Fullerton has adopted a new logo. But it is more than just a fancy piece of artwork. The new look, which resembles an arrow, signifies that the firm is pushing forward, diversifying beyond engineering to include site development services, according to Sr. VP of Strategic Development, Andrew J Herring. The company has also replaced “Engineering and Design” with a new tagline, “Network Integrity Starts Here.”
“For many years, underneath our logo, it said engineering and design, and I believed that it pigeonholed us into only engineering services, but we were much more than that,” Herring said. “To reflect our true identity, we changed our logo and tagline.” More than diversification, the new logo also symbolizes Fullerton’s philosophy of pushing through the challenges that present themselves during projects, he added.
The transformation of Fullerton, becoming a turnkey firm, didn’t happen overnight. It took a couple of years. The firm gained the ability to self-perform projects, including DAS, in-building projects and rooftop antenna deployments, after acquiring a small installation company in Chicago. Fullerton currently self-performs these services in the Midwest area but is open to going beyond its immediate area to other geographies. It is already licensed to perform engineering services in all 50 states and their site development services also stretch across many markets in the U.S. During the pandemic, Fullerton, which employs 160 people, added personnel located across the nation.
Fullerton was started by Henry Matthew Bellagamba, P.E., in 1998, designing and engineering cell towers as the industry built out its 3G networks. The entry of the iPhone and the resulting surge in the 4G towers propelled its growth in 2008. The firm went nationwide in 2010 and began operating in several additional markets, and in 2012, it began to focus on fiber and DAS projects. Herring joined Fullerton is 2018, to lead the shift in strategy to Tier 1 Service Provider, build a national sales team and expand service offerings. The firm was acquired in 2019 by Growth Capital Partners LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm.
Today, along with engineering, Fullerton’s services include site acquisition, OSP & ISP Engineering & Design, DAS, structural engineering, tower reinforcement, fixed wireless access and installation services. Currently, it is organized into three divisions: the Wireless Services Division, Utility Services Division and the Technical Services Division.
Earlier this year, industry veteran Kelly Lazuka became President of the Wireless Services Division, which includes site development services, site acquisition and engineering, and Sameer Aleem joined the firm and became Vice President of Site Development. The Utility Services Division, led by Jason Palmer, focuses on wireline business and small cell engineering/design. The Technical Services Division, led by Marc Steinbach, performs DAS and in-building design, small cell installations and Macro (civil) installation.
With billions of dollars flowing into bridging the digital divide, Herring sees a long runway for growth in the broadband market over the next 10 years.
“We are well-positioned in the broadband space, because we have both wireless and wireline background,” he said. “Our clients are looking to nimble firms like us to navigate the broadband space, especially the rural carriers that are seeing an influx of money and don’t necessarily have the in-house expertise to produce at scale.”
Carriers are faced with the challenge of how to build broadband networks that are economically sustainable over the long term. While fiber provides faster speeds, fixed wireless is faster to market. Fiber also has its challenges in terms of deployment over rough terrain and the economics of serving sparsely populated areas, according to Herring. It is important to understand the different challenges customers face in urban settings, compared with rural users, which affects the choice of technology, he notes.
“I think it will be a combination of both, fiber and wireless,” he said. “You’re not going to have the interference, usually, in a rural setting, so you can use unlicensed spectrum. In an urban setting, there may be interference and line of sight issues, so fiber might be the answer.”
The opportunity to participate in more of the entire lifecycle of the project will pay dividends as 5G is built out over the next 10 years, Herring said. “We’re in the early innings of 5G, and there is a long-run rate of growth ahead,” he said.
Diversification in engineering firms has become a major trend as carriers have moved away from the traditional supply chain of subcontractors in order to increase speed to market and to eliminate costs caused by “margin stacking.” Being involved in the full life cycle of projects also expands the breadth of possible customers that Fullerton can service, Herring added.
“They are looking to use firms that can cover larger scopes,” he said. “End users want turnkey organizations that can handle projects, start to finish. We have re-positioned ourselves in the marketplace to be able to take advantage of the way our clients are purchasing services.”
By J. Sharpe Smith Inside Towers Technology Editor
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