Are Lease Optimization and Rental Guarantee Cell Tower Scams?

Are wireless landlords becoming the victims of cell tower scams?  We receive daily calls from wireless landlords and property owners who have cellular carriers as their tenants.  The complaints we hear from cell tower landlords nationwide are essentially the same: They are complaining about two techniques being used that appear to be cell tower scams which are causing a lot of unnecessary stress. They are the cell tower rental reduction programs of Cell Tower Lease Optimization and solicitations offering Lease Protection or Cell Tower Rent Guarantees or Rental Holidays.

LANDLORDS... Are you having problems with your cell site after being approached by a "Wireless Pirate" or cellular site "Bottom Feeder" as we fondly refer to them?

Picture this...

In the classic novel, "Treasure Island", author Robert Louis Stevenson tells of the horror of one pirate giving another pirate the dreaded "Black Spot".  Legend had it, that if you received this dreaded "Black Dot" on a piece of paper it was a death sentence, and your treasure would be confiscated. A similar parallel to Treasure Island's black dot can be drawn in today's cellular and wireless leasing industry.

Landlords...
Don't be fooled by the cell tower scams...

Cellular companies make a huge investment in developing each site, that is why it is surprising that a large number of  cell tower land lease agreement "re-negotiations” or "optimizations"  are successfully carried out by consultants and subcontractors through the use of unethical scare tactics. Here is some “off-the-record” insider advice just in case you happen to be involved in cell tower lease re-negotiations with a so-called wireless consulting firm trying to force you into lowering the monthly cell phone tower land rental check that you are currently receiving.

"Tower Genius jumped in and assisted our church in a tough negotiation with a carrier who was not telling us the truth. Once Tower Genius got involved, the carrier came around 180 degrees.  Tower Genius provided us with the guidance that helped us to maximize our rentals and protect our interests in the deal.  They have since held us when we negotiated a ground lease for an additional 2nd carrier to our property which really is helping our programs." -C. Nagy, MA

FACT:

Wireless carriers will almost never pull back from a site that they have spent a few hundred thousand dollars developing, just because a landlord won’t accept less compensation for their rental payment. Remember that ALMOST NEVER has a cellular carrier removed a cell tower just because the owner didn’t agree to lowering the monthly rental.

Due to the mergers of Sprint and Nextel, T-Mobile and Metro PCS, Sprint and T-Mobile, and AT&T and Cingular, and ALLTEL and Verizon Wireless, a small percentage of cell sites were terminated. BUT THEY WERE TERMINATED FOR NETWORK COVERAGE REASONS - NOT BECAUSE LANDLORDS WERE UNWILLING TO REDUCE THEIR RENT BY A SMALL PERCENTAGE. Yet the consulting companies who are representing carriers such as Verizon Wireless,  T-Mobile and AT&T would have you believe otherwise. That is why  cell tower lease optimization has the appearance of possibly being one of the biggest cell tower scams out there. The wireless "consultants" that are calling the landlords often times have little to no cell tower leasing experience, and are likely reading a sales script. 

FACT:

Need for most cell sites is increasing, not decreasing. One of the biggest cell tower scams out there is that they say the need for your site has decreased and you risk losing it, but they can guarantee the rent for you. There is just about no reason or need to ever get a cell tower rent guarantee. The need for wireless capacity is growing, not shrinking as these companies would want you to believe. More and more people are using wireless phones today. Even school kids have them nowadays for “emergency phones”. The amount of data transferred through cellular technology is staggering. About 100,000 new cell towers need to be built by 2020 to support demand in the USA alone. If 5G sites eventually saturate  the landscape, your cell site could become obsolete, especially in a densely populated area, but that won't have anything to do with a rent reduction. 

FACT:

The cell tower or rooftop antennas on your property will most likely not become obsolete for at least the next 5 to 15 years. The fifth generation, or 5G is a new technology out that will eventually make many urban rooftop cell sites and urban cell towers obsolete, once hundreds of thousands of 5G antenna sites are installed in the USA's largest cities. With that said, there is absolutely no need for cell tower lease optimization. And there is no need to get a cell tower rent guarantee. If technology advances significantly enough to eliminate cell sites, they will be eliminated regardless of whether you gave them a rent reduction or not.

Don't be fooled by a third party cell tower lease optimization letter or be pushed around by a part-time hamburger flipping wireless "expert" harassing you about a cell tower rent guarantee. Are these all really cell tower scams?

Well, you'll have to decide for yourself. Read what the experts say about the scams of Bait and Switch and Low Balling and then take a look at what the cell tower lease optimization consultant is trying to do, and then explain how it is not a hybrid or combination of these two shameful tactics. PERIOD.

If you are having problems at your cellular site due to being approached by a company that says you need to change the terms of your cell tower lease "OR ELSE!", please do not hesitate to CONTACT US FOR ASSISTANCE WITH CELL TOWER SCAMS especially if you are feeling intimidated by any of the companies conducting these questionable activities. We can help you stand up to the "Wireless Pirates" and "Bottom Feeders" who keep calling you to lower your rent.

Need help with your cell tower lease?

1-888-313-9750

Wireless Telecom Consulting & Transactional Coaching for Landlords and Landowners.