Contractor Claims Tower Mods are Necessary Due to COVID-19.
A carrier contractor allegedly told a tower owner client of ours that he is obligated to let them do modifications to his tower due to COVID-19. Here is a quote from the tower owner.
"(The carrier's agent) told me that people in my community are suffering because of COVID-19. They sent me a letter from ‘the US Department of Homeland Security’ and are claiming they need to do this upgrade to comply."
My staff and I were wondering how long it would take for a less scrupulous person or lease optimization company to claim that they need lease reductions or other favorable treatment for their cell tower lease due to coronavirus. Candidly, I thought it would take longer.
If this is accurate, there are so many things that are wrong with this. First, the letter from Homeland Security likely only says that they are allowed to work during the stay in place orders, not that they have to install new equipment on towers. Secondly, while people are definitely suffering as a result of COVID-19 it has absolutely nothing to do with the carrier's inability to make modifications to this or any tower. As we indicated during our webinar yesterday- wireless use is only slightly up and the networks, for the most part, are handling it well. There may be isolated areas where network performance is lagging, but most users are using home broadband for most of their data. There are no "emergencies" that we are aware of.
So to clarify- there is no obligation by any landowner or tower owner to allow modifications to a site outside of what is allowed under the lease. A building permit is required in most cases. So if someone shows up at your doorstep or calls you and tries to suggest that you must allow them to make modifications that aren't allowed under the lease or without a building permit, reject their request. If you aren't sure whether the modifications are allowed under your lease, contact us and we can review their proposed plans quickly and confirm whether the modifications are allowed or not. You can also read our page on cell tower lease modifications and expansions.
Paraprofessional/BHP/Admin Assistant
4 年Wow!
be the main character of your own life
4 年David Wiley check this out. Shawn Waters not sure if this relates to strong towers but check it out.
I'd be curious to see the details and I'd be a little more hesitant about trashing contractors in general. While I wouldn't advise people to use the tactics that you describe, a shelter in place is no reason to encourage landlords to shut down completely either. Many of us sleep quite well following a common sense code of ethics in achieving what is best for our clients. I've seen municipalities being creative and having zoom meetings, issuing permits without contact. I find it just as lazy as the example you cited for tower owners and property owners to use this as an excuse to do nothing or slow roll an amendment as a negotiation tactic. We are fortunate to be in an industry that has continued to keep moving and we are quite capable of practicing social distancing and other sensible practices.