Wireless Capital Shutting Their Doors?
One of
WCP's agents told us yesterday that
WCP is closing its doors and will not be funding any of the deals for which it has signed letters of intent. He mentioned that he was told this on a conference call where he was let go earlier this week.
WCP blamed the issue on the financial markets.
Allegedly,
WCP will release individuals who have signed letters of intent from their deal if the landowner calls
WCP and requests to be released.
If you have entered into a deal with
WCP and would like to check out other options, please contact us.
Irresponsible School Boards and Churches
At Steel in the Air, Inc, we have assisted a number of municipalities with cell phone tower lease proposals at schools. We have also provided guidance to a number of schools, both public and private across the United States.
To our surprise, in some circumstances there has been little to no public opposition to the proposal to place a tower at a school or a church. The surprise comes from the fact that rarely are tower proposals at schools and churches unopposed by local residents. These residents rally to the cry that "towers will cause unknown health problems in our children" regardless of whether they have studied the issue or not. This post is not to suggest that these parents are rationally protective or hysterically uninformed, but to suggest that schools and churches should know in advance that parents will in all likelihood object to the proposed cell phone tower at the church or school. And that such opponents can become very vociferous and actionable.
In a recent newspaper article, "
Cell tower plan on tap for Middletown zoners" in the
Ashbury Park Press, a local School Board requested that it's attorney send a letter to Verizon AFTER they had already signed a lease to allow a cell tower on school board property. "This letter is written at the unanimous direction of the Board of Education, to advise you that due to overwhelming pressure and expressed concerns from the citizens of
Middletown, the Board is hereby requesting the cancellation of parties' Agreement prior to the completion of Verizon's application process and the Commencement Date of the Agreement." There are numerous other situations that we are aware of where the same thing
occurred. Some of Steel in the Air's own clients have contacted us after they signed a lease to inquire whether they can terminate it because of significant public opposition. We now tell all of our school/church clients that they need to assess whether they can accept opposition from neighbors before they sign.
My issue with the position of the school is not that they would object to the placement of a tower on school property. It is clearly their right and obligation to protect the children at the school. While I believe that towers are fundamentally safe with rare exception, I don't question the board's right to make a decision that the income may not be worth it.
However, I object specifically to the ignorance of this school board in not considering the issue prior to voting to accept the lease. They clearly like the dollar signs but failed to consider the possible adverse reaction. All they would have had to do is read the paper or search the Internet for hundreds of stories whereby there was opposition to a cell tower on the basis of health. And in failing to do so, the board was irresponsible.
Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and subsequent case law prevents local zoning officers and boards from denying a tower proposal on the basis of health- the residents turned their anger to the school district. The School Board caved to the pressure of the residents and chose to not honor their word/contract with Verizon. In essence, their negligence may cost Verizon a minimum of $30,000 in site acquisition costs, architectural and engineering services, environmental review, tower manufacturer fees, and the like. In the end, this all could have been avoided had the School Board acted responsibly rather than on public pressure. A contract is a contract. I assume that Verizon could bring an action for breach of lease and for damages- but suit against a school district may not be an publicly acceptable course of action.
In the future, perhaps other school boards or churches might actually consider the potential ramifications from approving a cell tower on school district property before they simply negotiate fiscal terms and sign a lease. It would save both the wireless carrier and the school board a significant amount of aggravation.
Labels: cell phone tower lease, church cell tower, school cell tower, verizon
Apple iPhone- Impact on Cellular Networks
A little over 1 month ago, I purchased the iPhone 3G. This post is an admission that until I did so, I really didn't understand how this particular device has and will continue to change the very industry I work in.
Simply put- the device is amazing and is truly unlike any other device I have used. I count myself among the technical adapters and have used many so called "smart" phones over the last few years. None of these devices no matter how advanced they were remotely changed my data
ARPU- but I can assure you the iPhone has. I have an unlimited plan and use it constantly.
I access full page regular websites regularly. (It is so convenient to be able to access a website while out of the house to look up a fact or reference item)
I check my stock portfolio a few times a week. (More than I do on my computers).
I am
addicted to
Facebook's "twitter" like "what are you doing" application. (the utility comes from having friends on
Facebook- not the other way around)
I use Google Maps much more often when I travel because it is faster and easier to access.
I check feeds to a number of blogs- which I now do more often because I can check them while I have even a few minutes of downtime.
The only thing that I don't do more often than I did before was check my email. Why - because of the crappy keyboard and Apple's stupid auto correction for typing. I like that it pushes email- but hate responding to email on the device. (Apple- why not allow
bluetooth keyboards?)
The long and short of it is- that until you have actually used the iPhone daily- you more than likely don't understand how device makers (not the carriers) will change our industry and increase
ARPU. The iPhone is that groundbreaking. And until Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile get equally accessible and functional devices, they won't see the same uptick as AT&T does in data
usage and return.
Labels: AT and T, iPhone
Wireless Capital Partners - Potential Woes
In recent months, we have received numerous inquiries from cell site lease holders who have entered into letters of intent with Wireless Capital Partners to sell their leases. These owners have contacted us because they have had difficulty getting Wireless Capital Partners to close on the purchases in a timely manner. To be fair to
WCP, in some cases, the landowners were given a non-refundable fee to "hold" the closing for up to 3 more months. However in other cases, these owners could not reach their agent at Wireless Capital Partners. These owners wanted to see whether there was anyone else that would close quicker.
On September 4, we were informed by a Wireless Capital Partners agent that the vast majority of the agents were let go. They were informed on conference calls that they would no longer be needed. Allegedly, there are some upper managers still left. Other associates in the industry have confirmed that they have received a number of calls from prior
WCP agents looking for new employment last evening. This is after Wireless Capital Partner released a large percentage of their sales force just a few months ago. At that point the suggestion was that the minority of their sales force was getting the majority of their deals done- so they let go the majority that weren't getting deals done.
This doesn't bode well for Wireless Capital Partners. They confirmed previously that they were having some funding issues to us, but that those issues would soon be resolved. In the last few months, they haven't been. They still might be resolved, but prudent landowners should consider how long they can wait for closing on selling their lease. We suggest that landowners who are in negotiations with a Wireless Capital Partners representative for purchase of a lease discuss how and when your deal will be funded. Perhaps ask that the funds be placed in escrow. If you already have a deal that hasn't been funded, please contact us regarding getting other offers from companies that have not had funding issues. Make sure to read your letter of intent with
WCP, you may have legal restrictions from getting other offers during the term of the letter of intent. If so, you might contact
WCP and ask them to either honor their agreement with you or release you from it.
Labels: lease buyouts, wireless capital partners
