Mobile & Cell Phone Information

Contemplating Selling Your Cell Tower Lease For A Lump Sum?


Many landowners who have leased land for a cell tower on their property are receiving letters from third party companies. These letters suggest to the landowner that due to wireless carrier consolidation and due to technology, that the cell tower lease may be terminated early. By selling the lease to one of these companies, the landowner averts the risk of early termination and can recieve a lump sum immediately.

What is important to note is that these companies would not be interested in buying the lease if they felt that there was a significant risk that the lease would, in fact, be terminated. The reality is that cell towers are going to be around for a long time and the leases will continue. That is not to say that your particular cell tower lease is not susceptible to termination, especially in light of carrier consolidation. Recently, wireless companies like AT&T and Cingular have merged. (Both AT&T and Cingular are trademarks of their respective companies). Estimates of how many duplicative sites will be terminated as a result of this merger range from 8,000 to 20,000 sites. While the exact number is unknown, some landowners will receive termination letters in the mail. It is possible to determine whether or not your particular site is susceptible to termination by reviewing the cell towers in your area.

The sale of the land leases for a lump sum is one way of averting this risk. Additionally, there are other reasons why an individual landowner might want to consider selling his cell tower lease rights. These reasons include a scenario where the landowner has plans to sell the underlying property in the next few years. Another scenario is where the lump sum payment can be used to extinguish existing high interest debt.

One area that every landowner contemplating selling a cell tower lease should be concerned with is the taxation of the transaction. It is imperative that you consult with your accountant regarding any offer and whether or not the payment is susceptible to capital gains treatment.

Lastly, there are industry experts available who can assist you in the determination of whether or not the sale of your lease asset is a sensible decision. Make sure that before you make a potentially costly decision, you consult with your accountant and industry experts.

Ken Schmidt is the owner of Steel in the Air, a cell tower consulting firm. Steel in the Air provides expert consultations on cell tower valuation, cell tower lease negotiations, lease buyouts, lease renegotiations and lease buyouts. Ken has been quoted on cell towers in the NY Times and numerous other publications.


MORE RESOURCES:

Half Life Source

Nokia will give mobile cell phone buyers a free music offering ...
Half Life Source, FL - Aug 29, 2008
Nokia, the world's top mobile cell phone maker, announced on Tuesday that it will offer free music to buyers of its particular music phones. ...


Skype has released a beta version of its mobile cell phone ...
Mathaba.Net, UK - Aug 26, 2008
Skype Mobile could be the killer app for the VoIP company to reach the billions which have yet to experience Voice over IP away from desktop computers. ...


Half Life Source

Adobe Open Screen Project is a new venture supported by several ...
Half Life Source, FL - Aug 25, 2008
Adobe Open Screen Project will allow application developers to create programs that work on PCs and mobile cell phone devices from different companies in an ...


Irving officials to vote on new cellphone tower near Texas Stadium ...
Dallas Morning News, TX - 9 hours ago
The council is set to vote tonight on whether to approve the placement of a mobile cell phone tower across State Highway 183 from Texas Stadium. ...


Daylight Mugging At Edgewood Park
New Haven Independent,  USA - Sep 2, 2008
The victim turned over his T-mobile cell phone, iPod and $25. The suspects fled toward Shepard Street. And a delivery man from “Blessings To Go” reported ...


GPS Tracking Enthusiast Starts Mobile GPS 180 Blog
PRarticle.com (press release), Canada - Sep 2, 2008
The Mobile GPS 180 Blog informs readers about mobile GPS, GPS mobile tracking, mobile cell phone GPS tracking, GPS mobile navigation, windows mobile GPS, ...


1st Citycell Footsul Football Tournament begins tomorrow
The New Nation, Bangladesh - Sep 2, 2008
A total of eight metropolises clubs, split into two groups, will take part in the four-day meet, sponsored by mobile cell phone company Citycell. ...


Half Life Source

AT&T is expected to launch its High Speed Uplink Packet Access ...
Half Life Source, FL - Aug 25, 2008
AT&T will initially launch its new 3G mobile cell phone network in 275 markets and is expected to cover 350 markets by year's end. ...


Actionline: Misdirected bill just keeps on coming
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - Aug 28, 2008
Q In December I signed up for a T-Mobile cell phone account. I received a bill in January for $216 that covered the cost of the phone, which I paid. ...


Half Life Source

AT&T has been banking on mobile cell phones for growth as ...
Half Life Source, FL - Aug 29, 2008
AT&T, the largest mobile cell phone company in the United States, reported a rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday, led by strong growth in its wireless ...

Mobile-Cell-Phone - Google News

home | site map
© 2006