Carriers Looking for "Minor Changes"

Many cell tower owners and site owners have been approached by site acquisition agents for Cingular (trademarked- no affiliation to Steel in the Air) who has recently merged with AT&T. This carrier is requesting the option of doing minor maintenance or the simple change out of a few lines/antennas on the cell tower or rooftop cell site. Depending upon the language in the lease, they may be requesting consent from the landowner. The problem is that the “minor changes” they are making to the cell tower or cell site are not minor at all, in fact in some cases they are adding equipment capable of handing the calls of both of the merged carriers.

In some cases, the changes are within the scope of the cell tower lease or the cell site lease and the owner should have no reason to object. In other cases though, the owner is potentially giving up revenue. Have your cell tower or cell site lease reviewed by your attorney and make sure they understand wireless technology.