Exactly WHO is building WHAT? Crown Castle Buys T-Mobile Towers

This is a pretty big announcement, but in order to understand the absurdity of it all, let's first take a quick review of the timeline:

In May 2011, just a few weeks before the end of the school year, GTCO-ATL members heard about a meeting planned for 12 schools where the "community" would "be informed" about placement of wireless towers in "various locations in DeKalb County."  Low or no turnout was not shocking as the meetings were designed this way intentionally.

At the end of May 2011, the World Health Organization upgraded its classification of RF radiation to "possible human carcinogen."  DeKalb County School District did not waver in its push forward even armed with knowledge that the school communities had not been properly informed about the risks or asked what they thought about the proposal to put cell towers at their schools.  In fact, it appears there were no other companies even considered besides T-mobile, which was in the process of merging with ATT.

In June 2011, after school was out for Summer, the school board came mere minutes away from voting all 12 schools through on a Consent agenda during the regular board meeting.  GTCO-ATL founders showed up, petition in hand and news crew in tow.  The item was removed from the agenda "until further notice."

In July 2011, the school board put the item back on the agenda with less than 24 hours notice.  They then voted by a margin of  6 - 2 - 1 to lease public property 60' X 60' in size and 150' vertical at 9 of the original 12 schools on the list.  It was explained that there would be two separate due diligence periods that would be possible for T-mobile to seek permits and the public to be heard.

The second of these time periods expired on July 12, 2012, without breaking ground at a single site and without a signed contract for the lone school that initiated the request due to what they said was a poor cell reception area (for ATT only), Lakeside High School.  Regardless of their expired contracts, lack of public notice and refusal to seek proper permits with DeKalb County, the school system continues to move ahead.

July 2012 was school board election time and long-time board member Paul Womack was not re-elected, largely due to his apathy for his district over the cell tower issue, which he reportedly brought forward while he was Chairman of the Budget Committee.  DeKalb voters turned out in force and more than 75,000 of them (or 65%) voted NO on an advisory referendum regarding cell towers on school grounds.  But, the school district continues forward, apparently not deterred.  Several board members, when asked at a public forum, state that they would vote NO if they had to do it all over again.

But still...  GTCO-ATL members all over the county continue to report signs of construction around the vulnerable schools and a lot of high power electrical lines being installed.  A sudden crop of digital traffic light cameras have popped up seemingly overnight, too.  And, a "donation" allows Lakeside High School to finish the construction projects that the taxpayer budget could not justify.  In less than a year, a million and a half was raised during difficult economic times.  Voters near Lakeside are split nearly 50/50 in their area's response to the ballot question.  Perhaps they know something the rest of us do not.

Just this month, Oct. 2012, we have learned that the plans to build are still on.  We posted the timeline on our website.  This timeline was received only after multiple Open Records Requests were made and ignored.  And, a Lakeside contract finally surfaces, signed only early this month.  Read more here.

But, here's a shocker... we've just learned that T-mobile is no longer the owner of the T-mobile towers!  

So, WHO is building WHAT at our schools?  We have seen ATT trucks everywhere, but they did not buy out T-mobile.  In fact, the towers were sold just recently to a company named Crown Castle.

Who on Earth is CROWN CASTLE?  Did the board approve a new contract with them?  What do we even know about this company, their reputation, who they may hire to do contract work, construction, inspections, etc.  This is a potentially lethal weapon we are talking about putting on our school grounds for the next 30 years!  Shouldn't someone tell us if the terms of the contract have changed?  


Company:  Crown Castle Intl Corp (CCI)  www.crowncastle.com/
Company Description: OPERATES WIRELESS TOWERS IN THE U.S., AUSTRALIA AND PUERTO RICO FOR WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDERS.
Based in:  HOUSTON and BELLEVUE, Wash.

But wait, there's more!!

WHO was trying to outbid them, but LOST?  Keep reading...


Company:  American Tower Corporation  www.americantower.com/
Description:  American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communication sites. Our global portfolio includes approximately 49,000 owned or managed sites and is experiencing steady growth. In addition to leasing space on towers, we provide customized collocation solutions through our Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that support seamless in-building and outdoor wireless coverage.

American Tower is located VERY near Lakeside High School, where the original request for the towers at Dekalb Schools came from in the first place: 

American Tower Corporation
1800 Briarcliff Road Northeast  Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 320-7845


QUESTIONS:

1.)  So, do we now have a contract with Crown Castle??

2.)  And do we have to honor a contract for towers at 9 schools when the original intent was really just to benefit a company that ended up not even buying the towers at all??

Read the press release here:  http://investor.crowncastle.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=107530&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1739397&highlight=


And, read more here:  Crown Castle To Buy T-Mobile Cellphone Towers
By REINHARDT KRAUSE, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY