PrecisionHawk, American Tower improve cell tower inspections

PrecisionHawk has announced a multiyear alliance with American Tower to make cell tower inspections safer and more efficient. PrecisionHawk will hand over its AI-backed cell tower inspection software to American Tower to use on upcoming inspections.

The new software will allow American Tower to use drones for its inspections in a much safer and more efficient and accurate way. The drones will allow for more robust data to be collected to enable proactive maintenance, inventory reconciliation, and precise servicing.

More than 41,000 wireless communications tower facilities across the United States will have drones flying above to complete inspections over the next few years. If all goes well, American Tower will likely expand the drone inspections to more than 183,000 sites worldwide.

PrecisionHawk software allows users to overview all their assets overlaid onto a map, with each one being clickable to show its ID, name, status, and, most importantly, images from previous inspections.

Eric Dudek, American Tower vice president of network operations, shared:

Safety and efficiency are paramount for tower inspections, and PrecisionHawk provides the only true end-to-end solution that combines a deep understanding of our needs with the ability to deliver unparalleled data. With this alliance, we are introducing a superior method of inspection that we believe will become the industry standard and revolutionize our customers’ experience, leading to faster deployment of new wireless technologies.

In 2018 American Tower chose PrecisionHawk to be a key part of its move into the digital space for cell tower inspections. Since then, the two have completed thousands of inspections together, with PrecisionHawk taking the data away to build a tailor-made platform to improve the way inspections are completed.

Patrick Lohman, PrecisionHawk vice president of telecommunications & energy solutions, added:

We’re proud to partner with industry leader American Tower to launch PrecisionFlight Tower and PrecisionAnalytics Tower. Drawing on American Tower’s expertise, our solution was developed to meet the comprehensive needs of the wireless communications industry by enriching asset inventory and inspection data. In turn, this data empowers both facility owners and carriers to improve the reliability of their networks and meet their increasing demands for connectivity.

Photo: PrecisionHawk