subject: Best Tips To Negotiate A Cellular Phone Tower Lease [print this page] There are many different questions that may cross your mind as you think about negotiating your cellular phone tower lease. There are also just as many different aspects and key components that must be considered when it comes to working out all of the little nitty gritty details. You want to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible out of negotiations, whether you are representing the wireless carrier company or you are the land owner of the proposed tower site. Here are a few things that you may want to keep in mind when the time comes to formally negotiate all of the points concerning your cellular phone tower lease.
To begin, if you are a land owner or landlord as they are often referred to, you will need to make sure that the land that the company wants to erect their tower on will be accessible to them at all times. This is a normal requirement, and an understandable one, should anything go wrong and the tower need to be repaired in some way. Make sure that you include in that clause though that the access that the company will have to your property will be limited to accessing the tower only. It is common for land owners to require that wireless companies secure the site for entry and for exit and that they secure the entire property to prevent intrusions. These are fairly standard requests when it comes to a cellular phone tower lease. Land owners should also incorporate into the agreement that the wireless carrier must maintain insurance at all times and to maintain liability on the property. It is common to see in these agreements that the carrier names the land owner as an additional insured under all of the insurance policies that they enter into, and at the same token, the land owners need to inform their own personal insurance company that a cell tower is going up on their property.
There are many other things that land owners need to make sure are included in the lease, including any appropriate indemnity terms that require the carrier to indemnify the land owner against any claims, damages or injuries that are a result of the carrier using the land. The land owner should also be sure that all possible environmental contamination is covered in the agreement too.
As a land owner, you can increase the value of the cell tower lease agreement by requesting that the payment of a share of the real estate taxes be made by the wireless carrier company. The wireless carrier should also pay for some of the utilities that are used at the site, and this includes electricity. If a Land Use Change Tax is imposed, the carrier should have no problem covering that fee as well.
