Verizon is independently operating approximately 2,000 cell towers and over 4,200 rooftop sites in 50 states, with 11,324 towers being managed by American Tower. The following are some of the directions that we see Verizon pursuing in 2017:
- No wireless carrier has been as aggressive in its cell site growth than Verizon. We expect Verizon to continue this pace going forward in 2017. Development seems to mostly focus in the southwest and midwest regions of the United States.
- In 2016, Verizon slowed down its small cell and distributed antenna systems (DAS). In 2017, we see Verizon re-energizing growth in this area. This direction provides interesting opportunities for commercial property owners, municipalities, and universities via master agreements deals.
- Verizon will continue to pursue large-scale lease renewals in order to secure existing cell tower and rooftop sites that are becoming more valuable to Verizon’s wireless network. Know the “True Value” of your cell tower lease before making any decisions regarding your Verizon lease.
- Over 11,000 Verizon landlords have been and continued to be contacted by American Tower. American Tower is aggressively trying to get property owners to extend their Verizon leases, but overall the terms continue to be significantly undervalued and overall problematic.
- Verizon is in a race to meet customer data and technology demands. This means 4G/LTE upgrades for thousands of cell sites. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. You need to understand the real value to Verizon of any requests before you approve any modification request.
