Potential $21 million Buncombe cell tower deal could increase rural connectivity
ASHEVILLE - The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will soon vote on a contract with a communications tower manager that county staff projects will generate up to $21 million over the next 20 years.
The Virginia-based company, Milestone Towers, is one of the two organizations that submitted a proposal at the county’s request, which it issued in September 2022.
Buncombe County’s pending agreement with Milestone is an attempt to expand rural broadband access and capture revenue potential created by county owned towers and land, Buncombe County operational services manager Vance Bell told the Citizen Times.
According to a June 2020 North Carolina Department of Information and Technology survey, 23.7% of people surveyed in Buncombe County do not have access to internet and 6.1% of surveyed Buncombe County individuals don’t have access to cellular service. The survey received about 5,200 responses in the county.
Bell explained that the county controls 17 towers that it primarily uses for its public safety radio system. Those towers have the capability for broadband service. Under the pending agreement, Milestone would manage the few contracts the county has with carriers on its towers, recruit new carriers to existing towers and lease land from the county to build towers. Milestone would recruit and manage the relationships with carriers on new towers.
“It’s not our forte or purpose to market free tower space. There’s a specific reason why we have towers. We’re not out there building towers just to have towers out there,” Bell said. He later added, “But Milestone does that.”
Buncombe County does not have the connections with carriers, industry knowledge, or the tower-building expertise that Milestone has, Bell said, explaining the rationale for the public-private partnership.
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The tentative agreement is a revenue split model, according to a presentation Bell made to county commissioners Sept. 5. Buncombe County would bring in 90% of the revenue for towers that Milestone manages for existing contracts. The county would take in 75% of the revenue for new contracts Milestone generates on county-controlled towers. Milestone would bring in 60% of the revenue for contracts on towers that it builds.
Buncombe County is not paying Milestone to bring its services to the county beyond the revenue split. Milestone would allow the county to use towers for public safety equipment at no additional cost, according to the presentation. County staff projects the project will bring in between $14 million and $21 million in the next 20 years. The contract would run five years with opportunities for Milestone to sign five-year extensions at the fifth, tenth and 15th year of the agreement.
The Citizen Times requested the current form of the contract from the county.
Bell said that Milestone staff does community outreach when they consider building a new tower.
“For me, that was one of the differentiators that set them apart,” Bell said.
“We believe in complete transparency,” Milestone Executive Vice President, Oswaldo Reyes-Chica, told the Citizen Times. “We recognize that when we’re dealing with public lands that it’s important to be transparent and up front about what is happening.”
Reyes-Chica said that Milestone holds community engagement meetings to discuss pending projects. He said that sometimes Milestone will fly a balloon to the height of the proposed tower to demonstrate how it will impact visibility. The organization also presents simulated photographs.
Reyes-Chica said that Buncombe County was an attractive expansion opportunity for Milestone for two main reasons. The county’s request for proposal indicated that they were eager to bring Milestone’s services to the area. Carriers also told Reyes-Chica that they were eager to expand their coverage in the area. Reyes-Chica would not disclose which carriers sought to expand.
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Buncombe County has worked closely with multi-county planning and development organization Land of Sky to expand broadband in the area. Regional planner for Land of Sky, Sara Nichols, applauded Buncombe County for taking what she called an “ecosystem approach” to connectivity issues.
“They’re not saying connectivity issues are just one thing. They’re looking at all these reasons people connect” Nichols told the Citizen Times. “I put this opportunity into that bucket.”
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She added, “We’re aware that there are still coverage gaps across the county, and the county was aware that they had some assets that could be leveraged to grow that network. So that's what this project is.”
The Board of Commissioners will vote to approve the contract during their Sept. 19 meeting.
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe County to vote on potential $21 million tower management deal
