American Tower makes its public-safety partnership case—and not just for FirstNet

Contemplating a partnership with a tower company is a logical and natural consideration for FirstNet, but perhaps the most intriguing aspect of American Tower’s public-safety message is that it is interested in partnering directly with first-response and government entities today. Under such a purchase, lease or management arrangement, American Tower would oversee leases to commercial entities for space on a public-safety tower or other location, which would generate much-needed revenue that could be used for a number of projects, including upgrades to LMR and 911 systems.

Of course, as with all contractual proposals, the devil is in the details—and not just in terms of whether the terms make financial sense. In some jurisdictions, there may be laws that have to be changed before a government asset can be used to directly or indirectly support a for-profit company’s efforts. In other cases, there may be political backlash for any number of reasons, including arguments that government entities should stay out of the commercial realm altogether.

However, the reality is that many government entities continue to struggle to find the money to maintain existing operations and pay for much-needed expansions and upgrades. Given this, finding a way to establish a new ongoing revenue stream with American Tower or some other entity has to be intriguing to many, if an arrangement can be reached that ensures that the government entity’s operations will not be harmed in any way.