Next week the city that has rebuilt itself will host the builders, suppliers and tower owners who represent NATE, the National Association of Tower Erectors. As New Orleans welcomes more than 130 exhibitors and hundreds more attendees to NATE Unite 2016, the U.S. tower industry is focused on the broadcast incentive auctions, climber safety and workforce training, three issues which are closely related to one another.
The broadcast incentive auction, set to begin next month, will allow broadcasters to sell spectrum in the 600 MHz band to the U.S. government, which will then auction the spectrum to new owners, primarily wireless carriers. Broadcasters who choose to sell some of their spectrum will need to retrofit their towers in order to broadcast only on their remaining spectrum. This will require climbers to scale broadcast towers, which are often taller than cell towers, carrying new antennas that are typically much larger than cellular antennas.
“It’s a different install than your traditional LTE upgrade on a 150-foot cell tower,” said NATE executive director Todd Schlekeway. “It’s going to be good for the industry because there’s … a lot of work that needs to be done, and so we’re grateful for that, but we just want to make sure, obviously, that safety stays at the forefront.”
Time will be needed to train more climbers for broadcast tower work, which has been slow for several years now. The need for time to train more climbers will be balanced against the carriers’ eagerness to deploy their newly acquired spectrum, which they can’t do until the broadcasters have moved their signals. Deploying the 600 MHz spectrum will also require trips to the tops of cell towers, creating competition for climbers.
“An arbitrary timeline that the industry can’t meet could jeopardize the safety of the workforce if it’s not implemented properly,” said Schlekeway. If broadcasters are unable to find enough trained tower technicians who are familiar with broadcast towers, they could end up hiring inadequately trained workers who may not be able to climb safely.
“I can verify just based on the anecdotal conversations I have every week – there just aren’t that many companies operating in the space right now who are equipped to do broadcast work,” said Schlekeway.
NATE Unite takes place this year in the context of an improving safety track record that the industry is determined to maintain. Earlier this month, stakeholders from all parts of the wireless industry came together to discuss safety as the Federal Communications Commission hosted a tower safety workshop in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. Don Doty of FDH Velocitel, a former NATE chairman, highlighted NATE’s role in developing safety resources, best practices and industry standards that are enhancing climber safety. Conference participants also analyzed comments received by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which issued a request for information on tower climber safety in 2014, when accident rates were higher than they are now.
Worker training is an issue that goes hand-in-hand with safety. The Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), which also participated in the FCC’s tower safety workshop, is a joint venture of telecommunications companies, industry associations and the U.S. Department of Labor that develops DOL-credentialed apprenticeship programs available to qualified employers for the training and career development of the telecommunications workforce. The Department of Labor is also helping fund wireless training programs at Virginia State University and at South Carolina’s Aiken Technical College.
“Everyone agrees that community colleges like Aiken are certainly one training pathway that is promising for the future,” said Schlekeway. He said that many tower construction and maintenance companies offer internal training as well, and that there are also private companies that offer training for tower technicians.
During NATE Unite, NATE will offer a course called Train the Trainer, in partnership with Safety Controls Technology, a private curriculum and training provider. The free course, made possible by a grant from OSHA, is open to applicants who have worked for a minimum of five years in tower construction, service and maintenance, or who have worked for three years and have a related degree or professional certification, such as a professional safety and health certification.
