NII Holdings Inc. Completes Transaction with American Tower Corporation NII Holdings Inc., a Provider of Mobile Communication Se
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Thursday, November 14, 2013 Volume 1 | Issue 16 NII Holdings Inc. Completes Transaction with American Tower Corporation NII Holdings Inc., a provider of mobile communication services operat- ing under the Nextel Brand in Latin American announced the comple- tion of the deal to sell select communications sites to American Tower Corporation. This deal was originally announced on August 9, 2013. American Tower was to acquire up to 2,690 towers in Brazil and 1,666 towers in Mexico from NII Holdings. NII Holdings ended up selling 1,483 communications sites in Mexico to American Tower for a profit of MXN $4.95 billion, which is equivalent to USD $374.3 million based on the current foreign currency exchange rates. As part of this agreement, Nextel Mexico agreed to lease back the communications sites from American Tower for a minimum 12-year initial lease term and has the option to extend the lease for additional renewal periods. Duke University Discovers Technology That May Allow You To Charge Your Phone with Power from a Nearby Cell Site Researchers from the Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have created a device capable of converting the microwave signal into direct current voltage, which can be used for recharging a cell phone battery or other small electronic devices. The researchers believe this would allow people that don’t have access to power outlets to charge their phone by producing energy from a nearby cell phone tower. According to Karyn Hede of Duke, “It operates on a similar principle to solar pan- els, which convert light energy into electrical current. But this versatile energy harvester could be tuned to harvest the signal from other energy sources, including satellite signals, sound signals or Wi-Fi signals, the researchers say. The key to the power harvester lies in its application of metama- terials, engineered structures that can capture various forms of wave energy and tune them for use- ful applications.” Undergraduate engineering student Allen Hawkes, working with graduate student Alexander Katko and lead investigator Steven Cummer, professor of electrical and computer engi- neering are the major brains behind this new technology. “The properties of metamaterials allow for design flexibility not possible with ordinary devices like antennas,” said Katko. “When traditional an- tennas are close to each other in space they talk to each other and interfere with each other’s opera- tion. The design process used to create our metamaterial array takes these effects into account, al- lowing the cells to work together.” Why Are the Major Tower Company’s Converting to REITs? After American Tower Corporation made the transition to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), the other companies in the industry had been considering making this move. On September 9, 2013 Crown Castle International announced their intentions to convert to a REIT and SBA Communica- tions is still considering this path. Dividends are a key attraction because REITs are required to dis- tribute 90% of their annual taxable income in the form of dividends to shareholders. REITs are also able to raise capital much easier. According to Zacks, REITs (as a whole) raised $60.6 billion in the first nine months of 2013. Zacks also share their opinion on the industry outlook, “The U.S. REIT in- Inside Towers Page 1 dustry has been on a roller coaster so far this year. After a remarkable run in the first four months, the sector nosedived in May, as rising interest rates and skepticism about the Fed's QE program spread caution in the market. But around mid-September, the REIT stage was again set for action with the Fed's 'no taper' decision and lower GDP projections for 2013 and 2014, which indicated a continued low interest rate environment in the near term. As a result, the REIT stocks rallied the most and outperformed the S&P 500.” AT&T Completes 4G LTE Expansion in 10 Cities AT&T has turned on their fastest and most reliable 4G LTE network in a number of cit- ies across the United States this week including: Dothan, AL, Utica, NY, Mount Pleas- ant, TX, Prineville, OR, Clarksville, TN, Vail, CO, Kalispell, MT, San Antonia, TX, Kerr- ville, TX, and Uvalde, TX. "AT&T continues to make investments in key infrastructure across our state that will help communities stay connected and competitive," said Texas State Representative Tracy O. King. "The arrival of 4G LTE high speed wireless in Uvalde is tremendous news for our area's businesses, schools and families." Crown Castle International Has Fallen to a 3-Week Low If you are a fan of our Tower Ticker section, you may have noticed that Crown Castle International’s stock hasn’t been doing so well these past few weeks. According to RTT News, “Crown Castle Inter- national has been steadily declining since the open of trade Friday and is now down 2.52 at $72.86. Crown Castle International has fallen to nearly a 3-week low this morning and is now testing its 50- day moving average.” Analysts Share Their Views of CCI Stock Yesterday, Analysts’ Corner released a press release announcing their finding about Crown Castle International’s stock in a research report. The report read, “On October 28, 2013, Crown Castle In- ternational Corp. (Crown Castle) reported that it has closed its concurrent offerings of 41.4 million shares of common stock at $74.00 per share and c.9.8 million shares of its 4.50% Mandatory Con- vertible Preferred Stock, Series A, at $100.00 per share. According to the Company, the amounts sold include 5.4 million shares of common stock and c.1.3 shares of Mandatory Convertible Pre- ferred Stock issued in accordance with the underwriters' exercise of the overallotment options. Crown Castle informed that it generated net proceeds worth $2.98 billion and $949.6 million from common stock offering and the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock offering, respectively. Mor- gan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Barclays served as joint book- running managers for aforesaid the offerings.” Inside Towers Page 2 xG Technology Announced Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock xG Technology, a developer of wireless communications and spectrum sharing technologies, an- nounced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 5,715,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $1.75 per share. The company expects to receive approximately $10,000,000 in gross proceeds, before underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by the company. The company has granted the representative of the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 857,250 additional shares of common stock. “The company intends to use the net proceeds received from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, prod- uct development and fulfillment, marketing activities, expansion of internal sales organization, further development of sales channels, funding the set-up of contract manufacturing production lines, and other capital expenditures,” according to xG Technology in a press release. CenturyLink Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend CenturyLink, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors voted to declare a quarterly cash dividend of $0.54 per share, payable out of capital surplus on December 6, 2013, to shareholders of record on November 25, 2013. CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States and is recognized as a leader in the network services market by technology industry analyst firms. Stanly County Eases Entry Barriers for Cell Tower Companies On Monday, the Stanly County Commission of North Carolina voted unanimously to approve rezon- ings to accommodate 195-foot monopole on three properties along the southern side of the county. This will set the precedent when other companies come looking to construct cell towers in order to increase network coverage. This vote came after Brian Pearce of American Tower Corporation gave a presentation to the Stanly County Commission. Pearce explained to the County Commission that there has been a steady increase in demand for mobile coverage and the only way to satisfy this de- mand is to build more towers. Cedar Rapids School Board Denies Cell Tower Proposal on Elementary School Cell phone towers on school property have become a widely debatable topic in many towns, but in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the school board told Verizon Wireless they would have to find another site to build their tower other then the Johnson School of the Arts. According to KCRG, a local news station in Iowa, “During the Oct. 28 regular meeting board members tabled voting on the five-year agree- ment, which would’ve provided the district with $25,800 in the first year and an annual 3-percent in- crease, following a public hearing in which residents of the Johnson neighborhood voiced concerns about the action. Administrators then hosted a public information session at the school on Nov. 5.” Many of the concerns about the possible cell tower were about the health of the children and how the tower would affect them. Although there are two other towers at middle schools in Cedar Rapids, the school board decided against a third. Inside Towers Page 3.