Getting permission to establish a repeater on…

[WSAV277]

Not sure if this is the place to post but curious about those of you familiar with being granted permission to install a repeater on an existing communications tower and what kinds of towers groups/clubs have been successful in obtaining permission to do so and what is all involved. I’m sure “rent,” and contributing to power source seem likely  but I’m more interested in finding out the process about finding a tower to do so and permit(s) if at all are necessary. FCC issues, etc. Thanks.

[WRKC935]

Well, this is a loaded question.  And the owner of the tower is the one that's going to load it. 

You are going to have 3 main types of tower owners.  Knowing who owns it and the ground under it is going to be key in how you proceed and what to expect.

First you have the 'vertical real estate' companies like American Tower and Crown Castle.  They own a vast number of the towers that you are going to see.  They are teh most difficult to deal with but the most willing to take your money (a LOT of your money) to allow you to access their site and put up your gear on their tower.  First requirement is going to be the climbers or 'tower crew'.  Some of the major players will allow anyone that is licensed and bonded to work on their towers.  Others will require that you use only specific companies that are 'on their list'.  Sort of like preferred body shops in the auto insurance business.  But be assured that YOU will NOT be climbing their tower and working on it at all.  They also may or may NOT have a structure on the site that they will rent you space in.  Mind you this is a separate fee from the tower access fee.  Then they may or may not require you to install at your expense, an electrical service for your equipment.  Lastly, most any of them will charge you a civil engineering fee to verify your antenna and line are not going to overload their tower. I have seen this fee charged to people to access old microwave towers that you could literally hang a truck from without overloading it.  This is usually around 3000 to 4000 bucks.  And if it doesn't pass they will then ask you, at your expense, to reinforce the tower (tens of thousands of dollars typically) before you are allowed to pay another company to put your single antenna and line on their tower.  These people deal with cell providers that make thousands of dollars a month on these towers.  The cell companies don't care about all this because they make all the money back in a few months to a year.  Or, because they rent thousands of other sites from the company, the owner does the work and increases the rent a few bucks and gets their money that way.  Of course marking up the work a good bit.  Again, the cell companies don't care.  They have the money.  Oh, and your install better be top notch.  Not to mention that they will only write multiyear contracts that are going to typically be at bear minimum 500 a month in really rural areas to thousands a month for urban areas that have more people. 

 

Second is going to be the private owners that know the business, or are a small player (own a few towers and not thousands).  Some times you will run into these folks and they might even be a ham operator that might support your endeavors that will rent you space for a reasonable fee, provide power and a place to put your gear but still has the good sense to require licensed climbers.  However he may know a guy that he uses and will allow you to work with him directly to do your work as he is doing other work on the tower (maintenance or whatever) for a really reduced fee.  These are the folks that you hope to encounter in truth. 

 

Last ones are the unicorns.  These are the property owners that got a tower dumped on them due to the previous tower owner going bankrupt (lots of old paging and small cell upstart companies did this).  They have little to no idea about the tower, how to maintain it, what requirements for lighting it may have and typically shut the power off to the building years ago.  If you know radio, towers, and building maintenance, you can sometimes work yourself into dealing with all that for the property owner and getting access.  But if there is no utility, you will be the one to deal with that too. 

 

Last ones are the owners that are somewhat radio savy, or at least ham / GMRS friendly and will allow access for a fee, or not based on no given reason.  These situations are great until they aren't great.  And this sort of goes for the guy above as well.  When they hear that they could be getting thousands a month in rent and you aren't paying that, you have no agreement, and you will be out the door.  They may even try to keep your gear.  It just depends on the person.  So good lick and I hope it works out for you.