Sorry, My Crystal Ball for 2018 is Still Overheated From 2017

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The newsletter we put out tomorrow is one of the toughest, composition-wise, I’ve dealt with all year: the Top 10 Stories of 2017.  At first, it sounded easy.  Not counting our 52 weekend roundups and a few skipped holidays, that’s about 255 issues from which to choose (my New Year’s resolution is not to dangle participles this year…and consume less dairy!).  But after I had already chosen five and hadn’t left January, I knew I was in for a challenge.

We all faced the new year 365 days ago with the same slack-jawed wonderment of what was in store with a new administration taking office. The polarization of America was no longer an environmental term but one of political entrenchment.  Lincoln’s description of “a house divided against itself” had not been this prescient for 159 years.

So with that backdrop, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (remember him?) announced the spectrum auction cleared $18 billion, declared it a success, dropped the mic and walked off the stage to kick off the new year.  In parting, Wheeler said a total of about $10.05 billion would go to broadcast television owners who gave up their spectrum and the rest of the proceeds would go towards deficit reduction. Continue Reading

Taking the reins shortly afterward, was Obama-appointee (albeit a Republican one) and former Verizon counselor Ajit Pai.  We headline writers rejoiced at all the great name-play opportunities it would bring to the new year (we’ve since gone through them all…maybe twice).

What followed in succession: repack, FirstNet, merger rumors spiking the markets (in our favor!), small cell/DAS battle lines being drawn in cities and states nationwide, one solar eclipse and one natural disaster after another kept 2017 as unpredictable as it was eventful.  (We knew about the eclipse, of course, just not about it’s impact.)

The tower sector did what it does best and, by all indicators, will continue to do it again in 2018: build towers and infrastructure in response to the insatiable demand for connectivity.  Repack, FirstNet and small cell/DAS will keep the market humming with activity throughout 2018 and beyond.  The FCC has been a confederate in that regard, streamlining the process while drawing down some heat from all quarters with no indication of shirking from that duty in the coming year.

Yes, there will be politics in 2018.  There will, alas, be more Acts of God reinforcing and redefining the importance of cellular communication and who knows who will merge in the year to come. Predictions are not my strong suit.

Hey, my Eagles are 13 and 2…best record in the NFL…but does that mean they’ll win the Super Bowl?  Magic Eight Ball says “Answer hazy.”  Luckily, we’re in a ‘sure thing’ tower market that only requires perseverance, adaptation and quality control to maintain the prospect for a bright year ahead.

By Jim Fryer, Managing Editor, Inside Towers

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