SBA Communications turned in a steady quarter and its land strategy, the EchoStar fight, and the longer-term satellite question remain topics of interest.
On the ground, SBA kept investing in the dirt beneath its towers, spending to buy land and easements and extend lease terms. Owning (rather than renting) the ground under a tower via cell tower lease buyouts protects margins and removes a key long-term cost and renewal risk. One of the places a tower company will continue to invest its money is in the ground beneath its vertical assets.
The EchoStar (DISH) litigation rolls on, with EchoStar seeking an 85% haircut on its lease obligations. SBA has already stripped EchoStar revenue out of its outlook, so the financial hit is largely absorbed, it will interesting to watch where this goes and the corresponding impact to property owners and the tower owner ecosystem.
The most strategic topic was satellite. Leadership (following a similar industry trend) framed direct-to-device (satellite-to-phone) as a complement to terrestrial networks rather than a replacement, but conceded it could lead carriers to rationalize a small slice of fringe, low-traffic rural sites. Albeit not a near-term threat, it is acknowledgment that satellite could trim demand for cell towers at the edges of the portfolio, and it’s the risk property owners with cell tower leases should be mindful of.
Overall Highlights:
- Companywide tower cash flow margins of just under 80% (79.5%), reflecting continued cost control and operational efficiency
- Quarterly new lease and amendment billings of roughly $13M; $9 million in the U.S. and $4 million internationally
- Industry-leading AFFO of $3.05 per share (AFFO of $324.4 million)
- Continued litigation against EchoStar (DISH), with EchoStar seeking an 85% reduction on its lease obligations
- $17.2 million spent to purchase land and easements and to extend lease terms
Quotable: re: Ground Land Buyouts (Cell Tower Lease Buyouts)
“In terms of ground land buyouts, that’s something we continue to do. That’s something we’ve been doing for 15-20 years now. Here we have a well-established function inside of the company that focuses on buying out land, both for strategic purposes as well as financial purposes, and I think we’ve done a very good job. One of the downsides to having done it so well for so long is that the opportunity set is a little bit smaller than perhaps it’s been in the past, particularly in places like the U.S., where we’ve been at it for a long time.
Brendan Cavanaugh | CEO, President & Director, SBA Communications
Quotable: re: Satellite Is Not A Replacement for Cell Towers
“With regard to satellite solutions, there’s been a lot of discussion around direct-to-device satellite technology. Our view remains unchanged. Satellites are a complement to terrestrial wireless networks, not a substitute for them. However, depending on how the industry develops, the advancement of this technology is expected to provide growth opportunities for our business. Potential new entrants offering direct-to-device satellite-based coverage will require a terrestrial component to their networks in order to provide ubiquitous, high-quality coverage at a level competitive with traditional networks. As new providers arise, new opportunities to benefit from our extensive high-quality infrastructure portfolio and our experienced network deployment teams will grow as well.
Brendan Cavanaugh | CEO, President & Director, SBA Communications
Quotable: re: Satellite Will Need Ground Based Cell Towers to Be Successful
“The companies that are obviously looking at direct-to-device service are still in the very early stages of working out how that might work as they acquire spectrum bands and they start to do network planning. The comments that I made were really meant to highlight what I believe will be a long-term driver of an additional opportunity for our towers, and that is that anybody that is going to provide direct-to-device satellite service, if they plan to compete with the existing MNOs and the existing networks, in order to do that effectively and to deliver the kind of quality that will be required, there will be a need for a terrestrial component of those networks.”
Brendan Cavanaugh | CEO, President & Director, SBA Communications
Quotable: re: DISH Attempting to Limit SBA Communications and Other Cell Tower Companies Claims
“Yeah. I mean, we obviously vehemently disagree with their claims of the cap, and we will fight that as we currently are. I think we’re pretty well aligned with the rest of the industry and the counterparties that are involved in this. I don’t want to say too much about something that’s ongoing litigation. I am pleased that the FCC did make it clear that some of the games, frankly, that were being played by Dish/EchoStar around the escrow fund that was set up, in terms of their rights to make claims there, that was shut down pretty quickly by the FCC, which we appreciate. We expect that we will be successful in our legal pursuits and that there will be plenty of funds available within that account to meet many of those obligations that we expect Dish will have to SBA.
Brendan Cavanaugh | CEO, President & Director, SBA Communications
JW Tower & Telecom Consulting provides the market intelligence property owners need to navigate buyouts, easements, and renewals from SBA Communications in this evolving 2026 landscape.
