The National Association of Tower Erectors' annual conference is always a good opportunity to take the tower industry's pulse, and this year attendees reported record turnouts in New Orleans despite the fact the Mobile World Congress event occurred at the same time in Barcelona,...
Drone operators from other industries look to cell towers for new business
The cell tower industry is just one of many that could be transformed by unmanned aerial systems, more commonly known as drones. Many of us think first of Amazon.com when we think of...
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...
Evolution toward 5G, small cell deployments and dark fiber all impact backhaul outlook
Network densification, currently being driven by deployment of small cells, will be a pillar of next-generation "5G" mobile networks. But as demand for capacity drives infrastructure expansion, carriers and managed services providers...
5 things to know today ...
1. The small cell opportunity for commercial property owners continues to grow. Vertical Bridge has made a deal to manage wireless sites at 250 real estate investment trust-owned health care facilities. Welltower is a REIT that funds real...
Telecom Italia currently owns 60% of telecom infrastructure firm Inwit
A consortium comprising Spanish operator Cellnex and Italian infrastructure fund F2i is the front-runner to buy 45% of Italian telecom tower operator Inwit, controlled by Telecom Italia, Reuters reports.
Earlier this month, Telecom Italia said it...
Stocks for Sprint and major U.S. tower companies fell dramatically after rumors the carrier was moving away from macro sites surfaced late last week. Sprint’s stock dropped 9% on Friday while American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications lost 3%, 6% and 8% respectively.
The...
Cell tower site acquisition and ownership can be a complicated and risky endeavor if you don’t fully understand the complex rules and regulations involved. But, with increasing demand for capacity due to the explosion of devices in the market, it can also deliver hefty...
Telecommunications is not the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think of 3M. The Maplewood, Minnesota-based manufacturing company made its name in the adhesive business, but it also has a complete division dedicated to telecom, which supplies copper and fiber optic...
The telco aims to upgrade 100 telecoms towers by the end of 2015
Dannish mobile telephony operator Telenor Denmark announced the deployment of its commercial LTE+ service in the country’s largest cities. Using carrier aggregation technology, Telenor is currently upgrading a total of 430 telecommunications...
The Indian telco will transfer the assets to two US investment groups
Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications has reached an agreement to sell its stake in telecom tower company Reliance Infratel and its fiber assets to two private equity firms, according to local press reports.
The...
Tower ownership can be a risky endeavor, but it can also deliver hefty profits for those who know how to properly allocate their resources and build strong relationships with carriers.
On this weeks Cell Tower News show, Alex Gellman, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Bridge,...
Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications is set to announce the sale of its stake in telecom tower company Reliance Infratel to a private equity firm.
According to local press reports, the deal is expected to be announced in the coming days. Reliance expects an enterprise value of...
Telecom Italia plans to keep up to 20% of the infrastructure firm
Telecom Italia is looking to sell a part of its Inwit holdings, with CEO Marco Patuano noting "we are ready to send tender invitations to potential bidders for the Inwit stake." Patuano said the company expects...
DALLAS – Antennas took center stage on the first day of the LTE North America conference, with discussions centered around the evolving environment for these frequently overlooked contributors to the functionality of wireless networks.
Ken Rehbehn, principal analyst for the mobile radio access network at 451...
Following up on an August contract announcement, Phoenix Tower International has finalized an acquisition of ownership/management of 600 tower sites from carrier T-Mobile US.
Phoenix Tower owns and operates towers in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. The company is based in Boca Raton,...
As data demands increase, so does energy consumption from high-density data and communications equipment on cell towers. This leads to the need for increased efficiency in power systems, especially in places with unreliable power grids. The push into rural areas and underdeveloped countries is another...
From automotive applications to virtual reality, millimeter wave spectrum could support data hungry applications
AUSTIN, Texas – Millimeter wave spectrum has gone from being a moonshot technology to a likely feature of next generation "5G" mobile networks. That’s what Professor Robert Heath of the University of...
The three operators are finalizing leasing contracts with the new joint venture
China’s three mobile operators – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – signed an agreement to transfer a combined 231 billion yuan ($36 billion) worth of telecommunications towers and related assets to...
This week on HetNet Happenings, host Sean Kinney, the managing editor for RCR Wireless News, takes a look at the recent Tower and Small Cell Summit event, co-located in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the CTIA Super Mobility show.
T-Mobile US SVP of Technology Dave Mayo...
Intelligent Energy, a U.K.-based power technology company, signed a 1.2 billion pound ($1.8 billion) deal to convert 27,400 Indian telecom towers to use hydrogen fuel cell technology. The deal looks to strengthen the unreliable Indian power grid while at the same time reduce carbon emissions.
Essential Energy, an Intelligent...
Thai operator aims to reach 5,000 4G LTE base stations by end of 2016
Thai mobile operator Dtac plans to launch 4G LTE through 10 MHz of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band in October. The telco already offers 4G in Thailand using 5 MHz...
Network would combine ground-based and satellite-based connectivity
WASHINGTON – Germany’s flagship airline Lufthansa has announced a deal with Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of carrier T-Mobile US, and the satellite firm Inmarsat, to provide passengers on its short- and medium-haul flights with broadband access.
The company...
LAS VEGAS – With the near-ubiquity of mobile devices, it's important for venue owners to provide robust cellular indoors. Small cells and distributed antenna systems work wonders, but, before spending big bucks on network infrastructure, a data-driven look at where connectivity is (and isn't)...
