Launch 3 is always proud to share insight about the wireless industry. Wade Sarver, a professional in the industry for 25 years, writes blogs about issues surrounding cell towers and has graciously allowed us to share his knowledge with our readers.
Hey, I was thinking about all the legal battles that go on in the wireless world. I stumbled upon an article about a law suit where AT&T was fighting to get a tower built-in a small town, The Village of Corrales, (near Albuquerque, NM), so that they would have coverage. This is so they fill a hole. I support AT&T 100%. The article is here if you’re interested. Another article is here. So do you think that AT&T will put the legal work out to bid?
Let’s look at the scenario. AT&T writes the RFP and puts the RFP out to bid, stating they need legal counsel to fight for the tower to be built. Then they put it out to bid, looking for the best price. A turf vendor picks it up and says they can do it. So then they look for a local vendor in the areas, in New Mexico. Well that vendor doesn't have any lawyers working for them but don’t worry, there is a local law office in the city which has lawyers willing to go to court for $20/hour. So they hire the cheapest person in the area that can complete the outline in the SOW, but did they do background checks? Who cares, it’s cheap and the contractor probably won’t pay anyway.
Would AT&T take chances with a legal battle by not hiring the best they can? Then why would they take chances with climbers, a high risk job where people die?!? Does anyone die in court? I don’t think so, at least not in a battle to build a tower. I believe that AT&T, and all the carriers understand how important climber safety is and they will do everything they can to ensure that the climber arrives home at the end of the week, alive.
Trust me, every life matters, if we can save one by making sure the climbers are properly qualified with training and certification and experience the right way, then we are on the path to a better world. It won’t eliminate accidents, which happen, but it will help the industry grow to be as safe as it can possibly be. All I ask is that they require proof of safety and build in money for teams to go on site randomly and do safety audits.
Personal comment, I support towers being built. NIMBY, (Not In My Back Yard), is very common. I feel like we live in a crazy world when the carriers have to go to court just to help improve coverage in these communities, think of all the money wasted by doing this. If you ever went through the zoning process you would realize how painful this process is. (Kudos to all the site acquisition people out there!)
Everyone wants coverage, yet no one wants to see the tower. We are overcoming that battle by building mini cell sites and small cells. DAS and Distributed small cells are helping us overcome those issues. However, for all of these people that fight the communications tower being built, or object to antennas being places nearby, (refer to LARICS system being slowed down), with the end result being a 911 call can’t get through or even worse emergency responders don’t have coverage to call for help or backup then who is to blame? Does the FCC look to the people who objected to the towers, no, they blame the carrier for being so irresponsible for not building it there in the first place.
Launch 3 Telecom is a distributor of wireless equipment. In addition, we have our Launch 3 Services division which provides a variety of cell tower services. To read more articles from Wade about cell site safety, you can visit his website: www.wade4wireless.com as well as follow him on Twitter. You can also visit Launch 3 Telecom to learn more about the products and services we deliver.
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