W351 is a 25 year old out of home company which has patented a solution to install cellular antennas inside billboards. Here are links to the company’s US patent and Billboard Antenna Powerpoint. Billboard Insider talked to Andres Masco, the company’s US business development representative.
Your powerpoint shows several installed antennas. In what countries and markets have you installed antennas?
Currently, we have 33 sites operating in Argentina for the past 5 years with 100% efficiency. With the OOH and Telecommunications Network, we will soon launch more than 35,000 Billboard structures over 50 countries, along with our patented technological solution.
Have you installed anything in the US yet?
In the United States we are going to start deploying our technological solution and launch our Network in January 2023. We are now in the first stages of the project, which involves inventorying and evaluating each Billboard before uploading it to the Network and offering it to Tower companies. Our upload deadline is 12/31/2022. After that, we will start offering the sites.
The rollout of cell antennas on billboards has been held up partly by the fact that there are no standardized terms for billboard leases. Is this a challenge for your business model?
The OOH market did not develop before because the required heights were set very high and the solutions implemented were in plain sight, generating more conflict with advertisers, than business for OOH. It wasn’t worth it. The antennas were exposed, difficult to maintain, decontextualized and affected the advertisements. We are facing a new paradigm in the OOH industry. The connectivity of the smart cities of the future. And that is the difference that we mark between the role that billboards have been playing with telecommunications and the role that they are going to play with our solution, and why we think it is not going to challenge our business model.
What sort of financial returns can a US out of home company expect from leasing billboard space for a cell antenna?
With our associative business model, the rental income is 100% for OOH and without fees for the “active partners” of the W351 Network. The rental prices depend on many variables such as the number of operators per site, number of antennas per operator, location, height, clearance, type of structure and customer interest. We defend the interests of the OOH, who are our strategic partners in this joint business between the OOH network and Telecommunications. Contracts normally are for 10+ years, which gives the OOH companies a long-term recurring revenue, predictability in the projection of cash flows and security in their assets.
What kinds of site (location, type of structure) are best for cell antennas?
For the implementation of 5G technology, the number of sites needed to achieve efficient connectivity will increase by at least 3.5 times. The heights required for this technology are much lower than with traditional 3G and 4G antennas. Most of the actual structures are at the heights required for 5G, but when the OOH company send us their inventory, we run a pre-feasibility analysis in which we see each structure in detail. In terms of location, it depends on the Telecommunication company need for coverage in a certain area. That is why we are building this Network, to gather as many available sites as possible, and always have a supply of sites to meet the need of coverage, whether it is in the city, rural areas, or highways.
Does a billboard company have to retrofit it’s faces to permit your technology?
When a Telecommunication company needs a site, and after reaching a lease agreement, OOH companies will receive the permeable areas and profiles with the installation plans according to our patented technological solutions. The OOH companies only install the adaptations in their structures and provide their own labor without materials. If by any case, they have to use and buy any materials, they will be reimbursed for the cost. The client, Tower companies, does the electrical work and fiber optic and equipment installation.
OOH companies joining the W351 Network before 12/31/2022 in the United States will get at no cost the free availability of our patented solutions, priority on business opportunities based on future needs. Also they will be part of the Global OOH and Telecommunications Network with no membership fees and, as partners, will never pay commissions of any kind per written contract.
To learn more contact Andres Masco, US Business Developoment Representative, W351 Global Network, USA@W351.Global, (531)331-9059.
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