Tower power

Ericsson and tower company SpectraSite Holdings announced an agreement to accelerate the rollout of third-generation wireless networks in Europe and North America.

According to the agreement, Ericsson will use SpectraSite's portfolio of towers, rooftops and raw land sites. SpectraSite will finance the construction and retain ownership of all the sites developed under the agreement.

"This is a cost move and more of a speed to market issue," said Steven Clark, CEO of SpectraSite. "There is a great sense of urgency of getting to the market either first or in a hurry … We have embarked on a path that will likely result in additional alliances in the future."

SpectraSite will work with Ericsson in Europe first, where governments are in the midst of auctioning 3G licenses. System planning and deployments are underway in the United Kingdom. And SpectraSite already has prepared for the onslaught of 3G networks there through a joint venture with British Gas that gives the company access to land sites. It also has acquired a U.K. program management company and site acquisition company. Today, SpectraSite owns 700 towers outright with another 2,000 under construction in the U.K. It has the option to purchase land on 18,000 additional pieces of property and has access to 11,000 rooftop sites.

Clark said the company has established business development offices in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium, where it will forge joint ventures and make acquisitions similar to those in the U.K.