Contemplating Selling Your Cell Tower Lease For A Lump Sum?

Many landowners who have leased land for a cell tower on their property are receiving letters from third party companies. These letters suggest to the landowner that due to wireless carrier consolidation and due to technology, that the cell tower lease may be terminated early. By selling the lease to one of these companies, the landowner averts the risk of early termination and can recieve a lump sum immediately.

What is important to note is that these companies would not be interested in buying the lease if they felt that there was a significant risk that the lease would, in fact, be terminated. The reality is that cell towers are going to be around for a long time and the leases will continue. That is not to say that your particular cell tower lease is not susceptible to termination, especially in light of carrier consolidation. Recently, wireless companies like AT&T and Cingular have merged. (Both AT&T and Cingular are trademarks of their respective companies). Estimates of how many duplicative sites will be terminated as a result of this merger range from 8,000 to 20,000 sites. While the exact number is unknown, some landowners will receive termination letters in the mail. It is possible to determine whether or not your particular site is susceptible to termination by reviewing the cell towers in your area.

The sale of the land leases for a lump sum is one way of averting this risk. Additionally, there are other reasons why an individual landowner might want to consider selling his cell tower lease rights. These reasons include a scenario where the landowner has plans to sell the underlying property in the next few years. Another scenario is where the lump sum payment can be used to extinguish existing high interest debt.

One area that every landowner contemplating selling a cell tower lease should be concerned with is the taxation of the transaction. It is imperative that you consult with your accountant regarding any offer and whether or not the payment is susceptible to capital gains treatment.

Lastly, there are industry experts available who can assist you in the determination of whether or not the sale of your lease asset is a sensible decision. Make sure that before you make a potentially costly decision, you consult with your accountant and industry experts.

Ken Schmidt is the owner of Steel in the Air, a cell tower consulting firm. Steel in the Air provides expert consultations on cell tower valuation, cell tower lease negotiations, lease buyouts, lease renegotiations and lease buyouts. Ken has been quoted on cell towers in the NY Times and numerous other publications.

---

Protect Yourself From Cell Phone Radiation

With cell phones quickly becoming an important part of our... Read More

Do Cellular Phones Pose Health Risks?

You hear it in the media on a slow news... Read More

UK Top 40 Singles: Should It Include Ringtones As Well?

I noticed two interesting stories today. The first one on... Read More

Satellite Phones: Essential for the Marine Industry

With more offshore fishing boats taking customers further out into... Read More

An Introduction to Text Messaging

Why Text?Text messaging is a quick way to stay in... Read More

Cell Phone Abuse: Are You A Victim?

Like millions of others, you may be the victim of... Read More

The Cell Phone Store

Effectively everybody wants the hottest and best cheap cell phones... Read More

Limiting Cell Phone Use for Re-Allocation to First Responders

Judging from the 9-11 hearings and many reports by first... Read More

Free Cell Phones All Around - Cashing in on Consumerism

There's no greater way to win the hearts of consumers... Read More

Short Messaging Service (SMS) for Enterprise Messaging

SMS for Enterprise Messaging ? Value added servicesShort message service,... Read More

Calling Cards and Prepaid Phone Cards To Help You Save Money

You can now save quite a bit of money on... Read More

GPS Cell Phones

Motivated by the events of 9/11 2001 and problems with... Read More

How Reliable are Cell Phones

Cellular phones and pagers are part of the "now" generation,... Read More

Camera Cell Phone Picture

Camera cell phone picture - recent development.Camera cell phone picture... Read More

SMS 101 - Short Message Service Explained

Short Message Service (SMS) is a quick and simple way... Read More

Telephone Tips, Techniques and Etiquette

Whether using the telephone for business or personal use, using... Read More

3G Technology

A 'third generation' wireless communications technology having evolved from first... Read More

Cellular Phones and Television

What if you want to catch up on the morning... Read More

Getting the Most of Your Cell Phone Batteries

Are you planning on buying a new phone in the... Read More

Camera Cell Phone Verizon

Camera cell phone by Verizon ? offer with a service... Read More

Camera Cell Phone Video

Camera cell phone video - description.Camera cell phone video is... Read More

Review of Bluetooth Wireless Headsets

Bluetooth headsets make up one of the fastest wireless markets... Read More

Analog vs. Digital Cellular Phones

Cellular phones are an amazing modern convenience, but it can... Read More

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath; Time to Launch Balloon Cell Towers

One of the most critical infrastructures for restoring order to... Read More

Read This Before Getting A NEW Cellular Phone

It seems like these days, there are a million and... Read More

Free Cellular Phone

Free cellular phone offers.You can definitely find a free cellular... Read More

Cellular Phone Company

Cellular phone company list.There are many large cellular phone companies... Read More

International Calling Made Simpler And Cheaper

When people make international calls from their cell phones or... Read More

Phone Fraud

Please be aware of this, as I have had these... Read More

Cordless Phone Systems

Cordless phone systems offer many features and are ideal for... Read More

Americans Catching on to Wireless Text Messaging

Once considered a teenage fad, text messaging popularity in the... Read More

Cellular Phone

Technology advances in cellular phone field.Cellular phone shoppers can find... Read More

Cell Phone Cameras

A lot of myths exist regarding as to whether the... Read More