Testimonials
I have sent your invoice to our church office to get you a check. I shared your work with our board and they were duly impressed and appreciative.
If you need a reference please let me know. I turned the report over to our administrative team so they will be contacting the companies you
listed as potentially interested parties. Thanks again so much for helping is out.
Tad from WA- WCP Lease Buyout
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School Districts and Cell Towers
Why Your School District Property May Be More Valuable Than You Think.
Currently, there is a push by wireless providers to increase the capacity of their wireless networks. From 2007 to 2008, wireless Minutes of Use (MOUs) increased by 10%. This trend will continue as wireless providers increase the number of minutes allowed under the typical wireless plan as wireless use becomes a commodity. Virtually all providers have unlimited minute plans of one sort or the other. This translates to additional need for capacity in the wireless network which can be met in a number of ways including increasing the density and number of cell sites in areas where capacity is needed.
Historically, the wireless industry has built communication towers in commercial and industrial areas and has avoided the residential areas due to high "NIMBY" opposition. NIMBY refers to the "Not In My Back Yard" mentality where end users want reliable wireless service, but they don't want to see the wireless infrastructure necessary to provide it. Building towers in areas where land use was more intense was fine before but now that carriers need increased capacity and better coverage indoors where the end user needs it- the carriers are starting to focus on residential areas. The proximity between cell sites is shrinking as well such that the carriers can no longer simply find commercial or industrial areas and aim coverage into the residential areas. Instead, the carriers are now building sites between their existing sites- a process we in the industry call "infill".
The problem is that many zoning ordinances have outright prohibitions on wireless towers in residential areas or require large parcels to accommodate the "fall zone" of a communication tower. Carriers are getting more and more innovative at working through the demands of local communities to place communication towers in residential areas- including using stealth towers and other camouflage technologies to better "hide" towers. Despite this, in many residential areas, there are only so many larger parcels that would meet local zoning regulations.
In our experience as both a site acquisition agent for the wireless carriers and as a consultant for hundreds of churches and municipalities, these larger parcel are often either churches or schools. Because of the unique locations and larger than average parcel size, churches and schools are often good locations for cell towers. Unfortunately, because of the NIMBY effect, they are often contentious ones as well.
Ironically, the wireless industry prefers not to locate their equipment or towers on school district property in most cases because of the fear that parents can sometimes get upset about the potential health risks of cell towers and will oppose any tower proposal. It is difficult to project whether a proposed tower will upset local residents and parents. As a result the wireless carriers will look to other properties before they look to a school district for a potential location.
The net impact is that when a school district is approached it is often as a measure of last resort. The school district property may be the only option for the wireless carrier and the district may have a significant advantage in negotiations about not only lease rate but other terms as well. It is in these situations where we can assist school districts most effectively. We have assisted numerous schools and universities in the negotiation of cell tower leases. We can review whether the carrier has any other options besides school property and if not, how hard the district can push in negotiations.
You don't need to take our word on the effectiveness of our services. As one of our clients in Arizona said:
"Hiring Steel in the Air was the best decision we ever made. We work with Ken Schmidt who is clearly an expert in this field. Prior to Steel in the Air, district staff negotiated these cell site contracts and did a poor job. We make more and have better contracts because we use Steel in the Air."
Prior to using our services, this particular school district in Phoenix relied upon shared information that they had gathered from other districts in the area. The problem was that the information they were sharing indicated that the fair market value of leases was less than it should have been. As a result of using our services, this school district ended up almost doubling the average lease rate that they had received on the leases prior to our involvement.
If your concern about contacting us is about fees, please note that in most cases our school district clients pay nothing or very little for our services. Instead, we get paid an administrative fee by the wireless carrier proposing the site. Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss your District's situation. The initial discussion is free. We won't tell you how much you should be charging for your leases, but we will indicate whether we think there is room for improvement. And we can provide a quote for services and references from other school districts and universities who will tell you that you would be foolish not to retain Steel in the Air, Inc.