Do you have enough space on your land to install a cell tower and have you been looking at cell tower lease rates? If you do and you have then you probably are wondering what the pros and cons for leasing out your land are. If you find yourself in this situation then don’t worry, this article is here to cover all of what you give up and all of what you gain by deciding to install a cell tower on your land.
What is a cell tower?
A cell tower is a site where antennae and electronic equipment are places, on a raised structure – which then creates cell in a cellular network. This works by transmitting and receiving signals and is generally comprised of transmitters/receivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, a GPS receiver, primary and backup electrical power sources and sheltering.
Pros of having a cell tower on your land
There is only one real pro getting a cell tower lease and letting a cell company build a cell tower on your land is, well – money. You can agree to receive a lump sum of money or receive monthly payments as if it were rent. If you have a little bit of leverage then here you can use it, if you own the only plot of land where they are able to place the cell tower then you can try to negotiate the price. However, this obviously won’t work if the cell company are spoilt for choice with possible land where they can build their cell tower. Know more here!
Cons of having a cell tower on your land
Whilst the money may sound tempting, you must first take into account first the cons of letting a cell company build a cell tower on your land. What you have to remember first and foremost is that you will be giving up a huge chunk of your land. A cell tower is not a small thing and so if later on you decide to do any expansion on your home then you will be limited to what you can do. So before saying yes to the cell tower, use some forward thinking as to what you wish to do in terms of the land. Another thing to take into consideration is the length of the contract for the cell tower lease. Due to the costly installation costs that the cell companies pay upfront for the cell tower, the contracts tend to be long. This means if you do then wish to sell the property, the contract with the cell company still exists and will further complicate the process.
So, to conclude with what you gain and what you lose when leasing land out to a cell company in order to construct a cell tower, you need to take into account all that it entails. You need to plan very far ahead in terms of what you wish to do with your property – maybe one day you will want to one day build an extension, or maybe you plan to move after a short amount of time. All of this needs to be well thought about before signing on that dotted line of the cell tower lease. For more information visit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2019/07/30/this-startup-uses-cell-tower-signals-to-accurately-predict-weather/