{"id":396,"date":"2015-11-12T10:40:44","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T16:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.textor.ca\/?p=396"},"modified":"2020-09-08T11:17:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T17:17:34","slug":"what-does-a-towerco-look-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.textor.ca\/what-does-a-towerco-look-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What does a TowerCo “look like”? (introduction to Real Estate for Telecom)"},"content":{"rendered":"

TowerCo<\/h1>\n

When I mention “TowerCo” (Tower Companies), real estate companies that are like an apartment building landlord… but for towers, I see the confusion in people’s eyes. Essentially, the tenants (renters) are antennas that get mounted to the tower (apartment building). What’s the best way to visualize what one looks like? Well, just look at their advertising – they have towers for rent! Here’s an advertisement from American Tower showing that they have acquired new towers in the following USA geographic locations.<\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American Tower Advertisement Nov 12, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(click to enlarge)<\/p>\n

The TowerCo industry itself comprises many companies across the globe. According to the industry’s journal TowerXchange<\/a>, TowerCos already own 2\/3rds of the world’s 3 Million towers. In the USA TowerCos own ~61% of the ~270K towers. In Canada, that figure is less than 5%.<\/p>\n

TowerCo ownership, or companies that are exclusively real estate (do not sell telecom services), are a key indicator for broadband costs (e.g. cell phone data plans). This is because they offer a business model that promotes sharing and reduces costs. The reader may learn more about how the TowerCo business model reduces costs on my slideshare presentation entitled “Broadband Internet – The ‘Railroad of Our Era'”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TowerCo Market<\/h2>\n

In the USA the top 3\u00a0tower companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange are:<\/p>\n