January 2006 Archives

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No End in Sight

Wireless penetration has hit an all time high, and while the rate of growth may slow, the wireless industry as a whole is likely to still expand for quite some time.

Kagan Research, a consulting and publishing firm based in Monterey, CA, predicts that the U.S. wireless telephone market will grow 48% before the end of 2014. That means the total number of subscribers would increase from 185 million to 274 million and 83% of the U.S. adult population would own a cell phone.

Good news. ■

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That Psycho Glow

A NEWSPAPER IN ENGLAND is reporting that a psychic has stepped forward to throw his support behind protesters who are opposed to the construction of a new cellular telephone tower in the city of Horrogate.

Uri Geller, a so-called “world famous psychic,” is known for bending and breaking metal and other solids with the power of his mind, moving compasses with the power of thought, causing seeds to grow in a matter of seconds, and using extrasensory perception to read another person’s thoughts.

In the Horrogate Advertiser Geller said, "I'm willing to do anything I can to help the Harrogate campaigners and protect the health and well-being of these children.”

Maybe he could use his psychic powers to bend or break the towers or use a divining rod to influence the thoughts of zoning officials. ■

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Introducing the Kumbya 1000

A SHORT TIME AGO there was a discussion at the web site Slashdot.com regarding possible solutions to siting cell phone towers. Someone came up with the following idea:

"They could disguise the tower as an endangered tree and stick a fake Green Party hippie (inside) saving it."

Bull horn and protest signs sold separately. ■

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A Fool and His (or Her) Money

IT IS NOT UNCOMMON these days to hear about some city (small or large) making plans to own and/or operate a wireless Internet network. “Bringing high-speed access to the masses,” is a common refrain heard from civic leaders. On face value the promise seems appealing, but the more I think about it, the more this idea loses its luster.

If these wireless networks are providing service to areas where high-speed Internet access does not already exist, that’s fine. If these wireless networks are intended for areas of the city where private companies have no immediate plans to provide this service in the future, that too is fine. Even if the city wants to provide high-speed wireless access to parks or recreational areas where visitors can use their laptops and PDAs, I’m okay with that, too. But if tax dollars are being used to compete against private enterprise (intentionally or otherwise), I am opposed to that.

Frankly, the use of public funds in this manner has been a pet peeve of mine for quite some time. I started feeling this way several years ago when my local library began carrying videos in addition to books. This also seemed like a good idea at first. A library is a place where a person should be able to get an educational or instructional film, or maybe even a classic movie not readily available from the neighborhood video store. This is not what happened, though. No, they had another idea in mind.

The first, and by far the most popular videos in the batch included The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally, and A Fish Called Wanda. While these are all exceptional movies, they are not instructional and they can not be considered classics (with the possible exception of Blues Brothers). By lending these movies at no direct cost to local residents, the library (funded by taxpayers) was hurting every business in town that rented videos for a fee.

I do believe government should provide services we the people can not easily or readily provide for ourselves. But for many of us, I’m not sure high-speed Internet access is one of them. Besides, does anyone believe they can do it better or cheaper than the private sector? ■

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Beam Me Up Scotty

CUE THE MUSIC. Enter Rod Serling stage left.

Imagine if you will, a land of both shadow and substance; of things and ideas, beyond which is another dimension; a dimension of shady government operatives exercising mind control. Yes, the truth is stranger than fiction…or so a few crackpots would have us believe.

If you have spent any time at all surfing the World Wide Web you already know that the Internet is rife with conspiracy, urban legends and half-based theories so crazy they make your head spin. This one, however, takes the cake.

In a few dark, secluded corners of the Information Superhighway there are some who believe (are you sitting down?) cell phone towers are being used by the United States government to perform something called electromagnetic psychotronic mind control on its citizens. According to the sources of these accusations, electromagnetic psychotronic mind control is a form of Orwellian mental enslavement. That said, those of us who are responsible for developing cell sites are soldiers in the army of the New World Order.

The author of many of these outlandish claims, Ken Adachi, says “every single day, equipment is being erected and installed in this country with the hidden purpose of exerting mind control over (an) entire population.” His web site, called Educate-Yourself, reveals how these electromagnetic, psychotronic mind control devices really work.

It should be pointed out that Adachi has also written numerous articles about UFOs, the U.S. military invasion of Mars, and other odd topics, all of which are equally (if not more) delusional and never before covered on 60 Minutes.

Sadly though, Adachi’s views are not alone. Yet another web site claims towers were rapidly installed across the United States in the months leading up to the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election in an effort to influence the “thoughts and decisions of American voters” and ultimately the outcome of the election. Some were even disguised as flag poles! Yet another kook claims cellular telephone technology is the mechanism behind a mind control weapon first developed by the Nazis in World War II (and perfected by the CIA in the 1960s.

Surprisingly, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) has yet to comment on these issues. ■

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Biting the Hand That Feeds You

THERE IS A NEW KID on the block and he might send a shiver through the cellular telephone industry. Called the Cellular Site Landowners Association (CSLA) , and just as its name says, the group intends to represent land owners with a cell site on their property.

According to its web site, the goal of CSLA is to be “the unified knowledge base for cellular site landowners to gather relevant information, exchange ideas, and maximize wireless revenues.” In other words, they plan to use the information they’ve gathered from within the wireless industry and use it to organize land owners against cellular telephone carriers.

CSLA largely consists of James Polick, a real estate attorney, and Rob Benson, a former employee at Marconi, Motorola, and Sprint PCS. Polick has also worked as an independent consultant for other wireless telecommunications companies.

Taking a close look at their web site I get the impression that CSLA is a company and not an actual association or union of land owners. I can’t seem to find any evidence that the group has a true organizational structure common with these types of associations. They instead advertise their ability to help land owners negotiate deals and help them create leverage if a tower owner wishes to renegotiate a lease or get a signature on an estoppel letter. If they really are a company (and not an association), their choice of company names (e.g. nom de plume) is a bit misleading in my opinion.

CSLA also makes a point to seek land owners who have been approached by land acquisition companies such as Unison Site Management and Wireless Capital Partners (Wireless Capital PartnersWCP), both of which are former clients of Polick. They are also advertising their ability to help land owners who are renegotiating their tower leases as a result of the merger between Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless.

CSLA is really pushing their product on the Internet lately. Not only have they launched their nifty new web site, they are also promoting their services by RSS and advertising online. CSLApromotes a service that allows land owners to sell their leases by online auction (think eBay), which would effectively remove the site acquisition agent and independent contractor entirely from the process.

I also hope their plan works. If not, I don’t believe too many wireless telecommunications companies will hire them back after biting the hands that fed them. ■

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Separated By Language

IN AMERICA WE CALL them "cellular towers." In England they call them "phone masts." No matter what the language, someone is always going to hate them and fail to remember exactly how beneficial they may be. ■

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For the Birds

THERE WAS A WELL WRITTEN article in MRT magazine by Robert Schwaninger Jr., of Schwaninger & Associates about the Federal Communication Commission’s investigation into whether towers pose a significant risk to migratory birds. Schwaninger represents several tower owners whose interests are affected by the FCC’s investigation into avian mortality.

Schwaninger’s article claims that of the 108 endangered and threatened species of birds, “only six are vulnerable to collisions with man-made objects.” He also reminds us that while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has urged the FCC to create new standards for the tower industry, they also manage the taking of more than 15 million ducks and geese annually by hunters.

This is one of those articles that everyone involved in the zoning side of the business should read. ■

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Knowledge Management

WHEN A NEW TECHNOLOGY rolls over, and you're not part of the steamroller, you're probably part of the road.

Information and knowledge are the lifeblood of big business in the 21st century. As such, SkyLink Networks believes in a strategic structure driven by the benefits of information technology and something called knowledge management (KM).

KM is the arrangement, creation, sharing, and flow of knowledge within a company. SkyLink Networks strives to maximize all available knowledge and create new knowledge. In doing so KM increases awareness and a greater understanding of our processes and goals.

At SkyLink Networks we place a huge emphasis on the creation of knowledge. We use advanced computer, wireless, and Internet-based technologies so our people have the tools to share information more easily.

Everyone at our company is compelled to learn, connect and share information and knowledge. In doing so SkyLink Networks is better able to meet your goals. ■

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Value Engineering

VALUE ENGINEERING USES experience and common sense to find and eliminate unnecessary costs and wasted time.

SkyLink Networks doesn't just engineer antenna sites the old fashioned way. We use creative thinking to achieve the best overall project value for our clients. That's what value engineering (VE) is all about.

VE is the philosophy of using common sense and technical knowledge to find ways to reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs and/or time on a project. SkyLink Networks embraces this systematic approach, which identifies each function, establishes a value for those functions, and generates alternatives using innovative thinking.

VE reduces cost and time by eliminating wasteful practices. SkyLink Networks uses VE, along with competent analysis and superior management to maximize results and increase value for our clients. ■

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Management by Objectives

A MANAGER'S FAILURE TO CLEARLY communicate values, objectives, and principles will see their project end in defeat.

Micromanagement is often considered a curse word in the wireless industry. And while micromanagement does have its pitfalls, we know the devil is in the details.

SkyLink Networks uses a practice known as management by objectives (MBO) to help successfully navigate through every site development project. MBO achieves the same results as pure micromanagement, but without de-motivating personnel and creating resentment.

MBO is a process where everyone consents to the aims and purposes before a project ever begins. Client, management and staff will develop and embrace all of the objectives before setting out on their new mission. All too often managers will fail to outline the processes and goals for its team. This does not happen at SkyLink Networks. We produce a written description of each objective to help minimize miscommunication. It is also a way to precisely measure a project from start to finish.

SkyLink Networks works closely with you to identify the critical paths to success, establish priorities, and use parallel processing to achieve results as quickly as possible. Because we know you are motivated by your concern for the details, we make managing those details our primary concern. ■

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Grass Roots Zoning

A SUCCESSFUL ZONING EFFORT requires a vast knowledge of the industry, an effective presentation, and the skill to deliver it.

SkyLink Networks believes education and honesty are the best tools in the fight against the not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) mentality. We have spent many years improving our grass roots approach to zoning; a process that has consistently produced results and won praise from clients and zoning officials alike.

We know the zoning timeline can have a huge impact on your build plan and greatly affect your project's cost. That's why we give special attention to the zoning process and the way we manage it.

It is our belief that any successful zoning effort requires anticipation and preemptive diligence. We anticipate any potential opposition when selecting proposed antenna sites. We also prepare for any objection so we are better prepared to neutralize and defuse those objections when they occur.

When necessary, we enlist the support of people who live near existing antenna facilities. Once they may have had objections, too. Often, however, they are willing to tell their neighbors and friends about their positive experience. We also use expert testimony, neighborhood meetings, and petition drives to achieve our desired results. In other words, when we step into a meeting room we make sure the deck is stacked in our favor.

Our zoning presentation are unrivaled in the industry. Modular in design, they are easily tailored to suit any situation, in any community, at any time. They provide planning officials with the information they need, but they also anticipate objections before they arise. And when those objections do occur, our agents can immediately provide talking points, reports, newspaper articles, and statistics to blunt any reasonable concern.

Simply put, our grass roots zoning approach is well equipped to overcome the most difficult concerns that face our industry today. ■

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The Mother of All Inventions

WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT inventions of the last 200 years? The BBC tried to answer that question recently and I think they did a poor job. A few other places have done a better job. By a wide margin they listed the bicycle as being first among all inventions. I find it hard to believe the bicycle had a more profound impact on society than the light bulb, automobile and telephone. Of course, I amy be biased.

It has been more than 35 years since the United States landed a man on the moon, arguably the greatest technological achievement in our coutry's history. Since then advances in technology have been much more subtle. Some even contend that we are entering a dark age of innovation. I hope they are wrong.

In an effort to spur conversation and dialogue I came up with a better list of the most important inventions since 1800. They include:

What do you think? ■

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Towering Resources

IN CASE YOU ARE UNAWARE of them, there are a couple of places on the Internet where people interested in the tower industry can gather and meet.

One popular place online is hosted by Yahoo! and is simply called the Tower Climbers Group. The Yahoo! Tower Climbers Group was started in early 2002 and now boasts more than 520 members. The site’s most valuable feature is its bulletin board and E-mail discussion group. Participants can discuss various matters facing the tower industry. The site also has a nice selection of interesting links and a sizable database of tower photos.

Another web site where tower construction personnel can gather information is called WirelessEstimator.com. The site contains has useful links and interesting information. It too has a bulletin board where people can ask questions and share information.

Both web sites appear to fill a void that the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) does not already satisfy. NATE doesn’t have a bulletin board or online forum for members to swap information and get immediate answers to their questions. ■

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Making Friends by Telephone

I FOUND THIS INTERESTING (and historical) publication online. Some of you may enjoy reading it. Published by Ma Bell in what must have been the 1930s, the document gives instruction how to use a telephone and proper etiquette when doing so.

I wonder if an updated version would prove helpful these days. ■

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