The Many Hats of Telecom with Geographic Discipline Leader Marc Samko

Do you know how many cellular service towers are in your area helping to expand your connection? Maybe you see one or two tower sites on your daily commute. Some of these cell sites can be hidden in plain sight, disguised as trees, on top of buildings or even on traffic lights you see every day.

How does the design for these sites begin? The foundation of all telecommunication infrastructure is site acquisition. This process encompasses identifying, evaluating, and preparing sites for the installation of telecommunication equipment and antennas and identifying new and/existing landlords for new and existing sites.

Marc Samko, Telecommunications Geographic Discipline Leader of Site Acquisition for Colliers Engineering & Design, has nearly 20 years of extensive experience in acquiring locations for the wireless telecommunications industry, and shared his insights to accelerate client success.

What Goes into Site Acquisition?

Like many other telecommunications projects, site acquisition has many moving parts. Clients vary from project to project, but can include cell carriers, tower companies, site owners and municipalities. Some clients can come from the renewable energy sector as well.

No matter the client, Marc explained that each acquisition project starts the same, by listening to the client, asking questions, and understanding the needs of the project beyond the site.

“Our job is to make our client’s lives as easy as possible,” Marc said. “When issues arise, we let our clients know and provide solutions to the problems, to avoid potential problems that might arise on the service side.”

Picking the Perfect Location

Since many projects on these acquired sites are likely to experience expanding coverage to meet needs of the region, working with local jurisdictions and regulations is a part of the job.

Many jurisdictions have requirements in place regarding the zoning and permitting portion of the tower process. Towers and other projects also need utility easements to provide access to the site for professionals to make upgrades and repairs as necessary. By engaging directly with the local jurisdictions, our team strives to ensure that all codes and requirements are met so that there are no delays in the process.

“Once we understand the zoning and permitting code and process; our local team will begin to reach out to potential landlords to gauge interest and begin the process of locating spaces on the property that will work,” Marc explained.

Multidiscipline Expertise

The Site Acquisition Team at Colliers Engineering & Design strives to limit the barriers of the process. The team frequently provides expert testimony and answers questions of nearby residents about their concerns for a potential site. They also help establish relationships with carriers, tower owners, and landlords to keep a collaborative effort throughout the process.

Having a multidisciplinary team of experts onboard can become a great asset to clients in streamlining the process to provide turn-key services for projects.

“Luckily, we have a variety of experts eager to cross-collaborate for the success of our clients,” Marc said. “That means we can work together to ensure that the client’s needs are met expeditiously as we continue to grow our business.”

Other disciplines within the firm that frequently collaborate with the Site Acquisition Team includes  Land Services, Survey, Civil Engineering, Governmental and Business Development to name a few. The Site Acquisition Team also cross-sells their services when needed to discipline teams working on other projects beyond the Telecom/Utility division to continue accelerating client success.

Let’s Work Together

Ready to partner on your next project? Reach out to Marc Samko.