COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
6 Months Ended |
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Jun. 30, 2025 | |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Litigation— The Company periodically becomes involved in various claims and lawsuits that are incidental to its business. While the Company’s management, after consultation with counsel, currently believes the ultimate outcome of these legal proceedings, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse impact on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties. Were an unfavorable ruling to occur, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. Verizon Transaction—In March 2015, the Company entered into an agreement with various operating entities of Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon”) that currently provides for the lease, sublease or management of approximately 11,100 wireless communications sites, which commenced on March 27, 2015. The average term of the lease or sublease for all communications sites at the inception of the agreement was approximately 28 years, assuming renewals or extensions of the underlying ground leases for the sites. The Company has the option to purchase the leased sites in tranches, subject to the applicable lease, sublease or management rights upon its scheduled expiration. Each tower is assigned to an annual tranche, ranging from 2034 to 2047, which represents the outside expiration date for the sublease rights to the towers in that tranche. The purchase price for each tranche is a fixed amount stated in the lease for such tranche plus the fair market value of certain alterations made to the related towers. The aggregate purchase option price for the towers leased and subleased is approximately $5.0 billion. Verizon occupied the sites as a tenant for an initial term of ten years and has exercised its first renewal option for a five-year term. Verizon has seven optional successive five-year terms remaining; each such term shall be governed by standard master lease agreement terms established as a part of the transaction. AT&T Transaction—The Company has an agreement with SBC Communications Inc., a predecessor entity to AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”), that currently provides for the lease or sublease of approximately 1,700 towers, which commenced between December 2000 and August 2004. Substantially all of the towers are part of the Trust Securitizations. The average term of the lease or sublease for all sites at the inception of the agreement was approximately 27 years, assuming renewals or extensions of the underlying ground leases for the sites. The Company has the option to purchase the sites subject to the applicable lease or sublease upon its expiration. Each tower is assigned to an annual tranche, ranging from 2013 to 2032, which represents the outside expiration date for the sublease rights to that tower. The purchase price for each site is a fixed amount stated in the lease for that site plus the fair market value of certain alterations made to the related tower by AT&T. As of June 30, 2025, the Company has purchased an aggregate of approximately 700 of the subleased towers which are subject to the applicable agreement. The aggregate purchase option price for the remaining towers leased and subleased is $1.2 billion and includes per annum accretion through the applicable expiration of the lease or sublease of a site. For the applicable sites, AT&T has the right to continue to lease space subject to a monthly fee, which shall escalate in accordance with the standard master lease agreement for the remainder of AT&T’s tenancy. AT&T shall have the right to renew each lease for up to five successive five-year terms. Other Contingencies—The Company is subject to income tax and other taxes in the geographic areas where it holds assets or operates, and periodically receives notifications of audits, assessments or other actions by taxing authorities. Taxing authorities may issue notices or assessments while audits are being conducted. In certain jurisdictions, taxing authorities may issue assessments with minimal examination. These notices and assessments do not represent amounts that the Company is obligated to pay and are often not reflective of the actual tax liability for which the Company will ultimately be liable. In the process of responding to assessments of taxes that the Company believes are not enforceable, the Company avails itself of both administrative and judicial remedies. The Company evaluates the circumstances of each notification or assessment based on the information available and, in those instances in which the Company does not anticipate a successful defense of positions taken in its tax filings, a liability is recorded in the appropriate amount based on the underlying assessment.
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