As new network and expansion opportunities flourish in Latin America and Asia, Palm Beach, Fla.-based International Tower Corp. formally announced last week its entry into the global wireless market as an infrastructure and site-management service provider.
Founded by former Lodestar Towers Chief Executive Officer Ron Gibbs, ITC will offer comprehensive services, including site-acquisition, zoning, permitting, colocation solutions, construction, engineering and all aspects of financing, the company said.
The company currently is in talks with clients in the United States, Latin America and Asia.
Gibbs, who worked at Lodestar for 15 years, formed ITC about a year ago when he realized much of Lodestar’s senior management did not want to expand the company into major capital markets.
“I have too much adrenaline and passion for what I do to settle for that,” he said.
Gibbs said he then spent the better part of last year exploring international markets.
“It’s quite apparent that the next explosion in wireless is going to be in the Americas … particularly in Mexico,” where the wireless industry has been privatized and licenses have been granted, Gibbs said.
For the most part, he noted, the Latin American wireless industry now is where the United States was in the early 90s.
“In Latin America, they’re not even sure what they’re going to need,” he said. But he also predicted the development of their industry will closely mirror that of the United States, and his experience can help Latin American service providers deal with many of the same problems with carriers and site location that U.S. tower companies have had to overcome during the past 10 years.
ITC currently employs about a dozen people, with a regional office in Mexico City. As the company expands further into such places as Brazil, Chile and Argentina, Gibbs said he plans on staffing the regional offices with local workers.
“One of the things you find to be different in Latin America is the culture-how you do business, how things are done. We are going to be involved in the communities,” Gibbs said.
