Talley Inc

Mavenir – a company that primarily makes radios and so ware for terrestrial cell towers – is now also working with Canadian satellite operator Terrestar. Early days Already today SpaceX operates almost 500 cellular-capable Starlink satellites. Those satellites can send and receive text messages in much the same way that terrestrial cell towers do today, according to new networking tests. And this is just the beginning. Companies like AST SpaceMobile promise to build and launch much bigger satellites that will be capable of voice and data services. At the same me, companies like Globalstar, Iridium, Viasat and others con nue to promise to leverage their Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum in support of terrestrial 5G networks. And Amazon too has indicated interest in tweaking its planned low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constella on to support smartphones in rural areas. What that means is, collec vely, there will soon be thousands of satellites orbi ng the Earth that can service smartphones in rural areas. And that service likely will include simple tex ng as well as voice and data. In this new reality, what wireless network operator would consent to building a new, $500,000 cell tower in a rural area with few paying customers? Cell tower operators speak out This is a topic that most cell tower operators don't spend much me talking about. SBA Communica ons reported quarterly earnings this week, and company execu ves sought to paint a rosy picture of US cell tower demand. "The beginning of 2025 is also off to a strong start, sugges ng another quarter-over-quarter increase in new leasing business to begin this year," said SBA CEO Brendan Cavanagh. "Our 2025 services outlook contemplates a year-over-year increase in that business. Our US customers are busy and we expect to be a key partner to them this year in support of their network goals." Analysts cheered. "We believe we are in the final stages of a bo oming process on US leasing, backlogs are improving, and there are two major poten al catalysts in terms of tax reform and spectrum auc ons that would get carrier ac vity accelera ng more going forward," wrote the financial analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets in a note to investors following SBA's results. Officials from Ver cal Bridge, another big US cell tower operator, offered a similar upbeat view. To be clear, cell tower operators generally base their financials on demand for their exis ng towers rather than growth from new tower builds. Further, they con nue to expect demand for network "densifica on," or addi onal cell sites covering one loca on, rather than new towers in completely uncovered areas. Cell site densifica on is one way that wireless network operators can address increased traffic on their networks. But how the satellite opportunity might ul mately affect this sector remains unclear. SpaceX is now pursuing spectrum holdings once earmarked exclusively for terrestrial, cellular networks. If SpaceX acquires some of that spectrum, there would presumably be even less reason for operators to rent space on terrestrial cell towers. Ar cle credit: h ps://www.lightreading.com/5g/are-the-days-of- new-rural-cell-towers-over- Talleycom.com SHEET QUARTER 1 2025

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