There was positive reaction to the FirstNet contract award by both Wall Street and the telecom sector. AT&T has been awarded the contract to build and operate the FirstNet nationwide wireless broadband network for first responders (see story above.)
The news will help spark the tower industry, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Nick Del Deo. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is part of what has helped drive the stocks up from their lows a couple months ago, he says in a client report. The big picture: “FirstNet will require tens of thousands of cell sites, and the Towers will get paid for hosting that equipment on their structures.”
AT&T will deploy its fallow AWS-3 and WCS holdings in conjunction with the FirstNet build to reduce the cost, according to the analyst. “Simply stated, doing FirstNet together with AWS-3 and WCS will require one tower climb rather than two.”
An award date in the coming days means most of the financial boost would occur in the 2018 to 2020 timeframe, given the FirstNet deployment schedule. MoffettNathanson estimates its base case would bolster domestic organic growth at all public towercos by about 0.4 percent in 2018, about 0.7 percent in 2019, and about 0.3 percent in 2020.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association, too, applauded the contract award. “I am thrilled to see us reach a conclusion to the long and winding road to get to FirstNet,” said WIA President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein. “This reliable, high-speed network will maximize the use of existing infrastructure to power novel applications that increase situational awareness and help save lives. The wireless infrastructure industry is prepared to roll up our sleeves to get this implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, too, congratulated those involved in the FirstNet effort. CEO Shirley Bloomfield said: “NTCA members live and work in the rural communities they serve, and are committed to helping to ensure their communities’ first responders are part of an interoperable national communications system. NTCA and its members—network operators in rural areas of the country with substantial assets and infrastructure—are eager to partner with AT&T to leverage this infrastructure and to promote success in the quest to build, operate and maintain a ubiquitous public safety network throughout the country.”
March 31, 2017
Reader Interactions