DAS Paramount as Tower Company Grows

April 22, 2015

By J. Sharpe Smith

April 22, 2015 — DAS and small cells are projected to be the highest growth area in the next two to four years and TSC Tower Specialists plans to be ready for private enterprise wireless systems for facilities from 300,000 to a million square feet and stadiums and sporting arenas, according to Geoff Starr, TSC COO.

Starr

“It’s a challenge to be prepared for it. Over the next 24 to 48 months, DAS is going to a vast amount of what the carriers and our other clients are rapidly expanding into,” Starr said. For example, TSC installed a high-profile 33-sector Ericsson DAS last October at the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson Stadium, which is owned by AT&T.

Serving Clients Through a Local Presence

To handle growth in small cells and also in the tower industry, TSC has been expanding in the last year, adding several new locations.

In January, TSC announced a new location in Hudson, New Hampshire, including 600 square feet of warehouse space and more than 2,500 square feet of outside storage and parking, as well as a new location in Hiram, Georgia. This month it added another facility in Grosse Ile, Michigan, with more than 10,000 square feet of warehouse space and more than 1,100 square feet for administration. The location will enable TSC to market its services to Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, western Pennsylvania and western New York. It now has eight locations including its headquarters in Johnson City, New York, with another location to be announced next month.

“Having a local presence in these areas is an aggressive move on our part, but we’re moving forward and are optimistic about it,” Starr said.

Turnkey Solutions Help TSC Compete with Larger Turf Vendors

TSC has launched a new Engineer Furnish & Install (EF&I) division, recruited an EF&I manager and hired more than 30 new technicians. It now provides turnkey site development, infrastructure and construction solutions. In Michigan, new hires are expected for up to 12 line and attendant crews, a project manager and EF&I technicians.

“This new division is another way our company continues to grow and expand by offering quality customized solutions and integrated services; making TSC the one-source solution for all network needs,” Starr said. “We thought it was important to offer a turnkey solution, where we are not only doing the installation but also the integration and the optimization of the site, to make ourselves more marketable.”

TSC now has a team of more than 40 cross-trained, certified engineers. TSC’s technical EF&I capabilities and extensive resources can be used to install networks nationwide, and it is a certified Ericsson vendor for EF&I. Starr said the EF&I division is going well and he is already thinking about expansion.

“Getting our employees the needed certifications and training has been a challenge because every carrier has different expectations. It was hard to get into some of the classes and they have to be updated annually,” Starr said. “We try to stay one step ahead of what we see is coming. We are certifying and training and busting it upfront so when there is an opportunity for us to perform, we are ready to go.”