After listening to the AT&T (T) and Crown Castle (CCI) conference calls today, I have the following observations. These are in addition to my other recent notes on American Tower (AMT).
DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems) – The Panacea for Spectrum issues?
ATT did not mince words this morning to convey their disdain of what Randall Stephenson called of the “Current FCC.” With the current non-business friendly decisions and seemingly arbitrary requirements the FCC has recently demonstrated, it seemed quite clear to me that ATT had lost any hope of securing any meaningful spectrum with the current approval process.
Distributed Antenna systems are currently available and are vastly easier to deploy than traditional cell towers. All that is required is power and an internet connection. They are cheap and unobtrusive. Crown Castle provided some pictures of recent installations. American Tower has chosen not to