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One of AT&T’s cell towers in Denison, Tex. went missing last Thursday in the 1900 block of West Crawford St. after vandals cut the tower’s supporting guy wires, causing it to collapse.
Nearby residents woke up to find the remains of the tower crumpled on the ground, with dramatically poorer cell service the result for AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile customers in the immediate vicinity. All three mobile providers maintained antennas on the affected tower.
Denison Police say the incident was a clear case of vandalism. After the guy wires were intentionally cut, the tower lacked sufficient support to stay standing on its own.
Nobody was injured during the collapse, but AT&T says the vandals caused $1 million in damages. A temporary cell tower is now in place. It will take three months to permanently replace the cell tower.
AT&T is offering at least a $7,500 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KXII Sherman ATT cell tower felled in Denison 11-22-2015.mp4[/flv]
KXII in Sherman, Tex. reports Denison authorities are looking to arrest the vandal(s) that destroyed an AT&T cell tower. (1:30)
You would think that since these towers are part of critical communications infrastructure that AT&T would want these to be constructed in similar layout to a wind turbine with a concrete foundation that would not be so easily toppled over and with security cameras in place to watch anyone who gets to close to them.
Let’s all remind each other again that the CEO of AT&T Randall Stephenson gets paid $20 million a year.
Well Joe, communication towers ARE constructed on concrete foundations. And the light framework and tension cables are actually more stable than massive wind turbines. If you’re wondering why they don’t put tension cables on wind turbines too, it’s because within a matter of seconds, those cables become incompatible with the gigantic whirling blades. Ha-ha The door to the equipment shack does have an alarm on it, and techs must call in to a dispatch center and identify themselves when they access, or the police will be on their way shortly. Cameras aren’t the solution, as they just won’t be helpful… Read more »