SBA Communications Corp.

SBA Communications was founded by Steve E. Bernstein in 1989. The company’s headquarters are in Boca Raton, Florida. The company finds and develops ground sites that it later leases to cellphone network providers. Additionally they also build towers and rent space on a long-term basis against a fee. Bernstein’s earlier role at a company called MCI was to find ground sites to set up cellular towers. After three years, he quit and decided to start his own company. The company’s job was to acquire sites on behalf of cellular companies and supervise the construction of the towers. Since Bernstein had experience in both engineering, real estate, and sales, the company managed to carve out for itself a strong position in a new industry. Over time cellular companies realised that coverage was going to be a potential plus point in the industry. Hence, SBA Communications started building the towers for themselves and began to lease to other carrier companies. This move made the company highly successful as cellular companies had found a third party they could lease the towers from instead of building their own. In 1999, the company went public under the ticker symbol of SBAC. SBA Communications owns and operates wireless communications equipment such as towers, antennae, buildings and rooftops, small cells, and distributed antenna systems. They have two modes of operating, which are site leasing and site development. Under the business domain of site-leasing, SBA Communications leases antenna space on towers and other structures on a long-term contract basis. Under the site-development business domain, they provide assistance to wireless service providers and help them develop their own networks by acquiring land, getting local municipality clearance, zoning, construction and equipment installation. The company has made many acquisitions throughout its history. Some of the more notable ones are AAT Communication Systems in 2006 for $1 billion. Later in 2012, it acquired Pegasus Tower, and in 2019, it took over New Continuum. It has also invested in Data Centre Infrastructure and Search AF Test.