Cell Tower Lease Amendments or Renegotiations
In addition to assisting landowners in the negotiation of new cell site leases, Cell Tower Attorney provides legal advice regarding issues involving the renegotiation of existing cell site leases. As a result of two mergers in the telecommunications industry in the past three years (Sprint with Nextel and Cingular with AT&T, respectively)*, leaseholders are being contacted by representatives of the new companies requesting that existing leases be renegotiated. In addition, other carriers such as Alltel and T-Mobile are contacting leaseholders claiming that due to issues such as “advances in technology” or “cell site redundancy”, existing leases must be renegotiated.
In both instances, leaseholders are told that if they do not renegotiate their lease, they run the risk of having the lease terminated at some point in the future. Faced with this decision, many landowners are considering entering into a new lease with the carrier involved on less beneficial terms to avoid possible termination of the lease. Before making such a decision, Cell Tower Attorney can assist you.
What should I do if I am contacted by a tenant cell carrier or tower company with an existing lease on my property?
Our law firm is frequently contacted by existing landowners who have been approached by a tenant cell carrier or tower company requesting a Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation of an existing cell tower lease. To appropriately respond to such inquiries, a cell tower leaseholder must consider the following questions:
- Is the cell carrier or tower company asking for my consent to a particular activity or action on my property, to renegotiate or amend my existing cell tower lease or something else related to my property?
- What form of writing does or should the Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation take? Is it in a letter form or an actual amendment to the existing cell tower lease? Who is making the request? The tower company, an independent representative or some other unrelated third party?
- How much time do I have to respond to the request for a Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation and what form of communication should my response take? Should it be in writing, a verbal response or both?
- What are my rights and obligations as the landlord under the existing lease with respect to the request for a Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation? What are the rights and obligations of the cell carrier or tower company with respect to the request? Do I have the right to request additional information?
- Am I entitled to additional compensation for entering into the Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotation? If so, how much?
- If I choose to deny or accept such a request for a Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation, what are the consequences? Can the lease be terminated by either party? Can either party take legal action?
At Cell Tower Attorney, we can help you answer each of these difficult questions as well as answer other questions you may have about other provisions of a cell tower lease. As we have handled hundreds of Cell Tower Lease Amendments and Renegotiations, we have seen many different types of these requests and understand how a landowner may be impacted by an amendment to or renegotiation of an existing lease. We can clearly explain these consequences to you as well as help you negotiate a Cell Tower Lease Amendment that addresses the carrier and tower company's needs as well as protects your property as well as your rights as a landowner.
If you have been approached by a cell carrier or tower company for a Cell Tower Lease Amendment or Renegotiation, please feel free to contact us.
Sprint Nextel, Cingular, Alltel, and TMobile are registered trademarks owned by each company respectively. Cell Tower Attorney is not affiliated with any of these companies. If you have come to this website trying to find their websites, please visit the appropriate carrier at: Sprint Nextel - www.sprint.com, AT&T Cingular - www.att.com, Alltel - www.alltel.com, or TMobile - www.tmobile.com.
