Will Satellites Replace Cell Towers?

There have been recent reports that suggest telecom equipment could be sent into low Earth orbit rather than constructing cell towers. This sounds like an easy remedy, and one that would remove the “unsightly” cell towers that dot the world’s landscape. However, this is not the case, nor even feasibly an option.

Cost Prohibitive

First of all, the cost to merely launch a single satellite into orbit is estimated to be tens of millions of dollars…not to mention the soaring costs to build the satellites, let alone maintain the satellites. This would be an astronomical cost! And who would foot the bill-the telecom consumers?

Capacity Limitations

Secondly, satellites are not designed to handle the great cell phone data capacity that consumers are demanding today. According to Ericsson Mobility Report, by 2021 smartphone users are each projected to use about 8.9 GB of data per month! Satellite beams CAN send beams to more locations, but they are unable to provide infrastructure similar to traditional cell towers, or accommodate such heavy data demands.

Lagging Behind

Lastly, as the satellite is positioned so far from Earth, the likelihood of experiencing data transfer lags and call lags is considerably increased compared to cell towers, which are located just a few miles from the originating point of the call, or in the case of small cell tower installation, even a few hundred yards.

What To Do If You’re Contacted With A Lease Offer

Vertical Consultants receive calls daily from individuals, companies, municipalities and other landowners who are approached with new cell tower lease offers, or who are approached to extend a lease or add equipment to an existing site.

Clearly, the need for cell towers is here to stay. While technology change is rapid in the wireless industry, it is much like the evolution of the automobile over the last 100 years. Cars keep getting more and more sophisticated, but we still use the same roads to drive them on. The relationship between cell phones and cell towers are much the same.

As a result, the cell tower companies continue to secure 20, 30, even 50-year lease agreements because they know the wireless highways may add some additional “off ramps”, but the highway systems are going to be constant.

Vertical Consultants is the only true independent cell tower consulting firm in North America working exclusively with property owners throughout North America.

Contact us today, not only to get more information about trends in the cell tower industry, but also to see how you can get a better cell tower lease.