Contact Us Directly

By Aimee Blakeslee

A wireless carrier wants me to sign an easement to allow them to drive across my property to access their cell tower and wireless antennas.

You received a letter from a wireless carrier offering to pay you for the use of your property to access their cellular tower.  At first glance, it sounds like you hit the jackpot.  The wireless carrier offers to gives you money and you really do not have to do anything in return.

Considering selling your cell tower lease (commonly called a lease buyout)? Before you make this decision, there are some critical considerations. 

Most people who have a cell tower on their property have been approached to sell their cell tower lease. In many cases, the property owner is approached by a "Cell Tower Lease Consultant" and informed that their cell site is very risky, and can go away at any time. The recommendation is that you sell the lease now in exchange for a one-time payment; following which the buyout company collects the rent for as long as the tenants stay on the property.

Many people who have either sold leases, or are considering selling leases have asked us if the cell site on their property is really at risk. The answer is maybe.

The risk of a cell site being taken down, or decommissioned, is based on many factors; including the quality of the tenant, the importance of the site to the network of the existing tenant and other current or potential tenants, and the your lease. As most property owners do not have access to this type of information, the assistance of an independent, landlord focused cell site lease consultant may be a good investment.

By Brett Reall

Small Cells are currently a hot topic in the wireless community, and are becoming a topic of interest for local governments. A small cell is just like it sounds - a small cellular antenna, typically designed to provide cellular coverage to a smaller geographic area than a cell tower or full rooftop cell site. While many small cells are installed on utility poles or street and traffic lights; small cells can be installed almost anywhere power can be placed. Most prefer to have fiber installed as well, however there are varying methods of "backhaul" (transferring the received signals back to the network).

As these placements require approval of local governments, the approval process is currently hot topic within the small cell industry. In some areas state or federal regulations differ from local requirements. Until some consistency can be implemented to address concerns of local governements while serving the needs of the wireless carriers; it is anticipated that the permitting process will be a source of frustration for both local governments and cellular providers for the forseeable future.

From the standpoint of the local goverments and utility companies, many items need to be addressed in small cell installations, including:

1. Small Cell Aesthetics.
2. Small Cell Equipment Placement.
3. Capacity of Pole/Light Post to Support Small Cells.
4. Growth/Change of Small Cells Over Time.
5. Utilities Needed to Serve Small Cells.
6. Application Intake Procedures for Small Cell Use and Building Permits.

While many people express concerns about radio frequency (RF) radiation or emissions, not many property owners are aware that analyses are regularly performed to show the anticipated RF levels at certain points on their properties.

While measuring RF levels is a challenge due to many factors, computer modeling has come a long way in recent years to show the RF path emitted from antennas, and its penetration levels within a building. 

A challenge we regularly see with this report is the "points of interest" (POI) or points of measurement that are used to run the report. Wireless carriers typically will select two POIs; the rooftop, and the ground level. This leaves all levels within the building unmeasured.

Property owners rarely, if ever, see these reports. In our view, these reports go a long way to answering questions that property owners may have themselves, or that they may be asked about the effects of the antennas on occupants of their buildings. Additionally, these reports could also be utilized to show that many concerns raised by tenants or neighbors of the building are unfounded.

The reports will typically model the estimated propagation pattern for each antenna on the rooftop, displayed at maximum power. This allows the wireless carrier and property owner to identify "Controlled Areas" where only trained professionals should work, vs. "Uncontrolled Areas" where low levels of RF may exist at levels that have been determined to be safe by the FCC for the general public.

Many people contact Gunnerson Consulting to ask if they should accept an offer to extend their cell tower lease. Our answer is typically: Absolutely - when the situation is right!

In the past few years, many property owners have seen their cell tower tenant change from a wireless carrier (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc) to a cell tower company (i.e. American Tower, Crown Castle, SBA, etc). Most tower companies have entire departments focused on requesting lease extensions from their landlords.

The typical model in approaching a cell tower landlord is to send a letter to the property owner requesting a lease extension. This letter is followed by a phone call from a representative asking if the property owner is interested in renewing the lease.

If a property owner is interested in renewing the lease, the tower company typically proposes the terms. Most property owners are not in a position to know if the rates and lease terms offered by the tower company are reasonable. Many property owners simply accept the first offer from the cell tower company to renew the cell tower lease - without understanding how their lease compares to the overall market. In our experience, the lease extension documents typically also include terms that are not part of the current lease, and may change the value of your lease over time.