Seen in Charlotte ...
Crown Castle has been saying for years that it can replicate the tower model in its small cell business by supporting more than one carrier per pole. This week at the WIA's Connect (X) show in Charlotte, attendees could see it happening by walking outside the convention center. Crews were busy adding a second carrier to CCI's sleek black poles that support cylindrical antennas. (During its most recent earnings call, Crown
said
more than half the small cell leases signed during the first quarter were for co-locations.)
For cities, co-location can mean less new construction associated with small cells, but it won't happen everywhere. In Sacramento, for example, XG Communities is helping the city lease street assets to 3 different customers: Verizon, AT&T and Mobilitie, which is deploying for Sprint. XG says it has seen no applications for co-locations in Sacramento or in any of the other cities it serves. (St. Louis and Fresno are among XG's other partner cities.)
Help wanted
A shortage of qualified workers to build and maintain wireless infrastructure could slow down 5G rollouts. That message was reinforced by tower owners and recruiters at Connect (X). The tower industry is laser-focused on training, in an effort to make sure it has a steady supply of trained technicians who can safely scale towers. One particular concern is the broadcast towers that are being repurposed for cellular, because these are taller than cell towers.
Workers who deploy ground-based infrastructure are also staying busy, but some customers are definitely outpacing others.
Dycom, which helps service providers with fiber builds, saw sharply different spending patterns from Verizon and AT&T during the first quarter.
Dycom dichotomy
Verizon's spending with Dycom was up 83% year-on-year, according to analyst Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo, while AT&T spent less than last year. Dycom told its shareholders that AT&T plans to spend $2 billion this year on FirstNet, and spent less than 8% of that during Q1. AT&T has said that fiber is a big part of FirstNet, and has also said it plans to touch every tower.
What would it take ...
To get the Justice Department to approve the T-Mobile/Sprint merger? The question came up during an equity analysts' panel at Connect (X). Ric Prentiss of Raymond James made it clear that he doesn't think spectrum is on the table, meaning that the companies would not be willing to sell or reassign any of their spectrum in order to get the deal done. Prentiss said that if they have to let something go, it might be one of their prepaid businesses. T-Mobile owns MetroPCS and Sprint owns Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton has said the combined companies would control 40% of the prepaid market if they were allowed to merge.
Coming soon: CBRS handsets
Citizens Broadband Radio Service was a major theme at Connect (X) and several vendors confirmed that smartphones are coming this year. Verizon has also said the phones will be ready this year, but has not named the manufacturer. CBRS equipment vendors are saying the phone will be made by a Chinese manufacturer, and one source said it isn't Huawei. Other contenders could by Xiaomi and Oppo, the world's fourth and fifth place smartphone makers, respectively.
ZTE, which started testing CBRS equipment last year, is also a major Chinese smartphone manufacturer, and it has a much bigger presence in the U.S. than Xiaomi or Oppo. However, the U.S. Commerce Department recently ordered all U.S. companies to stop doing business with ZTE, a ban that has become a bargaining chip in the Trump Administration's ongoing trade negotiations with China. Even if Trump relaxes the ban, ZTE faces pressure in the U.S. This week the House passed a bill that would prohibit all U.S. government agencies from buying ZTE's products.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!
