Crane Construction on AL Highway 22 Near Selma: Working on the Pine Belt Wireless Tower Behind Bob’s Grocery

Pine Belt Wireless has completed a mandatory equipment swap out of the Chinese-made hardware used at its 15th out of 19 towers in Dallas County and the 52nd of 71 total sites across its network footprint. Complying with the Federal Communications Commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Network Replacement program, Pine Belt has replaced the equipment primarily with hardware made by Nokia, supplemented by support components from other western companies such as Microsoft and HPE. In conjunction with the swap, Pine Belt has retired its 3G CDMA network and adopted a 4G LTE system, resulting in increased capacity and extended service coverage. This upgrade also sets the stage for the eventual upgrade to 5G. The program was initiated over five years ago when the federal government sounded the alarm on security threats posed by the Chinese-made hardware used by Pine Belt and nearly 100 other smaller network operators across the US. This eventually led to government legislation mandating an equipment swap, with a cost reimbursement fund established to facilitate the transition.  

The total number of towers converted by county as of November 15, 2023, is shown here.  

By the end of January, an additional 10 sites will have been converted. The remaining sites are expected to be completed by the middle of 2024. These sites require significant structural modifications, and, in some cases, new towers must be constructed to support the weight of the new equipment. 

(Source: John Nettles)