Shaw & Associates?? What in the world does that have to do with Cell Towers?

I know, I know…Shaw & Associates sounds sooooo…well, corporate (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but in fact, is not.  My boss, Rick Shaw, has been in the cellular industry for almost a decade.  He is also an attorney that deals with leases and development.  He knows anything and everything about cell towers, placement and planning and zoning for almost every jurisdiction here in Arizona.  It’s a great environment to learn, as it is a ‘hands-on’ setting that is comfortable.  He is a good leader with several different styles of teaching.  It has been great for me as I have caught on and have moved up quite quickly in the company.

There are so many aspects to this job that I manage and everyday is different, which is so nice!   Our main client is Verizon Wireless and it’s my responsibility to acquire land that can be used specifically for placement of cell towers or antennas.   And cool thing is, I essentially work from home, so I can travel anytime I want!

There are two types of projects that we handle for Verizon; Macro sites and Small Cell sites.  Macro sites are what you see along the road – poles that have antennas.  Many times they are “faux” trees.  Like palm trees and pine trees.  We also do bell towers in churches.   All depending on the jurisdiction and how close they are to residential areas will depict what type of tower is acceptable in the area.  The range these reach is depending on what is in the surrounding areas.  If there is nothing blocking the antennas (trees, buildings, etc.) the “reach” of the signal is about 1 -2 mile around in a circle.

"Palm" Tower - called a Monopalm

Bell Tower

The second type of project is the Small Cell site.  These sites are very new to jurisdictions and Verizon is the first carrier to implement them here in the Valley.  These fill in the “gaps” of the frequency emitted from the Macro sites and are essential now because of how much data people are using now that everyone and their grandma has a smartphone.  I had the awesome task of going to the jurisdictions and proposing these new sites.  (It really was! **NERD ALERT!**)  It was both really cool to teach the City Planners something new as well as educate myself in the cellular world!  Anyway, we are working generally with jurisdictions because these are 2 or 3 antennas that are attached to a street pole – even traffic signals in some places and Verizon would like to work with the jurisdictions because it can be easier when you have to go through Zoning and Permitting.  In Korea, these are spaced every 200 feet!  Mainly, we are in the Right of Way (the area between the property line and the city-owned street) because the sizes of these sites are small.  Two antennas pointed in a specific direction covers about 750 – 1000 feet.   I just finished getting 4 of these through the City of Glendale and I am excited to see them constructed. 

More exciting news coming soon!