Cell Site Lease Rates – Know Their True Value

How do you know if you have properly calculated the cell site lease rate you are preparing to accept in 2023? Tower Genius has seen cell site lease rates that paid as little as $100 per year at an American Indian Casino courtesy of AT&T, and we have seen AT&T, Verizon Wireless, US Cellular, Sprint, and T-Mobile cell site leases on rooftops and structures like a power company or utility transmission towers, water tanks and corporate office parks paying rents for well over $7,000 and $8,000 monthly. We’ve seen some very mature cell towers paying landlords significantly more than $10,000 per month — these cell tower rent rates are not common but they are out there. Where are these sites located? Tower Genius has seen cell phone towers owned by American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA Communications paying rents to landlords on their towers for as much as $13,000 per month to $18,000 per month (rent + revenue share) on mature, multi-carrier towers — which are not apples to apples comparisons to rooftop cell sites.

In El Paso Texas, Tower Genius witnessed a wireless carrier walk away from a small cell antenna lease where the carrier wanted to pay zero dollars but was only willing to pay $100 monthly, and walked away in a tantrum, unwilling to pay $300 per month. In rural America, it is not uncommon to see rooftop cell site leases pay in the $800 per month range starting, to almost $3,000 per month, and sometimes higher on mature sites.

Got Questions About What the True Value of Your Cell Site Lease Rate Should Be?

• What is my Verizon Wireless cell site lease worth with the rooftop equipment upgrade being proposed? 
• How much is the cell site lease rate for AT&T adding a generator to their installation at my building? 
• Sprint is probably not going to decommission their antennas for several years, what should the cell site lease rate be to extend the expiring lease? T-Mobile’s representative said that they can add RRU units (remote radio units) but my rooftop lease says different as I read it. What should my new cell site lease rate be?

Here are some random samples of monthly cell site lease rates we have seen in various parts of the USA in 2022:

• Verizon Wireless ground lease $1,500 (macro)
• Verizon Wireless ground lease $650 (macro)
• Verizon Wireless rooftop lease $3,900 (macro)
• Verizon Wireless rooftop lease $2,300 (macro)
• Verizon Wireless tower sublease $1,400 (macro)
• Verizon Wireless substation land lease $3,000 (macro)
• AT&T ground lease $600 (macro)
• AT&T ground lease $900 (macro)
• AT&T tower sublease $1,375 (macro)
• AT&T rooftop lease $5,600 (macro)
• AT&T rooftop lease $2,700 (macro)
• T-Mobile rooftop lease $2900 (macro)
• T-Mobile rooftop lease $1,150 (macro)
• T-Mobile rooftop lease $2,950 (macro)
• T-Mobile ground lease $950 (macro)
• Sprint ground lease $700 (macro)
• Sprint rooftop lease $3,400 (macro)
• Sprint rooftop lease$1,700 (macro)
• American Tower lease $1,400 (macro)
• American Tower lease $3,400 (macro)
• American Tower lease $660 (macro)
• Crown Castle lease $605 (macro)
• Crown Castle lease $1,100 (macro)
• Crown Castle lease $1,600 (macro)
• SBA Communications lease $450 (macro)
• SBA Communications lease $4,000 (macro)

These cell site rent rates are not apples-to-apples comparisons. Some are multi-carrier sites and some are single-carrier cell phone towers.

Each cell site must be evaluated individually as should your cell site lease.

When negotiating your cell site lease rental payment you should consider utilizing a professional hired gun who has analyzed thousands of cell site leases. As they say in Texas, New York, and San Francisco, this is not our first rodeo. Call Tower Genius at 1-888-313-9750 or contact us below  to learn more about our cell tower landlord coaching and consulting services.

Steve Explains Cell Phone Tower Rent Rates In The Video Below