Sprint Today
What You Should Know About Sprint Cell Site Leases
If You’re Serious About Building Your Own Cell Tower, Here’s What You’ll Need:
Contact Us
If you have been contacted by a T-Mobile representative (aka, site acquisition agent) regarding the construction of a cell tower on your property or a cell site on your building or tower, you likely don’t know where to start. That’s where we can help. We can:
- Provide information regarding the real-world effects of entering into a Landlord/Tenant lease with T-Mobile;
- Review your location for its uniqueness to T-Mobile;
- Determine appropriate rent, escalation, and lease duration terms; and
- Provide tips on favorably negotiating the terms of the proposed Lease Agreement prior to signing.
As of April 1, 2020, T-Mobile completed their merger with Sprint. The combined company is now the third-largest wireless company in the United States. Since then, T-Mobile has been focused on evaluating all Sprint leases, and either absorbing or terminating them. In the past two years, many of our clients have been approached in regard to these superfluous Sprint (now T-Mobile) Cell Sites. If you are party to a Sprint cell site lease, and have not already been contacted by T-Mobile, then you should prepare for it in the near future. In preparing for a potential T-Mobile takeover of your lease, we can help you to:
- Review the proposed drawings and advise you on T-Mobile’s reasons for requesting any change;
- Review the lease language and confirm whether T-Mobile is allowed to make changes;
- Determine what fees (if any) should be charged to T-Mobile;
- Assist you with the negotiation of the Lease in a way that protects and supports your interests.
In late 2012, T-Mobile announced it would sell 7,200 towers to Crown Castle. Those landowners who own the land upon which the 7,200 towers were built have since been receiving proposals from Crown Castle (as a successor to T-Mobile) to either extend or buy their lease. (Crown Castle now has the right to waive the consent to sell provision mentioned above). If you have received a proposal to extend the term of your lease or to purchase your lease, please contact us first.
We have been helping both public and private clients understand the following regarding Sprint/Mobilitie proposals/requests:
- Understand how other municipalities are treating these requests;
- Determine what fees (if any) should be charged to T-Mobile;
- Evaluate the completeness of the application requests.
- Advise on small cell policy creation.
What You Should Know About Sprint As A Tenant
Over the last 3 years, T-Mobile has been actively terminating or absorbing former Sprint towers and cell sites. Since their merger in 2020 with T-Mobile, Sprint has stopped all site deployment. Sprint leases will be kept and transferred to T-Mobile if there is no overlap in the given subject area. T-Mobile has or will terminate approximately 35,000 cell sites, mostly from Sprint. T-Mobile has built out mid-band 5G to approximately 287M people in the US. T-Mobile continues to utilize Black Dot and Md7 to renegotiate its leases to indiscriminately reduce costs.
PROS
- Moderate Equipment Loading
- Smaller equipment footprint than AT&T or Verizon
CONS
- Assumes that every modification only requires consent even if the lease clearly indicates otherwise.
Sprint Industry News
| Subscribers | Number of Sites | Small Cells | Tower Sales | Acquisitions | Lease Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
~55.0 M |
55,000 |
35,000 |
In 2008, Sprint sold 3,300 (almost all) of its cell towers to Tower\Co under a leaseback agreement.
In 2005, Sprint subleased 6,000 towers to Global Signal (who was acquired by Crown Castle a year later) |
Nextel, Clearwire, Sprint affiliates |
Low |
Steel In The Air Inspires Landowners, Venue Owners And Local Governments To Make The Best Out Of Each Unique Location
Steel in the Air has been assisting landowners, venue owners and communities with cellular/ wireless telecom lease negotiations for over a decade. We have reviewed hundreds of Sprint leases and know the ins and outs of the industry better than anyone. We take great pride in providing unique, unbiased and reliable guidance.
Together, We Will Implement A Plan Based On Educated Goals. Your Objective Might Be To:
- Understand your rights and obligations as a cell site Lessor.
- Negotiate the lease (or lease renewal) before signing.
- Determine the real market value of your lease as derived from rent, escalation and duration figures, as well as situational metrics, such as location and wireless infrastructure build plans.
- Use the lease as an asset, or part of an investment portfolio.
- Determine what type of wireless network is best for your community, organization, or venue.
- Create a process and Master Plan and or Small Cell Policy for county or municipal wireless infrastructure leases.
- Better understand industry dynamics, site acquisition strategies and policies or rules that could affect your lease now or in the near future.
Do you have Questions? Visit our Q&A Forum.
Why You Should Reach Out To Us
Perhaps our clients can explain it best. Over 300 of them have been generous enough to share feedback on their unique experiences and successes with Steel in the Air.