T-Mobile, Sprint and the towercos
What would a T-Mobile/Sprint merger really mean for the U.S. towercos? SBA Communications CFO Brendan Cavanagh shared his thoughts with MoffettNathanson's Nick Del Deo at the analyst firm's annual Media and Communications Summit this week. SBAC has already said that almost 6% of its tower revenue comes from sites on which the two carriers overlap, but Cavanagh acknowledged that "direct overlap isn't necessarily indicative of true churn."
Cavanagh said that on some of the overlap sites, Sprint and T-Mobile may need two centers of radiation (RAD centers) and therefore both carriers may stay on the site. On the flip side, he knows the carriers will decommission some sites on which there is no overlap. (The companies have said publicly that they will decommission 35,000 sites and build 10,000 new towers.)
Overall, Cavanagh pointed to two bright spots in the T-Mobile/Sprint merger plan. One is tower amendments. He said the new company will need to "touch every single tower" if it wants to deliver ubiquitous coverage using all its spectrum. The other bright spot is the potential of 3 carrier customers that are financially healthy and spending steadily. Cavanagh said that of course 4 would be better than 3, but the industry hasn't had 4 steady spenders for years.
Cavanagh also said that every day leases are expiring and carriers are renewing, typically for 5 years. He said SBAC might be open to the possibility of negotiating compensation from T-Mobile/Sprint in exchange for the rights to exit certain leases ahead of schedule. But he added that it's much too soon for those types of discussions.
Bringing 5G home: Verizon to sell 5G internet to consumers
Verizon is charging ahead with plans to launch home broadband service using 5G fixed wireless. The carrier has a long and spotty history of trying to offer home internet service using fiber; now it says it will launch broadband service based on 5G this year in four U.S. cities that aren't served by FiOS. Los Angeles and Sacramento are the only cities Verizon has named so far.
Consumers who sign up will get internet service through their Wi-Fi routers, which will be connected by a cable to a 5G router. Samsung, which is making the 5G routers Verizon will use in Sacramento, told us it needs to be placed near a window and might need to be installed by a technician. The router connects via 5G to Samsung's 5G small cell, a 13-inch box that integrates antenna, radio and baseband.
Verizon is using pre-standard 5G equipment in Sacramento, and has said it will eventually upgrade or replace it with standards-compliant radios. In Los Angeles and its other markets, the carrier hopes to mix in standards-compliant radios from the outset, if they become available in time.
FCC sets agenda for June meeting: spectrum auctions, USF fees
On June 7, the FCC plans to finalize rules for certain millimeter wave bands and may increase the maximum license sizes.
According to FierceWireless
, the agency may raise the amount of millimeter wave spectrum that any one entity can acquire through an auction. In addition, the FCC plans to vote on exempting rural carriers from Universal Service Fund contributions on their ISP revenue. Chairman Ajit Pai stated in a blog post that other ISPs don't have to pay USF fees, so rural carriers shouldn't have to pay for that part of their business. Pai also said the June FCC meeting will include an "enforcement item" that he cannot currently disclose.
