- Previously-mooted move lays down another foundation stone for 5G.
T‑Mobile US (TMUS) expanded its long-term relationship with tower specialist Crown Castle. Under the agreement, Crown Castle will deploy additional small‑cells within its existing footprint, as well as lighting small‑cells in new markets — aiding TMUS in ongoing efforts to ‘densify’ its network for 5G.
No detail was given on timeframes, frequencies, suppliers, or indeed the number of small‑cells TMUS hopes to add through the arrangement. The NatCo would only say the agreement will add “significant infrastructure” to both existing and new markets, and that businesses and consumers will benefit from the extra capacity “during everyday interactions, large concerts, and sporting events”.
Aside from enhancing LTE network capacity, small-cell rollout is part of TMUS’s preparation for 5G deployment. The NatCo plans ‘nationwide’ 5G services by 2020 (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #63).
In part to ease debt pressure, TMUS struck a long-term leaseback deal with Crown Castle in 2012 (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #13 and #16). The agreement, which generated $2.4bn (€2.1bn) in cash for TMUS, enabled Crown Castle to operate and lease 7,100 towers owned by TMUS for up‑to-28 years. Crown Castle has the option to buy the towers outright for additional payments totalling $2.4bn once the leaseback period expires. Beyond the Crown Castle relationship, TMUS has leasing arrangements in place with numerous other tower operators in the USA.
A broadening of TMUS’s relationship with Crown Castle has been on the cards for some time. Braxton Carter, Chief Financial Officer at TMUS, indicated in December 2017 that the NatCo was looking to gain “full turnkey solutions” for small‑cell deployment, including fibre connectivity. He cited Crown Castle and small-cell equipment provider ExteNet Systems as potential candidates to fill the role (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #70).
Crown Castle boasts on its website that it has deployed more than 60,000 miles of fibre — which can be used for fibre‑to-the‑cell installations — in 23 of the top‑25 markets in the USA.
With network consolidation in view, if TMUS and Sprint get the green light to merge, doubts have inevitably surfaced about the impact on tower partners. According to presentation slides of the merger, the “New T‑Mobile” network will comprise some 85,000 macro sites and 50,000 small‑cells, which means that around 35,000 sites will be decommissioned over the integration period. Moreover, 16,000 sites that both companies would have built on their own will no longer be necessary (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #73). Tower operators have played down potential pain from the merger, however, noting that many tower leasing arrangements are long-term and that increasing demand for data will offset the impact of site decommissioning.
Small cells, big thinking
Although details of the new Crown Castle deal are scant, it adds to TMUS’s reputation as a small-cell Group forerunner. European NatCos do not look nearly as busy on network ‘densification’. In early‑2018, TMUS outlined ambitious plans to roll out 28,000 small‑cells, although timeframes, once again, were a little hazy. As far as Deutsche Telekomwatch could determine at the time, TMUS had already installed around 13,000 small cells. The 28,000 target was an advance on a previous goal to install 25,000 mini‑base stations.
FCC boost
Beyond the Crown Castle deal, a commitment by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to remove “outdated rules”, thus shortening the approval process for small‑cell deployment, appears a boost for TMUS in its network densification programme (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #71). The FCC ruled that new-build small-cell applications should be approved within 90 days and stated its intention to determine fees that local and state governments can charge operators for small-cell deployments. Progress, too, is being made at the state level to complement federal action. At the beginning of 2018, TMUS noted that around 13 states had passed some sort of legislation to ease small‑cell rollout.
The Small Cell Forum (SCF), which champions the technology, welcomed the FCC’s intervention. According to SCF’s figures, the move will prevent city and town governments from charging operators up-to-$2bn worth of fees related to the deployment of wireless equipment, including small‑cells.
