Category Archives: Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Tower Shock Survivor John Richardson talks of Family, Faith, and Recovery

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Here is a story of not only a survivor, but an inspiration of someone who truly feels he is blessed from GOD and someone who really inspires by his great attitude and his love of his family. I have to tell you if you don’t have faith before this, you will after you listen.

First, some background. If you want to read about the accident when it happened follow this link to read about when it happened. His wife was quick to set up a GoFundMe account, found here, that helped the family through this very difficult time. His accident happened on September 23rd, 2015, which caused him to be flown to one hospital, then to another. He survived and he tells us how he is doing.

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In this interview he talks about how he was shocked by over 20,000 volts of electricity from some electrical lines next to the residential tower he was working on. He not only recovered but he is working again. He will never climb again because he lost his lower right leg, but the way this guy is pushing forward is amazing. John is more than a survivor, he is inspirational!

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He is so thankful to be where he is. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself like so many people would. He is moving on and being thankful for his family and all this who helped him.

We talk about his wife who was so amazing to not only stand by him, stayed with him in the hospital, but got the funds to keep them moving forward. She did so much for him and when he talks about it  I was moved by the love this woman had.

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Another thing that he talks about is how GoFundMe really helped them through this. How the Hubble Foundation and the Tower Family Foundation did so much to help them through this situation. These 2 foundations really stepped up and did all that they could to support the family. They didn’t ask for anything in return, the only asked how they could help this family. They worked with Elaina, (John’s wife) to help her anyway they could.

I want to point out a few things, John could sit around and feel sorry for himself, he didn’t and he doesn’t. He is moving ahead with such faith it really moves me. His wife Elaina is an amazing person to support him this way, she is an amazing woman.

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The support that the GoFundMe donors is moving. The support that the two outstanding foundations, the Hubble Foundation and the Tower Family Foundation deserve so much credit here to support the family this way. I want to make sure that people know these foundations are out there to support climbers and their families in need at a time of devastation.

I would like to note that Dr. Bridgette Hester and Mr. Ben Little are 2 of the best people I know. The passion that these 2 have to help people in need in this industry is amazing. I would like to thank them for all that they have done and continue to do for all of us. Their passion inspires me and should inspire all of us to help others without expecting anything in return.

Finally, let me say that Surf Air Wireless is an amazing company. They supported John throughout the entire process and he still works there today. How amazing is that? He works for them in the dock and they really are supportive of his recovery. They are doing what they can to keep him going. WOW! Surf Air Wireless is a great WISP in my book. You will hear what he says in the interview.

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I really think that John is an inspiration to humans in general with his faith and great attitude. He has been through so much, yet he doesn’t whine or complain, he remains positive and keeps moving forward. He is truly an inspiration to all of us. Look what we have! We have our health, we have both legs, and we can go to work tomorrow without wearing a prosthetic leg, and yet we complain about our problems. They don’t’ seem so important now, do they.  I recommend taking the time to listen what he has to say.

By the way, John wanted me to make sure that I mention his brother, Joel, who called 911 and stayed on the tower with him for almost an hour until the medics arrived to get him down and to the hospital. He literally owes Joel his life and they work together. How great is that?!? They got John down with a bucket truck and Joel was there to assist.

If you want to hear more from Elaina and John, their blog is at http://samelovenewlife.blogspot.com/ and she will keep you up to date. I plan to talk to Elaina in the near future.

Keep the faith, be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

GOD bless John and all the people who helped them.

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An Injury in a Near Miss, Stephen Crabtree Tells his Story

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UPDATE!

I have an official statement from John “JD” Ledcke of Pinpoint Services.

“The information provided by Curtis Walton in this interview is inaccurate, and your summary of the interview embellishes Curtis’s false comments. Your statement that there was no rescue gear available and that it was a “poorly prepared crew” is completely false. There was a complete rescue kit, including a descend rope, on site and offered to Stephen Crabtree at the time of the accident. Stephen’s statement in his interview that there was a rescue rope and that a rescue was immediately offered to him contradicts your statement that there was no gear at all. Additionally, both Stephen and Curtis had just successfully completed a three-day training session prior to this job. Stephen’s employment was not terminated the night of this incident, as Curtis alleged. Also, neither Curtis’ termination nor that of the job foreman were related to Stephen’s accident in any way. I will not violate our former employees’ privacy by recounting the true reasons for their terminations, but I ask that you not continue to publish statements that you know to be false. Further, Curtis’s allegation that he was stranded by his employer was not related to Pinpoint, and your story fails to make this clear. Both Mike Craven’s comments and the contradictions between Curtis and Stephen’s stories about the weather conditions and rescue equipment should have apprised you of the fact that their stories required further investigation or were not suitable for publication. You repeated false statements of these individuals and also made your own false statements that were not actually said by Curtis or Stephen. Pinpoint will not further publicly respond regarding this matter, due to the concern that you will not accurately summarize statements of the Company. Please correct the false, inflammatory statements against Pinpoint or simply remove these articles from your blog.”

I recently got a call from Steven Crabtree, who is injured in a tower accident who is now on disability. He was willing to talk about it, which I really appreciate. I have the full interview on my podcast, so for all the details go there. I did ask him questions and he answered in his word, not mine. Remember that we are only hearing one side of the story, and I don’t have anyone to confirm or deny what happened. As in most cases, most people cower and shy away from telling anyone outside of their circles anything for fear of being blacklisted in the industry. Most people are scared or there may be a lawsuit. Most companies just want this to go away.

What a shame, all those cowards only thinking of themselves, isn’t it? When we could learn from things like this! We could learn from near miss stories. But, as usual in the tower industry, everyone is too scared to help others, to teach, to learn, while instead they all cower away and say, “It’s not my fault!” Well, here Stephen readily admits he was in over his head, but he did it anyway. He also wanted to learn from it, but instead his company put him on indefinite leave. While I don’t know their story, yet, they obviously want to protect themselves and they already have someone to blame. I would love to hear what Black and Veatch thinks. They had someone on site along with the crane operator and with Pinpoint.

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Remember, I am taking this at face value. I am reaching out to other contacts for verification. It seems that the crew he was working with was let go, according to Stephen. I have no verification on that.

To sum it up, he was injured on a tower where his shoulder and knee had damage. His crew didn’t have the rescue gear to pull him down so he had to climb down without help only to pass out when he touched the ground. He then had an ordeal going through workman’s comp and the hospital thought he wasn’t hurt too back but he had to go to another hospital and now he needs surgery. He is getting workmen’s comp, but his company is putting him on permanent leave. All this because he was in over his head for this particular job. This all happened back in January 26th, 2016 from what he said.

What would you do?

So here is something to think about. When you listen to Mr. Crabtree talk then you realize he lays some the blame on himself for getting in over his head. He also mentions how the crane operator knew that there would be problem by just looking at the site, when he said you need a winch, not a crane. There were warning signal but yet he moved ahead anyway, the whole crew did. There was a competent rigger on site that said it could be done, yet he remained on the ground. Also, There was a Black and Veatch guy there as well for safety. All of these people, and now Mr. Crabtree is out of work living on disability.

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One thing that you hear in this interview is that he really loves climbing and he wants his reputation to remain intact. Unfortunately, after something like this, he may never climb again.

I would bet all of you will say it won’t happen to me, after all, you would know better. And yet, when I talk to Dr. Bridgette Hester of the Hubble Foundation, she tells me that her research shows almost all of you do stupid things, knowing it’s stupid, anyway. I know I have! I did too many things that I probably shouldn’t have. You know how I learned? I did them and came up with a better way to do them. I would ask older and more experienced climbers what they would do. I would reach out for help, even to the competition. They would laugh and get mad but in the end they would help because they didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Unfortunately most of those guys are starting to retire. Business isn’t exactly booming so why stick with it. We are losing our resources full of experience.

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Remember that I only have one side of the story, so there may be more. Stephen was also put on indefinite leave and no longer has insurance, so he is quite upset with Pinpoint. He will have a hard time getting by and chances are good he will lose his house. He does have a GoFundMe account, https://www.gofundme.com/agn6hz38 that you can donate to if you would like.

Stephen is having problems trying to get support for his doctor and is trying to work through the injury and move ahead. It’s hard when you can’t work. His hand has the shakes all the time.

He did reach out to Hubble Foundation for help, and they will help if he has proof of hardship. They did offer to work with him and they are vetting the story. Unfortunately many people have lied to the Hubble Foundation in the past for a quick buck, yes, there are dirt bags in this business. I will write about this people in another post.

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I think maybe we need to ask NATE to provide a resource, a hotline, where climbers could call for help! Maybe NATE could refer them to the proper ANSI document. I do remember at the FCC/OSHA safety workshop that Craig Lekutis of Wireless Estimator said that all climber should read TIA-222G, which I just opened in PDF form, all 262 pages of my copy. Have I read it? Not all of it, I use it more as a reference, shouldn’t we all. It may have helped in this situation, maybe the authorized rigger on site read it. Let’s look at page 114, where my older copy describes an “Authorized (Basic) climber”, and I quote, “an individual with the physical capabilities to climb who may or may not have previous climbing experience but has training in fall protection regulations, the equipment that applies to the field including instruction for their proper use; able to climb designated fixed access routes equipped with safety climb devices.” In all honesty Craig is right, it should be required reading, yet so few probably even know it exists.

You know what I wish? I wish we would learn from these near misses, I wish we would record them and report them, instead of brushing them under the rug. If you dare you can tell your near miss stories on a Facebook Group I created, https://www.facebook.com/groups/434898530040536/ for people who want to learn. You could email me at wade4wireless@gmail.com to tell me and keep it hush-hush. We need a way to learn from them. Don’t forget all of OSHA’s has a website to report complaints, found here, that you could let them know what’s going on.

We could change the industry for the better, instead, we choose to cover up the near miss incidents when we could learn so much. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Let’s make change! Let’s improve the industry by making a case book of these incidents and working to eliminate the hazards and the risks as much as we can. However, if we stay on this path we can hope for the best and continue see companies lay blame because it’s easier and it looks better to the insurance company when we just turn our backs on the people who work hard to grow the company. Will these companies continue to screw the little guy? Many companies will and they always will.

What are you thinking? Let me know and I’ll sign you up for my newsletters. 

Remember that OSHA is working hard to keep your job safe!

OSHA cares!

OSHA explains, if you click here, complaint information and whistle-blower protection.

To report an emergency, fatality, or imminent life threatening situation please contact our toll-free number immediately: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

Reach the OSHA Complaint web site for non-emergencies by clicking here!

Order Tower Climber Logbook Today!

Log your job, your high time, your drive time, and track your crew’s work and protect yourself!

SOW Training Cover

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

 

Tower Safety and Instruction  Tower Safety for all your safety training!

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? 

 

 

 

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Let’s help the Tower Family Foundation help climber’s families!

The FirstNet Fizzle

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What do the deployment teams think of FirstNet? What do you think of FirstNet? Yes, FirstNet. For all of us who were looking forward to building FirstNet, guess what, it is only going to help you if you already work for a carrier, a large carrier, probably AT&T. Yes, the carriers are rule the industry.

The way it looks is AT&T are the front-runners, not because of anything specific, just because they are interested in the offer and they are apparently the perfect fit. Maybe Rivada can get in there, but it will be an uphill battle for them. The only competition I could see is if T-Mobile or Verizon show interest, which they didn’t yet. If they do come out as bidders, great, but the way it looks at this moment in time is that AT&T has a lock on it.

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If you are a contractor for AT&T, things look pretty good for you. I believe that the engineers and installers have a great opportunity to get in on the AT&T growth spurt, in 2017. I don’t see much happening before 2017 because this process of approvals, contracts, and agreements will go slow. When they do ramp up, go baby go! Then in 2018 or 2019 we should see the densification of the FirstNet network for better coverage. It’s a long wait, but worth it.

So this will not be a normal public safety offer, really it won’t look like public safety at all. In fact, I am curious how Motorola will survive moving forward, but that is another story. For this story we need to look at this as just another carrier expansion. This is one that the carriers will continue with business as usual, that is, until something doesn’t work or goes wrong then the finger-pointing will begin. I hope they forego the finger-pointing and decide to just push ahead. It will be a new system built on an existing system that will have glitches. Then the advancements will begin, like push to talk, PTT, and over the top, OTT, services for all of you to start adding to the system.

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FirstNet will add a lot of work but the way I see it, it will be as an expansion to the AT&T system. The one thing that AT&T will need to do is build the markets they may not have, like rural Alaska and Hawaii where there may be little or no coverage. They may also need to improve coverage where FirstNet needs to cover real estate. How will they do this? Partners, they will trade spectrum, specifically the Band 14 of FirstNet, to a smaller local carrier just like they do now. Then they will setup roaming between systems.

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Roaming is relatively simple for carriers now. They just bill in whatever terms the contract states, by minute or by call, whatever. They do it all the time between all the carriers. This is how a basic MVNO agreement works. A company, like Virgin Mobile here in the US, has a billing system tied into a large carrier and then create an agreement billing by the minute, a bulk of minutes, or be billed by subscriber. These are ways that the MVNO can work and probably what Rivada will have to do to be competitive.

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I was hoping that FirstNet would spark the industry, but I was wrong. It will merely help the dominance of the carriers over all the wireless systems in the USA.

I bring this up because public safety was the last stand for small business, the last stand for a regional business to do work outside of the carrier world. Broadcast appears to be changing and winding down. Broadcast was a place where smaller businesses were still prevalent. Well, those days are coming to a close, aren’t they? The 600MHz auction is shutting that door. Now, if you don’t do carrier work or tower modifications, then you had better be getting into pole placement for small cell expansion.

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What a let-down, the FirstNet team took a long time to hand it over to a carrier. I guess it should not surprise me because they do LTE so well, but I thought it would be an opportunity for a new player to come in. With all of their money and backing, I have to root for Rivada just to see what they will do different. I know that the $6B budget that they have looks inviting, but the only realistic way they can get there is to partner with a carrier. It makes perfect sense for the FirstNet team.

So what can you do? Sit back and wait for the deployment, next year, hopefully early in 2017 we will see real work rolling out. I am looking forward to it!

What are you thinking? Let me know and I’ll sign you up for my newsletters. 

Remember that OSHA is working hard to keep your job safe!

OSHA cares!

OSHA explains, if you click here, complaint information and whistle-blower protection.

To report an emergency, fatality, or imminent life threatening situation please contact our toll-free number immediately: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

Reach the OSHA Complaint web site for non-emergencies by clicking here!

Order Tower Climber Logbook Today!

Log your job, your high time, your drive time, and track your crew’s work and protect yourself!

SOW Training Cover

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

Tower Safety and Instruction  Tower Safety for all your safety training!

official logo

 

Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? 

 

 

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Let’s help the Tower Family Foundation help climber’s families!

The NATE Drone Initiative

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I wanted to give you an update on the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Committee. I was lucky enough to attend a meeting at NATE Unite with this group and it was open to all who wanted to go and got up at 6:30AM in New Orleans to attend. That’s right, it was at 6:30AM, in New Orleans in a conference room. I am an early riser so it was not big deal for me, but some people had a hard time making it. You know who you are!

I would like to thank Todd Schlekeway for arranging this and for all the committee members for being so open with the information as well as listening to the input of the crowd. He did a great job of pulling this together.

A good crowd showed up, especially for 6:30AM, I believe there were more than 30 people there

First, some history. The committee was formed back in October of 2015 and consisted of:

  • Greg Emerick (Sentera; Licensed Pilot)
  • Jim Goldwater (Bob Lawrence & Associates)
  • John Paul Jones (Tower & Turbine Technologies, LLC; Licensed Pilot)
  • Phil Larsen (HAZON Solutions; UAV Pilot and Student Pilot)
  • Jimmy Miller (MillerCo, Inc.; Licensed Pilot)
  • Todd Schlekeway (NATE)

So this early morning meeting was to inform the public the progress of the committee. The meeting opened up lighthearted enough with introductions and someone said they just wanted to know what a drone was, you know who you are!

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This is something they are addressing with the FAA. The FAA is currently overwhelmed by all of the applications and registrations and complaints around drones. They are everywhere and not everyone likes them. The key thing is to make sure that the tower industry uses drones responsibly and legally. Professionalism will be a big part of drone usage.

While I was told that the FAA is on board, the want to move ahead, but they don’t have the manpower to do anything at this time.

Todd called up a document that is being created by the committee to outline what NATE believes the policy should be for the tower industry.

There was a demo of Tower Tracker Pro at NATE! Did you see it?

They talked about how they are going to focus their message around training and education. Everyone already knows the value of drones, the reduced number of climbs, the real-time video, the pictures, the GPS information that can be grabbed. We all know the obvious benefits. What more people don’t’ know, outside of the committee members, are the rules! That’s right, there are so many rules that the drone pilots need to follow when using a drone for business. Education is the key to making drone usage safe and professional.

I have some ideas that might help, I will put them in my newsletter because they might not align with what most people are thinking. So if you want to see them, sign up below.

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I want to congratulate NATE for doing a great job with the progression of drones in this industry. I believe that the carriers, tower owners, and tower crews will all benefit from the usage of drones in wireless work. I am hoping that we can make this happen on a wide scale. I think that once the FCC points out to the FAA how valuable drones will be in the tower industry for site inspections and OSHA points out the value in safety audits then the FAA will push the tower industry to the front of the pack for the drone decision-making.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention! Keep the faith!

See ya!

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Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!

Wireless Deployment Handbook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes.

Remember that OSHA is working hard to keep your job safe!

OSHA cares!

OSHA explains, if you click here, complaint information and whistle-blower protection.

To report an emergency, fatality, or imminent life threatening situation please contact our toll-free number immediately: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

Reach the OSHA Complaint web site for non-emergencies by clicking here!

Order Tower Climber Logbook Today!

Log your job, your high time, your drive time, and track your crew’s work and protect yourself!

SOW Training Cover

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

Tower Safety and Instruction  Tower Safety for all your safety training!

official logo

 

Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? 

 

 

tower-family-foundation-e1447069656192

Let’s help the Tower Family Foundation help climber’s families!

LTE at IWCE 2016

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You may not know but I will be speaking at IWCE. IWCE asked me back to do 3 sessions. Find out how to register here. (If you want to walk to floor or get a discount, enter the code SPK) Are you a fan of what IWCE? I am because the people in the wireless industry can learn so much. I know that I put a lot of time, effort, and money into going to these events. I put together the presentation, prepare the talk, and hope I can answer all of the questions thrown at me. I really like doing it because I get to meet so many people.

These sessions are put together to not only teach you about wireless technologies and processes, but also to give you a diverse view of the technologies available. When working in wireless you learn there is more than CDMA and LTE, like what the carriers use. (That may include GSM, but I digress.) Public safety relies on real-time communication that trunking systems can provide. They rely on TETRA and P25 to communicate. I think it’s important to realize that Wi-Fi and broadband access is also a common technology that many of us take for granted. These are all examples of wireless technologies that are used daily. If you ask the first responders what they use, they just know that they have a reliable communications system, they may not know if its TETRA or P25, but they know that they rely on their radios for backup and constant communication Whether that radio is their radio on their belt or the cell phone that they use daily, either one is a necessity in today’s world. Eventually they will merge into one, which is what I see.

I would like to thank the teams at IWCE that make this possible. It is a huge undertaking. They really do a good job. Thank you for adding me to this impressive line up!

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What are you thinking? Let me know and I’ll sign you up for my newsletters. 

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Remember that OSHA is working hard to keep your job safe!

OSHA cares!

OSHA explains, if you click here, complaint information and whistle-blower protection.

To report an emergency, fatality, or imminent life threatening situation please contact our toll-free number immediately: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

Reach the OSHA Complaint web site for non-emergencies by clicking here!

Order Tower Climber Logbook Today!

Log your job, your high time, your drive time, and track your crew’s work and protect yourself!

SOW Training Cover

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

Tower Safety and Instruction  Tower Safety for all your safety training!

official logo

Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? 

tower-family-foundation-e1447069656192

Let’s help the Tower Family Foundation help climber’s families!

NATE Unite 2016 Drones On

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One thing that I wanted to see is the progress of drones in the wireless industry, Guess what, NATE is pushing the drone education. I put it like that because the FAA can’t keep up! They don’t know how to handle this new industry. In my opinion they are not addressing the tower industry’s needs fast enough.  I am hoping that the FCC will help them understand the role drones will play in tower safety and inspections enough to work with the FAA move ahead with the education of the drone industry.

There was a drone session where Todd Thorin of Sioux Falls Tower talked about what he has done with drones so far was great to see. However, one thing to think about is what the FAA will allow so we need to take heed before just flying drones. However, Todd did more testing for drones that we should document. He tested drones near dishes, broadcast antennas, cell antennas, almost every frequency of antenna. He has valuable feedback that we really should share with the industry so that we know how drones will react. This is a learning process for all of us, so let’s learn from his experiences. For those of you who don’t know, Todd put out a bunch of videos on YouTube, here are some samples:

In the session Todd had some great videos from his flights to show how we can use this in the industry. All these structural engineers and tower owners who won’t climb are able to use this dates to review the actual heights, mounts, positions, and all the problems on the tower. By the way, if you’re a contractor that took shortcuts on the tower and then lied to the owner, (you know who you are), don’t expect to work for that company when they see what you have done, thanks to drones! Drones will expose the problems that truly exist on the tower because now owners can look at the tower from a new perspective. How cool is that? If you remember at the FCC DOL Tower Safety Workshop Richard Cullum of Crown Castle Tower mentions how they used contractors and they had to take the word of the contractors as to what they did, so this seems like a solution to prove if they really did things right or if they just lied to get paid! Crown Castle should do this today!

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Todd was able to resolve tower issues. He told a story of where a contractor and the tower owner had a dispute over how a mount was installed near a lamp. They argued and eventually the tower owner called Todd to take pictures. Well, this made the owner aware of so many more issues. For instance there were several problems on the tower with equipment not mounted where it should have been along with problems with some of the mounting on the tower. I don’t remember all the drone pictures showed the owner all of the real problems with the tower, all the mistakes on the tower that were building up. This was a situation where the owner lost faith in the contractor so they brought in a third-party that could check on the tower at a very reasonable price and present unbiased pictures and videos to present to both sides. This really helped the tower owner see what was really going on up there where he relied on contractors to tell him or take pictures 3 or 4 feet from the tower. It was an eye opener. I really hope this is something that we can use for pre-climb inspections as well as close out packages at some point. I also think this would be a great tool for safety inspections and to be used when training climbers. There are new tools coming out for the training perspective where the climber wears a body camera or a camera on his climbing helmet, but I will talk about that in the future.

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Dave Culler also talked about what Hazon Solutions has done. They showed video of work they have done for utilities. They showed video of utility tower and line inspections that they have done. It really is impressive. They were called out to inspect the equipment after a storm because the drone team could deploy quickly and get access to areas that would have been a challenge for any crew. So this way they immediately know where to send the workers to do repairs on problems that may not be noticed from the ground. One example was the cotter pins that were starting to work their way out of bolt that would have caused a high power line to drop, and the utility company dispatched teams immediately to do this repair. By the way, they don’t use just a HD camera, but a 4K camera to catch all the details.

There was a demo of Tower Tracker Pro at NATE! Did you see it?

Hazon also brought up the use of LIDAR on the drones to make 3D images of the towers. I think this is a great idea but there are now more and more options coming out for 3D modeling of towers and utility lines. LIDAR is a system that can make 3D models of whatever you are catching. It is very accurate in its model, help you identify the accurate AGL and to the detail where you can catch missing washers.

Remember that drones have so many rules to follow. If you plan to use drones, then plan to be educated to do things properly and to make sure that don’t fly over people that have no idea what the drone is for. The utility companies have a system down where they put out flyers to explain when they will be doing something with drones. They let the people know ahead of time and educate them why its being done.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See ya!

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XcellAir tells us about QoE

 

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Today I have an interview with Hardik Ajmera of XcellAir, http://xcellair.com/, who provides a solution for carriers to manage and optimize their wireless network to deliver the best Quality of Experience, (QoE), to the end use. You see, if the end-user has a poor QoE then they may not want to stay with that carrier. Mobile Network Operators, (MNO), have a hard time managing the transition from LTE to Wi-Fi. This is where XcellAir comes to the rescue.

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They provide solutions for the MNO to utilize both licensed and unlicensed spectrum providing the end-user with a quality experience. They provide an industry first cloud based, multi-market Wi-Fi and LTE QoE solution. How cool is that? They actually can manage the system to give the end use the best QoE possible.

This package allows the MNO to manage and optimize the wireless system so that the unlicensed spectrum is utilized to the best of its capacity. By improving the unlicensed spectrum usage the capacity for the carriers will greatly increase scalability.

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If you want to learn more, the resources page is awesome, http://xcellair.com/resources/, and I would recommend you go there and download the information they have and watch the video. You will learn more about what they do and see a business case so that you can see how this leads to monetary gain. There is a wealth of information here, technical and business information.

I interviewed Hardik, the Director of Product Management, about not only XcellAir, but what they do and what they have to offer the Wi-Fi teams. It was interesting.

It didn’t stop there, I also brought up the constant battle between Wi-Fi and LTE-U that has been brewing in the industry from some time now. Hardik sees the problems that could arise from LTE-U running where there was once only Wi-Fi. He also knows that LTE-U is coming and they his company has to prepare for the release of LTE-U. They are already preparing for it in their packages.

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Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes.

We discussed small cells and how they would work with Wi-Fi and the unlicensed spectrum. XcellAir needs to be prepared for these changes and they are working to improve their package so that the end use has the best possible QoE they possible can. Remember, if the customer isn’t happy on your network, they will find a carrier that works better and make the use experience a pleasure, not a headache.

With XcellAir providing support for LTE-U it doesn’t mean they will go away from Wi-Fi, they know that Wi-Fi is here to stay and that every device today and in the future will have Wi-Fi in it. Wi-Fi is here to stay, it will just have a new neighbor called LTE-U.

Keep in mind that Wi-Fi is needed by the carriers to offload the heavy data use that devices demand. End users are going to be more and more demanding as the wireless ecosystem grows.

Learn more, listen to the podcast. There is so much value there and you will learn more about QoE, Wi-Fi, and LTE-U. I just can’t cover it all in this blog post. Hardik educates us all on all of this. He is a wealth of knowledge and a good guy.

Remember that the QoE matters to the network operator because customer complaints mean 2 things, 1) losing customers and 2) headaches for the engineers! To have a package that will manage that for you is priceless!

I hope you learn something in this.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?

FCC DOL Tower Safety Workshop Panel 1 Breakdown

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Hello everyone. On February 11th I went to 445 12th St SW, Washington DC, which you may know better as the FCC headquarters. What was I doing there? I was invited to participate on a panel of the Tower Safety Workshop. First off, I think that it’s great that the FCC and DOL/OSHA got together to do something like this for the tower industry. Not only for the tower industry, but for the wireless industry! The FCC shows that they care enough to host this and OSHA is making every effort to understand the problems out in the field. They are working to support all efforts to prevent death and injury at the tower site. It will take a team effort to make this happen. Who is on the team? The FCC, DOL/OSHA, wireless carriers, tower climbers, wireless contractors, and everyone working in the wireless and broadcast industry. This means you! It needs to be a team effort. I consider myself part of that team, do you?

Thank you FCC and DoL/OSHA for putting this together, for taking the time to show you care about making this a better industry.

Video of the workshop and information found by clicking here.

First off, let’s look at what the problem is. Tower climbers die. They die working on tower when they fall. There are many reasons for the accidents. They could be due to a poorly trained climber or crew, a climber got complacent or lazy, shortcuts were taken, or maybe it was just an accident. Sometime accident happen or equipment just fails. When someone falls from over 80 feet off the ground it usually ends in a fatality.

If you think it isn’t a big deal, you don’t understand how a death can affect a family. So let me ask you to visualize something. You’re at a site watching the climber go up the tower. You see them put all their gear on, you see them attach the safety gear and perform 100% tie off. Or, maybe you don’t pay attention to what they are doing at all, maybe you’re worried about your job. Then look again, and imagine that it’s a child, your child, going up the tower. Imagine that your child is making a mistake or not tied off properly. Imagine you see your child slipping off that tower from only 50 feet up and there is nothing you can do! Now how do you feel about that climber, knowing that it could be your child falling. That they will die if they make a mistake? It really puts it in a different light knowing that someone’s child, possibly your child, could die. Many people lost children because of this over the years. This is why we will prevent as many as we can. We would like to prevent all of them if possible. Nobody wants to lose another family member.

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There was so much covered at the workshop. So much more that I can really cover. I intend to cover most of it and point out things I agree with, disagree with, and things that were missed. I really can’t get it all in one article.

Video of the workshop and information found by clicking here.

There were 3 panels and several speeches. I don’t want to slight anyone but I would like to cover the parts that really stuck out.

I don’t want to discount the opening speeches that were made by some very important people in the industry.

  • Tom Wheeler, (FCC Chairman and if you don’t know who he is, IMG_3371wake up), opened it up with a speech on the loss we have seen in the industry and as long as we have one death, it’s too many. There were 3 recorded climbers that died this year, the only acceptable number would be ZERO!
  • Roger Sherman, (Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
    IMG_3374FCC), who brought us up to speed with all of the work that has been done so far. He thanked everyone for making progress. He thanked Kathy Pierce for all that she has done to show us how the loss affects families. He pointed out how in today’s world most American’s smartphones are more than a convenience, but a way to get work done and a part of our everyday lives.
  • Eric Seleznow, (Deputy Assistant Secretary, ETA, DOL), IMG_3379oversees the national apprenticeship programs. He was happy how far TIRAP has come in the past year and a half. He was very happy that the FCC and DOL could work together for this effort.
  • Matthew Colengo, (Chief of Staff, DOL), talked IMG_3382about the progress that has been made and gave a special thanks to Kathy Pierce for all that she is doing to improve work conditions and the treatment of tower climbers. He also brought up Ernie Jones and gave Ernie credit for all that he has done in the industry and how sad it was that we lost him.

First off let’s cover Panel 1, (my panel), that covers the changes that need to be made to the FCC/DOL Guidance for Best Practices for improving Safety. If you’re watching the video, this starts at 26 minutes in.

  • Moderators
    • Claire Wack, Attorney Advisor, CIPD, WTB, FCC
    • Jessica Douma, Regulatory Analyst, OSHA
  • Wade Sarver, (me!)
  • Jason Becker, National Radio Operations Branch, BLM
  • John Parham, Jacobs Engineering Group
  • Don Doty, National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE)
  • Kevin Schmidt, National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA)
  • Angela Jones, Union Wireless, who is a structural engineer, project engineer, and certified climber.

Questions:

  1. Jessica asked how should company’s go about creating an environment where climbers can report unsafe conditions or a dangerous situation without fear of reprisal from their direct boss or up the company chain?
    • I brought up that companies need to have an open culture. The climber should not only be able to report it to his boss but if they have an issue then take it farther up to someone else in the company. Angela mentioned how their company being smaller, allows the climbers to be able to do that. John pointed out that NATE’s magazine has article in Tower Times by Tom Bunk about how the culture should be open and geared around safety. Jason talked about how they have reports daily for the climbers to review ahead of time.
  2. Jessica asked about contractual controls since there could be so many contractors between the carrier and the climber.
    • Kevin brought up that the carriers will implement training requirements. Don said that this is already common place for the most part and that we need better supervision and oversight. That is when I brought up that we need a way to audit the safety at the sites and that the climbers on site need to have a number to call to report incidents of climbers without credentials. Reporting to the boss won’t cut it, there needs to be a better way to report problems. Then Don mentioned they a credentialing system is being implemented to require all climbers on site to have the proper credentials and a way to verify them. He said that it will become mandatory at some point and required by the carriers.
  3. Claire asked John his thoughts about the contracts
    • John brought up that the contractors language will help but he also mentioned that it’s up to the tower crew companies to have the proper culture, that even policing may not be enough. He said that you can’t subcontract safety, and he it has to be in the culture of the company. He pointed out that OSHA has a hotline that people can call to report incidents directly to OSHA, the 800 # for them to call.
  4. Claire then asked Kevin about how contracts are packaged for bidding and how that would affect the climbers at the bottom of the bidding chain.
    • Kevin mentioned that the tower work is subbed out in bulk quantities to larger subs which then goes out to smaller subs who in turn may sub it out to even smaller subs before it gets to the climber. He then pointed out that at the top of the food chain no one really knows who is out at the site, specifically the carrier. Now that the new certification program coming it will raise the standards. John brought up that complacency is a real problem and that we need to keep the climbers alert on their job because one oversight or mistake could be the end. He said that the climbers need to have good discipline. He stated that all the workers need to be on the same page as far as a common safety message. I mentioned that it is a good idea but how do you instill this into all the tower companies spread across the country. Then Jason pointed out that the work has to be done in the beginning of the contract and to report the close calls and problems on site to record all issues that the climber ran into on site, reporting is very important. Then Angela pointed out that the tower needs to have proper anchor points, that many are not designed the way they should be for safety. John agreed and pointed out that often training is done with a perfect scenario but in the field there are more situations that they don’t encounter in training.
  5. Jessica asked Angela what more we should do on the tower to improve safety.
    • Angela brought up that towers need to have dedicated tie off points and that they need to eliminate dangerous mounting situations like the T arms on monopoles often called the widow maker. Then she brought up that TIA-222F and 222G has many of the requirements. TIA-222G actually has a chapter on proper rigging. How experienced climbers know how to handle some of the situations. John added that the site supervisor should be qualified to supervise and climb, to have the experience to lead the climbers to do things the right way.
  6. Claire then asked a question from the audience. Does the accredited ANSI program void their current ComTrain certification?
    • The answer was written on the card, which said it’s a supplemental certification so it will not void the certification.
  7. Jessica followed up with the structural discussion about what can we do for the existing towers, can retrofitting be done to make them safer and address dangerous towers out there.
    • Angela told us that you could improve the towers out there, not all but many could be improved and made better. She said if given the choice they would prefer to build a new tower.
  8. Jessica then asked Jason what occupational medical surveillance is required say for physical fitness and fit to climb and should it be addressed.
    • Jason answered with the medical check that they need to pass prior to getting hired, and they are looked at annually. Now, out in the field there’s a safety meeting checklist for the tailgate meeting where they not only ask for credentials but ask about medicine and general health. Don said that physical fitness matter and that they should make known any issues that could affect their climbing, mentally or physical or chemical. Don mentioned how STAR was a good program to address these issue and he brought up the safety culture plays a part in this.
  9. Jessica asked me about how the traveling and long days affected the climbers.
    • I brought up that it’s up to the crew leader to make the call about work. I brought up that many crews put in 14 hour days when they are busy, they work extra hard to get home. Therefore the planning needs to be worked out ahead of time to include travel time so that the climbers get the rest they need and that the foreman or crew lead needs to make the call and it would be a better call when the planning is done better. Awareness will make training a requirement and make the contractor look at the drive time as well as the work time.
  10. Claire followed up with a question to John about how to structure bids so that everything is taken into account and that the crews that you hire are in a good financial position to complete the work.
    • John said safety is up to the crew but can be helped with proper planning. When planning out a deployment it takes a lot of work. Now his company works with partners who they select ahead of time. Then, along with that contractors, they plan the work out ahead of time, 60 days, 6 months, and 12 months in advance. Then they can look at the time allocated for each job. They also try to balance the work so that the cash flow to the climber is steady and keeps the workers working. I commended him for doing that and pointed out how much work it was to do that up front and how that was not done in the past. John then said how the upfront work saves time on the backend. Jason brought up the model that the Navy has to lay out the preplanning looking at all of the resources, the time, and the tasks. Then I brought up that the partners program is a good idea because if you work with a partner you know them, what they can and can’t do as well as more about that company than a blind bid. John then said that they work very closely with their partner and have them work in their offices.
  11. Claire then asked Kevin how do you start the partnership programs and how do you know that they have qualified climbers and technicians
    • Kevin said right now there is only the paperwork but when NWSA comes out then you can look up the NWSA number to make sure they are all certified properly. Then Jason mentioned that for the inspections that need to be done at the towers and that there has to be oversight on the climber’s performance, they need to be trained to think about how they tied off and lay out the risks. Don mentioned how the tower is installed once and will be climbed hundreds of times and they anchor points need to be planned out. Angela then talked about OSHA tiers for safety to see that the towers are engineered for safety.
  12. Jessica then asked about how newer companies that need to train a skilled workforce, how would they plan out the work and keep the trained workforce?
    • Don mentioned how broadcast went through the downturn with the transition from analog to digital and how the work dried up. He then said that he was able to transition broadcast workers into wireless workers and how they have to transition the workers if they can. I then said if there is not work, what will you do? If there is no work then you can’t pay the people. So would they come back to this industry after what they have been through? I don’t think so. John agreed and pointed out that work does slow down and pick up. He mentioned that maybe the government could help with zoning and permitting to allow work to move ahead at a better pace.
  13. Then we wrapped up, Claire asked us each for our best practice ideas.
    • Angela said that make sure that the tower is engineered properly top to bottom for safety by having the proper anchor points at the right locations.
    • Don said that NATE is working with ANSI on A10.48 to release the criteria for safe practices with the construction and maintenance for towers.
    • Kevin said that the contractors should train properly and make sure everyone on site is certified and then each climber should tie off 100% and stop the work if there is a risk to anyone on the crew.
    • John says planning is the main thing is planning.
    • Jason said they should always climb as partners, work together, climbers are interchangeable and they all are prepared for any problems that might arise. They also provide safe practices.
    • I said that there has to be a way to report unsafe towers to someone other than the tower owner. I also said that the climbers need to get paid for their work, it is the #1 complaint that I get.

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Then we closed and Jessica said that they will revisit the best practices document to make updates based on what they learned in this session. This was the end of panel one.

I will have more on panels 2 & 3 in later articles.

Video of the workshop and information found here.

So here is the breakdown, it went well and we discussed a lot of good ideas. Now they need to be implemented. The culture needs to change. The change needs to come from the tower company’s leadership. If you are a climber, then I would ask you to change the culture of your crew as best you can. Take safety seriously, listen to each other, and work together. Don’t be afraid to point out problems and issues and call the OSHA hotline when you have to. Learn from each other about the best way to do things and have discussions not arguments. Remember that there is no perfect way to do things but if someone has a better idea then maybe listen to it. If your way is better, don’t just say it’s better, explain why and what you have done in the past. We need to make a safety culture.

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Now, the reality is that most climbers won’t care. That is why I believe that the culture needs to start at the top. We really need to work as a team with a common message. I also would ask all climbers to keep a log of what they do each day. If you track what you do then you have a record of what you’ve done. I talk to so many people that think that their time sheet is all they need, but it is not your time sheet is it? It belongs to your boss and you don’t have a log of what you’ve done, who will they believe? I think it’s a good idea to protect yourself. Most of you won’t because it’s just a job, until someone gets hurt. Then all you have is regret. Remember, if you keep a log then you can come up with ways to improve each week.

The main theme we have here is that we’re helping this becomes a career, not just a job. We want the tower industry to be full of professionals. Professionalism will start with you and the way you do your job. Certifications are necessary, but your attitude is also something that could help improve the image of the tower industry. Let’s work together on this.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention.

I am asking the carriers to provide numbers for workers to call to report payment issues and contractor issues. I didn’t hear from any of them yet, If you know it let me know at wade4wireless@gmail.com, but for now, call OSHA!

OSHA cares, don’t be afraid to call the number below and explain to them what is wrong at the site when you feel the work site is not safe! CALL OSHA to report unsafe work conditions!

Panel 1 ends at 89 minutes.

To report an emergency, fatality, or imminent life threatening situation please contact our toll-free number immediately:

1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

OSHA is asking for public comment on Safety and Management,  click here.

Video of the workshop and information found here.

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?

Densification Breakdown

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Thank you Sprint for making densification the new buzz word in the industry but the reality is that it’s been happening for years.  Now we have the ability to put the cell w here the people are with small cells and CRAN. The concept is nothing new and yet Sprint is making it a buzzword, good job Sprint.

OSHA is asking for public comment on Safety and Management, click here

Quick history lesson. First carriers built tower sites and building top sites. Lets call them the macro sites. In the early days they were built for the maximum coverage of real estate. They were usually high above ground level, (AGL), so that they could cover the most square miles, square meters, for coverage. Then along came DAS, so that we had great indoor coverage. Then systems went digital and the devices power got lower and lower. Cell sites had to cover smaller areas. More macro were sites built and DAS systems were being deployed. Then came the smartphone which changed the way people use their devices in the carriers ecosystem. Everything is going digital and LTE is taking over. Now you have a huge number of macro sites and DAS installations.  What could help? Enter the small cell and CRAN systems bringing the signal as close to the user as possible for maximum data bandwidth.

Densification has been around for years but now we have the opportunity to change the landscape of deployment and coverage. Seriously, let me explain. In the past we were concerned with area coverage and RF penetration. We put in sites to get closer to where the people are. Then came DAS, where we could put systems inside buildings to cover more people. Coverage was key.

Now coverage isn’t good enough, is it? Now we need to provide bandwidth, which at first was OK, until the iPhone changed everything. That is why we migrated from GSM and CDMA to LTE. When you look at coverage and download speed we all look at LTE. The new format that the carriers hope will last 10 years or so. It is getting faster and faster by using upgraded radio heads, devices, and MIMO. So the radios are getting faster and faster.

Now we need to make sure the sites have plenty of backhaul, but the real solution is to control loading. Loading, or should I say we need to offload!,Since most people rely on their smartphone for everything, we need better indoor coverage. This could be a small cells, LTE-U, or Wi-Fi.

Say hello to my friend the HetNet. The carriers need to use all the tools available to handle the increasing data needs of the user. I say user because smartphone users are data users and most of them want one thing, more data. More data means more bandwidth and that means the best coverage possible. You also need backhaul where the people are using their devices.  Backhaul growth is critical.

To do all of this we need to densify the network, add sites to offload. Oh, did I mention Quality of Experience, QoE? QoE needs to be taken into consideration. Keep the user happy!

Where did I start? Oh yeah, maximizing spectrum. Spectrum ain’t cheap, so let’s make the most of it. This is where Verizon and T-Mobile have really taken the lead because they know that the smaller the cell coverage the better re-use of spectrum they get. They can break it down to where spectrum can be re-used in a smaller area. So now they can get more users on that spectrum by adding small cell coverage areas. It does take more sites and it is more of an investment in the sites, but saves on the spectrum. That is why the oDAS using small cells and CRAN makes so much sense, which Verizon has been deploying successfully. This really helps QoE for the user. Carriers have more control doing it that way and they can break off the loading from the Macro sites by concentrating the spectrum where they need it. Thus, the smaller coverage area allows the spectrum reuse to go way up.

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This is where the small cell and CRAN really help, by allowing carriers to get the most bandwidth for the buck in the spectrum they have without purchasing more. Carrier aggregation really helps, more on that here. It makes sense to break down the coverage so that loading and spectrum are more efficient. When they need more spectrum they can purchase it and start to overlay it where needed. It makes more sense at this stage of the game to overlay new spectrum, as long as the devices are ready to handle the new spectrum.

  • Quick note:
    • Small Cell is a stand alone cell site, could be a mini macro or a single sector cell site, a single eNodeB, but very low power
    • CRAN is centralized Radio Access Network which means there is a BBU mounted in a central location connected to several remote radio heads nearby.
    • cRAN or C-RAN is Cloud RAN. This means that the core has the controller and the radio heads are remotely located at a site where there is only a router and a radio head. These are still being tested and built, timing is the issue.

There are also other strategies, like offloading to the unlicensed band. Look how we all rely on Wi-Fi for the data offloading. It really has been a great thing and it saves on our carrier bills. Now that Wi-Fi calling is happening maybe carrier Wi-Fi will become more popular. Just wait until LTE-U takes off, it will add so much more to the toolbox. Aggregation will work so well with LTE-U.

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I believe that LTE-U will also be exciting. It will really make the system run very well and it should maximize the unlicensed band while allowing a clean handoff from licensed to unlicensed. One more option that we will have and it’ something that the carriers seem very excited to work with. They didn’t exactly greet Wi-Fi with open arms until recently when LTE took over and it became a world of applications on the devices.

Sprint is going to adopt the densification philosophy with their new plan, the densification plan that Mobilitie has to execute. Sprint says that the 600MHz spectrum, article here, is not enough because they need bigger channels. Strange! Why? Because they decided not to bid at all, getting no spectrum, and use their 2.5GHz band for in band backhaul. That doesn’t align with the message, but hey, I don’t do marketing at Sprint, do I?

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The carriers will need to find a way to release the indoor small cell deployments to contractors so that enterprise coverage can grow, Article here. They don’t want to pay for more indoor coverage but they haven’t developed a system to let deployment teams sell direct. Get it together carriers! I’ll bet T-Mobile may do this first just to push the other carriers around and improve their coverage by getting customers to pay for it.

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Tower Safety for all your safety training!

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Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?

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Purchase the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistake

The FCC and DOL OSHA Tower Safety Workshop

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Yes, it’s time again for the FCC and DOL tower safety workshop. Of course, when I say DoL I really mean OSHA in this case. The agenda can be found here.  I am going to be on a panel for the workshop to discuss not only the problems in the industry but also some solutions.

  • Quick notes for those of you outside of the USA
    • FCC = Federal Communications Commission
    • DoL = Department of Labor
    • OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Association which is part of the DoL

The workshop that the FCC and the DoL have put together is going to be in the Headquarters of the FCC on February 11th. The announcement is here. The FCC is in the Commission Room at 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC, 20554. The admission is free so if you can make it, if you can get the day off, I highly recommend that you show up and listen, participate by asking questions, and learn.

If you want to view the discussion remotely the go to t http://www.fcc.gov/live to see what’s going on.

This is very important, to submit questions during the conference, then send an email to livequestions@fcc.gov  or Tweet the #FCClive hashtag.

I was there in October of 2014 for the last conference where the FCC and DoL announced the creation of TIRAP. We shall see what TIRAP progress has been made in the past year and who has adopted it. What do you know and remember of TIRAP? Do any of you in the field know about TIRAP and has it made any difference in your life? Let me know by entering the information in my contact form below. To learn more about TIRAP you can go to http://www.tirap.org/ and see what they have been up to. Personally I didn’t see a major impact in the industry yet, but I really want this to be a success. I am still waiting for that major impact.

Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!

Get your copy of the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes

FYI – OSHA has a tower communication safety site, https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/index.html, which at this writing looks like it really hasn’t been updated in a while. It still shows the deaths from 2014, not 2015. It still has announcements from 2014 and it seems there have been no updates in 2015. In 2014 this was great, unfortunately it seems that it hasn’t been updated since then. Come on guys, let’s get with it. Tower workers are still working and deaths have still happened, but they have been lower.

  • To get more information on the workshop reach out to the following people;
  • Let’s talk agenda;
    • 9AM Opening Remarks:
      • Roger Sherman, Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC
      • Dean McKenzie, Acting Director, Directorate of Construction, DOL
      • Eric M. Seleznow, Deputy Assistant Secretary, ETA, DOL
      • Tom Wheeler, Chairman, FCC
    • 9:30AM First Panel Discussion: FCC/DOL Guidance on Best Practices for Improving Safety;
      • Angela Jones, Union Wireless
      • Don Doty, National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE)
      • Jason Becker, National Radio Operations Branch, BLM
      • John Parham, Jacobs Engineering Group
      • Kevin Schmidt, National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA)
      • Wade Sarver, Wade4Wireless.com
      • Moderators:
        • Claire Wack, Attorney Advisor, Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC
        • Jessica Douma, Regulatory Analyst, OSHA
    • 10:30AM Second Panel Discussion: Comments Received in Response to OSHA’s Request for Information on Communication Tower Safety (OSHA-2014-0018);
      • Dr. Bridgette Hester, Hubble Foundation
      • Craig Lekutis, WirelessEstimator.com
      • Nick Vespa, Southeastern Towers
      • Richard Cullum, Crown Castle
      • Moderators:
        • Michael Janson, Associate Chief, Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC
        • Erin Patterson, Regulatory Analyst, OSHA
    • 11:30 Third Panel Discussion: Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) and Telecommunications Workforce Development;
      • Chase Hammock, TIRAP Apprentice, MUTI/Sabre Industries
      • Dave Anthony, Shenandoah Tower
      • David Sams, SBA Communications
      • Jonathan Adelstein, PCIA – The Wireless Infrastructure Association
      • Laurie Gebhardt, Verizon Wireless
      • Moderators:
        • Zachary Boren, Senior Advisor, Office of Apprenticeship, ETA
        • Matthew Warner, Attorney Advisor, Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC

Here we are again looking at safety in the tower industry. There have been fewer deaths this year, thank GOD! I believe that we have had 2 slow years in a row for the industry. How many people have left the industry? From what I hear, so many. There will be an uptick in work in 2016, so we will need climbers. Will the guys that left come back? Only if they need the work and money because they know what the lifestyle is like. Travel, long hours, hard work, fair pay if you’re lucky, and then tossed aside when the work is done. Not the ideal American dream if you ask me and I have been part of this for years. I love wireless, I love RF, and I think that the wireless communications is the coolest thing in the world. However, it has problems that need to be fixed. Problems that need to be addressed.

Unfortunately, many tower climbers are not helping the situation, that’s right, this is not a one-sided argument where you are the victims. It will be a team effort to make changes. I am very optimistic, I feel we can solve the problems in the industry if we work together, if we all care enough to make change. I want to see this improve but I am tired. Remember, a quote that is NOT in the bible yet one we hear quite often, “GOD only helps those that help themselves” which something that most people say but very few people own. I believe it and I try to follow this advice along with the serenity prayer, which I know this version, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Again, not in the Bible.

I am concentrating on the deployment side of the industry lately because I really feel we can make a living deploying small cells and DAS because I love the engineering side. I still want to see the tower industry improve and I will do what I can to help, but it needs to be a team effort and one that the workers need to commit and have a voice as much as the owners and carriers. I am pointing this out because it’s easy for all of us to complain and bitch, but when it comes to doing something, that takes work, it’s an inconvenience, and something that few people do. It’s not my job but I have tried to help. If you want to learn what I think about this subject, I will put it in my newsletter, you can sign up below. Just say “Newsletter” in the notes section.

To see the replay of the 2014 session, go to https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2014/10/workshop-on-tower-climber-safety-and-injury-protection.

Subscribe and review! iTunes or Stitcher

Tower Safety for all your safety training!

Be Smart Be Safe Arrow box

official logo

Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will?  Did you ever lose a loved one in the industry? What if it were you? Do you want to make a difference?  Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children?