Legal Insights
Coastal Tower Law’s telecommunications real estate law blog with practical insights for property owners, landlords, and local governments from the intersection of telecommunications and real estate law.
DISH Wireless Bankruptcy: What Cell Tower Landlords Need to Know About the Chapter 11 Filing
The DISH Wireless bankruptcy filing has moved from a risk looming over landlords to a filed case with a docket number. For property owners holding a DISH Wireless lease, the practical questions now are how much of what...
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The Sky Isn’t Falling: Guard Your Lease From the Myth of Satellites Replacing Cell Towers
The question of satellites replacing cell towers is the latest debate in the wireless industry, and for landowners weighing a cell tower lease sale or buyout offer, the answer carries real financial stakes. Cell site lease aggregators sometimes...
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120 Days or Else: The FCC Wireline Permitting Shot Clock Coming for Cities and Counties
The Federal Communications Commission has put local governments on notice. A new rulemaking proceeding could impose a FCC wireline permitting shot clock on cities and counties, requiring permit decisions within 120 days or triggering a federal presumption that...
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Small Cells, Big Obligations: What Local Governments Need to Know About Small Cell Agreements
Small cells, also known as small wireless facilities, have been appearing on streetlights, utility poles, and other vertical infrastructure in the public rights-of-way with regularity over the past decade. For local governments, the legal framework governing small cell...
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The Meter Is Running: What Landlords Need to Know About Cell Tower Electricity Reimbursement
Wireless carriers depend on a continuous supply of electricity to operate their cell site equipment, and in many leases, that electricity runs through the landlord’s own service. Cell tower electricity reimbursement is the mechanism by which the carrier...
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Read the Wire: What Building Owners Need to Know About Fiber Building Access Agreements
Carriers, internet service providers, and cable operators are approaching building owners at an increasing rate with requests for access to riser systems, mechanical rooms, and conduit to deploy fiber and cable infrastructure. Whether you own a multi-tenant residential...
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DISH Wireless FCC Trust Fund Escrow: What the Regulatory Agency’s $2.4 Billion Condition Means for Property Owners and Their Leases
Note, this post was updated on July 3, 2026, after its original publication to reflect changed circumstances following the DISH Wireless bankruptcy filing. The FCC’s conditional approval of EchoStar’s spectrum sale to AT&T in the matter of Applications...
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Full Bars, Fine Print: What to Know About Distributed Antenna System Agreements
Property owners and building managers are receiving more and more outreach from wireless carriers and third-party infrastructure companies looking to install distributed antenna systems (DAS) inside their buildings. Before agreeing to anything, it is worth understanding how these...
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Who Owns the Street? Managing Fiber Encroachment on Public Roads
Fiber optic cables, telephone lines, and broadband conduit have been running through public streets and utility corridors for decades, often under legal arrangements that were written long before the modern telecommunications industry existed. For the cities and counties...
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Cell Tower Audit: The Lease Check Carriers Hope You Skip
Many cell tower landlords spend considerable time negotiating the original lease agreement, but then it “sits on the shelf” gathering dust without the landlord taking time to verify that their carrier is honoring it. Becoming a cell tower...
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Cell Tower Modification Requests and the Consent Letter Trap
When a wireless carrier or tower company reaches out to request a cell tower modification, it can seem routine. They send a letter, ask for a signature, and sometimes imply that the whole thing is a formality. But...
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Cell Tower Radio Frequency Safety: What Landlords Need to Know
When a wireless carrier installs antennas on or near a rooftop, the conversation with the landlord tends to focus on rent, lease terms, and equipment footprint. What often goes unaddressed is the subject of cell tower radio frequency...
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Cell Tower Lease Optimization Letters: The Carrier’s Agenda Behind the Fine Print
Cell tower lease optimization is a phrase that might sound reasonable until you read the fine print. Property owners across the country are receiving letters, emails, and phone calls from carriers or their contractors demanding to “optimize” an...
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What Property Owners Need to Know Before Accepting a Cell Tower Lease Buyout
Property owners with a cell tower on their land are regularly approached by investors and aggregators offering to purchase the income stream from that lease in a lump sum. These offers can look attractive on the surface, but...
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Cell Tower Lease Termination: What Landlords Need to Know Before the Carrier Walks Away
A cell tower lease can generate reliable income for decades, but what happens when the carrier decides to leave? Cell tower lease termination is not simply a matter of the tenant packing up equipment and handing back the...
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Key Terms Landlords Should Negotiate in a Cell Tower Lease Renewal
If your cell tower lease was signed 20 or 30 years ago, likely on the carrier’s form, a renewal is not just an administrative formality. It is your opportunity to correct a document that was almost certainly written...
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Wireless Zoning Ordinances: What Local Governments Need to Know
Wireless infrastructure is being deployed at an unprecedented pace, and local governments are on the front lines of managing it. From large macro towers to small wireless facilities attached to street lights, the landscape of telecommunications siting has...
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Cell Tower Lease Negotiations: What Landlords and Property Owners Need to Know
Receiving a proposal from a wireless carrier or tower company is often exciting. The prospect of a long-term income stream on unused property is appealing. But before you sign anything, it is worth understanding what you are actually...
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Why Property Owners Need a Cell Tower Attorney
If you own property with a cell tower or have been approached by a wireless carrier about installing one, you are navigating an industry that does not play fair. Carriers and tower companies employ experienced legal and real...
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