Despite massive consolidation among players in the tower industry, many small tower owners said
they are not interested in selling their sites, according to a survey conducted by Fryer’s Information Services.
About
half of the survey respondents indicated they would not consider selling, and the majority of those said they planned to
construct new towers in the future, according to the survey.
Survey results and analysis will be included in the 90-
page Fryer’s Market Report, which is available this month for $695. The report is based on data and surveys sent to
more than 7,000 tower owners nationwide and includes a list of deals done during the past three years, a list of the top
100 tower owner/managers, case studies of large and small owners, market trends, analysis of average construction
costs and single tower economics.
“In general, a lot of smaller tower owners said they are staying in because it
is too good of a business, and they don’t need the cash,” said Jim Fryer, president of Fryer’s Information
Services.
“I think this is a good indicator of the stability of the industry,” he said. “Many of the
tower owners feel their sites provide a steady cash flow, and, unless they’re near retirement, they want to stay in control
of their business.”
Concerns that tower prices may continue to fall aren’t scaring small tower owners out of the
business either, because there isn’t much concern that tower prices will fall lower than the level where they are now,
said Fryer.
The survey questioned tower owners about the number and type of towers owned and managed, type of
tenants, number of tenants per site, capacity for additional tenants, average rental rates, interest in selling sites, plans to
construct additional sites and plans for financing new construction.
“As a result of recent mergers and
acquisitions in the tower industry, there are a lot of questions about the size of the market and its capacity,” said
Fryer. “We hope to give a better definition to the overall size of the market and look at the role of towers and
tower owners both large and small that service it.”
According to Fryer, industry analysts have had a difficult
time pinpointing the number of towers already constructed and may in fact be grossly underestimating the true number.
During eight years of gathering information for the comprehensive Site Guides it publishes each year, Fryer’s
Information Services has found at least 200,000 towers. Wireless analysts have placed the number of towers at closer to
35,000.
“I think part of the problem is they may have gone to the trade associations to get an estimate,”
said Fryer. “But they are missing a big piece of the puzzle, because they are focused on their own
aspect.
“The tower industry is a medium that cuts across the cellular, personal communications services and
broadcast industries,” said Fryer, who noted that over time the company has managed to build up a database of
small tower owners that often are overlooked.
Lansdowne, Pa.-based Fryer’s Information Services publishes its Site
Guides in four regional directories.
