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Steel In The Air <br />Impact of Wireless Mergers on Cell Tower Leases <br />With the concluding merger of AT &T and Cingular and the pending merger of <br />Nextel and Sprint, there is a definitive possibility of impact on cell tower leases. <br />Many landowners have towers with a few of these wireless carriers leasing space <br />from the tower or land from the landowner. In some cases some landowners <br />have ground leases for towers with both AT &T Wireless and Cingular or Nextel <br />and Sprint. <br />For Tower Owners with Tenant Leases <br />The short answer is that there is no conclusive idea as to what will happen to the <br />leases. Speculation might be that those tower owners with both AT &T and <br />Cingular or both Nextel and Sprint leasing space will see one lease terminated <br />as the wireless companies attempt to reduce cost by eliminating duplicative sites. <br />However, the answer is never that simple. <br />There are a number of factors that go into the decision of whether or not a tower <br />site will be removed, even if there is duplication at the same site. The answer <br />gets back to the purpose of the sites. If the sites are more urban in nature, there <br />is a better chance that the sites are needed for capacity. Since the merged <br />companies still have customers to be served, the capacity will still be needed. <br />Some rumors have been circulating that Nextel's platform will handle voice traffic <br />and Sprint's platform will handle data. We at Steel in the Air believe this is just <br />conjecture and that anything is possible. In rural areas, we believe that there will <br />be more termination of existing tower leases where duplication occurs. This is <br />due to the lack of capacity issues. <br />For Landowners with Ground Leases <br />