Johnson Towers Corporation (JTC), an owner-operated Florida company, agreed to a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission to pay $3,000 in three installments of $1,000 each year for not installing obstruction lighting on two antenna structures and update registration information with the FCC to show the dismantlement of a third tower. The company’s owner, Dan L. Johnson, agreed that …
SBA Communications sees 2016 growth outpacing 2015’s full year projections
In providing SBA Communications Corporation’s Q3 earnings report today, President and CEO Jeffrey Stoops said, “Our backlogs continue to grow, and our initial 2016 outlook reflects a higher domestic organic growth rate than we now expect for full year 2015. Our portfolio continues to grow as well. We now own over 25,000 sites.” “Our customers remain active,” Stoops said, “and …
One tower is surely not in step with American Tower’s upbeat Mexico outlook
American Tower Corp. CFO Tom Bartlett said during the company’s Q3 analysts’ conference call on Friday that Mexico had 90% wireless penetration, but only had 45% smart phone saturation. He also said that the growth potential was excellent since, “We believe, like Brazil, that the market needs twice the number of towers to support 4G over the long term.” He …
American Tower cautions investors that their MLA with AT&T isn’t expiring in 2016
In American Tower Corp.’s investors’ conference call this morning, EVP and CFO Tom Bartlett cautioned analysts that their master lease agreement (MLA) with AT&T was not expiring in 2016 when he was questioned by one caller regarding the expiration. Bartlett said he had seen that statement in some write-ups, but it wasn’t correct. In August, SVP and Treasurer Leah Stearns …
Crown Castle will reinstate gag order keeping them from discussing carriers
Crown Castle CEO Ben Moreland said yesterday during the company’s Q3 conference call that Crown’s executives used to refrain from speaking with any specificity about carrier deployments, but “over the last couple of years, we’ve sort of relaxed that standard, and probably spoken a little bit too much occasionally around specific carrier deployment plans.” But Crown’s easing of carrier build …
American Tower’s Viom deal puts their India tower count ahead of the U.S.
American Tower Corporation is paying $1.16 billion to buy a controlling stake in the Indian tower operator, Viom Networks. The deal, which was widely expected will see American Tower taking a 51 percent stake in the Indian firm, which currently owns and operates approximately 42,200 towers and 200 indoor distributed antenna systems across India. American Tower’s existing Indian portfolio of …
One towerco to own a mind-boggling 1.5 million towers in China in a $34 billion deal
Every large tower owner dreams of the day when they can boast that they’re the largest in the world. Those hopes were dashed yesterday with the announcement that the big three telecommunications operators in China have agreed upon an infrastructure-sharing joint venture, China Tower Corp. According to Barclays, the total tower count will be a staggering 1.5 million towers. The …
FCC Commissioner’s new tower builds is based on a hazy crystal ball
Commentary — Making subsidies more flexible and removing legal hurdles are two of several changes the Federal Communications Commission should make to advance wireless infrastructure development, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said Wednesday at the Competitive Carriers Association conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Another adjustment they should consider is providing their Commissioners with research that they’ve unearthed to provide direction rather than …
Central States Towers picks up $75m in new debt and equity financing
CIT Group Inc. announced that CIT Communications & Technology Finance served as sole lead arranger and administrative agent in a senior secured credit facility to Central States Tower (CST), a leading middle market operator and developer of wireless communications towers and a portfolio company of Sweetwater Capital, LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “We have maintained a strong …
American Tower topples an Oklahoma tower while its sole tenant was broadcasting
UPDATE: Sept. 25, 2015 – Dale Bolton, High Plains Public Radio’s director of programming and operations, said today that he has been informed that an American Tower Corporation representative had called another individual within his organization on Friday afternoon prior to taking the KGUY tower down the following morning for safety reasons. However, Bolton said,”They were unable to get to Guymon to …
Key analyst likes Crown Castle, but sees American Tower with less acquisition exposure
Morningstar analyst Michael Hodel has provided an excellent overview of the industry’s three publicly-traded companies, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International, and SBA Communications. Whereas there are almost daily yawn-inducing recommendations from analysts, Hodel’s insight and extensive analysis is worth the read. Although Hodel has previously said that his favorite amongst the towercos is Crown Castle, because he thinks it …
Clear Channel Outdoor Americas and Vertical Bridge announce landmark partnership
Vertical Bridge, the largest U.S. private owner and manager of wireless telecommunication infrastructure and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of iHeartMedia Inc., today announced the signing of an exclusive multi-year agreement for the management and marketing of wireless deployment on Clear Channel Outdoor America’s (CCOA) billboards and other out-of-home assets in 45 of the top 50 U.S. markets. …
India High Court: Use your landline if you don’t want cell towers installed
In a rather unorthodox response to a petition by residents alleging that a cell tower was being constructed in their neighborhood in violation of a local recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee, India’s Delhi High Court dismissed their plea and basically said that residents of Vasant Kunj should stop using their cell phones and revert back to using landlines, and then, …
Indiana looking for firm to manage its 300 cell towers on park land
Indiana is working on plans to design and build Indiana’s first new inn at a state park in more than seven decades, and Gov. Mike Pence has said the lodge will be paid for solely by the leasing of untapped capacity of more than 300 cell towers on DNR land. None of that cell capacity has been leased yet, state …
Time Warner’s fiber-optic backhaul supports close to 20,000 of the country’s cell towers
Charter Communications’ bid for Timer Warner Cable appears to have little opposition, and the $55 billion deal might be approved by the FCC by the end of the year. Included in the sale are two important industry assets, towers and backhaul. Although Time Warner’s total of 653 structures hasn’t grown considerably over the years, but will be complemented by Charter’s …
New top 100 U.S. tower owners unveiled with some first-time players and loss of a key owner
Wireless Estimator released today its top 100 tower companies in the U.S. that identifies the same three top consolidators as in previous years, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International and SBA Communications taking the lead. Although first place American Tower is slightly ahead of Crown in the Top 100 U.S. Tower Companies list by less than 200 towers, it is an …
Subcarrier Communications acquires its Texas-based site management competitor
An industry pioneer in high performance wireless infrastructure development, Subcarrier Communications, announced its $2.1 million purchase of Houston, Tex.-based, AC Site Management. “The purchase of AC Site Management represents a logical next step in creating substantial value for Subcarrier, and for our customers,” said Subcarrier Communications CEO, John Paleski, adding that current and prospective Subcarrier customers “benefit through new service …
SBA disses DAS and small cells, preferring the macro site tower business for growth
Business relationships have an average shelf life of less than five years primarily because there is a lack of cohesiveness in shared visions. Tower owner SBA Communications and ExteNet Systems, a neutral host provider with some of the most profitable DAS locations in America, fit that model and decided to call it quits after five years, even though they seemed to …
Iconic Sutro tower’s history is provided with suppositions of ’60s backroom politics and collusion
If the legendary Mount Sutro broadcast tower in San Francisco was being proposed today it is unlikely that it would have much of a chance for approval as residents would mobilize in force to let city commissioners know of their concerns through open meetings and social media. But in the 1960s San Francisco had really bad television reception and perhaps …
Lawsuit win sees contractor’s claim doubled and ownership of 32 towers up for grabs
A court decision requiring the owners of tower consolidator Horizon Towers of Marblehead, Mass. to have 32 of their towers “liquidated and distributed or otherwise used to satisfy the creditors of debtor Eastern Towers, Inc.,” also awarded Timberline Construction of Canton double its owed $264,774 for new site builds due to an unfair or deceptive act. The open market will …
