Although the wireless industry has retrenched in the last year, ARX Wireless hasn’t stalled, expanding its management team to support its continued growth.
Julie D. Kohler, who was integral to the formation of ARX Wireless in 2019, officially came on board as General Counsel this past spring. She and Keith Coppins, CEO of ARX Wireless, later welcomed three new members to their leadership team: Cory Samples, Director of Operations; Chris Causey, Director of Finance; and Brian Robinson, Director of Marketing and Development.
“We have so many sites in the pipeline, and we needed great people on the management side to drive them to completion,” Kohler explained. “We have spent a great deal of time looking for individuals who are experienced and successful in the industry, and who have a similar creativity in the way they approach the development of complex sites.”
Robinson has 24 years of wireless experience, working with Tier 1 wireless carriers, regional carriers, and tower companies. Prior to ARX Wireless, Causey was the Finance Director of Eleox, a start-up technology company backed by six of the world’s largest energy trading companies. Samples brought with him more than 20 years of experience as a professional and executive in the real estate and wireless infrastructure industries.
“I believe our company is hitting its stride with the team we have assembled,” Robinson said. ARX Wireless began in the Northeast, and most of its sites are located along the East Coast. With additional management, the firm has been able to expand into the Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky areas, plus North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Washington, and California.
“Our geography is the United States,” Robinson said. “It’s just a matter of where we can bring value to the carriers. Areas where they have not, for whatever reason, been able to get the coverage they need.”
ARX Wireless’ niche is tackling tough-to-build towers, particularly in areas where the regulatory environment is challenging. With a combination of creativity, determination and wireless development expertise, ARX Wireless finds a way to develop sites in areas where carriers have had ongoing and unrealized needs.
“It is important for us to be flexible, and patient, to come up with unique solutions to each of these sites. A one-size-fits-all solution is rarely successful; often success depends on being nimble and creative,” Kohler said.
“Your trusted partner for complex infrastructure solutions” is more than a tagline at ARX Wireless. “We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver where developing a site has proved challenging or even seemed impossible. We have a higher risk tolerance backed by investment, experience, groundwork, community interaction and preparation,” Kohler said.
One of the benefits of completing a hard-to-zone tower can be increased lease-up possibilities. “One of the things ARX Wireless is good at is choosing locations for towers where you have at least two carriers interested in the location, which is a boon for any tower company,” Robinson said.
Case Study: Athens, New York
One particularly difficult zoning process occurred in Athens Township, New York, which took place over the course of nearly two years. Even though there was clearly a need for coverage, members of the zoning board moved the goal post several times during the process.
“We were going back and forth with the township every month or so with zoning hearings,” Kohler said. “The opposition hired an attorney and vehemently opposed the project over the course of the approval process.”
The site was originally planned as a monopole, but several months later, the township requested a stealth monopine. Eventually, the site was approved to be camouflaged as a silo.
“The zoning board originally drafted a resolution for approval but voted to deny that resolution. The next month the board drafted a resolution to deny the site in the final hearing, then they did an about-face and approved it,” Kohler said. “In my 30 years in telecom, it was one of the most unusual zoning approvals I’ve ever experienced.”
Keeping the carriers informed during the development process is critical, because as the zoning boards’ direction changes, so do the timeline, costs, and structure of the project, according to Robinson. “We always want to be transparent with our customers, especially when timelines or costs are in flux,” Robinson said.
ARX Wireless values its relationships with the carriers and places a priority on the carriers’ needs. Many of these relationships have developed over the course of the last 20-30 years, according to Kohler.
Much of the tower industry was affected by the carrier capex slowdown in 2023. But, because of the size of their pipeline and the time it takes to develop their towers, ARX Wireless stayed quite busy in 2023, expanding its pipeline exponentially and driving zoning applications, with plans to accelerate in 2024.
“While we have numerous sites undergoing lengthy zoning processes, we also have a significant volume of sites right on their heels, obtaining the deliverables, completing the due diligence and satisfying the jurisdictional requirements simultaneously,” Kohler said.
Fixed wireless access sites, and other non-traditional tenants will be a part of the mix for ARX Wireless moving forward. According to Kohler, “It’s not our primary revenue source, but we want to make sure that our towers are available to anyone who can benefit.”
The wireless carriers have been busy identifying areas that need more coverage or capacity. The ARX team expects a rebound in spending on macro sites by the carriers in 2024. “In the last 12 months, the carriers have vetted many new locations,” Robinson said. “They’re going to start making decisions about where to invest when their budgets come back.”
When that happens, ARX Wireless is fully staffed and ready to take on the battles as they strive to get more towers zoned, built and on the air.
For more information, visit https://arxwireless.com/ or email Brian Robinson directly at [email protected].
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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