalities can take to review carriers' infrastructure applications and how much they can charge. Liccardo says the change “eviscerates” cities' ability to craft their own deals for broadband. San Jose had such a deal and joined 20 other cities to challenge the Commission’s decision in court, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

AT&T to Webcast Presentation at Morgan Stanley Conference on November 14 AT&T will webcast a presentation by John Stephens, AT&T Inc. senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, at the Morgan Stanley European Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Barcelona on Wednesday, November 14. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. local time, 3:45 a.m. ET.

The webcast will be available live and for replay at AT&T Investor Relations. Viewers should start the webcast a few minutes before the planned start time in case the conference schedule changes.

The Radio Club of America Announces New Board Members and Officers The Radio Club of America (RCA) announces its newly elected board members and officers who will serve a two-year term beginning January 1, 2019.

The new directors are David Bart, KB9YPD; James Breakall, WA3FET; Charles Kirmuss, W0CBK; Stephanie McCall, Robert Naumann, W5OV; William Waugaman, WA3OJG; and Larry Weber, KI6IVX. Officers elected to a new term are Nathan “Chip” Cohen, W1YW; Vice President, Barney Scholl, Jr., K3LA; Vice President/Counsel, Ron Jakubowski, K2RJ; Treasurer and Margaret J. Lyons, Secretary.

Founded in 1909, the Radio Club of America is the oldest group of wireless communications professionals in the world. Members are dedicated to the wireless art and science for the betterment of society. The RCA 2018 Awards Banquet and Technical Symposium will be held on Saturday, November 17, at the Westin New York Times Square in New York City.

November 9, 2018 at Close

Wisconsin ISP Buys Third Company in the Last Quarter Bertram Communications LLC, a Wisconsin high-speed wireless internet service company doing business as Bertram Internet announced their acquisition of FamTek Systems, according to the Wisconsin Business Journal. Bertram owns over 200 tower sites over a 20-county region in Wisconsin covering predominantly rural areas.

Based in Random Lake, it is the company's third acquisition since June, adding Fond du Lac-based Fast Bytes Wireless in August of 2018.

"We realize the Famtek customers have had some major service-impacting issues on and off over the last several months," Tim Wright, Bertram's vice president of operations said. "We are here to stabilize and improve the network."

Wright told the Business Journal, they plan on expanding toward the Fox Lake, Oshkosh and Winnebago regions by early next year.

Montana Clearview Gets the OK For Tower Next to National Park

UPDATE After a year long battle with local residents and park-goers, Clearview Tower Company got final approval from the Flathead County Board of Adjustment to build a 108-foot cell phone tower just outside the entrance to Glacier National Park, according to the Missoulian.

Fire Chief Matt Cox, and EMS Captain Chris Dalimata attended the Tuesday night meeting, voicing their support of the tower, a “monopine,” which received a narrow 3-to-2 approval. Opponents focused on how the tower would mar the view over the Flathead River’s Middle Fork and the southern portion of Glacier.

Clearview spokesman Bill Ray said they expect the site to be up and running by the end of the year, weather permitting.

Get On Air Faster Than Ever In the race to densify, time matters. Carriers need to deliver the capacity and speed users expect – and fast. Eco-Site operates a vast, constantly expanding network of cell tower sites throughout the U.S. available for colocation and ready to get you on air fast.

New towers – built, not bought The entire Eco-Site portfolio has been developed in-house – never through acquisition – with all sites constructed after 2014.

Our towers offer several important advantages, starting with ample structural capacity and compound space. They don’t require any modifications or expansions to meet the demands of today’s technology, so there are no delays in getting on air. Continue Reading

New Hampshire Tower Moves Forward A telecommunications tower plan earned Zoning Board approval in Derry recently, according to the Derry News. Zoning officials unanimously granted a variance to allow the installation of a 140-foot monopole telecommunications tower and supporting facilities at a property at 8 Lawrence Road. The applicant is T-Mobile Northeast LLC and owner is Blount Communications.

California Verizon to Meet With Sonoma P&Z on 10 Pole Placements Verizon submitted applications to install Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Antennas on PG&E utility poles in the public rights-of-way in 10 locations within Sonoma. The city requested additional information from Verizon regarding undergrounding of equipment and other aesthetic information. The city has not set the date for the Planning Commission to meet with the carrier.

“Mentally Unstable” Man Climbs Tower in Florida After a six-hour standoff with police, 58-year Pablo Torres, who climbed a cell tower in suburban Miami Thursday, was taken into custody. USA News reported that the man began to descend the tower without safety equipment and finished the climb down in the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue ladder truck.

“We want to first thank Miami-Dade County Police, Miami-Dade County Fire, Hialeah Fire, our officers, our members of our negotiation team that worked for hours speaking with this man to finally bring this to a peaceful resolution,” said Hialeah Police Sgt. Eddie Rodriguez.

The man’s family reported that he was mentally unstable and they didn’t know his motive for climbing the tower. After he was released from the hospital, Torres was arrested and charged with burglary and resisting an officer without violence, reported USA News.

Jacksonville, FL T-Mobile South LLC, 1819 Kings Ave., contractor is A Advantage Electric Inc., cell tower upgrade, $65,000. Source: Jacksonville Daily Record

Ontario, Canada The Town of Halton Hills has renewed Bell Mobility’s lease on its cell tower in Hornby Park. The town will earn $20,600 USD a year, with a 10 percent increase every five years. The previous lease was $5,340 USD a year. Source: Inside Halton

Kentucky Wireless Association Holds Social at (Where Else?) Churchill Downs The Kentucky Wireless Association (KWA) had its annual holiday event last Thursday at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. KWA sponsored the fourth race to honor its charities, the Special Olympics of KY and ALS of KY.

Recent Releases Latest posting from the FCC 11/6/18 Click Here

Oh What Fun! Don't Miss Out on These Wireless Association Holiday Events! NJWA (New Jersey) – Educational Events & Holiday Social – Wednesday, November 14, Harrah’s Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ. Click here for details & registration.

TXWA (Texas) – Holiday Event - Tuesday, December 4, Whiskey Ranch, Fort Worth, TX. Click here for details.

MDDCWA (Maryland/DC) – Holiday Social – Wednesday, December 5, Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House, Halethorpe, MD. Click here for details.

CALWA (California) – SoCal Holiday Party, Thursday, December 6, Twenty-Eight Restaurant & Bar, Irvine, CA. Click here for details and registration.

VAWA (Virginia) – Holiday Social – Tuesday, December 11, McCormack’s Big Whiskey Grill, Richmond, VA. Click here for details and registration.

NWWA (Northwest) – Tuesday, December 11, Living Computers Museum & Labs, Seattle, WA. Click here for details and registration. NYSWA (New York) – Annual Holiday Social – Thursday, December 13, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, NY. Click here for details and registration.

Daley Tower Service, Inc. – Tower Technician

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Rize Solutions is a certified Minority Business Enterprise and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, providing professional staffing, recruiting and telecom development services. Rize Solutions is actively seeking an A&E Project Manager in Denver and a Construction Manager in Connecticut. Please click for more information/ to apply:

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MasTec Network Solutions is Hiring Multiple Positions

MasTec Network Solutions is holding career fairs across the country and hiring for multiple positions!

La Féria, Texas contributed by Ruben Lucero.

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