Quantity of Antennas on a tower

by Carla Wall
(Baltimore)

Do rental rates vary in accordance with the specific number of antennas placed on a tower? (i.e. 3, 6, 9 or 12)

Carla Wall
US Army Corps of Engineers
Staff Appraiser

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Oct 18, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Great question....
by: Kevin at Tower Genius

Carla,

This is an excellent question. On a rooftop installation carriers are not traditionally charged a premium fee or additional rental fees if they add a reasonable number of new antennas or change their current antennas to larger types.

It is completely different for tower installations though. Because the weight of antennas and the wind loads that they present can alter the structural integrity of a tower, or reduce the load capacity of a specific towers, carriers are charged a premium. This is true not only on towers owned by the major tower companies, but also when carriers co-locate on each others towers.

Most standard wireless sites are designed to have up to 12 antennas but with the push to 4G some of the carriers have chosen to use larger antennas (Usually LTE Antennas) to replace three or more of the standard antennas. Since vertical real estate is measured not only by feet but by load capacity, a tower company or a carrier who owns a towers could charge anywhere from an additional $5k to $10k annually so that a tenant may make these changes. The added costs are associated with the idea that such changes reduce the load on the tower and thus can reduce the potential for future users on a specific tower.

So the answer is yes. Without knowing the specifics of the deal in question I can't really give you a specific value for your situation. If you need further help please call us at 888-313-9750 so we can provide a better answer once we understand all the specifics involved. Have a great day.

Kevin

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