Eastern Companies Look To United States for Tips on RAN Sharing

Chinese tower companies are looking to American Tower and Crown Castle International to learn tips of how radio access network (RAN) sharing construction can be utilized in order to save money for telecom and radio operators. The China Times reported, “RAN sharing significantly reduces infrastructure costs for telecom operators by mutually sharing those resources — including cell sites and towers, base station equipment, and transmission networks. This could theoretically eliminate duplicate structures, a salivating prospect considering the daunting up-front investments needed to build new 4G networks.” As 4G technology expands around the world, international companies are looking at the United States’ infrastructure. American Tower and Crown Castle use RAN sharing, and they do it well. Both companies have become very successful buying or constructing towers and leasing space to multiple users. “In Taiwan, all towers are already shared across cell phone carriers, making the US “rental model” not an immediate option. But it may become the rising standard now that more professionals will be needed to maintain 4G systems. Taiwan’s National Communications Commission, however, will encourage cell phone carriers to continue sharing remaining towers because of concern over public complaint. Available land is an ever-present issue in the construction of new towers and facilities on Taiwan’s cramped and mountainous terrain,” the China Times reports.

Why are U.S. Tower Companies Moving into Brazil?

With the announcement that SBA Communications would be acquiring 2,007 telecom towers in Brazil, you may be wondering what’s so attractive about the Brazil market. This acquisition will give SBA ownership or control over more than 5,000 towers in Brazil. American Tower acquired 4,500 towers in Brazil in August 2013. Well according to Reuters, the American companies are focusing on acquiring assets in Brazil for the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games that will be held there. SBA said on Wednesday it expected the new towers to contribute about 110 million reais of cash leasing revenue and $70 million reais of tower cash flow to its results during 2014. Wireless carriers in Brazil have been making sale-leaseback agreements on their towers to help pay down debts and boost results in the face of an economic slowdown. (Source: Reuters)

Read more at InsideTowers.com. 

Will American Tower Purchase More Towers in Brazil?

Bloomberg reported that Telecom Italia is working with Morgan Stanley to find potential bidders for their 7,000 towers located in Brazil. One of the potential bidders is American Tower Corporation, according to people familiar with the matter. The Brazilian assets could raise about 700 million Euros ($951 million), one of the people said. (Source: Bloomberg). In 2000, American Tower entered the Brazil market with more than 4,500 towers. In August 2013, American Tower announced they were acquiring an additional 2,790 tower sites from NII Holdings in Brazil for $413 million. Officials at American Tower Corporation declined to comment on their potential interest in these sites; however, it’s a market they are already participating in so it might be a good move for the company looking to expand their international reach.

Read more at InsideTowers.com.

Tower Industry in Africa Expected to Double: Will US Companies Take Part?

In 2011, American Tower Corporation entered the South African tower market where they now own 1,621 towers. Chief Operating Officer of Helios Towers Africa, Kevin Koch, spoke at AfricaCom2013 in Cape Town last week and presented an optimistic outlook for the tower industry. According to Richard Cutcher of HumanIPO, “According to HTA figures, there are currently 150,000 towers in Africa of which only 15 per cent are owned by third-party companies such as HTA, Eaton Towers, ATC and IHS. Due to Africa’s rapidly rising and young population, Koch expects the total number of towers to double within five years, while the proportion of those owned by independent companies will double in one year.” American Tower Corporation focuses mainly on the North American tower industry, but is also expanding their international footprint. This may be the perfect time for them to grow their presence in the African region. HumanIPO reported earlier today Bharti Airtel is believed be in discussions over the sale of its 15,000 towers to a third party for US $1.8 billion, while Etisalat Nigeria is also thought to be in discussions over a US $400 million sell-off of its 2,500 towers.

Read more at InsideTowers.com.

Douglas County Turns Down AMT’s 20K Bonus For Cell Tower Lease Extension

http://insidetowers.com/douglas-county-turns-amts-20k-bonus-cell-tower-lease-extension/

SBA & American Tower Set Dates to Announce 3rd Quarter Earnings

SBA Communications and American Tower Corporation announced today that they will be announcing their 3^rd quarter earnings within the next few weeks. SBA will release their results on Monday, November 4^th after the market closes and they will host a conference call on Tuesday, November 5^th at 10:00am to discuss the results. SBA Communications Corporation is a first choice provider and leading owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure in North, Central and South America. By "Building Better Wireless", SBA generates revenue from two primary businesses - site leasing and site development services. SBA's primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on its multi- tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts.

American Tower will announce their 3^rd quarter results at 7:00am on Wednesday, October 30, 2013. Their conference call will be held at 8:30am that same Wednesday to discuss the results. American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate. American Tower currently owns and operates over 61,000 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Panama, Peru, South Africa and Uganda. 

AMT Keeps “Outperform Rating”, CEO Sells 100,000 Shares of Company Stock

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank reiterated their “outperform” rating for American Tower Corporation (AMT). This means the analysts believe that the American Tower Stock is going to do better than the market return.

Before Deutsche Bank released their rating, CEO James Taiclet Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7^th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.73, for a total value of $7,273,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, Taiclet now directly owns 100,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,275,982. You can view the form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission here.

American Tower’s 52-week high is $85.26 and their 52-week low is $67.89. The AMT stock closed at $74.64 yesterday. Analysts at Nomura upgraded American Tower’s rating from “neutral” to “buy” back on September 16^th; whereas the analysts at Maquarie boosted the price target from $84 to $88 on September 17^th, giving American Tower an “outperform” rating.

American Tower released their 2013 Q2 earnings on July 31, 2013. They reported a core growth of 18.1% with a total rental and management revenue growth of 15.7%. The company expects the new business and core organic growth trends to remain favorable due to the carriers deploying networks worldwide. 

AT&T and American Tower Ask North Carolina City to Allow Towers in Residential Areas

The major wireless carriers along with the tower companies are working together to build up our wireless infrastructure so mobile coverage is easily accessible. AT&T and American Tower have asked the City-County Planning Board of Winston-Salem, North Carolina to change its ordinance and allow communication towers to be built within residential areas.

“Consumers are relying on their wireless devices today for communications, shopping, and accessing information, and will rely on them even more in the future,” said Clifton Metcalf with AT&T. “To meet consumers’ demands for reliable connections, better mobile coverage and faster mobile speeds, wireless carriers must erect various types of antennas in multiple locations.”

If the City-County Planning Board allows this ordinance to pass, then companies will be permitted to construct cell phone towers in residential areas as long as they are concealed. This will help increase the mobile coverage in the area. Access to mobile broadband is becoming increasingly necessary as people switch from landlines to mobile devices. More than one of every four American homes (26.6%) deserted their landline telephone service and now rely exclusively on wireless service. (Source: Wireless Substitution) and CTIA—The Wireless Association reported that, “U.S. wireless data traffic grew 123 percent from 2010 (388 billion megabytes) to 2011 (866.7 billion megabytes).”

Members of the wireless industry, such as AT&T and American Tower, are working with cities, states, and federal governments to reduce the restriction companies must face when proposing to build a cell tower in residential and sometimes even commercial areas.

Wireless Isn’t Going Anywhere—Invest Now

Even though it seems that everyone is connected through mobile phones, there are approximately 1 billion people in the world that do not own a cell phone according to Kerry McQueeney of the Daily Mail. This means that wireless services aren’t going anywhere. They will continue to expand until they reach remote parts of the globe connecting people in a way they never thought possible. If you are looking at investment opportunities, you should consider the wireless tower industry.

Communication towers are being constructed all over the world, especially in the United States, in order to meet the demand for mobile communication. So much of our daily life takes place online, which many people now access via their cell phones. Without these communications towers, accessing this technology on the go wouldn’t be possible.

Tim Beyers of the Daily Finance strongly urges you to invest in American tower. “Analysts see American Tower growing its earnings base by about 25% annually over the next five years,” Beyers notes. It was estimated that there were 6.6 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide at the end of 2012, and this number has been increasing approximately 9% each year. This trend suggests that the need for mobile broadband and communications is only going to increase. More and more devices, like tablets, are being connected to the 3G and 4G mobile networks in order to access the Internet anytime, anywhere.

“I'm not expecting a let-up anytime soon. Why? There's just too much business online. A June study published by eMarketer put total 2013 e-commerce sales at $1.2 trillion for the full year, with emerging markets such as Indonesia experiencing the fastest growth. The entire Asia-Pacific region is on track to produce $388 billion in online sales, up 23% year over year,” Beyers explained.

With so much information moving online along with the ability to communicate with people across the world, watch TV, listen to music, and purchase almost anything you could ever want the wireless industry isn’t going anywhere for the time being. The top tower companies in the United States will continue to build up their infrastructure in order to keep up with demand. 

Why Are The Major Tower Companies Focused On North America?

At the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show in Hollywood, Florida earlier this week the four CEO’s of the major tower companies gathered to discuss hot topics within the industry. John Adelstein wanted to know why the focus of these companies is mostly domestic.

“We’ve built a foundation in the US and try to deploy US mobile into emerging markets. We look at the financial risk and the economical risks involved with those markets. There are usually no tower companies in emerging markers, but this is our home base and we’ll always look to enhance our infrastructure and further develop here in the U.S. as well as internationally,” Steven Marshall, Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division of American Tower.

Ben Moreland, CEO and President of Crown Castle, explained that, “The North American market is the most attractive market in the world. We’ve added over 7,000 sites last year. We’re certainly looking into other markets in North America. We’ve looked at South America and Eastern Europe but we’re going to stay with our strategy to become a leader in the North American market.

Jeff Stoops of SBA Communications noted that, “We decide where we want to capitalize the company. It’s all about creating the most value for our public shareholders.”

It was agreed upon that the tower industry is a global industry, but deciding which markets to expand in depends on the goals of the companies and whether or not it makes the most sense financially for the public shareholders and the company at large. 

PCIA’s Tower CEO Roundtable Provided Great Insights Into The Industry

The tower industry is expanding quickly in order to keep up with the demand for mobile and broadband technology. Wednesday October 9^th the PCIA’s 2013 Wireless Infrastructure Show gathered the four CEO’s from the major tower companies in the United States. Benjamin Moreland was appointed President and CEO of Crown Castle International in July 2008. Jeffrey Stoops is President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of SBA Communications Corporation. He has been CEO since January 1, 2002. Steven Marshall was named Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division of American Tower in March 2009. Marc C. Ganzi was the Chief Executive Officer of Global Tower Partners.

These men came together to discuss their thoughts on the future of wireless and the state of the industry. John Adelstein, president of the PCIA, moderated the roundtable and started off asking American Tower’s CEO about their acquirement of Global Tower Partners. “We are absolutely delighted. We are very pleased. They have really great assets and when you combing those with American Tower’s assets we have over 50,000 communications sites,” Marshall said. “We welcome the many members of the team from across the nation to the American Tower team.”

With American Tower’s acquisition of Global Tower Partner’s, Marc Ganzi referred to his current position as “unemployed.” However, Ganzi noted that they have a portfolio of towers in Mexico that they need to get back to work on by building up and buying assets. “Mexico is a market that is growing and it’s a market with a lot of promise,” Ganzi said.

Having all of these CEO’s gathered at the same convention allowed Adelstein to ask them about their opinions regarding the efforts of the PCIA and whether or not they are making a difference in the industry. PCIA has a dedicated Government Relations staff that represents our members' interests at all levels of government by educating key policy-makers about the critical role wireless infrastructure plays in our nation's communications network.

Ganzi remarked that, “It’s no longer NIMBY (Not in My Backyard), it’s YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard). People are now saying, ‘I work at home and I need to be connected.’ It’s part of the fabric of how we connect to our families and I think that’s been a mind shift at the local level. We exist to help accelerate the build out and reduce cost. To me, that’s why we worked hard on the hill to get that legislation passed.”

Jeff Stoops of SBA Communications believes that, “On the federal side we’re in pretty good shape. On the state side, there’s always room to improve.”

PCIA and other wireless organizations have been working hard to decrease barriers that make it difficult for the wireless infrastructure to be built. Their efforts are starting to pay off with the federal government restriction the reasons state and local governments can give to veto a tower proposal. 

American Tower Completes Acquisition of Global Tower Partners

Yesterday, October 1^st and only about a month after the announcement of this deal, American Tower Corporation announced that they have completed the acquisition of Global Tower Partners. The majority of GTP was owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners with the minority partners including Dutch pension fund manager PGGM and management.

American Tower acquired GTP’s 5,400 domestic towers, 800 domestic property interests, management rights to over 9,000 domestic sites that are primarily rooftop assets, as well as their 500 communications sites in Costa Rica. Also with these assets, American Tower also assumed approximately $1.5 billion of GTP’s existing debt. American Tower paid approximately $3.3 billion in cash in order to complete the acquisition. Following the closing, American Tower had total liquidity of$1.9 billion, which included cash on hand and remaining capacity under its existing revolving credit facilities.

“With all four major domestic wireless carriers engaged in aggressive multi-year 4G LTE deployments, we believe our acquisition of GTP solidifies our path to achieving our strategic goals related to growing our AFFO over the next five years,” Jim Taiclet, Chairman, President and CEO of American Tower said in a previous press release. 

American Tower to Participate at ISI 2013 Real Estate Conference

Today American Tower Corporation announced that their CFO, Tom Barlett, will participate in the “Specialty REITs” panel discussion at the ISI 2013 Real Estate Conference in New York, New York this Thursday, October 3rd.

American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate. American Tower currently owns and operates over 56,000 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico,Peru, South Africa and Uganda. 

AT&T is Looking to Sell Towers for $5 Billion

Bloomberg reported that AT&T is looking for buyers to purchase its wireless towers for approximately $5 billion. This influx in cash will help AT&T’s financials as they begin undertaking a $14 billion network upgrades. “The tower industry is consolidating, with fewer companies controlling bigger swaths of the equipment needed to transmit wireless signals amid booming demand for mobile communications,” Bloomberg explained.

American Tower recently agreed to purchase Global Tower Company and rumor has it that the company is on a bit of a spending spree. American Tower is the largest owner and operator of cell towers in the United States. If they are looking to secure that status, they may consider purchasing AT&T’s towers. However the other two players in the industry, SBA Communications and Crown Castle International, may consider making a deal with AT&T to secure their role in the wireless industry and compete with American Tower. 

American Tower Corporation Declares Quarterly Distribution

American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) announced that its board of directors has declared its quarterly cash distribution of $0.28 per share. The distribution will be paid on October 7, 2013 to stockholders who are on record at the close of business on September 23, 2013.

American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate. American Tower currently owns and operates over 56,000 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda.

American Tower to Present at the 2013 UBS Best of Americas Conference

This morning American Tower announced that its Vice President of Investor Relations and Capital Markets, Leah Stearns, will be presenting at the 2013 UBS Best of Americas Conference in London on Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 2:50p, BST (9:50am EST).

This conference is a two day conference brings together CEOs and CFOs from an elite group of US and Canadian companies, across all industries, which our sales team believes are compelling investments. The live audio webcast link will be available on the Company's website, www.americantower.com.

American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate. American Tower currently owns and operates over 56,000 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda.

Acquiring GTP Isn’t The End of The Road For American Tower

After American Tower announced their acquisition of Global Tower Partners (GTP), they made it clear that they are still on the lookout for more purchases. "This is a significant strategic milestone for American Tower," Chairman and CEO Jim Taiclet said regarding M&A, "but it’s definitely not the end of the road."
 

By acquiring GTP, American Tower will add 5,400 domestic towers to their portfolio. Below you’ll find an overview of the GTP Portfolio.:

GTP Tower Portfolio

›1/3rd of sites in Top 50 BTA’s

›2/3rd of sites in Top 100 BTA’s

›Average tenancy of ~2.0 per site

›63% of total revenue from sites on land that is owned or on long-term leases with 20+ years remaining

GTP Financial Highlights

›2014E Revenue of $345m

›2014E Gross Margin of $270m (78% of revenue)

American Tower Agrees To Acquire Global Tower Partners for $4.8B

Today American Tower Corporation announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding common membership interest of MIP Tower Holdings, LLC, which is a private real estate investment trust and the parent company of Global Tower Partners. The purchase price was approximately $.4.8 billion. The purchase price is expected to be paid with approximately $3.3 billion in cash and approximately $1.5 billion of existing indebtness.

GTP owns and operates approximately 5,400 domestic towers, 800 domestic property interests under third-party communications sites, and has management rights to over 9,000 domestic sites, which are primarily rooftop assets. In addition, GTP owns 500 communications sites in Costa Rica.

Jim Taiclet, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Tower, said: “GTP has constructed and acquired an outstanding U.S. portfolio of tower, rooftop and land assets, which is highly complementary to that of American Tower. Moreover, GTP’s management of these assets has been excellent, as confirmed through our rigorous due diligence process. GTP’s towers boast a high quality customer base, a strong position with respect to ground ownership and lease terms, and additional structural capacity available to facilitate future leasing activity.

With all four major domestic wireless carriers engaged in aggressive multi-year 4G LTE deployments, we believe our acquisition of GTP solidifies our path to achieving our strategic goals related to growing our AFFO over the next five years.”

American Tower Corporation expects to close this transaction by the fourth quarter of 2013. The company believes that by acquiring high quality assets with strong existing cash flows there will be significant opportunity for future growth. The strong leasing momentum is expected to continue at a steady pace due to the data demand growth and the 4G LTE deployments.

                                                                                                                                           

S&P Upgrades Ratings Three Wireless-Tower Operators

Standard& Poor’s, a credit rating company, announced today that they completed their CreditWatch review or three U.S. wireless tower operators: American Tower Corporation, Crown Castle International Inc., and SBA Communications Inc. A credit rating is Standard & Poor's opinion on the general creditworthiness of an obligor, or the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a particular debt security or other financial obligation. 

Here is the overview of the review from S&P:

• We have raised the corporate credit rating and senior unsecured debt rating on American Tower Corp. to 'BBB-' from 'BB+' and removed the ratings from CreditWatch positive.
• We have raised the corporate credit rating on Crown Castle International Corp. to 'BB-' from 'B+' and raised all other ratings by one notch. We removed the ratings from CreditWatch positive.
• We have raised the corporate credit rating on SBA Communications Corp. to 'BB-' from B+' and raised all other ratings by one notch. We removed the ratings from CreditWatch positive.
• The stable outlook on all three entities reflects the predictability and stability of their tower leasing businesses, which should continue to support current ratings over the next few years.

S&P believes that the outlooks are stable. "As part of our sector review of wireless tower operators, we have revised our assessment of the business risk profiles on each of these companies to 'excellent' from 'strong' based on key fundamentals that have prevailed over the past several years," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Catherine

Cosentino. They include:

• Very healthy leasing gross profit and overall reported EBITDA margins of at least 70% and 60%, respectively;
• Low volatility and cyclicality of the business, leading to high predictability of cash flows;
• Long-term contracts and high renewal rates with large telecom carrier customers; and
• Very high barriers to entry, especially in the U.S. market but also in most of the company's growing non-U.S. markets.

American Tower Has Been Busy Constructing New Sites

American Tower has been working hard to construct new communications site as well as obtaining property rights in order to build towers to better serve their customers. American Tower is a provider of wireless and broadcast towers, in-building and outdoor DAS, other right-of-way options, small cell and Wi-Fi networks, managed rooftops and services that speed network deployment for the wireless and broadcast communications industry. Below is a list of their newest sites:

Region Towers Generators Rooftops IDAS ODAS Midwest 32 33 2 2 0 Northeast 32 94 36 6 1 South Plains 21 57 1 1 0 Southeast 38 23 6 0 0 West 8 17 1 2 0 Total 131 224 46 11 1