Earlier this week, we received a call from a landowner who had been contacted multiple times about their lease. The most recent series of attempts was from a person with a foreign accent who claimed to be from one of the US-based cell tower lease buyout firms. (We spoke with the buyout firm, and they […]
Number of Cell Towers and Small Cells in the United States in 2023 The Wireless Infrastructure Association recently issued a white paper that included their estimates of the number of macrocells, cell towers, and small cells in the US at the end of 2022. In the white paper the WIA and the drafter of the […]
During my early days in the wireless industry while employed by a tower company, I worked alongside a site acquisition vendor named Nape Touchstone. Eventually, I ended up forming a company with him to build towers – back in the late 1990s. Nape was a character indeed – someone who had a pithy catchphrase for […]
2022 turned out to be a strong year for wireless activity. Wireless capital expenditures were the highest in the last 5 years. Carrier activity focused on modifying sites for and adding mid-band 5G to existing sites. Valuations for tower and lease assets may have hit their peak but remain high. Looking forward into 2023, here […]
In a surprise ruling, the FCC determined that a landowner was responsible for removing a 375’ guyed tower on their property after the broadcaster that built it (and subsequent broadcast owners) failed to do so. Because the tower exceeds 200’, it is required to be lit for aircraft safety. However, the tower lights apparently had […]
As we approach the end of 2022, we thought it might be helpful to summarize what we have been seeing with new leases and existing leases in rural areas. (Please do not contact us about how you can get a tower on your property – it is not something we do. Please see our article […]
Now that we have passed the midpoint of 2022, we thought it might be helpful to share our observations from the first half of 2022 and our expectations for the latter half. First, we start with wireless carrier and tower company activity: AT&T AT&T is deploying 5G (via C-Band spectrum) faster than expected. They allege […]
For anyone hoping that 2022 would slow down from 2021, that will not happen. We enjoyed a slight lull in activity in January, only to be slammed in February and March. What’s occupying us these days? AT&T C-Band Modifications. AT&T is adding C-Band equipment to their existing macrocells to provide mid-band (faster) 5G. Because they […]
A client of ours has a ground lease with one of the big three public tower companies. Instead of rent, the landowner gets a straight percentage of the revenue from all wireless carriers subleasing space on the tower. The client contacted us to help them sell the lease. However, when we reviewed the revenue share […]
One of the more disturbing trends in 2021 and early 2022 is the rise of the “5G site marketing companies.” Over the past year, we have observed a substantial increase in the number of proposals issued to our larger municipal and corporate clients. Some of these companies include 5G, LLC.; SiteMark, LLC.; Aon 5G; and […]