{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b96-1aee342c3a73", "docSlug": "10dc4f9f3e31", "documentTitle": "American Tower (AMT)", "authorId": "51_Muddy_Waters", "authorName": "Carson C. Block", "documentKindSlug": "research-note", "documentKindLabel": "Research note", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2013-07-17 00:00:00", "orientation": "portrait", "aspectRatio": 0.77272725, "pageNumber": 71, "pageCount": 118, "prevPage": 70, "nextPage": 72, "slideType": "other", "function": "establish_context", "density": "overcrowded", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide is a text-heavy page from a research report, citing various international examples of regulatory and operational challenges.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 0.9, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b96-1aee342c3a73/71", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b96-1aee342c3a73", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b96-1aee342c3a73.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b96-1aee342c3a73#slide-71", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "In these markets the problem of diesel fuel theft is a nagging and persistent. Ironically, our towerco executive explained some landlords will “hold tower companies to ransom” seeking to have their relatives hired as the securities guards.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-e6f0-72b6-8695-c24c88616750", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.07, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.25 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Compounding carrier checkbook fatigue are instances of sovereign extortion. In numerous counties in which American Tower operates, original spectrum licenses that its customers purchased are coming due for renewal, and cash hungry sovereigns expect carriers to pony up big for the privilege of providing service to their citizens.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "09533aad-4095-4f1c-b96c-7f1dff160d1c", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.64 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "In India and Africa landlords and even locally retained security guards have found additional ways to profit from their privileged access to a cell phone tower and its generator. In these markets the problem of diesel fuel theft is a nagging and persistent. Ironically, our towerco executive explained some landlords will “hold tower companies to ransom” seeking to have their relatives hired as the securities guards.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "3f50401c-070a-435e-881e-8aa70593317a", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.11, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.51 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "India’s telecom scandal distressed the tower industry, resulting in the parent of a similarly sized competitor of AMT just filing for bankruptcy. India’s 2008 2G spectrum auction scandal is a perfect example. The exposure of a massive bribery conspiracy resulted in 122 telecom licenses being revoked by the Supreme Court of India. This regulatory uncertainty contributed to market decline in subsequent years.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "7c81ae70-345c-4171-b2c9-d31a57debbe3", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.13, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.33 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "In January of 2013, Telefónica Peru, the market leader, finally concluded difficult negotiations over the renewal of its four licenses, which expired in May of 2011 and February of 2012. The Peruvian government was seeking an investment of close to US$1.2 billion to provide coverage in rural areas, which the carriers avoid due to inadequate ROIs. As a result new infrastructure deployments planned in 2011, Telefónica delayed for over a year. As its customers get squeezed, corporate cost reduction initiatives will follow, putting “high-margin” cell phone tower lease rates and especially (post sale and lease-back) renewal terms under pressure.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "acaa5327-940c-400b-b85e-c1e42749d5be", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.13, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.09 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Even when not shaking down foreign investors, mercurial or poorly coordinated bureaucracies pose another operational risk. In Brazil delays can be easily compounded due to what is described as “a complex web of permissions from local and federal authorities, often with long approval times [that] may mean that, when an investment [in a base station] is signed off from an operator, it may take well over a year for a site to be made operational.”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "d4974148-6311-42b2-b351-126c83eb7570", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "a complex web of permissions from local and federal authorities, often with long approval times [that] may mean that, when an investment [in a base station] is signed off from an operator, it may take well over a year for a site to be made operational. — GSMA, Brasil Mobile Observatory 2012", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-e6f0-72b6-8695-c74b46c803af", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.72, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.76 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "142-148 Footnotes detailing sources for the claims made in the text.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "9e68197a-f560-41fa-8408-96d77c425e7a", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.2, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.21 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Sovereign Extortion", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "7b47c4fe-725f-48ab-a1b5-07c096045d7f", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.45, "x": 0.14, "y": 0.48 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Corruption Still Remains a Part of Local Culture", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "daff8e6f-306a-4adc-8616-6db6850da02c", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [ { "name": "Anadiplosis", "slug": "anadiplosis", "agent": "Storyteller", "layer": "slide", "matchId": "dde49455-4ed1-4de9-8147-56b9d00a2b97", "evidence": "The components show repetition of similar ideas, 'sovereign extortion' and 'corruption' are repeated.", "confidence": 0.7 }, { "name": "Storytelling Effect", "slug": "storytelling-effect", "agent": "Storyteller", "layer": "slide", "matchId": "2b0f3fc2-3a4d-40b9-8c01-17558f21b34d", "evidence": "The slide tells a story of risks faced by AMT, specifically 'sovereign extortion'.", "confidence": 0.7 } ], "frameworks": [], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }