The CellBoat is a revolutionary addition to the telecom infrastructure arsenal, which now gives site developers the ability to gain coverage where it was previously unavailable. Areas with adversarial zoning, as well as water, wetland, marsh or coastal areas can now be opened up to become revenue generating telecom sites! Site acquisition and zoning approvals seem to be the most common bottleneck in the deployment of new cellsites worldwide… With the possible exception of regions with ferocious rainy seasons, where some cell sites can be inaccessible for amonths at a time. Veteran site acquisition professional, now Managing Member of Sierra Tower Partners, Tim Romanowski proposes an innovative solution…
TowerXchange: Please introduce Sierra Tower Partners, where does your company fit in the tower industry?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
Sierra Tower Partners was formed in 2014 in response to what I perceived as a need for a tower company that can do four things not only well, but exceptionally:
1. Relate and communicate to landowners in a way that shows them we are sensitive to their needs when considering a telecommunication site on their land.
2. Prioritise carrier needs not only with site characteristics criteria and lease structure but more so in view of a long term relationship.
3. Respond quickly to the needs of our clients without making them sift through layer upon layer of corporate gridlock.
4. Never change who we are.
TowerXchange: What is a CellBoat? And what are the scenarios in which the CellBoat could be deployed in a network?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
CellBoat is a revolutionary solution to several site development roadblocks. It can be deployed in an area as a boat sitting on a trailer or in dry dock. With proper engineering and stabilisation modifications, it can sit in open water or in a wetland or marshy area. Within those deployment scenarios you can begin to see that CellBoat’s unique and patented design and engineering characteristics could provide deployment solutions to a very large segment of not only the US Market, but in global applications as well.
TowerXchange: Do you see CellBoat as a temporary coverage solution for special events or emergency response, or as a permanent solution?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
CellBoat’s versatility is able to offer both temporary and permanent coverage, but it was designed to be a permanent part of the telecommunications infrastructure grid for many areas where a typical cell tower installation will not work.
TowerXchange: How does the cost of a CellBoat compare to a conventional small tower?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
The cost of a CellBoat will vary as it can be engineered for either single or multiple carriers and some costs may be associated with the specifics of the site. Because the CellBoat can be duplicated from a mold, the cost will go down exponentially as production increases. In full production, we anticipate the costs of CellBoat to be about the same as a typical tower installation.
TowerXchange: Changing topics, I see from your background Tim that you have extensive experience of site acquisition. Is site acquisition art or science?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
Both of those and a lot of hard work! My background in real estate and development goes back 25 years before moving to telecom. I spent a lot of time on land acquisition and the related due diligence so for me the “art” of looking for a site with all the required attributes was a bit easier. Incorporating the “science” of the internet tools was just on the job training. Going in front of a planning commission and knowing your product better than the opposition is probably a skill that needs to be at the top of your list.
TowerXchange: How has site acquisition evolved during the wireless era?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
An agent can cover a lot more ground now, with the help of Google Earth™, access to city real estate and zoning records and ordinances. The ability to take pictures, scan documents and upload information from out in the field puts us in warp speed compared to where we were even ten years ago. Still, tools that allow you to go fast are no replacement for good, solid understanding of what needs to be done and the diligent execution of the same. I don’t need an RFDS with all the wrong information same day. Give it to me tomorrow, done right. We will both be farther ahead.
TowerXchange: And how do the parameters of site hunting shift in a towerco-led market, where sites need to attract at least two tenants?
Tim Romanowski, Managing Member, Sierra Tower Partners:
Numbers don’t lie, and a tower with just one tenant prints in red. Still, the tower company has to be committed to the needs of the carrier because developing towers is a long term business. There are times as a company when we have to build knowing that number two is a way’s off.
When that happens you still need to pick a site that will be a good, multi-tenant site; doing anything less is would not be prudent. Even if the build is short term, the business model still has to be long term. Everyone is in the same market eventually.
