Jonathan Kramer on Wireless Tower Siting

Motel 6 will may be keeping the lights on for you, but Internet connectivity from their hotels will cost you extra.
AT&T has entered into a contract with Motel 6 to provide managed Internet services. It’s likely what the PR-speak (below) actually means is that AT&T will provide connectivity to the hotels so [...]

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Cable and Wireless must get the prize for its odd attempt to position a fairly ugly monopalm as being eco-friendly.
This poorly designed monopalm is located on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.
Poorly designed? Well, yes. Let take a close look at C&W’s monopine in the photo:
1. The monopalm has its antennas showing;
2. The [...]

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AT&T will apparently displace T-Mobile as Starbuck’s WiFi provider of choice.
It’s interesting to note that AT&T will give its broadband and U-Verse customers free access at any WiFi-equipped Starbucks, but that’s apparently not true for AT&T’s wireless customers.
AT&T will also provide a flat rate access to its business class customer as part of the deal, [...]

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Coming as no surprise to anyone who understands the true voodoo economics of municipal WiFi, Earthlink is shuttering its existing municipal WiFi networks.
From today’s RCR News:
EarthLink Inc. has officially shut down all operations related to its municipal Wi-Fi projects that hit the skids last summer. Making good on earlier promises, the company is looking for [...]

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The opening lines of the Tampa Bay Online (The Tampa Tribune) story from February 7, 2008 tell it all:
NEW PORT RICHEY - It began as a discussion between city council members on limiting telecommunications towers within the city, but it ended up doing the exact opposite.
The city council Tuesday night approved the first reading of [...]

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Here’s a road map to where I’ll be taking this blog over the next few weeks to several months…

I intend to start discussions regarding wireless basics for wireless planners. This series will dig into the elements of wireless sites from the aesthetic and transmission standpoints;
I’ll be delving into the thorny subject of RF safety, [...]

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T-Mobile is proposing a stylish new stand-alone Bell Tower to hide a new cell site at the Duncan Road Baptist Church. 430 N.E. Duncan Rd, in Blue Springs, Florida.
The Examiner newpaper in Eastern Jackson County has a story on the proposed site, and an interesting elevation illustration (artist’s rendering) of the proposed bell tower. [...]

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The Heard Tribune in central Florida has a story about a 150 foot tall cellular flagpole proposed by Vertex Development LLC to be placed at a residential subdivision in East Manatee, Florida. Here’s a link to the story: Manatee facing a 15-story cell tower…masquerade.
While the story is nicely balanced, it omits an interesting point: The [...]

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NextG Networks of California, Inc, a provider of Distributed Antenna Site (DAS) wireless sites has sued the City of Huntington Beach. The suit, filed on December 27, 2007 in the Central District of California (Santa Ana district) bears case number SACV07-1471. The hearing is scheduled for February 7, 2008.
If you don’t have access to [...]

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On January 24, 2008 I had the pleasure of presenting my Wireless 101 lecture to the Planning Commission of the City of Oceanside, California. The lecture covers fundamentals of cell tower siting in a non-technical manner. I also use dozens of high-resolution photographs to illustrate the technology. No, I don’t shy away from dealing with [...]

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