Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Collapsed cellular tower may take a month to replace

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 15:05:30 -0400

Naples Daily News

URL:
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_eagle/article/0,2071,NPDN_14916_3034652,00.html

Collapsed cellular tower may take a month to replace
By LUIS GOMEZ, Staff Writer
July 14, 2004

Metro PCS cell phone users on Marco and elsewhere in Collier County
could be without service for at least another week after the July 12
collapse of a 520-foot radio tower near the KOA Campground north of the
island.
Global Signal Inc., a conglomerate that provides airwaves service to
companies such as Nextel, Cingular, AT&T, Metro PCS and T-Mobile, wants
to build a temporary tower to restore service following the tower
collapse, which nearly injured three welders working on the tower.

With that process expected to take at least one month, Metro PCS wants
to bring in a temporary antenna on wheels.  But even that measure won't
happen until next week at least, said Mac Dennis, the company's director
of Florida field operations.
Dennis said he is not sure how many customers have been affected by the
service loss.
"I would also like some clarification," he said Tuesday morning. "It was
a major tower for us. It's very crucial (to bring it back up.)"

The effect of the tower collapse on other cellular providers was
unclear. Global Signal inspectors refused to comment at the Tower Road
accident scene, while representatives of Cingular and Nextel could not
be reached for comment.
Local boaters, though, should be unaffected because their radio signals
do not depend on the tower.
Since marinas have their own independent antennas that exchange VHS
radio signals with other boats on the water, their communications were
not disrupted by the collapse, said Rich Russell, a local charter boat
captain.

The collapse was triggered when a welder's torch ignited a bracket 80
feet off the ground, officials said. The resulting fire weakened the
tower's base.

Three workers from Dana Corporation Welding— James Whitney, Justin
Poteet and Van Kern — narrowly escaped injury seconds before the tower
collapsed after their crew chief ordered the men to evacuate the tower.
The tower landed near a 500-gallon propane tank.

None of the men was injured, but one man was assisted by paramedics on
the scene when he nearly went into shock.

The temporary antenna sought by Metro PCS is known as a "Cell On
Wheels," or COW. Its placement will require permission from the Collier
County Emergency Operations Center.

By Tuesday afternoon, such permission had been granted, said Greg
Speers, a spokesman for the East Naples Fire Department.

Dennis said the portable antenna must come from out-of-state companies
as far away as Tennessee, thus accounting for the weeklong delay.

COWs are telescopic antennas typically used in areas where a natural
disaster, such as hurricanes, have occurred.  Other companies like
T-Mobile and Cingular also can borrow the antenna to provide service to
their customers, if needed.
But if the COW cannot reach a higher height than the trees around the
area, it might not be able operate to its fullest capacity, Dennis said.

While construction of a new tower could take at least one month, new
zoning regulations might restrict the new structure's height to a reach
less than that of the one that just collapsed.

Mike Bosi, a Collier County planner, said that if more than 50 percent
of the tower is destroyed, the replacement structure would have to
comply with new zoning regulations that limit the height to 250 feet —
less than half the original tower's height.
The permitting process for a new tower could take an estimated five to
six months.

Had the incident resulted in a fatality, the federal Occupational Safety
and Health Administration would have directly investigated the incident
and filed a report with the welding company, said Luis R. Santiago, area
director of OSHA at the Fort Lauderdale office.

In this case, however, OSHA will let Dana Corporation Welding do the
investigation and respond back to them with the results, said Santiago.

"We don't want this to happen to them again," he said. "So it's better
to investigate the cause of this so we can prevent it in the future."

The company has to respond to OSHA in five days after they have
completed their investigation report.
In 1995, a Missouri man on his way to the Marco Island airport died on
Christmas Eve when an airplane hit a tower and damaged a wing, causing
it to crash near Greenway Road and U.S. 41 East.

At the time, Palmer Communications owned the 715-foot tower. The
victim's widow subsequently settled a lawsuit filed against Palmer
Communications in December 2003.
Copyright 2004, Naples Daily News. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_eagle/article/0,2071,NPDN_14916_3034652,00.html

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/61FxlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/