Tower company SpectraSite Communications Inc. last week began the process of shedding its in-house site acquisition and zoning capabilities.
Stephen Clark, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, told RCR the company has decided to concentrate on its core strengths, which include construction, tower ownership and program management. Clark said the company is trying to position itself to best serve carriers, many of which are aggressively accelerating their buildout schedules next year.
SpectraSite will continue to offer site acquisition and zoning services to carriers through third-party companies.
“The idea of being a soup-to-nuts provider-a company that provides all things to all carriers-is not a viable strategy,” said Clark. “Our strategy is to understand our core competencies and focus on those things.”
Clark said SpectraSite’s acquisition of Westower Corp. earlier this year makes it a strong competitor in the tower construction arena. The company had been trying to build its site acquisition and zoning business from the ground up.
Analysts say the move shouldn’t hinder SpectraSite.
“One of the keys to being a leader in this market is to be able to provide end-to-end services to carriers,” said Jim Ballan, director at CIBC World Markets. “But providing all the services in-house is not necessarily a requirement.
“Even the large players in this industry outsource portions of their build-to-suit business at times,” he said.
Tower industry experts say there are two schools of thought on whether site acquisition and zoning should be handled by a small local company or a large national company. Smaller companies can provide local expertise and sometimes better prices, while larger companies bring experience and depth to the table.
Clark said it is too soon to determine how many employees will be affected by the transition. SpectraSite employs about 900 people, of which 140 to 150 specialize in site acquisition and zoning functions.
The company is working with those employees, as well as with its customers, to determine the smoothest transition course, said Clark. One possibility the company is exploring, he said, is to spin off the site acquisition employees as a group into an independent company that would maintain a close strategic relationship with SpectraSite.
The transition has been announced to SpectraSite’s major customers and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The company said the move will not impact any in-process build-to-suit projects.
Clark denied the move is related to finances. He said the company likely will hire as many employees as it will lose through the transition to bolster its core competencies.
“We’re not scaling back,” said Clark. “We’re scaling up in a way to bring the greatest value to our customers.”
SpectraSite scored one of the most anticipated carrier deals in February when enhanced specialized mobile radio carrier Nextel Communications Inc. agreed to sell its tower portfolio to SpectraSite. As part of the deal, SpectraSite agreed to build or acquire the next 1,700 new towers required by Nextel during the next five years.
