James Trainor
Contributor
James Trainor is former assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division and a senior vice president at Aon.
Rick Varnell
Contributor
Rick Varnell is a founder and principal partner at 5G LLC.
Matt Davis
Contributor
Matt Davis is a founder and principal partner at 5G LLC.
The race to deploy 5G infrastructure has unlocked a new use for the rooftops of restaurants, hotels, residential buildings, and even hospitals and churches. These rooftops are quickly becoming prime real estate targets for telecommunication leaders eager to establish 5G technology in highly populated areas.
In fact, next-generation wireless deployments are positioned to be one of the largest allocators of lease revenue in the United States over the next five years, creating a seismic opportunity for landlords and other business owners.
The Biden administration has made expanding the country’s 5G infrastructure a national priority. The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package earmarks $65 billion in funding to expand broadband coverage to rural and underserved communities. Despite its speed and power relative to other wireless technologies, 5G has a much shorter range, only reaching up to about 1,500 feet.
5G technology is uniquely suited to deployment on existing building rooftops because of the reduced antenna heights for the next-generation wireless network.
In addition to the major wireless communications providers, new entrants in the 5G deployment race include traditional cable companies and Big Tech firms. Together, these companies are forecasted to invest an additional $275 billion to deploy their 5G macro and small-cell sites. The only effective and efficient way to deploy the sheer quantity of deployment sites required is to leverage existing buildi …
