Following is a summary of the finalists for the tower industry Excellence in Business Awards sponsored by RCR and Shorecliff Communications Inc. Winners will be announced at the 1999 Tower Summit & Trade Show Nov. 8 in Las Vegas.
Most Innovative Collocation Solution
Crown Castle USA Inc.-Nominated for developing a site that supports 85 tenants. The company designed a solution that included secure, monitored equipment buildings, power generators, environmental conditioning and multiple providers of backhaul transport and interconnect facilities.
American Electric Power Communications-Nominated for an agreement between AEP, an investor-owned utility company, and American Tower Corp. focused on marketing ATC’s existing transmission towers as collocation sites and development of its substation properties as towers sites.
Pacific Cell Sites-Nominated for providing design consultation and the final RF-transparent screening system for a portion of a tower built on a New Jersey religious convent retreat. The tower was disguised as a spiritual monument and houses four tenants. EK Wireless designed and built the tower.
Most Creative Stealth Installation
Stealth Network Technologies Inc.-Nominated for two towers it concealed-one in a cross tower for a church and the other on a free-standing water tank.
AirTouch Cellular (also submitted by Pacific CellSite Systems Inc.)-Nominated for installing a wireless site in a sign at the entrance of a shopping mall and entertainment center in Irvine, Calif. The sign houses the cellular antennas and microwave dishes, and a cell site building below stores the radio, air conditioning, alarm and other equipment.
Chameleon Engineering-Nominated for towers designed as palm trees and pine trees. To make its tree sites more realistic, the company made molds of live trees from which it casts the artificial bark for its sites. The company also developed RF transparent palm fronds and pine branches that can be used either behind or in front of the antennas.
Best Design for a Multitenant Site
Hemphill Corp.-Nominated for designing telecommunications structures that would blend with the architecture of a new 49-story office building in Times Square. The company built two independent towers on the structure-one which is contained within the other. The outside tower supports a 53-foot tall multiplex digital TV antenna for as many as four channels and two FM panel antennas, and the inner antenna can support 220 microwave dishes and antennas.
Unisite Inc.-Nominated for acting as a third-party intermediary in getting a site located in the historic Potomac River area.
American Tower Corp.-Nominated for its placement of a communications site on West Tiger Mountain in Washington, providing coverage for the Seattle-Tacoma market. The overall site design includes four 300-foot self-support towers, two two-story transmitter buildings and one generator building. The towers are designed to support both broadcast and wireless transmission equipment.
Best Online Site Location Tool
Sprint Sites USA-Nominated for its database-driven Web site that allows users to use text search and interactive mapping software to identify sites that meet their needs.
SpectraSite Communications Inc.-Nominated for its Web-based Site Locator, which allows users to search SpectraSite’s inventory of towers, build a list of viable locations and download all candidates at one time. Information available about the sites includes photographs, construction diagrams, soil and geotechnical reports, zoning documents, lease agreements and collocation applications. The company spent three years developing the solution.
Crown Communications International Corp.-Nominated for its IntraSite/EIS system, which uses integrated asset data warehouse and Geographic Information System technologies to help customers identify site locations.
Best Project Optimization Software
Pinnacle Towers Inc.-Nominated for developing a three-part solution designed to increase communication between buyers in the field and staff in the office. The solution includes a mapping application accessible through the company’s corporate intranet; a standardized form for buyers to submit information on a given deal; and a deal-tracking system also accessible through the company’s intranet.
Ventera Corp.-Nominated for TeleSites, the company’s customized back-office management system, which includes modules for property management/leasing, site audits, valuation and marketing.
Crown Castle-Nominated for its Project Tracking System, which allows the company to manage simultaneous projects throughout the country.
Best Community Awareness/Public Education Campaign
SpectraSite-Nominated for developing a one-page document highlighting the benefits of wireless service that helped it gain approval for a site in an area where numerous siting requests had been denied due to community concerns.
American Tower-Nominated for establishing a public-private partnership with the Morris Land Conservancy in New Jersey in an effort to ensure the Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch overlook near one of its towers could continue to be used for monitoring migration of hawks. American Tower donated 10 acres of property at its Hibernia Tower Site to the Morris Land Conservancy, plus an additional five acres of conservation easement from where the company’s tower is located to allow operation of a 20-mile trail.
Crown Castle-Nominated for working with the Kentucky chapter of the American Planning Association in a partnership to promote education and cooperation between the wireless industry and local planners. Crown’s activities included providing funding and speakers for the “Managing the Wireless Revolution” zoning seminar presented by KAPA.
Best Tower Collocation Marketing Campaign
Crown Castle-Nominated for its “Wanna Share?” advertising campaign, featuring children sitting in a tree, which is meant to symbolize collocation.
Unisite Inc.-Nominated for its Internet-based, interactive Antenna Site Catalog, and its related Point & Click Site Acquisition! campaign launched in early 1999.
Sprint Sites-Nominated for its Web site tool that allows users to search its inventory of tower sites.
Best Advertising Campaign-Tower Owner and Operator
Crown Castle-Nominated for its “Wanna Share?” ads that symbolize collocation and emphasize sensitivity to community concerns. The ad depicts children sitting in a tree. The campaign includes a number of tie-ins, including direct mail of tree saplings to prospects.
Unisite-Nominated for a 1998 multimedia ad campaign designed to combat the negative image that existed of the company due to a debacle in its agreement with the U.S. Postal Service. The campaign highlighted four themes, including Unisite’s experience, its geographic reach, its focus on the needs of customers and its Internet-based Antenna Site Catalog.
SpectraSite-Nominated for an ad campaign it launched as a newcomer to the industry in 1997. The campaign featured a series of eight ads focused on specific issues facing wireless carriers.
Best Advertising Campaign-Tower/Antenna Equipment Manufacturer
NK Cables USA Inc.-Nominated for its series of ads introducing itself as an alternative player in the cable products market. One ad pictures a piece of burned toast with the headline “One failed cable connection and you’re toast. Choose a higher standard of cable and connector.”
