#263 - MaxCell: Streamlining Ducted Fiber Deployments

Digicel provides fixed and mobile telecommunications services in 25 countries across the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Its country-specific operating units have one thing in common: they are all different.Digicel Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Cataldo joins Inside Towers Business Editor John Celentano to discuss Digicel’s distinctive characteristics and the opportunities and challenges of operating a telecom organization across this diverse region.Support the show

Installing fiber is not easy and involves everything from local permitting, supply chain issues and field construction work. Deploying fiber in underground cable ducts can be especially challenging.Ken Moore, Strategic Account Manager-Broadband at MaxCell speaks with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor about Maxcell’s novel flexible fiber innerduct solutions that help streamline the labor and cost to run fiber cable in buried ducts.Support the show

Today’s tower business is being impacted by mobile network operator capex adjustments, new spectrum deployments, some carrier consolidation and AI applied to various tower operations.Yannis Macheras, Chief Executive Officer at Harmoni Towers, in conversation with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, offers his perspectives on running a private tower company in today’s environment.Support the show

Demand for fiber connectivity is escalating to support large data transfers in and between data centers, and ultimately, for AI inference applications where they are needed closer to users.Bill Major, Chief Executive Officer at FiberLight joins John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor to talk about the surging demand for fiber connectivity and the opportunities and challenges that creates for fiber network operators. Support the show

Any discussion about wireless cell site installations usually focuses on antennas, radios and cables. But a lot of ancillary equipment is needed for mounting and protecting radios and antennas at height, so that they function as designed.Calvin Carmichael, Sales Representative at Allfasteners talks with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor about the company’s new Raptor Radome, a special product designed for ease of cellsite installation and operation on flag poles and monopoles. Support the show

Discussions at Fiber Connect 2026 addressed fiber deployments across a range of access and transport applications for broadband, wireless, data center and IoT uses.Clearfield bills itself as “The Fiber to Anywhere Company” and offers a wide variety of patented designed and manufactured components and connectivity elements that help speed up fiber deployments at lower labor costs.Anis Khemakhem, Chief Commercial Officer at Clearfield, joined John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, at the event to discuss the opportunities and challenges with achieving efficient and cost-effective fiber deployments across a range of digital infrastructure applications. Support the show

Fiber Connect 2026 proved to be quite timely and significant at this point in the telecom industry with data center expansion booming, fiber builds ramping up with BEAD funding, and ongoing new tower construction.Doug Wittrock, Chief Operating Officer at Network Connex sat down with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor at the event to share his perspectives and outlook on the opportunities and challenges with designing and building facilities across the range of digital infrastructure asset classes.Support the show

Hyperscale data centers, (aka AI factories), are expanding rapidly to develop AI Large Learning Models. However, the notion of edge data centers for AI Inference and high-speed, low-latency applications is getting renewed attention.Rod Carter and Jake Remington, partners at the telecom law practice at Husch Blackwell, discuss with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, the issues related to planning, locating and operating edge data centers.Support the show

The telecom industry is evolving from distinct wireless and wireline businesses into a broader digital infrastructure ecosystem. Ontivity is a company that is involved in a number of key aspects of designing and building a range of digital infrastructure asset classes.Eric Chase, Executive Chairman of Ontivity, and Dave Mayo, Senior Technology Executive serving on the Ontivity board of directors share their perspectives on these developments with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.Support the show

 Any kind of RF interference at a call site will diminish connections to cell phones and cause poor service which leads to customer complaints. Unlike active interference from nearby antennas, PIM, or passive intermodulation interference, can be caused by many elements in and around a cell site on a tower. These conditions make PIM hard to detect and mitigate.  Drew Martin, Sales Engineer-Interference with Valmont Telecom speaks with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor about PIM – what it is, how to detect it and how to minimize it.  Support the show