View from the top:

Tower and antenna

technology trends
By Martha DeGrasse

JUNE 2016

Report Sponsors: Supplier Guide Sponsor:

 FEATURE REPORT
Introduction
Towers are the lifeblood of the
wireless industry, and the U.S. tower
industry remains healthy and dy-
namic despite a slowdown in spend-
ing on new tower sites. Tower own-
ers report carrier spending on new
sites is down, but for many of the
construction and engineering com-
panies, carrier spending remains
strong as carriers are currently
more focused on improving their ex-
isting networks than on building or
acquiring new sites.
Modifications to cell towers are
known as tower amendments and
there are a number of reasons spend-
ing has shifted towards amendment
activity. First and foremost, carriers
are looking to squeeze as much per-
formance as possible out of existing
assets for financial reasons. They
are spending heavily on spectrum
and the two largest U.S. carriers are
diversifying by acquiring new busi-
nesses. AT&T has also shifted some
of its network spending to Mexico,
following its acquisitions of Iusacell
and Nextel Mexico.
Despite numerous calls on their
capital, carriers cannot stay com-
petitive without continuing to in-
vest in their macro networks. Right
now much of that investment is fo-
cused on building network capacity
2
by adding new radios and antennas
to wireless sites and on building fi-
ber networks.
“The reality is that the carriers are
spending $30 billion a year or more
investing in the infrastructure of
the United States and we should
all be very proud of what they’re
achieving,” said Steven Marshall,
president of American Tower’s U.S.
tower division. Marshall told the
audience at this year’s Wireless In-
frastructure Show that new site ac-
quisition is likely to pick up again
as carriers develop their plans for
“5G” networks.
In the meantime, much of the tow- “The reality is that the
er work is focused on network modi- carriers are spending $30
fications. Carriers continue to add billion a year or more investing
LTE bands and move radio heads in the infrastructure of the
to the tower tops, and to swap 3G United States.”
equipment for LTE equipment. They Steven Marshall, American Tower
are also starting to add more multi-
port antennas and adding software that are being made to improve
designed to aggregate frequencies.. network performance.”
“Macro tower developers and tower “There’s a tremendous amount of
developers that are subscale say touches … on the macro sites to-
that things are pretty slow, except day,” said SBA Communications CEO
for Verizon and T-Mobile in some Jeffrey Stoops, who also spoke at
areas,” said analyst Aaron Blazar the Wireless Infrastructure Show.
of Atlantic-ACM. “But then you “They’re different touches than they
go the engineering firms and they were two years ago, when it was all
say ‘we’re staying busy’ and that’s about adding new equipment ... most
because of carrier aggregation or of what’s going on today is a lot of
different network modifications refarming of 2G and 3G spectrum,
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 FEATURE REPORT

In addition, this report highlights

technologies that are helping oper-
ators reduce tower operating costs.
These include unmanned aerial ve-
hicles (drones), fiber to the anten-
na, and test equipment designed to
reduce the number of tower climbs.

LTE upgrades drive tower

“There’s a tremendous amount
of touches … on the macro
sites today.”
Jeffrey Stoops, CEO,
SBA Communications
where you’re adding antennas and
radios to handle the LTE traffic, but
you’re probably also taking off some
2G and 3G radios and antennas.”
As demand for mobile data contin-
ues to accelerate, mobile operators
are leveraging new technologies to
maximize their spectrum assets and
this is driving tower amendment ac-
tivity. This report will outline some
of these tower technologies, and
their impact on the tower industry
and the mobile networks.
amendment activity
LTE upgrades remain the primary
driver of U.S. tower amendment
activity. The two largest U.S. carri-
ers have both deployed LTE across
most of their network footprints
and are now adding capacity. This
often means adding new radios
and antennas to support additional
spectrum bands. For example, Ve-
rizon Wireless has focused on Band
13 (700 MHz) for LTE, but also has
spectrum in Band 2 (1.9 GHz) and
Band 4 (1.7/2.1 GHz). Likewise, Band
17 (700 MHz) is AT&T Mobility’s pri-
mary LTE carrier, but the operator
also has spectrum in Band 2, Band 4
and Band 5 (850 MHz).
“Overall what we’re seeing
from the two largest mobile
network operators, AT&T and
Verizon, probably because of their
somewhat similar spectrum, [is] a
demand for a wideband antenna,
an antenna that covers the 700
LTE band in addition to an antenna
“We’re seeing … demand for a
wideband antenna, an antenna
that covers the 700 LTE band
in addition to an antenna that
supports the cellular PCS
and AWS.”
Anthony McCray, Gamma Nu Theta.
that supports the cellular PCS and
AWS,” said Anthony McCray, VP of
business development and sales in
the Americas for Gamma Nu Theta.
Antennas that support more spec-
trum bands mean carriers do not
need to add a new antenna to each
tower for each spectrum band. This
is a key consideration since anten-
nas that support the 700 MHz band
are larger than those used in 3G

4

networks. Also, many towers now
support more than one operator,
leaving even less room at the top
for new antennas. Wideband an-
tennas enable carriers to maxi-
mize their use of the available
space on the towers.
“Mobile operators can deploy all
their bands and technologies on
fewer antennas without compro-
mise to their network quality,”
said Jim Nevelle, president and
“Mobile operators can deploy all
their bands and technologies on
fewer antennas without compro-
mise to their network quality.”
Jim Nevelle, president and CEO,
Kathrein USA
CEO of Kathrein USA.
AT&T in particular needs anten-
nas that can accommodate its wide
range of spectrum bands, accord-
ing to Kathrein.
“They have accumulated spec-
trum through multiple means,” ex-
plained Jim De Koekkoek, antenna
product line manager at Kathrein.
“So it requires them to go up and
not just put up an antenna that cov-
ers one range of frequencies, they
have to cover multiple, so we call
that multiple port, multiport. So to-
day there are examples of six, eight,
10 of the 12 ports – six bands, if you
will, going up on these towers.”
A tower technician takes an LTE antenna to the tower top
FEATURE REPORT
Kathrein said its 12-port anten-
nas can support the 700 MHz band,
public safety in Band 14, AWS-3
(1695-1710 MHz), AWS-4 (2180-2200),
WCS (2300-2360 MHz) and the BRS
band (2496-2690 MHz).
T-Mobile US’ spectrum holdings
are somewhat similar to those of
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless,
with recently acquired spectrum in
the 700 MHz band complementing
the company’s 1.7/2.1 GHz and 1.9
GHz spectrum. T-Mobile US is still
in the midst of its LTE rollout, and
infrastructure service providers say
the carrier is one of the most active
operators now when it comes to
Source: Network Installation Specialists
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network spending.
Sprint has spectrum in the 800
MHz, 1.9 GHz band and 2.5 GHz
band. According to antenna ven-
dor Gamma Nu Theta, Sprint has
unique antenna requirements for
its towers because of its spectrum
position and the fact one of its base
station vendors, Samsung, supplies
Sprint with a radio that transmits
and receives on eight channels.
“In order for Sprint to achieve
the optimum data throughput,
they need to have … higher or-
der [multiple-input/multiple-
output] on all those frequency
bands,” said McCray. “And the
way that their current antenna
manufacturers are achieving
that is by having up to 16 ports.
I don’t think they’re actually
using all those ports, but that
is the antenna they want to de-
ploy to maximize on optimum
performance [and] optimum
data throughput.”
At the current time, however,
Sprint is not highly active with
tower top deployments. Instead,
the operator is focused on
leveraging it 2.5 GHz spectrum
with small cell deployments.
This network densification
may result in tower activity as
Sprint is expected to backhaul
FEATURE REPORT
a significant amount of small cell
traffic to base stations located at
cell towers and other macro sites.
“With small cells, towers become
even more valuable because they
support the small cells,” said Gary
Jabara, founder and CEO of Mobili-
tie, which is deploying small cells
for Sprint. “The small cells have to
hone back to something for back-
haul, so what do they hone back to?
They hone back to the macro, and so
the small cell is really just an exten-
“The big question on the tower front
sion of a macro sector.”
is really what is the tradeoff between
Blazar said that while towers
investing in non-macro site densifi-
and small cells do work together,
cation versus macro sites.”
some tower spending could shift
Aaron Blazar, Atlantic-ACM
to small cells in the years ahead.
Verizon Wireless has already stat-
ed network densification will ac- to be so tightly coupled with radio
count for almost all of its network equipment. Connecting base station
spending this year. equipment to a remote radio head
“The big question on the tower with fiber enables operators to lo-
front is really what is the tradeoff cate their radios atop the towers
between investing in non-macro next to the antennas, and to move
site densification versus macro the base station unit to a less expen-
sites,” said Blazar. “Those economics sive location. This is because fiber
are really going to drive go-forward does not have the same signal loss as
spending in this space if you look cable, so the radio head and the base
out the next three or four years.” station can be physically separated
if they are connected by fiber.
Fiber adds flexibility “Because the RRH and the BBU are
Fiber connections create new interconnected via fiber, there is
choices for operators because base some flexibility,” said Marquis Dorais,
station equipment no longer needs fronthaul product line manager at
7
 FEATURE REPORT
“Because the RRH and the BBU
are interconnected via fiber,
there is some flexibility.”
Marquis Dorais, EXFO
“Fiber-to-the-antenna is one
of the most efficient ways to
implement LTE.”
Chris Stockman, product line director
for CommScope’s Heliax FiberFeed
8
EXFO. “You can pull the BBU back
towards the core of the network. You
can bring it back 15 to 20 kilometers
away from the antenna itself.”
“Fiber-to-the-antenna is one of the
most efficient ways to implement
LTE,” agreed CommScope’s Chris
Stockman, product line director for
the company’s Heliax FiberFeed.
“In this architecture, remote radio
units are mounted at the top of the
tower, or in the case of rooftop de-
ployments, as close to the antenna
as possible. In either scenario, elec-
trical and fiber connections are re-
quired to power the radio and give
it a signal path.”
Fiber is used to connect remote
radio heads to the base station, and
cable is used to connect the RRHs to
power. Hybrid cable is a combination
of fiber and power cable in a single
run, and can reduce tower loading by
up to 33%, according to CommScope.
These runs typically include multi-
ple fiber strands so that one hybrid
cable run can support the remote ra-
dio heads of multiple carriers.
Fiber at the tower can generate
significant cost savings for mobile
operators. Placing the radio head
next to the antenna means operators
can eliminate the power amplifiers of-
ten used to compensate for signal loss
when these elements are separated.
They can also eliminate the climate
control equipment used to cool
those amplifiers, with energy bills
typically going down because there
is no longer a need to power large
amplifiers and the associated cool-
ing equipment. Battery backup for
these elements can be eliminated
as well. In summary, fiber can
mean less equipment at the tower
site. The next step may be moving
the base station away from the
tower altogether.
“In some areas of the world they
are starting to deploy centralized
BBU,” said Dorais. “Centralized BBU
simply means that multiple BBUs
can be pooled in a data center or
central office to power these RRHs
that are located in different areas
of a city or town. So centralized BBU
really brings additional cost savings
to the whole mobile infrastructure.”
Fiber can clearly reduce costs for
mobile operators, but only if it is
efficiently deployed. A fiber con-
nection that is not tested properly
can result in a second tower climb.
Conversely, state-of-the-art test
equipment means fewer climbs as
one tower technician can stay on
the ground while the other climbs,
instead of both technicians scal-
ing the tower. This can reduce both
costs and risk of injuries.
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 FEATURE REPORT

Testing fiber connections is a new

skill set for many tower techni-
cians, who are more accustomed to
working with cable.
“The guys are used to working with
large coax … it’s a heavy duty coax;
you can move it around a lot,” ex-
plained Joshua Cavaretta, president
of Network Installation Specialists.
“The connectors – you can bang them
around and you’re going to be OK.

Source: EXFO
Getting into the fiber connector, it’s
more delicate, plugging them in to-
gether in the coupler, sometimes the
Fiber connects the base station to the remote radio heads
guys won’t hear a click, especially
when you’re on the tower and it’s a
windy day, you’re not always going
to hear that click. … The main thing
on our truck rolls will be a connector
not plugged in all the way.”
If a connector is not fully plugged
in, the connection between the ra-
dio head and the base station will
be faulty. Test equipment designed
to validate this link is valuable to
service providers like Network In-
stallation Specialists as it can help
them detect a problem while the
technician is still on the tower. Con-
struction crews cannot access the
Source: EXFO

proprietary base station software,

but they can test the link using the
common public radio interface.
“The CPRI validation is not
Construction crews cannot access the proprietary base station software, but they can test the link using the
common public radio interface. required yet, but it will be soon,

10
 FEATURE REPORT

and we’re looking forward to it,”
said Cavaretta.
MIMO and carrier aggregation
MIMO stands for multiple-input
multiple-output, meaning antennas
at both the tower and the end-user
device send and receive multiple
data streams within one channel.
Right now most high-end smart-
phones support 2x2 MIMO, but
some operators are installing new
tower top antennas that can trans-
mit four data streams. Since there
are still just two receivers on the
smartphone end, this is referred to
as 4x2 MIMO.
The next step is 4x4 MIMO, or four
data streams to and from the tower
and the device. Kathrein has devel-
oped four-port side-by-side anten-
nas, and the company says these
will enable operators to deploy 4x4
MIMO using just one antenna. This
demand coming for 4x4, particularly
in high band, but even at the lower
bands like 700, there are operators
experimenting with it.”
Of course 4x4 MIMO cannot de-
liver on its promise until there is
end-user device support. This year,
Qualcomm introduced its X12 mo-
dem, which it claims is first to sup-
port 4x4 MIMO. As of July 2016, no
smartphone maker had announced
a device built with the X12, al-
though Sony was rumored to have
one in production.
But even 4x4 MIMO doesn’t qual-
ify as “massive MIMO.” That term
is thought to have originated with
Tom Marzetta of Bell Labs, and is
often understood to denote at
least 16 antennas on both the
transmit and the receive end.
Marzetta, one of the leaders of
the FutureX Massive MIMO Project,
has said essential components of
massive MIMO will include many
physically small, low power anten-
nas; aggressive spatial multiplex-
ing; and utilization of measured
channels. Spatial multiplexing
refers to the separate encoding of
data streams so the same space can
be used by two separate streams.
Whether enabled by many small
antennas or a smaller number of
large ones, massive MIMO will al-
most certainly mean more trips

Source: Network Installation Specialists

efficiency is key to carriers and
tower companies, both of whom
want to get as much use as possible
from the valuable real estate atop
cell towers.
“We’ve started to see markets with
enough density that they don’t have
any more place to put that antenna
and their only solution is to increase
capacity with going to 4x4,” said De
KoekKoek. “So we certainly see the A tower technician takes an LTE antenna to the tower top

11
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to the tower tops. But for now,
the hype around the technology
is more massive than the reality.
Verizon Wireless is expected to be-
gin some limited trials of massive
MIMO as soon as next year, so by
2018 or 2019, massive MIMO could
start to proliferate.
While MIMO streams data over
several paths within a channel,
carrier aggregation is the use of
more than one channel to deliver
a single data stream. By aggregat-
ing more than one frequency band
or carrier, this technology can de-
liver more bandwidth per cell site.
It does not typically require a new
piece of hardware at the tower, but
it does require the installation of
new network software.
“It requires some site work,”
said Blazar. “Whether it’s upgrad-
ing of cards or changes in equip-
ment, there is work that has to be
done there. … Sprint will tell you
it’s a software upgrade, but oth-
ers will tell you they are visiting
the tower.”
Gamma Nu Theta’s McCray not-
ed if carriers want to aggregate
frequencies not supported by the
antennas currently installed on
a tower, carrier aggregation will
require a trip to the tower top to
install new antennas.
Sectorization
Sectorization is often called cell
splitting as it uses multiple anten-
nas to enable one site to support
multiple frequency bands. Opera-
tors often deploy three antennas,
each with a 120-degree opening.
Recently, antenna vendors have
been helping operators compress
the bandwidth to 60 degrees or
even 30 degrees.
“You break up your circle into six
equal parts. That same amount of
bandwidth in that 60 degree is now
being fit within a 30 degree,” ex-
plained De Koekkoek, who added
that in reality, perfect sectoriza-
tion is not always possible. “In real-
ity you can’t put towers where you
want to. You have odd geographical
and topographical things like moun-
tains and valleys and hills. So the
ideal three-sector of six-sector site
just doesn’t fit everywhere so that’s
why you have to accommodate the
reality of any given cell site.”
Horizontal beamwidth, which is
the width of the antenna’s primary
beam, impacts sector overlap, which
is something operators want to
avoid. Horizontal beamwidth is im-
pacted by the length of the antenna,
which also impacts power require-
ments and weight on the tower top.
According to CommScope, the
FEATURE REPORT
use of directional sector antennas
substantially reduces the inter-
ference among co-channel cells,
allowing for denser frequency re-
use. Interference caused by sector
overlap can also be managed by
multibeam antennas.
“Multibeam antennas broadcast
multiple beams from one antenna
with unique beamforming and
beam shaping capabilities enabling
engineers to finely craft their sec-
tors,” said CommScope’s Moham-
med Nadder Hamby, director of
technical sales for CommScope
Mobility Solutions. “These capabili-
ties improve noise suppression be-
tween sectors, limiting the risk of
interference. Multibeam antennas
add instantaneous, cost-efficient
capacity to macro sites in a mini-
mized overlap pattern design.”
Point-to-multipoint mobile backhaul
Point-to-multipoint solutions usu-
ally require new equipment at the
macro sites. A single access point
can backhaul a number of remote
terminals at other macro sites.
Wireless backhaul solutions are
less common in the United States
than they are in other countries as
the U.S. has a more extensive fiber
network than most countries. But
fiber isn’t everywhere, and some of
13
 FEATURE REPORT

the locations that need more cellular

capacity are places where running
fiber is prohibitively expensive for
mobile operators. For this reason,
U.S. operators are taking a closer
look at point-to-point and point-to-
multipoint mobile backhaul.
U.S. carriers are very unlikely to
use their valuable low-band spec-
trum for wireless backhaul, but
there are other options. Verizon

Source: ETAK Systems

Communications gained access to
to more than 100 licenses in the 28
GHz band as part of its purchase of
XO Communications.
The millimeter wave bands (30
GHz to 300 GHz) are also being used Image taken with drone camera from a quarter mile away.

for some mobile backhaul use cases.

Cambridge Broadband Networks, a
company that started as an AT&T
research project at Cambridge Uni-
versity, has a solution that operates
in the 39 GHz band.
“We’re really the only people out
there who have managed to suc-
cessfully productize licensed mi-
crowave in the millimeter wave
band,” said Mark Ashford, VP for
solutions consulting at Cambridge
Broadband. “We stayed with the ar-
chitecture when other people like
Ericsson and Nokia and Alcatel and
guys like that kind of flirted with
these types of technologies, but
they never really took off.”
Looking ahead: New technologies
and new spectrum
Will drones revolutionize the
tower industry? Unmanned aerial
vehicles, or drones, are being used
for three purposes in the tower in-
dustry: pre-installation inspections,
post-installation/close out inspec-
tions and safety support.
Lee Priest, CEO of ETAK Systems,
said his company is actively engaged
with AT&T and Verizon Wireless
and works through vendors to ac-
cess T-Mobile US tower sites. Priest
said the biggest value to his custom-
ers is the data generated from aerial
photographs, and the software that
enables operators to search and
access tower images more quickly
than they have in the past.
“We model the entire tower and
collect hundreds if not thousands
of photos and then feed that into
a CAD-type software program, and
that creates a 3D model where you
can zoom into every part of the tow-
er,” explained Priest. “If you click
on a point in the tower it brings
up all the photos that are of that
point.” Priest said many customers
want more than photographs; they
also want site analysis.
“It’s not just taking the photos and
handing those to the carriers,” said

14
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15
 FEATURE REPORT
Priest. “They want those photos
analyzed, and they’re looking [to see
if] everything [is] up to spec. Were the
antennas installed … in the right
location and at the right downtilt,
but then also have all the wires
been connected correctly, is all the
weatherproofing in place correctly?”
Drone service providers are sharp-
ly divided over what drones may
mean for the industry going for-
ward, but they agree the informa-
tion drones provide is invaluable.
“I’m getting so much information
and so much clarity – we’ve never
had that in our industry,” said tower
“It’s not just taking the photos and
handing those to the carriers.”
Lee Priest, ETAK Systems
16
industry veteran Phil Larsen, now
president of telecommunications
solutions at Hazon Solutions. “I can
actually ... identify any tilts or leans
or twists or anything that might be
a failure to a tower.”
Larsen, a former tower climber,
added that in addition to the 3D
CAD packages drone cameras can
create for tower companies, drones
can make an important contribu-
tion to climber safety.
“When we go over to a site, even
though our scope of work is 200
feet in the air, they film the safety
climb,” said Larsen. “We start from
the bottom, from the compound, we
check the cross beams, the cable all
the way up, all the pegs, we go clear
to the plunger, and then we put that
on an open source site where any-
body can come and look at it so if
you happen to be going to that site
you can at least go and see that the
safety climb is there.”
“There is no question that there is
safety value associated with the use
of UAS technology in our industry,”
agreed Todd Schlekeway, executive
director of the National Association
of Tower Erectors. “UAS use can as-
sist with scope of work including
tower-site bid walks, tower-site haz-
ard inspections, tower structural
inspections, tower photo close out
packages, etc. Additionally, utiliz-
ing UAS in this manner will reduce
the amount of times an elevated
worker must ascend and descend
a tower each day and therefore
reduce the amount of repetitive
climbing stress that is placed on
the tower technician.”
Less time spent climbing towers
and searching for photos could even-
tually mean the industry will need
fewer climbers, according to Priest.
“Of course jobs are going to be
lost,” said Priest. “This is efficien-
cy. The only reason the carriers
are willing to embrace this is it’s
less expensive and it’s more effi-
cient so that always means … jobs
will shift to new goals.” Priest
said tower technicians who want
to become drone pilots face fewer
certification hurdles than they
have in the past as drone pilot
certification no longer requires a
traditional pilot’s license.
The next step for drones will be
actually touching the towers, ac-
cording to Priest, noting ETAK is
already starting to work with ro-
botic arm technology with the goal
of creating robot drones.
“Our plan within five years is to
have every climber off the tow-
er and have drones doing all the
work,” said Priest.
 FEATURE REPORT

The idea that drones could re-

place tower technicians is disputed
by many in the industry, including
drone operator Hazon Solutions.
“There’s a lot of people worried
that we’re going to take jobs away
from tower climbers,” said Larsen.
“That’s not even remotely accurate.
As a tower climber I can assure you
that’s not the case.”
“UAS technology will never re-
place the workforce in our opinion
as they simply can’t perform the
very technical work involved with
rigging, changing lights and anten-
“There’s a lot of people worried “UAS technology will never
na and line work, etc.,” said Schle-
that we’re going to take jobs replace the workforce in
keway. “Any current operator who
away from tower climbers. That’s our opinion.”
advocates that this technology can
not even remotely accurate. As a Todd Schlekeway, National
be a total replacement is misguided
tower climber I can assure you Association of Tower Erectors
in my opinion.
that’s not the case.”
Phil Larsen, president of
Looking ahead: 600 MHz spectrum bands support channels 7 through
telecommunications solutions at
The tower industry is looking for- 13; and the 470 – 862 MHz bands sup-
Hazon Solutions
ward to the deployment of the 600 port channels 14 through 50.
MHz spectrum, which is currently Channels above 37 are set to go
used by broadcast television sta- Congress has earmarked $1.75 billion away as the spectrum is transferred
tions. The Federal Communications for repacking, though some broad- to mobile operators, so antennas
Commission is in the process of casters think it could cost even more. supporting frequency bands above
moving spectrum from broadcast- One thing is clear: many broadcast- 613 MHz may no longer be needed
ers to mobile network operators ers will need to change the antennas by broadcasters, and new antennas
and other buyers. on their towers because different may be needed to add support for
The FCC plans to repack full antennas support different fre- the lower bands.
power and Class A TV stations that quency bands. The 47-88 MHz bands “All of that positions companies
remain on the air so they occupy a support channels 2 through 6 in that have expertise in dealing with
smaller portion of the UHF band. the United States; the 174 - 240 MHz broadcast towers and working in

17
 Spot Beam 30/30

Spot Beam 30/60

Spot Beam 60/60 Spot Beam 20/70


this broadcast spectrum really well
from a services perspective,” said
Blazar. “Whether an engineering
firm or an RF design firm … any of
those types of professional services
companies that have experience
working in broadcast are probably
going to be kept busy not this year
but probably starting middle of
next year.”
Broadcast antennas are much
larger than cellular antennas, and
have been described by NATE as a
“whole different animal” compared
to cellular antennas.
“It’d be almost like hauling a small
car up to the top of some of these,”
said Jim Estes of FDH Velocitel. “The
antennas that are on these are very
Broadcast towers can be up to 1,000 feet tall.
heavy; it’s a different kind of equip-
ment. … It’s a different skill set than
what you would use on cellular.”
Broadcast towers are among the
tallest structures in the United
States, and many may need struc-
tural work to enable them to sup-
port the 600 MHz cellular antennas.
Transporting massive antennas to
the tops of these towers is complex
and potentially dangerous work.
Estes said there is a shortage of so-
called “tall tower” crews in the Unit-
ed States, and he hopes to double the
number of crews at FDH Velocitel
by the end of the year.
The FCC plans to give repacked
stations 39 months to migrate to
new spectrum, which may not be
Source: Summit Towers
FEATURE REPORT
long enough, according to indus-
try veterans inside and outside
the broadcasting business. AT&T
has questioned the 39-month time
frame, and the National Associa-
tion of Broadcasters has lobbied for
more time. While 39 months might
be enough time for a station to suc-
cessfully clear its spectrum, there
is concern a shortage of trained
workers will mean some stations
will have to wait. An even more se-
rious concern is that the deadline
pressure will prompt crews to send
inadequately trained workers onto
towers, jeopardizing safety.
Whether or not the timeline is
extended, it will be months or even
years before the 600 MHz spectrum
is actually available to those that
acquire the assets.
“That spectrum is not going to be
available to the wireless carriers
for some time,” said Steven Mar-
shall of American Tower, which
owns 3,500 broadcast towers. “We
will be working with broadcasters
after this auction concludes suc-
cessfully to provide services and …
to decommission these towers and
reinstall the appropriate antennas
and to make that spectrum avail-
able for the wireless carriers as
quickly as possible.”
19
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