The Wireless Wise Guys podcast. Everything you wanted to know about cell tower leases, but were afraid to ask. Powered by Tower Genius, the USA’s premier cell tower lease experts.
Steve:
Hello, YouTube. This is Steve with Tower Genius coming to you from the road. I want to talk a little bit about the newest wireless carrier in the United States, which is Dish network. Dish was created as a byproduct of the T-Mobile Sprint merger. The federal government required that there’d be more competition in the marketplace, more choice for consumers. So Dish network, the satellite TV company, is now a carrier as well. So then you really need to play catch up. They’ve got to build out about 30,000 cell sites in the next five to seven years and catch up with Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. And the fastest way for that to happen is for Dish to deploy their antennas on existing tower infrastructure. So we can expect that, most of these new Dish sites are going to go up on, on American tower sites, Crown Castle, SBA towers, et cetera. Let’s talk a little bit more about these towers here in a second.
All right. So behind me is a lovely, absolutely gorgeous Crown Castle tower. Fully loaded. The ground space, you really can’t see it. I didn’t want to trespass on the owner’s property. So they’ve got a pretty packed ground space area that looks like there are at least three carriers on this tower. And chances are, if Sprint is not located here, this is a Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T tower. Then Dish network is going to need to contact these property owners for a separate ground lease. Then they’ll be in the money for that one. And if they were smart, if they’ve got a good deal when they negotiated and they’ve got some revenue share, well, then they could potentially double dip, which is a beautiful thing.
I wanted to show you this neat cell site here in Fort Walton Beach, it’s located on a Lamar billboard. So Dish network is not going to only be utilizing existing tower infrastructure or rooftops to locate their network. They can utilize structures such as this. Even signs at rest area, service areas. Any type of structure, water tank, water tower, where they can be above the tree line and meet zoning requirements, could be a suitable site for Dish. Behind me is a rooftop cell site that I’ve used before in other videos here on Okaloosa Island in the Fort Walton Beach area. So actually this cell site is going to be going away probably in the next year or two due to an eminent domain situation. There’s going to be a bridge replacement. So the carrier needs to move somewhere and they’re probably going to go across the street. We have several buildings across the street where they could go. There’s a Hilton Hotel and a few condos. But Dish is most likely going to locate on one of those neighboring rooftops.
Now they do have three other choices there where they can potentially put their equipment. So they’re going to most likely contact all three buildings and possibly contact the city water authority regarding that water tank. And they’re going to typically play one property against the other, see where they can get the best deal. And that’s where a building owner or a municipality or a water district might need expert guidance and benefit from the coaching services that we provide. We understand what Dish needs to get on these leases and what a landlord can push back with and obtain because to be frank with you, the Dish lease is grossly lopsided. The first few handful that we worked on for our clients needed a heck of a lot of work. So you really want to have someone that understands the ins and outs of wireless leasing to help guide you and make sure that you can maximize that lease and get a great deal. Speaker 3:
Dish network is also going to be deploying thousands of rooftop cell sites in urban areas throughout the United States. Either on rooftops where there are existing carriers, actively leasing space or on brand new rooftops. If you are in the position where you are a landlord and you had both Sprint and T-Mobile on your rooftop, the Sprint site is likely going to be going away. It’s going to be decommissioned. Part of the deal that T-Mobile has with the federal government for this merger to have gone through is that the decommissioned Sprint sites need to be offered up to Dish network for consideration. Now, if Sprint or T-Mobile offers you money to leave the Sprint equipment there on your rooftop or leave the antennas or the equipment cabinets, I wouldn’t take the money. I’d have them remove everything and restore it to it’s original condition. Obviously, the equipment, the platform, the dunnage could stay there. You could have other users for that, but no one needs Sprint’s equipment. So have them take that off your rooftop and make that site attractive to Dish.
Now, Dish may not need that immediately in 2022 or 2023. So if they don’t come knocking in the first year, don’t be disappointed. Just wait. They do need probably five to seven years to deploy their network and play catch up. Especially in these urban areas that make the carriers lots of money. So have a way for Dish to get in contact with you or your building manager, if they’re out looking so you can immediately respond to them if you are contacted for a roof top cell site lease with Dish. Steve:
So if you’re a property owner who’s been approached by Dish network to lease rooftop space on your building, if you’ve been approached to lease additional ground space next to a cell tower that’s on your property, or if you’re a municipality or electrical utility company and have been approached about putting up a Dish cell site on existing water tank or electric electrical transmission tower. And if you have questions about lease values, about business terms, about what provisions need to be adjusted, give us a call at (888) 313-9750 and schedule 30 minute discovery call. We charged $29.99 for that call. If you end up hiring us for additional coaching consulting, we’ll give you the 30 bucks back. It is essential for you to make sure that you’re not leaving money on the table. We’ve seen Dish, in a short time, offer as little as 300 bucks a month for a ground lease. I mean, it’s just ridiculous.
We’ve also seen them walk away from buildings in Manhattan and in the boroughs of New York City for as little as 11, 1200 bucks. So they’re really looking to low ball people and you need to make sure you understand what you’re looking at. Sometimes the best deal is the deal that never happens, but you want to make sure you’re not leaving money on the table. And where you can maximize that deal, we will certainly give you that information that you need to succeed. Speaker 1:
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