FCC Chairman Pai Learns About NATE STAR Initiative, Climbs Tower During Site Visit

August 23, 2018

L to R: Mark Judson (SBA Communications); Dan Hancock (EasTex Tower, LLC); Jim Miller (EasTex Tower, LLC); Ajit Pai (FCC Chairman); Justin Miller (EasTex Tower, LLC) and David Sams (SBA Communications).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai met with tower technicians and management from NATE member contractor EasTex Tower and SBA Communications this week in De Beque, Colorado, learning about building, maintaining and deploying tower sites and related wireless infrastructure. The visit was a part of Chairman Pai’s road trip across Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado to highlight how closing the digital divide can create jobs and increase digital opportunity.

The highlight of the day was providing Chairman Pai with the opportunity to be fitted with fall protection equipment and to experience a short tower climb under the guidance of EasTex’s safety personnel and tower technicians.

Additionally, the FCC Chairman learned about the benefits associated with the NATE STAR Initiative program. Since the program’s inception, the STAR Initiative site safety audits and program documentation requirements have served to allow participants to proactively identify and correct hundreds of job site hazards and deficiencies. These results have allowed NATE to extrapolate valuable benchmarks and tangible data from the program, while demonstrating compelling evidence that STAR member companies are leading the charge in terms of making our industry safer.

Chairman Pai surmounts the tower.

The NATE STAR Initiative was designed to help companies operate safely while recognizing tower erectors who voluntarily adhere to higher standards. The NATE STAR Initiative emphasizes Safety, Training, Accountability and Reliability by asking participants to commit to requisite levels of training, site safety audits and the implementation of safety programs while adhering to industry best practices.

To view a collection of photos from Chairman Pai’s tower site visit and climbing experience, go to NATE’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages. For more information on the Federal Communications Commission, visit www.fcc.gov. For more information on NATE, visit www.natehome.com.