UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 


FORM 10-K

FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT

 

xANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20032005

OR

 

¨TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                    to                    

Commission file number: 000-30110

 


SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Florida 65-0716501

(State or other jurisdiction of


incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer


Identification No.)

5900 Broken Sound Parkway NW

Boca Raton, Florida

 33487
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (561) 995-7670

 


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

NoneNONE

 


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Class A common stock, $.01 par value

 


Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  x No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes  ¨ No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yesx No¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.x¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer    xAccelerated filer    ¨Non-Accelerated filer    ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).Act. Yesx  No¨

No  x

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was approximately $132.2$783.4 million as of June 30, 2003.

2005.

The number of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s common stock (as of March 10, 2004)6, 2006):

Class A common stock—56,017,207stock — 85,738,634 shares

Documents Incorporated By Reference

Portions of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 20042006 annual meeting of shareholders, which proxy statement will be filed no later than 120 days after the close of the Registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2003,2005, are hereby incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 



PART I

 

ITEM 1.BUSINESS

General

We are a leading independent owner and operator of over 3,000 wireless communications towerstowers. We currently operate in the easternEastern third of the United States. We generate revenues fromStates, where substantially all of our two primary businesses,towers are located. Our principal business line is our site leasing and site development.business. In our site leasing business, we lease antenna space to wireless service providers on towers and other structures that we own, or manage for or lease from others. The towers that we own have been constructed by us at the request of a carrier,wireless service provider, built or constructed based on our own initiative or acquired. We have built approximately 60% of our currently owned towers. As of December 31, 2003,2005, we owned 3,0933,304 towers of which 3,032 are in continuing operations. InOur second business line is our site development business, through which we offer wireless service providers assistance in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks. Since our founding in 1989, we have participated in the development of more than 25,000 antenna sites in 49 of the 51 major wireless markets in the United States.

Site Leasing Services

Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts. We believe that over the long term our site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of use and network coverage requirements. We lease antenna space on the towers we have constructed, the towers we have acquired, and the towers we lease, sublease and/or manage for third parties. Our site leasing revenue comes from a variety of wireless carrierservice provider tenants, including AT&T Wireless,Alltel, Cingular, Wireless,Sprint Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, and weWireless. We believe our current tower portfolio positions us to take advantage of wireless carriers’service providers’ antenna and equipment deployment.

As of December 31, 2005, we owned 3,304 towers, up from 3,060 as of December 31, 2004. We currently believe that tower portfolio growth is the best use of our capital resources to provide our shareholders long-term value. Consequently, we are currently pursuing a limited new build program and tower acquisition program. Pursuant to these new initiatives, we built 36 towers and acquired 208 towers during 2005. The towers under our new build program will be constructed either (1) under build-to-suit arrangements or (2) in locations chosen by us. Under our build-to-suit arrangements, we build towers for wireless service providers at locations that they have identified. We retain ownership of the tower and the exclusive right to co-locate additional tenants on the tower. In addition, we intend on building towers on locations chosen by us. Based on our knowledge of our customers’ needs, we seek to identify attractive locations for new towers and complete pre-construction procedures necessary to secure the site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs and minimal capital expenditures. We expect to grow our cash flows by adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring carriers to bear the cost of tower modifications. Because our towers are strategically positioned and our customers typically do not re-locate, we have historically experienced low customer churn as a percentage of revenue. Our lease contracts typically have terms of five years or moreconcurrently with multiple term tenant renewal options and provide for annual rent escalators. We are focusing our leasing activities in the eastern third of the United States whereefforts. Our intent is that substantially all of our new builds will have at least one signed tenant lease on the day that it is completed and we expect that some will have multiple tenants. We currently intend to build 80 to 100 new towers are located. Additionally, dueduring 2006. With respect to acquisitions, we intend to pursue towers that meet or exceed our internal guidelines regarding current and future potential returns and the relatively young ageimpact of such acquisition on our leverage ratios. For each acquisition, we prepare various analyses that include (1) projections of a five-year internal rate of return, (2) review of available capacity for future lease up projections, and mix(3) summary of current and future tenant/technology mix.

The table below provides information regarding the development and status of our tower portfolio we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers will be low.over the past five years.

 

The following chart shows the number of towers we built for our own account, the number of towers we acquired, the number of towers we reclassified or disposed of, the number of towers held for sale and the number of towers owned for the periods indicated, before discontinued operations treatment:

   For the years ended December 31,

   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

Towers owned at the beginning of period

  3,877  3,734  2,390  1,163  494

Towers built

  13  141  667  779  438

Towers acquired

  —    53  677  448  231

Towers reclassified/disposed of (1)

  (797) (51) —    —    —  

Towers held for sale

  (61) —    —    —    —  
   

 

 
  
  

Towers owned at the end of period

  3,032  3,877  3,734  2,390  1,163
   

 

 
  
  
   For the year ended December 31,
   2005  2004  2003  2002  2001

Towers owned at beginning of period

  3,066  3,093  3,877  3,734  2,390

Towers constructed

  36  10  13  141  667

Towers acquired

  208  5  —    53  677

Towers reclassified/disposed of(1)

  (6) (42) (797) (51) —  
               

Towers owned at end of period

  3,304  3,066  3,093  3,877  3,734
               

Towers held for sale at end of period

  —    6  47  837  815

Towers in continuing operations at end of period

  3,304  3,060  3,046  3,040  2,919
               

Towers owned at end of period

  3,304  3,066  3,093  3,877  3,734
               

 

(1)Reclassifications reflect the combination for reporting purposes of multiple acquired tower structures on a single parcel of real estate, which we market and customers view as a single location, into a single owned tower site. Dispositions reflect the sale, conveyance or other legal transfer of owned tower sites.


The following chart shows the number of towers owned for the periods indicated, after discontinued operations treatment:

   For the years ended December 31,

   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

Towers owned at the end of the period

  3,032  3,030  2,910  1,830  902

As of December 31, 2003,2005, we had 6,8478,278 tenants on these 3,304 towers, or an average of 2.5 tenants per tower. Our lease contracts typically have terms of five years or more with multiple term tenant renewal options and provide for annual rent escalators.

Our site leasing business generates substantially all of our 3,032 towers.segment operating profit. As indicated in the chart below, our site leasing business generates 62% of our total revenue and represents 95% of our segment operating profit (as defined below).

 

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands except for percentages) 

Site leasing revenue

  $161,277  $144,004  $127,852 

Site leasing segment operating profit

  $114,018  $96,721  $80,059 

Percentage of total revenue

   62.0%  62.2%  66.6%

Site leasing operating profit percentage contribution of total operating profit

   95.0%  94.1%  93.5%

We believe that over the long term our site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and network coverage requirements. We believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs and minimal capital expenditures. Due to the relatively young age and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically positioned and our customers typically do not re-locate, we have historically experienced low customer churn as a percentage of revenue.

At December 31, 2003,2005, our same tower revenue growth (defined as revenue growth for the most recent quarter compared to the comparable quarter in the prior year on towers owned at December 31, 2004 that we still owned at December 31, 2005) was 9.3%12% and our same tower site leasing grosssegment operating profit growth was 16.1%18% on the 3,0203,060 towers we owned as of December 31, 2002.

The following chart includes details regarding our site leasing revenues2004 and gross profit percentage:

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 
   (dollars in thousands) 

Site leasing revenue

  $127,842  $115,081  $85,487 

Percentage of total revenue

   60.3%  47.9%  38.0%

Site leasing gross profit percentage contribution of total gross profit

   93.1%  76.7%  63.7%

To help maximize the revenue and profit we earn from our capital investment in our towers, we provide services at our tower locations beyond the leasing of antenna space. The services we provide, or may provide in the future, include generator provisioning, antenna installation, equipment installation, maintenance, and backhaul, which is the transport of the wireless signals transmitted or received by an antenna to a carrier’s network. Some of these services are part of our site leasing services (e.g., the generator provisioning) and are recurring in nature, and are contracted for by a wireless carrier or other user in a manner similar to the way they lease antenna space.

December 31, 2005.

Site Development Services

Our site development business is a corollary to our site leasing business, and provides us the ability to (1) keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue

and (2) capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna installation and equipment installation at our tower locations. Our site development business consists of two segments, site development consulting and site development construction, through which we provide wireless service providers a full range of end-to-end services. We principally perform services for third parties in our core, historical areas of wireless expertise, specifically site acquisition, zoning, technical services and construction. In the consulting segment of our site development business, we offer clients the following range of services: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas; (4) support in buying or leasing of the location; and (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits. In the construction segment of our site development business we provide a number of services, including, but not limited to the following: (1) tower and related site construction; (2) antenna installation; and (3) radio equipment installation, commissioning and maintenance. CurrentlyPersonnel in our largest site development project isbusiness also support our leasing and new tower build functions through an integrated plan across the network development contractdivisions.

During 2004, we were awarded by Sprint Spectrum L.P. We estimatecompleted our previously announced plan to exit the services business in the Western portion of the United States based on our determination that this contract will generate approximately $70business was no longer beneficial to $90 millionour site leasing business, as we had sold our tower portfolio in site development construction revenue overthis region. Consequently, our services business is focused in the next two years.

Our site development customers includeNortheast and Southeast regions of the U.S. In these regions, we are involved in major projects with most of the major wireless communications and services companies, including AT&T Wireless,companies. Our site development customers include Bechtel Corporation, Cingular, Wireless, General Dynamics, Nextel, Sprint PCS,Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Site development revenue was $84.2 million and $125.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively.

Our site development revenues and profit margins decreased significantly during the year ended December 31, 2003 comparedFor financial information about our operating segments, please see Note 21 to the year ended December 31, 2002. This decrease was primarily attributable to a declineour Consolidated Financial Statements included in capital expenditures by wireless carriers, particularly for our site development construction services, and increased competition, which adversely affected our volume of activity and the pricing for our services.this Form 10-K.

Business Strategy

Our primary strategy is to capture the maximum benefits from our position as a leading owner and operator of wireless communications towers. Key elements of our strategy include:

Focusing on Site Leasing Business with Stable, Recurring RevenuesRevenues.. We intend to continue to focus on and allocate substantially all of our capital resources to expanding our site leasing business due to its attractive characteristics such as long-term contracts, built-in pricerent escalators, high operating margins and low customer churn. The long-term nature of the revenue stream of our site leasing business makes it less volatile than our site development business, which is more reactive to changes in industry conditions. By focusing on our site leasing business, we believe that we can maintain a stable, recurring cash flow stream and reduce our exposure to cyclical changes in customer spending.

Maximizing Use of Tower Capacity. We generally have constructed ouror acquired towers tothat accommodate multiple tenants and a substantial majority of our towers are high capacity lattice or guyed towers. Most of our towers have significant capacity available for additional antennas and we believe that increased use of our towers can be achieved at a low incremental cost. We actively market space on our towers through our internal sales force.

Disciplined Growth of Tower Portfolio.We currently believe that the best use of our available capital resources is to use these funds to increase our tower portfolio. We intend to use our cash flow from operating activities and available liquidity, including borrowings, to build and/or acquire new towers at prices that we believe will be accretive to our shareholders both short and long-term and which allow us to maintain our target leverage ratios long-term. We intend to review all acquisition opportunities, both large and small, which meet our minimum target levels.

Geographically FocusingControlling Expense Base. Over the last two years, we have successfully restructured our Tower Ownership.balance sheet to significantly reduce the interest expense associated with our indebtedness. We have decidedaccomplished this by means of our equity offerings, redemption of 35% of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and the 8 1/2% senior notes and the issuance of $405.0 million of commercial mortgage pass-through certificates (“CMBS Certificates”), our first securitization transaction, which we refer to focus our tower ownership geographicallyas the “CMBS Transaction”. We intend to continue to explore opportunities, including those that may be available in the eastern third of the United States. We believe that focusing our site leasing activities in this smaller geographic area, where we have a higher concentration of towers, will improve our operating efficiencies,asset-backed securitization market, to reduce our overhead expenses and produce higher revenue per tower.

Maintaining Low Cost Structure with Reduced Capital Expenditures. We believeinterest expense. Furthermore, we have, a low cost structure and we intend to proactively manage our cost structure to reflect the size and stage of our business and changes in the business environment. In addition, we have significantly reduced our capital expenditures since 2001 and intend to maintain lower levels (comparedcontinue to 1999purchase if available at commercially

reasonable prices, the land that underlies our towers, as we believe that these purchases will increase our margins and minimize our exposure to 2001)increases in ground lease rents in the future. Due to the relatively young age of annualour towers, we believe that the maintenance and augmentation capital expenditures should be limited for the foreseeable future.

Using our Local Presence to Build Strong Relationships with Major Wireless Service Providers. Given the nature of towers as location specific communications facilities, we believe that substantially all of what we do is best done locally. Consequently, we have a broad field organization that allows us to develop and capitalize on our experience, expertise and relationships in each of our local markets which in turn enhances our customer relationships. Due to our presence in local markets, we believe we are well positioned to capture additional site leasing business and new tower build opportunities in our markets and identify and participate in site development projects across our markets.

Capturing Other Revenues That Flow From our Tower Ownership. To help maximize the revenue and profit we earn from our capital investment in our towers, we provide services at our tower locations beyond the leasing of antenna space, including antenna installation and equipment installation. Because of our ownership of the tower, our control of the tower site and our experience and capabilities in providing installation services, we believe that we are well positioned to perform more of these services and capture the related revenue.

Capitalizing on our Management Experience.Our management team has extensive experience in site leasing and site development services. Management believes that its industry expertise and strong relationships with wireless carriersservice providers will allow us to expand our position as a leading provider of site leasing and site development services.

Company Services

We provide our services on a local basis, through regional offices, territory offices and project offices, some of which are opened and closed on a project-by-project basis. Operationally, we are divided into threetwo regions throughoutin the Eastern portion of the United States, run by vice presidents. Each region is divided into sub-regions run by general managers and we have further divided each sub-region into geographic territories run by local managers. Within each manager’s geographic area of responsibility, he or she is responsible for all site development operations, including hiring employees and opening or closing project offices, and a substantial portion of the sales in such area.

Our executive, corporate development, accounting, finance, human resources, legal and regulatory, information technology and site administration personnel, and our network operations center are located in our headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. Certain sales, new tower build support and tower maintenance personnel are also located in our Boca Raton office.

Customers

Since commencing operations, we have performed site leasing and site development services for mostall of the largestlarge wireless service providers. The majority of our contracts have been for Personal Communications Systems, or PCS, enhanced specialized mobile radio, or ESMR, and cellular providers of wireless telephony services. We also serve wireless data and Internet, paging, PCS narrowband, specialized mobile radio, multi-channel multi-point distribution service, or MMDS, and multi-point distribution service, or MDS, wireless providers. In both our site development and site leasing businesses, we work with large national providers and smaller local, regional or private operators. We depend on a relatively small number of customers for our site leasing and site development revenues. Of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003, theThe following three customers represented at least 10% of our total revenues:revenues during at least one of the last three years:

 

Percentage of Revenue

Bechtel Corporation

14.3%

AT&T Wireless

10.8%

Cingular Wireless

10.2%

Of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2002, the following three customers represented at least 10% of our total revenues:

Percentage of Revenue

Bechtel Corporation

15.3%

Cingular Wireless

12.6%

AT&T Wireless

10.1%
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 

Cingular

  25.5% 22.7% 20.3%

Sprint Nextel

  20.8% 21.4% 13.5%

Bechtel Corporation

  5.0% 6.1% 10.4%

During the past two years, we provided services for a number of customers, including:

 

Airgate PCS

Alltel

  

Sprint Nextel

Alamosa PCS

Bechtel Corporation

  

Nextel Partners

ALLTEL

Cingular

  PAC 17/A.F.L.

Nokia

AT&T Wireless

Dobson Cellular Systems

  Siemens

PAC 17/A.F.L.

Bechtel Corporation

General Dynamics

  Sprint PCS

Siemens

Cingular Wireless

iPCS

  

T-Mobile

Dobson Cellular Systems

Leap Wireless

  

Triton PCS

General Dynamics

MA - COMM

  

U.S. Cellular

Horizon

Metro PCS

  US Unwired

Verizon Wireless

M/A – COMM

Motorola

  Verizon Wireless

Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing goals are to:

 

use existing relationships and develop new relationships with wireless service providers to lease antenna space on and purchasesell related services with respect to our owned or managed towers, enabling us to grow our site leasing business;

establish relationships with select communications systems vendors and large program management firms who use end-to-end services, including those provided by us, which will enable us to market our services and product offerings through additional channels of distribution; and

 

further cultivate customers to sellsuccessfully bid and win those site development services.services contracts that will contribute to our operating margins and/or provide a financial or strategic benefit to our site leasing business.

We approach sales on a company-wide basis, involving many of our employees. We have a dedicated sales force that is supplemented by members of our executive management team. Our dedicated salespeople are based regionally as well as in the corporate office. We also rely on our regional vice presidents, general managers and other operations personnel to sell our services and cultivate customers. Our strategy is to delegate sales efforts to those employees of ours who have the best relationships with our customers. Most wireless service providers have national corporate headquarters with regional and local offices. We believe that providers make most decisions for site development and site leasing services at the regional and local levels with input from their corporate headquarters. Our sales representatives work with provider representatives at the regional and local levels and at the national level when appropriate. Our sales staff compensation is heavily weighted to incentive-based goals and measurements. A substantial number of our operations personnel have revenue and gross profit-based incentive components in their compensation plans.

In addition to our marketing and sales staff, we rely upon our executive and operations personnel at the regional and territory office levels to identify sales opportunities within existing customer accounts.

Our primary marketing and sales support is centralized and directed from our headquarters office in Boca Raton, Florida and is supplemented by our regional and territory offices. We have a full-time staff dedicated to our marketing efforts. The marketing and sales support staff is charged with implementing our marketing strategies, prospecting and producing sales presentation materials and proposals.

Competition

WeIn the site leasing business, we compete with:

 

site development companies that acquire antenna space on existing towers for wireless service providers, manage new tower construction and provide site development services;

program management firms that operate in the wireless arena;

wireless service providers that own and operate their own towers and lease, or may in the future decide to lease, antenna space to other providers;

 

other large independent tower companies; and

 

smaller local independent tower operators.

Wireless service providers that own and operate their own tower networks and several of the other tower companies generally are substantially larger and have greater financial resources than we do. We believe that tower location and capacity, quality of service, density within a geographic market and, to a lesser extent, price historically have been and will continue to be the most significant competitive factors affecting the site leasing business.

Our primary competitors for our site leasing activities and building and/or acquiring new tower assets are fivethe large independent tower companies,companies: American Tower Corporation, Crown Castle International Corp., Global Signal, Inc., SpectraSite, Inc., and AAT Communications Corp., and Global Tower Partners, and a large number of smaller independent tower owners. In addition, we compete with AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS and other wireless service providers who currently market excess space on their owned towers to other wireless service providers.

The site development business is extremely competitive and price sensitive. We believe that the majority of our competitors in the site development business operate within local market areas exclusively, while some firms appear to offer their services nationally, including American Tower Corporation, Alcoa Fujikura Ltd., Bechtel Corporation, Black & Veach Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation, LCC International, Inc. and Wireless Facilities, Inc. The market includes participants from a variety of market segments offering individual, or combinations of, competing services. The field of competitors includes site development consultants, zoning consultants, real estate firms, right-of-way consulting firms, construction companies, tower owners/managers, radio frequency engineering consultants, telecommunications equipment vendors, which provide end-to-end site development services through multiple subcontractors, and wireless service providers’ internal staff. We believe that providers base their decisions for site development services on a number of criteria, including a company’s experience, track record, local reputation, price and time for completion of a project. WeWhile we believe that we competeour experience base and our established relationships with wireless service providers causes us to be viewed favorably, our margins in these areas.

this segment have significantly decreased in the last few years due to competition and a decrease in the demand for site development services.

Employees

As of December 31, 2003,2005, we had approximately 600515 employees, none of whom isare represented by a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our employee relations to be good.

Regulatory and Environmental Matters

Federal Regulations.Both the FCCFederal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) and the FAAFederal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”) regulate antenna towers and structures that support wireless communications and radio or television antennas. Many FAA requirements are implemented in FCC regulations. These regulations govern the construction, lighting and painting or other marking of towers and structures and may, depending on the characteristics of particular towers or structures, require prior approval and registration of towers or structures. Wireless communications equipment and radio or television stations operating on towers or structures are separately regulated and may require independent licensing depending upon the particular frequency or frequency band used.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, the FCC, in conjunction with the FAA, has developed standards to consider proposals involving new or modified antenna towers or structures. These standards mandate that the FCC and the FAA consider the height of the proposed tower or structure, the relationship of the tower or structure to existing natural or man-made obstructions and the proximity of the tower or structure to runways and airports. Proposals to construct or to modify existing towers or structures above certain heights must be reviewed by the FAA to ensure the structure will not present a hazard to air navigation. The FAA may condition its issuance of a no-hazard determination upon compliance with specified lighting and/or painting requirements. Antenna towers that meet certain height and location criteria must also be registered with the FCC. A tower or structure that

requires FAA clearance will not be registered by the FCC until it is cleared by the FAA. Upon registration, the FCC may also require special lighting and/or painting. Owners of wireless communications antenna towers and structures may have an obligation to maintain painting and lighting or other marking in conformance with FAA and FCC standards. Antenna tower and structure owners and licensees that operate on those towers or structures also bear the responsibility of monitoring any lighting systems and notifying the FAA of any lighting outage or malfunction. In addition, any applicant for an FCC antenna tower or structure

registration must certify that, consistent with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, neither the applicant nor its principals are subject to a denial of Federal benefits because of a conviction for the possession or distribution of a controlled substance. We generally indemnify our customers against any failure to comply with applicable regulatory standards. Failure to comply with the applicable requirements may lead to civil penalties.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 amended the Communications Act of 1934 by preserving state and local zoning authorities’ jurisdiction over the construction, modification and placement of towers. The law, however, limits local zoning authority by prohibiting any action that would (1) discriminate among different providers of personal wireless services or (2) ban altogether the construction, modification or placement of radio communication towers. Finally, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the federal government to help licensees for wireless communications services gain access to preferred sites for their facilities. This may require that federal agencies and departments work directly with licensees to make federal property available for tower facilities.

Owners and operators of antenna towers and structures may be subject to, and therefore must comply with, environmental laws. Any licensed radio facility on an antenna tower or structure is subject to environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, among other statutes, which requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental impact of their decisions under certain circumstances. The FCC has issued regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. These regulations place responsibility on applicants to investigate potential environmental effects of their operations and to disclose any potential significant effects on the environment in an environmental assessment prior to constructing or modifying an antenna tower or structure and prior to commencing certain operation of wireless communications or radio or television stations from the tower or structure. In the event the FCC determines the proposed structure or operation would have a significant environmental impact based on the standards the FCC has developed, the FCC would be required to prepare an environmental impact statement, which will be subject to public comment. This process could significantly delay the registration of a particular tower or structure.

As an owner and operator of real property, we are subject to certain environmental laws that impose strict, joint and several liability for the cleanup of on-site or off-site contamination and related personal or property damage. We are also subject to certain environmental laws that govern tower or structure placement, including pre-construction environmental studies. Operators of towers or structures must also take into consideration certain radio frequency (“RF”) emissions regulations that impose a variety of procedural and operating requirements. Certain proposals to operate wireless communications and radio or television stations from antenna towers and structures are also reviewed by the FCC to ensure compliance with requirements relating to human exposure to RF emissions. Exposure to high levels of RF energy can produce negative health effects. The potential connection between low-level RF energy and certain negative health effects, including some forms of cancer, has been the subject of substantial study by the scientific community in recent years. We believe that we are in substantial compliance with and we have no material liability under any applicable environmental laws. These costs of compliance with existing or future environmental laws and liability related thereto may have a material adverse effect on our prospects, financial condition or results of operations.

State and Local Regulations.Most states regulate certain aspects of real estate acquisition, leasing activities and construction activities. Where required, we conduct the site acquisition portions of our site development services business through licensed real estate brokers’ agents, who may be our employees or hired as independent contractors, and conduct the construction portions of our site development services

through licensed contractors, who may be our employees or independent contractors. Local regulations include city and other local ordinances, zoning restrictions and restrictive covenants imposed by community developers. These regulations vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but typically require tower and structure owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations, or certain other entities prior to tower or structure construction and establish regulations regarding maintenance and removal of towers or structures. In addition, many local zoning authorities require tower and structure owners to post bonds or cash collateral to secure their removal obligations. Local zoning authorities generally have been unreceptive to construction of new antenna towers and structures in their communities because of the height and visibility of the towers or structures, and have, in some instances, instituted moratoria.

Backlog

Our backlogBacklog related to our site leasing business consists of pending leases for antenna space on our towers varies from time to timelease agreements and reflects the relatively short-cycle of three to six months of the antenna space leasing process. Leasing backlogs vary widely within a fiscal quarter, and are generally lowest on the last day of a quarter as our customers strive to meet their own quarterly antenna site deployment goals.amendments, which have been signed but have not yet commenced. As of December 31, 20032005, we had136 122 new leases which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases contractually provided for approximately $2.6 million of annual revenue. By comparison, at December 31, 2004 we had 113 new leases and 154 amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases contractually provided for approximately $2.8$2.5 million of annual revenues. As of December 31, 2002 we had150 new leases and 9 amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases contractually provided for approximately $3.3 million of annual revenues.

Our backlog for site development services was approximately $80$48 million of contractually committed revenue as of December 31, 2005 as compared to approximately $62 million as of December 31, 2003 as compared to approximately $29 million as of December 31, 2002.2004. The increasedecrease in 20032005 is attributable to a 2003 contract received fromsigned with Sprint for site development work whichthat is expected to result in revenues of $70be completed by mid 2007. This contract represented approximately $26 million to $90 million over a two year period of which approximately $60 million is reflected in backlog as of December 31, 2003. We had no2005 and approximately $46 million in backlog for pending tower acquisitions as of December 31, 2003.2004.

Availability of Reports and Other Information

Our corporate website is www.sbasite.com. We make available, free of charge, access to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A and amendments to those materials filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 on our website under “Investor Relations - SEC Filings,” as soon as reasonably practicable after we file electronically such material with, or furnish it to, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”). In addition, the Commission’s website is www.sec.gov. The Commission makes available on this website, free of charge, reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, such as us, that file electronically with the Commission. Additionally, our reports, proxy and information statements may be read and copied at the Commission’s public reference room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. Information on our website or the Commission’s website is not part of this document.

 

ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business

We may not be able to service our substantial indebtedness.

As indicated below, we have and will continue to have a significant amount of indebtedness relative to our equity.

 

  As of December 31,

  As of December 31, 
  2003

  2002

  2005  2004 
  (in thousands)  (in thousands) 

Total indebtedness*

  $866,199  $1,019,046  $784,392  $925,797 

Shareholders’ equity

  $43,877  $203,490

Shareholders’ equity (deficit)

  $81,431  $(88,671)

 

*ExcludesExcludes deferred gain on interest rate swap of $4,559$1,909 at December 31, 2003 and $5,236 at December 31, 2002.2004.

Our ability to service our debt obligations will depend on our future operating performance. Our earnings were insufficient to cover our fixed charges for the year ended December 31, 2003 by $162 million and $184 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. Subsequent to December 31, 2003 we obtained a new senior credit facility. A portion of the proceeds from this facility were used to repay the then existing credit facility, to purchase 12% senior discount notes in the open market, to redeem all 12% senior discount notes outstanding on March 1, 2004, and to repurchase 10¼% senior notes in the open market. As adjusted for these transactions, we would require approximately $53.5 million of cash flow from operating activities (before net cash interest expenses) to discharge our cash interest and principal obligations for the year ending December 31, 2004. By comparison, for the year ended December 31, 2003, we generated $56.7 million of cash flow from operations (before net cash interest expenses). In order to manage our substantial amount of indebtedness, we may from time to time sell assets, issue equity, or

repurchase, restructure or refinance some or all of our debt.debt (all of which we have done at various times in the last two years). We may not be able to effectuate any of these alternative strategies on satisfactory terms in the future, if at all. The implementation of any of these alternative strategies may dilute our current shareholders or subject us to additional costs or restrictions on our ability to manage our business and as a result could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and growth strategy.

We may not have sufficient liquidity or cash flow from operations to repay the remaining amount of our outstanding senior credit facility, our 10¼% senior notes and our 9¾9 3/4% senior discount notes or our 8 1/2% senior notes upon their respective maturities in 2008, 2009 and 2011.maturities. Therefore, prior to the maturity of our outstanding debt

notes we may be required to refinance and/or restructure some or all of this debt. There can be no assuranceWe cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance or restructure this debt on acceptable terms or at all.all, and, in particular, we cannot assure you that interest rates will be favorable to us at the time of any such refinancing or restructuring. If we were unable to refinance, restructure or otherwise repay the principal amount of this debt upon its maturity, we may need to sell assets, cease operations and/or file for protection under the bankruptcy laws.

We may not have sufficient liquidity or cash flow from operations to repay the components of the mortgage loan that comprises part of the CMBS Transaction. Therefore, prior to the final repayment date for the components of the mortgage loan we may be required to refinance the mortgage loan or sell a portion or all of our interests in the 1,714 tower sites that. among other things, secure along with their operating cash flows the mortgage loan. Although, the mortgage loan is a limited recourse obligation of SBA Properties, Inc. and no holder of the mortgage loan will have recourse to SBA Communications, our operations would be adversely affected if SBA Properties is unable to repay the components of the mortgage loan. We cannot assure you that our assets would be sufficient to repay this indebtedness in full.

As of December 31, 2003, adjusted for the transactions discussed above,2005, we would have had approximately $21 million of additional borrowing capacityno borrowings under our $160.0 million senior credit facility of which $39.1 million was available (giving effect to leverage limitations contained in the indenture governing the 9 3/4% senior discount notes) subject to maintenance covenants, borrowing base limitations and other conditions. Furthermore, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our debt instruments, some of which may be secured debt.

We are dependentmay not secure as many site leasing tenants as planned or our lease rates for new tenant leases may decline.

If tenant demand for tower space or our lease rates for new tenant leases decrease, we may not be able to successfully grow our site leasing business. This may have a material adverse effect on our strategy, revenue growth and our ability to satisfy our financial and other contractual obligations. Our plan for the financial stabilitygrowth of our site leasing business largely depends on our management’s expectations and assumptions concerning future tenant demand and potential lease rates for independently owned towers.

If our wireless service provider customers combine their operations to a significant degree, our growth, our revenue and any deterioration in their financial condition may reduce the demandour ability to service our indebtedness could be adversely affected.

Demand for our services may decline if there is significant consolidation among our wireless service provider customers as they may then reduce capital expenditures in the aggregate because many of their existing networks and expansion plans overlap. As a result of regulatory changes in January 2003 which removed prior restrictions on wireless service providers from owning more than 45 MHz of spectrum in any given geographical area, there have been significant consolidations of the large wireless service providers. Specifically, Cingular acquired AT&T Wireless in October 2004 and Sprint PCS and Nextel merged to form Sprint Nextel Corporation in August 2005. To the extent that our customers have consolidated or that other customers may consolidate in the future, they may not renew any duplicative leases that they have on our towers and/or may not lease as much space on our towers in the future. This would adversely affect our growth, strategy, revenuesour revenue and financial condition.

Our business depends on the financial stability of our customers. The economic slowdown and intense competition in the wireless and telecommunications industries over the past several years have impaired the financial condition of some of our customers, certain of which operate with substantial leverage and certain of which have filed or may file for bankruptcy. The financial uncertainties facing our customers could reduce demand for our communications sites, increase our bad debt expense and reduce prices on new customer contracts. This could affect our ability to satisfyservice our obligations.indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2005, Cingular and the former AT&T Wireless both had leases on 274 of our 3,304 towers. The contractual revenue generated by these leases on these towers at December 31, 2005 was approximately $13.6 million. Consequently, if Cingular were not to renew duplicate leases, we could lose 50% or more of such revenue. As of December 31, 2005, the average remaining contractual life of such duplicate leases was approximately 2.9 years. Our risk of revenue loss from the integration of Cingular and AT&T is not limited to leases on the same tower. We expect Cingular to terminate or not renew some leases on our towers where they have other antenna sites in close proximity. Such terminations or non-renewals could have a material adverse impact on our growth rate.

In addition,As of December 31, 2005, Sprint Nextel and affiliated entities had multiple leases on 421 of our 3,304 towers. The contractual revenue generated by these leases on these towers at December 31, 2005 was approximately $19.7 million. Consequently, if Sprint Nextel were not to renew duplicate leases, we could lose 50% or more of such revenue. As of December 31, 2005, the average remaining contractual life of such duplicate leases was approximately 3.5 years. Our risk of revenue loss from the integration of Sprint Nextel merger is not limited to leases on the same tower. We expect Sprint Nextel to terminate or not renew some leases on our towers where they have other antenna sites in close proximity. Such terminations or non-renewals could have a material adverse impact on our growth rate.

Similar consequences may be negatively impacted by our customers’ limited access to debt and equity capital. Recently when capital market conditions were difficult for the telecommunications industry,occur if wireless service providers conserved capitalengage in extensive sharing or roaming or resale arrangements as an alternative to leasing our antenna space. Wireless voice service providers frequently enter into roaming agreements with competitors allowing them to use another’s wireless communications facilities to accommodate customers who are out of range of their home provider’s services. Wireless voice service providers may view these roaming agreements as a superior alternative to leasing antenna space on communications sites owned or controlled by not spending as much as originally anticipated to finance expansion activities. This decrease adversely impacted demandus or others. The proliferation of these roaming agreements could have a material adverse effect on our revenue.

We depend on a relatively small number of customers for most of our services and consequentlyrevenue.

We derive a significant portion of our financial condition. Asrevenue from a result, we adjusted our business during 2002 and early 2003 to significantly reduce and subsequently suspend any material investment for new towers andsmall number of customers, particularly in our site development activities. Ifservices business. The loss of any significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our revenue.

The following is a list of significant customers are not able to accessand the capital markets inpercentage of our total revenues for the future, our growth strategy, revenues and financial condition may again be adversely affected.specified time periods derived from these customers:

 

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 

Cingular

  25.5% 22.7% 20.3%

Sprint Nextel

  20.8% 21.4% 13.5%

Bechtel Corporation

  5.0% 6.1% 10.4%

We also have client concentrations with respect to revenues in each of our financial reporting segments:

   

Percentage of Site Leasing Revenue

for the year ended December 31,

 
   2005  2004  2003 

Cingular

  28.0% 27.5% 28.0%

Sprint Nextel

  15.0% 14.3% 13.9%

Verizon

  10.1% 9.5% 10.0%
   

Percentage of Site Development

Consulting Revenue

for the year ended December 31,

 
   2005  2004  2003 

Verizon Wireless

  32.4% 26.1% 13.6%

Cingular

  28.3% 26.6% 4.3%

Bechtel Corporation*

  23.3% 24.7% 40.3%
   

Percentage of Site Development

Construction Revenue

for the year ended December 31,

 
   2005  2004  2003 

Sprint Nextel

  34.9% 39.2% 15.3%

Cingular

  20.3% 12.5% 5.5%

Bechtel Corporation*

  11.6% 14.5% 28.9%

*Substantially all of the work performed for Bechtel Corporation was for its client Cingular.

Revenues from these clients are derived from numerous different site leasing contracts and site development contracts. Each site leasing contract relates to the lease of space at an individual tower site and is generally for an initial term of five years renewable for five five-year periods at the option of the tenant. Our site development customers engage us on a project-by-project basis, and a customer can generally terminate an assignment at any time without penalty. In addition, a customer’s need for site development services can decrease, and we may not be successful in establishing relationships with new customers. Furthermore, our existing customers may not continue to engage us for additional projects.

Our substantial indebtedness may negatively impact our ability to implement our business plan.

Our substantial indebtedness may negatively impact our ability to implement our business plan. For example, it could:

 

limit our ability to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and development costs;

 

limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;

 

increase our vulnerability to general economic and industry conditions;

 

subject us to interest rate risk;risk in connection with any potential future refinancing of our debt;

 

place us at a competitive disadvantage to our competitors that are less leveraged;

require us to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms in order to meet payment obligations; and

 

limit our ability to borrow additional funds.

Risks associated with our plans to increase our tower portfolio could negatively impact our results of operations or our financial condition.

We currently intend to increase our tower portfolio through new builds and acquisitions. We intend to review all available acquisition opportunities (including some that are currently available) and some of these acquisitions could have the effect of materially increasing our tower portfolio. While we intend to fund a portion of the cash required to implement this plan from our cash flow from operating activities, we may finance some or all of the costs associated with these new builds and acquisitions. Furthermore, if we were to consummate any significant acquisition, we would be required to finance these acquisitions through additional indebtedness, which would increase our indebtedness and interest expense and could increase our leverage ratio, and/or issuances of equity, which could be dilutive to our shareholders. If we were unable to recognize the expected returns from these new towers, or if we did not recognize the expected returns in our anticipated time frames, the increase in debt levels without a proportionate increase in our revenues could negatively impact our results of operations and our financial condition.

Due to the long-term expectation of revenue from our tenant leases, we are dependent on the financial strength and creditworthiness of our customers.

Due to the long-term nature of our tenant leases, we, like others in the tower industry, are dependent on the continued financial strength of our tenants. The economic slowdown and intense competition in the wireless and telecommunications industries in 2001 through 2003 had impaired the financial condition of some of our customers, certain of which operate with substantial leverage. As a result, a number of our site leasing customers have filed for bankruptcy including almost all of our paging customers. Although these bankruptcies have not had a material adverse effect on our business or revenues, any future bankruptcies may have a material adverse effect on our business, revenues, and/or the collectability of our accounts receivable. In the future, the financial uncertainties facing our customers could reduce demand for our communications sites, increase our bad debt expense and reduce prices on new customer contracts. This could affect our ability to satisfy our obligations.

In addition, our anticipated growth could be negatively impacted if our customers’ access to debt and equity capital were limited. From 2001 through 2003, when capital market conditions were difficult for the telecommunications industry, wireless service providers conserved capital by not spending as much as originally anticipated to finance expansion activities. This decrease adversely impacted demand for our services and consequently our financial condition. If our customers are not able to access the capital markets in the future, our growth strategy, revenues and financial condition may again be adversely affected.

Our debt instruments contain restrictive covenants that could adversely affect our business.

Our senior credit facility and the indentures governing our outstanding notes each contain certain restrictive covenants. Among other things, these covenants restrictlimit our ability to:

 

incur additional indebtedness;

 

sell assets;

 

pay dividends;dividends, or repurchase our common stock;

 

make certain investments; and

 

engage in other restricted payments.payments;

 

engage in mergers or consolidations;

incur liens; and

enter into affiliate transactions.

If we fail to comply with these covenants, it could result in an event of default under one or all of these debt instruments. The acceleration of amounts due under one of our debt instruments would also cause a cross-default under our other debt instruments.

SBA Senior Finance Inc.II LLC (“SBA Senior Finance”Finance II”), which owns, directly or indirectly, all of the common stock and membership interests of the majority of our operating subsidiaries, is the borrower under our senior credit facility. The senior credit facility requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding SBA Senior Finance’sFinance II’s debt to annualized operating cash flow, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges for each quarter. In addition, the senior credit facility contains additional negative covenants that, among other things, restrictlimit our ability to commit to capital expenditures and build or acquire towers without anchor or acceptable tenants. Our ability to meet these financial ratios and tests and comply with these covenants can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not be able to do so. A breach of any of these covenants, if not remedied within the specified period, could result in an event of default under the senior credit facility.

Upon the occurrence of any default, our senior credit facility lenders can prevent us from borrowing any additional amounts under the senior credit facility. In addition, upon the occurrence of any event of default, other than certain bankruptcy events, senior credit facility lenders, by a majority vote, can elect to declare all amounts of principal outstanding under the senior credit facility, together with all accrued interest, to be immediately due and payable. The acceleration of amounts due under our senior credit facility would cause a cross-default under our indentures, thereby permitting the acceleration of such indebtedness. If the indebtedness under the senior credit facility and/or indebtedness under our outstanding notes were to be accelerated, our current assets would not be sufficient to repay in full the indebtedness. If we were unable to repay amounts that become due under the senior credit facility, the senior credit facility lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. Substantially all of our assets are pledged as securityAmounts borrowed under the senior credit facility.facility are secured by a first lien on substantially all of Senior Finance II’s assets and are guaranteed by SBA Communications and certain of its subsidiaries. In such an event of default, our assets may not be sufficient to satisfy our obligations under the notes.

Our $405.0 million mortgage loan relating to our CMBS Certificates contains a covenant requiring all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents be deposited into a reserve account if the debt service coverage ratio falls to 1.30 times or lower, as of the end of any calendar quarter. Debt service coverage ratio is defined as the Net Cash Flow (as defined in the mortgage loan) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that SBA Properties, Inc. will be required to pay over the succeeding twelve months. If our wirelessthe debt service provider customers combine their operationscoverage ratio falls below 1.15 times as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to a significant degree, our growth, our revenue andprepay the mortgage loan. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to SBA Properties unless the debt service coverage ratio exceeds 1.30 times for two consecutive calendar quarters. Failure to maintain the debt service coverage ratio above 1.30 times would impact our ability to generate positivepay our indebtedness other than the mortgage loan and to operate our business.

The mortgage loan provides for customary remedies if an event of default occurs including foreclosure against all or part of the property pledged as security for the mortgage loan. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust and deeds to secure debt on substantially all of the 1,714 collateralized tower sites and their operating cash flow could be adversely affected.

Demand for our services may decline if there is significant consolidation among our wireless service provider customers as they may then reduce capital expendituresflows, (2) a security interest in substantially all of SBA Properties’ personal property and fixtures and (3) SBA Properties’ rights under the aggregate because manymanagement agreement with SBA Network Management, Inc. (who manages all of their existing networks and expansion plans overlap. In January 2003, the spectrum cap, which previously prohibited wireless carriers from owning more than 45 MHz of spectrum in any given geographical area, expired. Some wireless carriers may be encouraged to consolidate with each other as a result of this regulatory change and as a means to strengthen their financial condition. Economic conditions have resulted in the consolidation of several wireless service providers and this trend is likely to continue. To the

extentSBA Properties’ sites). We cannot assure you that our customers consolidate, they may not renew any duplicative leases that they have on our towers and/or may not lease as many spaces on our towersassets would be sufficient to repay this indebtedness in the future. This would adversely affect our growth, our revenue and our ability to generate positive cash flow. In February 2004, Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless entered into an agreement by which Cingular would acquire AT&T in a transaction anticipated to close in late 2004 or 2005. As of December 31, 2003 Cingular and AT&T were both tenants on 287 of our 3,032 towers. The contractual revenue generated by both of these tenants on these 287 towers at December 31, 2003 was approximately $12 million. If, as a result of this transaction, Cingular were not to renew duplicate leases, we could lose up to 50% of such revenue. The average remaining contractual life of such duplicate leases was approximately 3 years.

Similar consequences may occur if wireless service providers engage in extensive sharing or roaming or resale arrangements as an alternative to leasing our antenna space. Wireless voice service providers frequently enter into roaming agreements with competitors allowing them to use another’s wireless communications facilities to accommodate customers who are out of range of their home provider’s services. Wireless voice service providers may view these roaming agreements as a superior alternative to leasing antenna space on communications sites owned or controlled by us or others. The proliferation of these roaming agreements could have a material adverse effect on our revenue.

We depend on a relatively small number of customers for most of our revenue.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from a small number of customers, particularly in our site development services business. The loss of any significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our revenue.

The following is a list of significant customers and the percentage of our total revenues for the specified time periods derived from these customers:

   Percentage of Total Revenues
for the years ended
December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Bechtel Corporation

  14.3% 15.3%

AT&T Wireless

  10.8% 10.1%

Cingular Wireless

  10.2% 12.6%

We also have client concentrations with respect to revenues in each of our financial reporting segments:

   

Percentage of Site Leasing
Revenue for the years

ended December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

AT&T Wireless

  16.9% 15.5%

Cingular Wireless

  11.1% 10.8%

   

Percentage of Site

Development Consulting

Revenue for the years
ended December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Bechtel Corporation

  30.5% 34.2%

Cingular Wireless

  24.0% 29.6%

Verizon Wireless

  14.5% 3.9%

   

Percentage of Site
Development Construction

Revenue

for the years ended
December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Bechtel Corporation

  37.7% 28.1%

Sprint PCS

  12.9% 3.0%

Revenues from these clients are derived from numerous different site leasing contracts and site development contracts. Each site leasing contract relates to the lease of space at an individual tower site and is generally for an initial term of five years renewable for five five-year periods at the option of the tenant. Our site development customers engage us on a project-by-project basis, and a customer can generally terminate an assignment at any time without penalty. In addition, a customer’s need for site development services can decrease, and we may not be successful in establishing relationships with new customers. Furthermore, our existing customers may not continue to engage us for additional projects.

We may not secure as many site leasing tenants as planned or our lease rates may decline.

If tenant demand for tower space or our lease rates for new tenants decrease, we may not be able to successfully grow our site leasing business. This may have a material adverse effect on our strategy, revenue growth and our ability to satisfy our financial and other contractual obligations. Our plan for the growth of our site leasing business largely depends on our management’s expectations and assumptions concerning future tenant demand and potential lease rates for independently owned towers.

Due to the long-term expectations of revenue from our tenant leases, we are very sensitive to the creditworthiness of our tenants.

Due to the long-term nature of our tenant leases, we, like others in the tower industry, are dependent on the continued financial strength of our tenants. Wireless service providers often operate with substantial leverage, and financial problems for our customers could result in uncollected accounts receivable, the loss of customers and lower than anticipated lease revenues. During the past three years, a number of our site leasing customers have filed for bankruptcy including almost all of our paging customers. Although these bankruptcies have not had a material adverse effect on our business or revenues, any future bankruptcies may have a material adverse effect on our business, revenues, and/or the collectability of our accounts receivable.

full.

Our quarterly operating results for our site development services fluctuate and therefore should not be considered indicative of our long-term results.

The demand for our site development services fluctuates from quarter to quarter and should not be considered as indicative of long-term results. Numerous factors cause these fluctuations, including:

 

the timing and amount of our customers’ capital expenditures;

 

the size and scope of assignments;our projects;

 

the business practices of customers, such as deferring commitments on new projects until after the end of the calendar year or the customers’ fiscal year;

the number and significance of active projects during a quarter;

 

delays relating to a project or tenant installation of equipment;

 

seasonal factors, such as weather, vacation days and total business days in a quarter;

 

the use of third party providers by our customers;

 

the rate and volume of wireless service providers’ network development; and

 

general economic conditions.

Although the demand for our site development services fluctuates, we incur significant fixed costs, such as maintaining a staff and office space in anticipation of future contracts. In addition, the timing of revenues is difficult to forecast because our sales cycle may be relatively long. Therefore, we may not be able to adjust our cost structure in a timely basis to adjust toaccommodate market slowdowns.

We are not profitable and expect to continue to incur losses.

We are not profitable. The following chart shows the net losses we incurred for the periods indicated:

 

   For the years ended December 31,

   2003

  2002

  2001

   (in thousands)

Net losses

  $172,171  $248,996  $125,792

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Net loss

  $(94,709) $(147,280) $(175,148)

Our losses are principally due to significant interest expense and depreciation and amortization in each of the periods presented above. WeFor the year ended December 31, 2005, we recorded an asset impairment chargecharges of $17.0$0.4 million and a charge associated with the write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on the extinguishment of debt of $29.3 million. For the year ended December 31, 2004, we recorded an asset impairment charge of $7.1 million and a charge associated with the write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on the extinguishment of debt of $41.2 million. We recorded an asset impairment charge of $13.0 million, a charge associated with the loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt of $24.2 million, and a restructuring charge of $2.5$2.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2003. Additionally, we recognized a loss, net of taxes, of approximately $7.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 in connection with discontinued operations. We recorded restructuring and other charges of $47.8 million, a $60.7 million charge related to the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle related to the adoption of SFAS No. 142, and an asset impairment charge of $25.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2002. We recorded restructuring and other charges of $24.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2001.

In 2004, we expect to incur material additional charges for the write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt associated with the senior credit facility refinancing, 10¼% senior note repurchases and 12% senior discount note repurchases and redemptions which occurred subsequent to December 31, 2003. Interest expense and depreciation charges will continue to be substantial in the future.

incur significant losses which may affect our ability to service our indebtedness.

Increasing competition in the tower industry may adversely affect us.

Our industry is highly competitive, particularly with respect to securing quality tower assets and adequate capital to support tower networks.competitive. Competitive pressures for tenants on their towers from theseour competitors could adversely affect our lease rates and services income. In addition, the loss of existing customers or the failure to attract new customers would lead to an accompanying adverse effect on our revenues, margins and financial condition. Increasing competition could also make the acquisition of quality tower assets more costly.costly, which could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement and/or maintain our tower acquisition program.

WeIn the site leasing business, we compete with:

 

wireless service providers that own and operate their own towers and lease, or may in the future decide to lease, antenna space to other providers;

 

site development companies that acquire antenna space on existing towers for wireless service providers, manage new tower construction and provide site development services;

other large independent tower companies; and

 

smaller local independent tower operators.

Wireless service providers that own and operate their own tower networks and several of the other tower companies generally are substantially larger and have greater financial resources than we do. We believe that tower location and capacity, quality of service, density within a geographic market and, to a lesser extent, price historically have been and will continue to be the most significant competitive factors affecting the site leasing business.

The site development market includes participants from a varietyservices segment of market segments offering individual,our industry is also extremely competitive. There are numerous large and small companies that offer one or combinationsmore of competing services. We believe that a company’s experience, track record, local reputation, price and time for completion of a project have been and will continue to be the most significant competitive factors affecting theservices offered by our site development business. As a result of this competition, margins in this segment have decreased over the past few years. Many of our competitors have lower overhead expenses and therefore may be able to provide services at prices that we

consider unprofitable. If margins in this segment were to further decrease, our consolidated revenues and our site development segment operating profit could be adversely affected.

We may not be able to build and/or acquire as many towers as we anticipate.

We currently intend to build 80 to 100 new towers during 2006 and to consummate a number of tower acquisitions. However, our ability to build these new towers is dependent upon the availability of sufficient capital to fund construction, our ability to locate, and acquire at commercially reasonable prices, attractive locations for such towers and our ability to obtain the necessary zoning and permits.

Our ability to consummate tower acquisitions is also subject to risks. Specifically, these risks include (1) sufficient capital to fund such acquisitions, (2) our ability to identify those towers that would be attractive to our clients and accretive to our financial results, and (3) our ability to negotiate and consummate agreements to acquire such towers. Due to these risks, it may take longer to complete our new tower builds than anticipated, the costs of constructing or acquiring these towers may be higher than we expect or we may not be able to add as many towers as we had planned in 2006. If we are not able to increase our tower portfolio as anticipated, it could negatively impact our ability to achieve our financial goals.

The loss of the services of certain of our key personnel or a significant number of our employees may negatively affect our business.

Our success depends to a significant extent upon performance and active participation of our key personnel. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in retaining the services of these key personnel. We have employment agreements with Jeffrey A. Stoops, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Kurt L. Bagwell, our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Thomas P. Hunt, our Senior Vice President and General Counsel. We do not have employment agreements with any of our other key personnel. If we were to lose any key personnel, we may not be able to find an appropriate replacement on a timely basis and our results of operations could be negatively affected. We do not currently have a permanent Chief Financial Officer, and if we are unable to timely hire one, our business may be negatively impacted. Further, the loss of a significant number of employees or our inability to hire a sufficient number of qualified employees could have a material adverse effect on our business.

New technologies and their use by carrierswireless service providers may have a material adverse effect on our growth rate and results of operations.

The emergence of new technologies could reduce the demand for space on our towers. For example, the developmentincreased use by wireless service providers of signal combining and related technologies and products that allow two or more wireless service providers to provide services on different transmission frequencies using the communications antenna and other facilities normally used by only one wireless service provider could reduce the demand for our tower space. Additionally, the use of productstechnologies that would permit multiple wireless carriers to use a single antenna, share networksenhance spectral capacity, such as beam forming or “smart antennae,” that can increase the range and capacity of an antenna could reduce the number of antennas neededadditional sites a wireless service provider needs to adequately serve a certain subscriber base and therefore reduce demand for our tower space. The development and growth of communications and other new technologies that do not require ground-based sites, such as the growth in delivery of video, voice and data services by satellites or other technologies, could also adversely affect the demand for our customers.tower space. In addition, the deployment of WiFi and WiMax technologies could impact the network needs of our existing customers providing wireless telephony services. This could have a material adverse effect on our growth rate and results of operations.

Delays or changes in the deployment or adoption of new technologies as well as lower consumer demand and slower consumer adoption rates than anticipated may have a material adverse effect on our growth rate.

There can be no assurances that 3G or other new wireless technologies will be deployed or adopted as rapidly as projected or that these new technologies will be implemented in the manner anticipated. The deployment of 3G has already experienced significant delays from the original projected timelines of the wireless and broadcast industries. Additionally, the demand by consumers and the adoption rate of consumers for these new technologies once deployed may be lower or slower than anticipated. These factors could have a material

adverse effect on our growth rate since growth opportunities and demand for our tower space as a result of such new technologies may not be realized at the times or to the extent anticipated.

Our costs could increase and our revenues could decrease due to perceived health risks from radio frequency (“RF”) energy.

The government imposes requirements and other guidelines on our towers relating to RF energy. Exposure to high levels of RF energy can cause negative health effects.

The potential connection between exposure to low levels of RF energy and certain negative health effects, including some forms of cancer, has been the subject of substantial study by the scientific community in recent years. According to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”),FCC, the results of these studies to date have been inconclusive. However, public perception of possible health risks associated with cellular and other wireless communications media could slow the growth of wireless companies, which could in turn slow our growth. In particular, negative public perception of, and regulations regarding, health risks could cause a decrease in the demand for wireless communications services. Moreover, if a connection between exposure to low levels of RF energy and possible negative health effects, including cancer, were demonstrated, we could be subject to numerous claims. If we were subject to claims relating to RF energy, even if such claims were not ultimately found to have merit, our financial condition wouldcould be materially and adversely affected.

Our business is subject to government regulations and changes in current or future regulations could harm our business.

We are subject to federal, state and local regulation of our business. In particular, both the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”)FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”)FAA regulate the construction and maintenance of antenna towers and structures that support wireless communications and radio and television antennas. In addition, the FCC separately licenses and regulates wireless communications equipment and television and radio stations operating from such towers and structures. FAA and FCC regulations govern construction, lighting, painting and marking of towers and structures and may, depending on the characteristics of the tower or structure, require registration of the tower or structure. Certain proposals to construct new towers or structures or to modify existing towers or structures are reviewed by the FAA to ensure that the tower or structure will not present a hazard to air navigation.

Antenna tower owners and antenna structure owners may have an obligation to mark or paint towers or structures or install lighting to conform to FAA standards and to maintain such marking, painting and lighting. Antenna tower owners and antenna structure owners may also bear the responsibility of notifying the FAA of any lighting outages. Certain proposals to operate wireless communications and radio or television stations from antenna towers and structures are also reviewed by the FCC to ensure compliance with environmental impact requirements. Failure to comply with existing or future applicable requirements may lead to civil penalties or other liabilities and may subject us to significant indemnification liability to our customers against any such failure to comply. In addition, new regulations may impose additional costly burdens on us, which may affect our revenues and cause delays in our growth.

Local regulations, including municipal or local ordinances, zoning restrictions and restrictive covenants imposed by community developers, vary greatly, but typically require antenna tower owners and antenna structure owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations prior to tower or structure construction or modification. Local regulations can delay, prevent, or increase the cost of new construction, co-locations, or site upgrade projects, thereby limiting our ability to respond to customer demand. In addition, new regulations may be adopted that increase delays or result in additional costs to us. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our future growth and operations.

Our towers are subject to damage from natural disasters.

Our towers are subject to risks associated with natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes. We maintain insurance to cover the estimated cost of replacing damaged towers, but these insurance policies are subject to loss limits and deductibles. We also maintain third party liability insurance, subject to deductibles, to protect us in the event of an accident involving a tower. A tower accident for which we are uninsured or

underinsured, or damage to a significant number of our towers, could require us to make significant capital expenditures and may have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial condition.

We could have liability under environmental laws that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations, like those of other companies engaged in similar businesses, are subject to the requirements of various federal, state, local and foreign environmental and occupational safety and health laws and regulations, including those relating to the management, use, storage, disposal, emission and remediation of, and exposure to, hazardous and non-hazardous substances, materials, and wastes. As owner, lessee or operator of numerous tower sites, we may be liable for substantial costs of remediating soil and groundwater contaminated by hazardous materials, without regard to whether we, as the owner, lessee or operator, knew of or were responsible for the contamination. We may be subject to potentially significant fines or penalties if we fail to comply with any of these requirements. The current cost of complying with these laws is not material to our financial condition or results of operations. However, the requirements of these laws and regulations are complex, change frequently, and could become more stringent in the future. It is possible that these requirements will change or that liabilities will arise in the future in a manner that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our dependence on our subsidiaries for cash flow may negatively affect our business.

We are a holding company with no business operations of our own. Our only significant asset is and is expected to be the outstanding capital stock of our subsidiaries. We conduct, and expect to conduct, all of our business operations through our subsidiaries. Accordingly, our ability to pay our obligations, including the principal and interest, premium, if any, and additional interest, if any, on our outstanding 10¼9 3/4% senior discount notes and our 8 1/2% senior discount notes, is dependent upon dividends and other distribution from our subsidiaries to us. Additionally, SBA Properties as the borrower under the CMBS Transaction must repay the components of the mortgage loan thereto. If SBA Properties’ cash flow is insufficient to cover such repayments, we may be required to refinance the mortgage loan or sell a portion or all of our interests in the 1,714 tower sites that among other things, secure along with their operating cash flows the mortgage loan. Other than the amounts required to make interest and principal payments on the notes and repayment of amounts under the CMBS Transaction, we currently expect that the earnings and cash flow of our subsidiaries will be retained and used by

them in their operations, including servicing their debt obligations. Our operating subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities and have no obligation, contingent or otherwise to pay the principal, interest and other amounts on the notes, or repay the components of the mortgage loan pursuant to the CMBS Transaction (other than SBA Properties, as the borrower, and SBA CMBS-1 Guarantor LLC and CMBS-1 Holdings, LLC, as guarantors), or make any funds available to us for payment. The ability of our operating subsidiaries to pay dividends or transfer assets to us may be restricted by applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including the terms of the senior credit facility.facility and the CMBS Certificates. Although the indentureindentures governing the notes will limit the ability of our operating subsidiaries to enter into consensual restrictions on their ability to pay dividends to us, these limitations are subject to a number of significant qualifications and exceptions.

As a company whose common stock is publicly traded, we are subject to the rules and regulations of federal, state and financial market exchange entities.

 

ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

In response to recent laws enacted by Congress (most notably the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), some of these entities have recently issued new requirements and some are continuing to develop additional requirements (most notably, the requirements associated with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). Our material internal control systems, processes and procedures will have to be in compliance with the new requirements and such compliance may require the commitment of significant financial and managerial resources and significant changes to such controls, systems, processes and procedures.None.

 

Availability of Reports and Other Information

Our corporate website iswww.sbasite.com. We make available, free of charge, access to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A and amendments to those materials filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 on our website under “Investor Relations—SEC Filings,” as soon as reasonably practicable after we file electronically such material with, or furnish it to, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”). In addition, the Commission’s website iswww.sec.gov. The Commission makes available on this website, free of charge, reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, such as us, that file electronically with the Commission. Additionally, our reports, proxy and information statements may be read and copied at the Commission’s public reference room at 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549. Information on our website or the Commission’s website is not part of this document.

ITEM 2.PROPERTIES

We are headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, where we currently lease approximately 73,000 square feet of space. We have entered into long-term leases for regional and certain site development office locations where we expect our activities to be longer-term. We open and close project offices from time to time in connection with our site development business,business. We believe our existing facilities are adequate for our current and officesplanned levels of operations and that additional office space suited for new tower build projects are generally leased for periods not to exceed 18 months.our needs is reasonably available in the markets within which we operate.

Our interests in towers are comprised of a variety of fee interests, leasehold interests created by long-term lease agreements, private easements, easements and licenses or rights-of-way granted by government entities. Of the 3,0323,304 towers in our portfolio, approximately 16%10% are located on parcels of land that we own and approximately 84%90% are located on parcels of land that have leasehold interests created by long-term lease agreements, private easements and easements, licenses or right-of-way granted by government entities. In rural areas, a wireless communications site typically consists of up to a 10,000 square foot tract, which supports towers, equipment shelters and guy wires to stabilize the structure. Less than 2,500 square feet is required for a monopole or self-supporting tower structure of the kind typically used in metropolitan areas for wireless communication tower sites. Land leases generally have an initial term of five years with five or more additional automatic renewal periods of five years, for a total of thirty years or more. In some instances, we have entered into 99 year ground leases.

ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are involved in various legal proceedings relating to claims arising in the ordinary course of business. We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

 

ITEM 4.SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

No matter was submitted to the vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003.

2005.

PART II

 

ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

The Class A common stock commenced trading under the symbol “SBAC” on The NasdaqNASDAQ National Market System (“Nasdaq”NASDAQ”) on June 16, 1999. The following table presents trading informationthe high and low bid price for the Class A common stock for the periods indicated on the Nasdaq:indicated:

 

   High

  Low

Quarter ended March 31, 2003

  $1.45  $0.40

Quarter ended June 30, 2003

  $3.49  $1.11

Quarter ended September 30, 2003

  $4.13  $2.47

Quarter ended December 31, 2003

  $4.35  $3.10

Quarter ended March 31, 2002

  $14.05  $1.59

Quarter ended June 30, 2002

  $3.40  $1.14

Quarter ended September 30, 2002

  $1.92  $1.04

Quarter ended December 31, 2002

  $1.03  $0.19

   High  Low

Quarter ended December 31, 2005

  19.46  14.15

Quarter ended September 30, 2005

  16.84  13.40

Quarter ended June 30, 2005

  14.31  8.21

Quarter ended March 31, 2005

  10.10  7.96

Quarter ended December 31, 2004

  10.62  6.81

Quarter ended September 30, 2004

  7.11  4.15

Quarter ended June 30, 2004

  4.74  3.10

Quarter ended March 31, 2004

  5.43  3.28

As of March 10, 2004,3, 2006, there were 194161 record holders of our Class A common stock.

We have never paid a dividend on any class of common stock and anticipate that we will retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. Consequently, we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, we are restricted under theour CMBS Certificates, senior credit facility, the 9¾9 3/4% senior discount notes and the 10¼8 1/2% senior notes from paying dividends or making distributions and repurchasing, redeeming or otherwise acquiring any shares of common stock except under certain circumstances.

The following table gives information about our common stock that may be issued upon the exercise of options, warrants, and rights under all existing equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2003.2005:

 

  Equity Compensation Plan Information

  Equity Compensation Plan Information
  (in thousands except exercise price)  (in thousands except exercise price)
  Number of Securities to be
Issued Upon Exercise of
Outstanding Options,
Warrants and Rights


  

Weighted Average

Exercise Price of

Outstanding Options,

Warrants and Rights


  Number of Securities
Remaining Available for
Future Issuance Under Equity
Compensation Plans
(excluding securities reflected
in column)


  

Number of Securities to be

Issued Upon Exercise of

Outstanding Options,

Warrants and Rights

  

Weighted Average Exercise

Price of Outstanding

Options, Warrants and

Rights

  

Number of Securities Remaining

Available for Future Issuance

Under Equity Compensation

Plans (excluding securities

reflected in first column)

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders

  3,788  $7.79  8,159  4,575  $8.22  6,228

Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders

  —     —    —    —     —    —  
         

Total

  3,788  $7.79  8,159  4,575  $8.22  6,228
         

ITEM 6.SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL DATA

The following table sets forth selected historical financial data as of and for each of the five years ended December 31, 2003.2005. The financial data as of and for the fiscal years ended 2005, 2004, 2003 2002 and 20012002 have been derived from and are qualified by reference to, our restated audited consolidated financial statements. The financial data as of and for the fiscal yearsyear ended 2000 and 1999, have2001 has been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements. The unaudited financial data as of and for the yearsyear ended December 31, 2000 and 1999, have2001, has been derived from our books and records without audit and, in the opinion of management, includeincludes all adjustments, (consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments) that management considers necessary for a fair statement of results for these periods. The following consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to reflect the discontinued operations treatment of the disposition, or intended disposition of 848 towers.this period. You should read the information set forth below in conjunction with our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes to those consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K.

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003  2002  2001 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands except for per share data) 

Operating data:

      

Revenues:

      

Site leasing

  $161,277  $144,004  $127,852  $115,121  $85,519 

Site development

   98,714   87,478   64,257   99,352   115,773 
                     

Total revenues

   259,991   231,482   192,109   214,473   201,292 
                     

Operating expenses:

      

Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization shown below):

      

Cost of site leasing

   47,259   47,283   47,793   46,709   35,537 

Cost of site development

   92,693   81,398   58,683   81,565   92,755 

Selling, general and administrative

   28,178   28,887   30,714   32,740   39,697 

Restructuring and other charges

   50   250   2,094   47,762   24,399 

Asset impairment charges

   398   7,092   12,993   24,194   —   

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   87,218   90,453   93,657   95,627   73,390 
                     

Total operating expenses

   255,796   255,363   245,934   328,597   265,778 
                     

Operating income (loss) from continuing operations

   4,195   (23,881)  (53,825)  (114,124)  (64,486)
                     

Other income (expense):

      

Interest income

   2,096   516   692   601   7,058 

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   (40,511)  (47,460)  (81,501)  (54,822)  (47,713)

Non-cash interest expense

   (26,234)  (28,082)  (9,277)  (29,038)  (25,843)

Amortization of deferred financing fees

   (2,850)  (3,445)  (5,115)  (4,480)  (3,887)

Loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (29,271)  (41,197)  (24,219)  —     (5,069)

Other

   31   236   169   (169)  (56)
                     

Total other expense

   (96,739)  (119,432)  (119,251)  (87,908)  (75,510)
                     

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   (92,544)  (143,313)  (173,076)  (202,032)  (139,996)

Provision for income taxes

   (2,104)  (710)  (1,729)  (300)  (1,489)
                     

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (94,648)  (144,023)  (174,805)  (202,332)  (141,485)

(Loss) gain from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   (61)  (3,257)  202   (4,081)  74 
                     

Loss before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (94,709)  (147,280)  (174,603)  (206,413)  (141,411)

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   —     —     (545)  (60,674)  —   
                     

Net loss

  $(94,709) $(147,280) $(175,148) $(267,087) $(141,411)
                     

Basic and diluted loss per common share amounts:

      

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $(1.28) $(2.47) $(3.35) $(4.01) $(2.99)

Loss from discontinued operations

   —     (0.05)  —     (0.08)  —   

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   —     —     (0.01)  (1.20)  —   
                     

Net loss per common share

  $(1.28) $(2.52) $(3.36) $(5.29) $(2.99)
                     

Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding

   73,823   58,420   52,204   50,491   47,321 
                     

   As of December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003  2002  2001 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands) 

Balance Sheet Data:

      

Cash and cash equivalents

  $45,934  $69,627  $8,338  $61,141  $13,904 

Short-term investments

   19,777   —     15,200   —     —   

Restricted cash(1)

   19,512   2,017   10,344   —     —   

Property and equipment, net

   728,333   745,831   830,145   922,392   975,662 

Total assets

   952,536   917,244   958,252   1,279,267   1,394,280 

Total debt(2)

   784,392   927,706   870,758   1,024,282   845,453 

Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)(3)

   81,431   (88,671)  (1,566)  161,024   424,369 
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003  2002  2001 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands) 

Other Data:

      

Cash provided by (used in):

      

Operating activities

  $49,767  $14,216  $(29,808) $17,807  $28,753 

Investing activities

   (99,283)  1,326   155,456   (102,716)  (554,700)

Financing activities

   25,823   45,747   (178,451)  132,146   524,871 
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003  2002  2001 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 

Tower Data Rollforward:

      

Towers owned at the beginning of period

   3,066   3,093   3,877   3,734   2,390 

Towers constructed

   36   10   13   141   667 

Towers acquired

   208   5   —     53   677 

Towers reclassified/disposed of(4)

   (6)  (42)  (797)  (51)  —   
                     

Total towers owned at the end of period

   3,304   3,066   3,093   3,877   3,734 
                     

Other Tower Data:

      

Towers held for sale at end of period

   —     6   47   837   815 

Towers in continuing operations at end of period

   3,304   3,060   3,046   3,040   2,919 
                     
   3,304   3,066   3,093   3,877   3,734 
                     

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands) 

Operating Data:

                     

Revenues:

                     

Site leasing

  $127,842  $115,081  $85,487  $44,332  $23,176 

Site development

   84,218   125,041   139,735   115,892   60,570 
   


 


 


 


 


Total revenues

   212,060   240,122   225,222   160,224   83,746 
   


 


 


 


 


Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization shown below):

                     

Cost of site leasing

   42,021   40,650   30,657   16,904   10,742 

Cost of site development

   77,810   102,473   108,532   88,892   45,804 
   


 


 


 


 


Total cost of revenues

   119,831   143,123   139,189   105,796   56,546 
   


 


 


 


 


Gross profit

   92,229   96,999   86,033   54,428   27,200 

Operating expenses:

                     

Selling, general and administrative

   31,244   34,352   42,103   27,404   19,659 

Restructuring and other charges

   2,505   47,762   24,399   —     —   

Asset impairment charges

   16,965   25,545   —     —     —   

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   84,380   85,728   66,104   27,921   13,275 
   


 


 


 


 


Total operating expenses

   135,094   193,387   132,606   55,325   32,934 
   


 


 


 


 


Operating loss from continuing operations

   (42,865)  (96,388)  (46,573)  (897)  (5,734)

Other income (expense):

                     

Interest income

   692   601   7,059   6,253   881 

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   (81,501)  (54,822)  (47,709)  (4,879)  (5,244)

Non-cash interest expense

   (9,277)  (29,038)  (25,843)  (23,000)  (20,467)

Amortization of debt issuance costs

   (5,115)  (4,480)  (3,887)  (3,006)  (1,596)

Write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   (24,219)  —     (5,069)  —     (1,150)

Other

   169   (169)  (76)  68   48 
   


 


 


 


 


Total other expense

   (119,251)  (87,908)  (75,525)  (24,564)  (27,528)
   


 


 


 


 


Loss from continuing operations before provision for income taxes and cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   (162,116)  (184,296)  (122,098)  (25,461)  (33,262)

Benefit from (provision for) income taxes

   (1,820)  (309)  (1,493)  (1,195)  196 
   


 


 


 


 


Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   (163,936)  (184,605)  (123,591)  (26,656)  (33,066)

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   (7,690)  (3,717)  (2,201)  (2,259)  (1,525)
   


 


 


 


 


Loss before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   (171,626)  (188,322)  (125,792)  (28,915)  (34,591)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   (545)  (60,674)  —     —     —   
   


 


 


 


 


Net loss

   (172,171)  (248,996)  (125,792)  (28,915)  (34,591)

Dividends on preferred stock

   —     —     —     —     733 
   


 


 


 


 


Net loss applicable to shareholders

  $(172,171) $(248,996) $(125,792) $(28,915) $(33,858)
   


 


 


 


 


   As of December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands) 

Balance Sheet Data:

                     

Cash and cash equivalents(1)

  $8,338  $61,141  $13,904  $14,980  $3,131 

Short-term investments

   15,200   —     —     —     —   

Restricted cash(2)

   10,344   —     —     —     —   

Property and equipment (net)

   856,213   940,961   987,053   766,221   339,079 

Total assets

   982,982   1,303,365   1,407,543   948,818   429,823 

Total debt(3)

   870,758   1,024,282   845,453   248,273   320,767 

Total shareholders’ equity

   43,877   203,490   448,744   538,160   48,582 
   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

 
   (audited)  (audited)  (audited)  (unaudited) 
   (in thousands) 

Other Data:

                     

Cash provided by (used in):

                     

Operating activities

  $(29,808) $17,807  $28,753  $47,516  $23,134 

Investing activities

   155,456   (102,716)  (554,700)  (445,280)  (208,870)

Financing activities

   (178,451)  132,146   524,871   409,613   162,124 
   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

  2000

  1999

 
   (unaudited) 

Tower Data (Before Discontinued Operations Treatment):

                     

Towers owned at the beginning of period

   3,877   3,734   2,390   1,163   494 

Towers constructed

   13   141   667   779   438 

Towers acquired

   —     53   677   448   231 

Towers reclassified/disposed of(4)

   (797)  (51)  —     —     —   

Towers held for sale

   (61)  —     —     —     —   
   


 


 


 


 


Total towers owned at the end of period

   3,032   3,877   3,734   2,390   1,163 
   


 


 


 


 


Tower Data (After Discontinued Operations Treatment):

                     

Total towers owned at the end of period

   3,032   3,030   2,910   1,830   902 
   


 


 


 


 



(1)IncludesRestricted cash and cash equivalents of Telecommunications and its subsidiaries of $8.2 million, $60.9 million, $13.7 million, $13.6 million, $2.9$19.5 million as of December 31, 2003, 2002, 2001, 20002005 consisted of $17.9 million related to CMBS Mortgage loan requirements and 1999, respectively.

(2)$1.6 million related to surety bonds issued for our benefit. Restricted cash of $2.0 million as of December 31, 2004 was related to surety bonds issued for our benefit. Restricted cash of $10.3 million as of December 31, 2003 consistsconsisted of $7.3 million of cash held by an escrow agent in accordance with certain provisions of the Western tower sale agreement and $3.0 million related to surety bonds issued for our benefit.

 

(3)(2)Includes deferred gain on interest rate swap of $4.6$1.9 million and $5.2as of December 31, 2004, $4.6 million as of December 31, 2003 and $5.2 million as of December 31, 2002, respectively.

 

(3)Includes deferred gain from the termination of two interest rate swap agreements of $14.5 million as of December 31, 2005.

(4)Reclassifications reflect the combination for reporting purposes of multiple acquired tower structures on a single parcel of real estate, which we market and customers view as a single location, into a single owned tower site. Dispositions reflect the sale, conveyance or other legal transfer of owned tower sites.

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1B. Risk Factors of this Form 10-K. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Forward-looking statements” and Item 1B. Risk Factors.

We are a leading independent owner and operator of over 3,000 wireless communications towerstowers. We currently operate in the easternEastern third of the United States. We generate revenues fromStates, where substantially all of our two primary businesses,towers are located. Our principal business line is our site leasing and site development.business. In our site leasing business, we lease antenna space to wireless service providers on towers and other structures that we own, or manage for or lease from others. The towers that we own have

been constructed by us at the request of a carrier,wireless service provider, built or constructed based on our own initiative or acquired. As of December 31, 2005, we owned 3,304 towers, the substantial majority of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators, who like us, have built such towers taking into consideration co-location opportunities. In addition, through our site development business, we offer wireless service providers assistance in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.

The percentage of revenuesRevenues derived from the leasing of antenna space at, or on, communication towers continued to increase as a result of our emphasis on our site leasing business through the leasing and management of tower sites. Subsequent to the saleDuring 2004, we completed our previously announced plan of 784 towers to AAT Communications Corp. during 2003 (“Western tower sale”) we have focused our leasing activities in the eastern third of the United States where substantially alldisposing of our remaining towers are located.

Operating results in prior periods may not be meaningful predictors of future results. You should be aware of the significant changes in the nature and scope of ourservices business when reviewing the ensuing discussion of comparative historical results. The 784 towers sold in the Western tower sale during 2003 have been accounted for as discontinued operations in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Additionally, 64 towers located in the Western two-thirds of the United States that we had previously decided to sell have also been accounted for as discontinued operations in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. As of December 31, 2003, 61 of these towers remain as held for sale. All discussion related to the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods discussed in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” have been adjusted to reflect these towers as discontinued operations.

States.

Site Leasing Services

Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts. Site leasing revenues are received primarily from wireless communications companies.service provider tenants, including Alltel, Cingular, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Revenues from these clients are derived from numerous different site leasing contracts.tenant leases. Each site leasing contracttenant lease relates to the lease or use of space at an individual tower site and is generally for an initial term of five years, and is renewable for five five-year5-year periods at the option of the tenant. Almost all of our site leasing contractstenant leases contain specific rent escalators, which average 3-4% per year, including the renewal option periods. Site leasing contractsTenant leases are generally paid on a monthly basis and revenue from site leasing is recorded monthly on a straight-line basis over the current term of the related lease agreements. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded in deferred revenue.

Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:

 

Rental payments for rental on ground and other underlying property;property leases;

 

repairsStraight line rent adjustment for the difference between rental payments made and the expense recorded as if the payments had been made evenly throughout the minimum lease term (which may include renewal terms) of the underlying property lease;

Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);

 

utilities;Utilities;

 

Property insurance; and

 

propertyProperty taxes.

For any given tower, such costs are generally unrelated to the number of tenants on such tower.relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase significantly as a result of adding additional customers to the tower.

Site leasing revenues comprised 60.3% The amount of other direct costs associated with operating a tower varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower but typically do not make up a large percentage of total revenuesoperating costs. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing. Lastly, ground leases are generally for an initial term of 5 years or more with multiple renewal options of five year periods at our option and provide for rent escalators which typically average 3% - 4% annually or provide for term escalations of approximately 15%.

The table below details the year ended December 31, 2003, and 47.9%percentage of total company revenues forand operating profit contributed by the year ended December 31, 2002. Sitesite leasing contributed 93.1%segment. Information regarding the total and percentage of total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2003 and 76.7% of total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2002.

As a result of the Western tower sale, we reduced our tower portfolio by 784 towers. During 2003, to further improve efficienciesassets used in our portfolio, we decided to sell an additional 64 towers remaining in the western two-thirds of the United States, which were not part of the Western tower sale. Three of these towers were sold during the fourth quarter of 2003, leaving 61 towers held for sale at December 31, 2003.

Gross profit margins on the towers sold in the Western tower sale were relatively comparable to the gross profit margins on the towers we retained. Therefore, the sale of these towers is not expected to have a material impact on our site leasing gross profit margin. We do not anticipate making any other material changes toservices business is included in Note 21 of our tower portfolioConsolidated Financial Statements included in 2004.this Report.

 

As of December 31, 2003, we owned 3,032 towers, substantially all of which are in the eastern third of the United States. This number excludes the 61 towers held for sale at December 31, 2003.

   Percentage of
Revenues
  Operating Profit
Contribution
 

For the year ended December 31, 2005

  62.0% 95.0%

For the year ended December 31, 2004

  62.2% 94.1%

For the year ended December 31, 2003

  66.6% 93.5%

Site Development Services

Our site development business is a corollary to our site leasing business, and provides us the ability to (1) keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and (2) capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna installation and equipment installation at our tower locations. Our site development services business consists of two segments, site development consulting and site development construction, through which we provide wireless service providers a full range of end-to-end services. In the consulting segmentWe principally perform services for third parties in our core, historical areas of ourwireless expertise, specifically site development business, we offer clients the following services: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towersacquisition, zoning, technical services and antennas; (4) support in buying or leasing of the location; and (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits. In the construction segment of our site development business, we provide a number of services, including, but not limited to the following: (1) tower and related site construction; (2) antenna installation; and (3) radio equipment installation, commissioning and maintenance.

construction.

Site development services revenues are received primarily from wireless communications companiesservice providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless communications companies.service providers. Our site development customers engage us on a project-by-project basis, and a customer can generally terminate an assignment at any time without penalty. Site development projects, both consulting and construction, include contracts on a time and materials basis or a fixed price basis. The majority of our site development services are billed on a fixed price basis. Time and materials based site development contracts are billed and revenue is recognized at contractual rates as the services are rendered. Our site development projects generally take from 3three to 12twelve months to complete. For those site development consulting contracts in which we perform work on a fixed price basis, we bill the client, and recognize revenue, based on the completion of agreed upon phases of the project on a per site basis. Upon the completion of each phase, we recognize the revenue related to that phase.

Our revenue from construction projects is recognized on the percentage-of-completion method of accounting, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total anticipated cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion.

Revenue from our site development construction business may fluctuate from period to period depending on construction activities, which are a function of the timing and amount of our clients’ capital expenditures, the number and significance of active customer engagements during a period, weather and other factors.

Cost of site development consulting revenue and construction revenue include all costs of materials, salaries and labor costs, including payroll taxes, subcontract labor, vehicle expense and other costs directly and indirectly related to the projects. All costs related to site development consulting projects and construction projects are recognized as incurred.

OurSince 2001 our site development revenues andservices profit marginslevels have decreased significantly during 2002 and 2003. This decrease was primarily attributable toas a result of a substantial decline in capital expenditures by wireless carriersservice providers particularly during 2001-2003 as well as competitive pricing pressures that have driven margins below our desired levels. The table below provides the percentage of total company revenues and vigorous competition, particularlytotal segment operating profit contributed by site development services over the last three years. Information regarding the total and percentage of assets used in our site development services businesses is included in Note 21 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.

   For the year ended December 31, 
   Percentage of Revenues  Operating Profit Contribution 
   2005  2004  2003  2005  2004  2003 

Site development consulting

  5.2% 6.2% 6.4% 1.3% 1.6% 1.2%

Site development

  32.8% 31.6% 27.0% 3.7% 4.3% 5.4%

We have mitigated the decline in site development services revenues and operating profit levels by focusing on site leasing as our primary business as well as focusing on our core, historical areas of wireless expertise, specifically site acquisition, zoning, technical services and construction for our site development construction services business. During 2004, we completed our previously announced plan to exit the services business in the Western portion of the United States based on our determination that the business was no longer beneficial to our site leasing business. Gross proceeds realized from sales during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 were $0.4 million, and a loss on disposal of discontinued operations of $0.8 million was recorded, which adversely affectedis included in loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes in our volumeConsolidated Statements of activity and the pricing for our services.

   

Percentage of Revenues
For the years ended

December 31,


  

Gross Profit Contribution
For the years ended

December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

  2003

  2002

 

Site development consulting

  8.5% 11.3% 1.5% 6.8%

Site development construction

  31.2% 40.8% 5.5% 16.5%

Operations.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2003,2005, included herein. Note that ourOur preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.

Construction Revenue

Revenue from construction projects is recognized on the percentage-of-completion method of accounting, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total anticipated cost for each contract. This method is used because we consider total cost to be the best available measure of progress on each contract. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on each contract nears completion. The asset “Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts” represents expenses incurred and revenues recognized in excess of amounts billed. The liability “Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts” represents billings in excess of revenues recognized. See Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. We continuously monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain an allowance for estimated credit losses based upon our historical experience and any specific customer collection issues that we have identified. Establishing reserves against specific accounts receivable and the overall adequacy of our allowance is a matter of judgment. See the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Asset Impairment

We evaluate the potential impairment of individual long-lived assets, principally the tower sites. We record an impairment charge when we believe an investment in towers has been impaired, such that future undiscounted cash flows would not recover the then current carrying value of the investment in the tower site. We consider

many factors and make certain assumptions when making this assessment, including but not limited to;to: general market and economic conditions, historical operating results, geographic location, lease-up potential, and expected timing of lease-up. In addition, we make certain assumptions in determining an asset’s fair value less costs to sell for purposes of calculating the amount of an impairment

charge. Changes in those assumptions or market conditions may result in a fair value less costs to sell which is different from management’s estimates. Future adverse changes in market conditions could result in losses or an inability to recover the carrying value, thereby possibly requiring an impairment charge in the future. In addition, if our assumptions regarding future undiscounted cash flows and related assumptions are incorrect, a future impairment charge may be required. See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Effective January 1, 2003, we adopted the provisions of SFAS 143. Under the new accounting principle, we recognize asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of a fair value can be made and we accrete such liability through the obligation’s estimated settlement date. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the related tower fixed assets and depreciated over its estimated useful life.

Significant management estimates and assumptions are required in determining the scope and fair value of our obligations to restore leaseholds to their original condition upon termination of ground leases. In determining the scope and fair value of our obligations, assumptions were made with respect to the : historical retirement experience as an indicator of future restoration probabilities, intent in renewing existing ground leases through lease termination dates, current and future value and timing of estimated restoration costs, and the credit adjusted risk-free rate used to discount future obligations. While we feel the assumptions were appropriate, there can be no assurances that actual costs and the probability of incurring obligations will not differ from estimates. We will review these assumptions periodically and we may need to adjust them as necessary. See Note 5a to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

As our gross profit mix shifts more towards site leasing, operating results in prior periods may not be meaningful predictors of future results. You should be aware of the dramatic changes in the nature and scope of our business when reviewing the ensuing discussion of comparative historical results.

Year Ended 20032005 Compared to Year Ended 20022004

Revenues:

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  Percentage
of Revenues


  2002

  Percentage
of Revenues


  

Percentage
Increase

(Decrease)


 
   (dollars in thousands) 

Site leasing

  $127,842  60.3% $115,081  47.9% 11.1%

Site development consulting

   18,092  8.5%  27,204  11.3% (33.5)%

Site development construction

   66,126  31.2%  97,837  40.8% (32.4)%
   

  

 

  

 

Total revenues

  $212,060  100.0% $240,122  100.0% (11.7)%
   

  

 

  

 

   For the year ended December 31,    
   2005  Percentage
of Revenues
  2004  Percentage
of Revenues
  Percentage
Change
 
      (in thousands except for percentages)    

Site leasing

  $161,277  62.0% $144,004  62.2% 12.0%

Site development consulting

   13,549  5.2%  14,456  6.2% (6.3)%

Site development construction

   85,165  32.8%  73,022  31.6% 16.6%
                

Total revenues

  $259,991  100.0% $231,482  100.0% 12.3%
                

Site leasing revenue increased due to the increased number of tenants andnew tenant installations, the amount of lease amendments related to equipment added to our towers.towers and the towers we acquired and constructed during 2005. As of December 31, 20032005, we had 6,8478,278 tenants as compared to 6,3897,449 tenants at December 31, 2002.2004. During the year ended 2003, 88.7%2005, 82% of contractual revenues from new leases and amendments executed in 20032005 were related to new tenant installation and 11.3%18% were related to additional equipment being added by existing tenants. During the year ended 2002, 86.7%2004, 88% of contractual revenues from new leases and amendments executed in 20022004 were related to new tenant installation and 13.3%12% were related to additional equipment being added by existing tenants. Additionally, we have experienced onhigher average higher rents per tenant due to higher rents from new tenants, higher rents upon renewal by existing tenants and additional equipment added by existing tenants. BothLastly, we added 244 towers to our portfolio in 2005 versus only 15 towers in 2004.

Site development construction revenue increased primarily as a result of revenue generated from a services contract with Cingular in the North and South Carolina markets that was only in its initial stages in 2004. The increase in site development consultingconstruction revenue is also a result of an increase in the overall volume of work in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2005 as compared to the same periods of 2004.

Operating Expenses:

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization):

      

Site leasing

  $47,259  $47,283  (0.1)%

Site development consulting

   12,004   12,768  (6.0)%

Site development construction

   80,689   68,630  17.6%

Selling, general and administrative

   28,178   28,887  (2.5)%

Restructuring and other charges

   50   250  (80.0)%

Asset impairment charges

   398   7,092  (94.4)%

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   87,218   90,453  (3.6)%
          

Total operating expenses

  $255,796  $255,363  0.2%
          

Site development construction cost of revenue increased primarily as a result of the increase in volume related to the Cingular contract mentioned above, as well as an increase in the overall volume of work in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2005 as compared to the same periods of 2004.

Asset impairment charges decreased as a result of impairment charges taken on one tower for $0.2 million and the remaining value of the microwave network equipment of $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 as opposed to charges on 40 towers of $2.6 million and microwave network equipment of $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2004.

Operating Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations:

   For the year ended
December 31,
 
   2005  2004 
   (in thousands) 

Operating income (loss) from continuing operations

  $4,195  $(23,881)

The decrease in operating loss from continuing operations primarily was a result of higher revenues and lower overall operating expenses, in particular asset impairment charges, and a decrease in depreciation, accretion and amortization expense in 2005 as compared to 2004.

Segment Operating Profit:

   

For the year ended

December 31,

    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Segment operating profit

      

Site leasing

  $114,018  $96,721  17.9%

Site development consulting

   1,545   1,688  (8.5)%

Site development construction

   4,476   4,392  1.9%
          
  $120,039  $102,801  16.8%
          

The increase in site leasing segment operating profit was related primarily to additional revenue per tower generated by the increased number of tenants and tenant equipment on our sites in 2005 versus 2004, without a commensurate increase in the cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion, and amortization) due to property tax reductions and tower operating cost reduction initiatives.

Other Income (Expense):

   For the year ended
ended December 31,
    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Interest income

  $2,096  $516  306.2%

Interest expense

   (40,511)  (47,460) (14.6)%

Non-cash interest expense

   (26,234)  (28,082) (6.6)%

Amortization of deferred financing fees

   (2,850)  (3,445) (17.3)%

Loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (29,271)  (41,197) (28.9)%

Other

   31   236  (86.9)%
          

Total other expense

  $(96,739) $(119,432) (19.0)%
          

Interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees decreased primarily as a result of the declineredemptions of 35% of our 9 3/4% senior discount notes and our 8 1/2% senior notes from the gross proceeds of our May and October equity offerings totaling $226.9 million in capital expenditures by wireless2005.

The decrease in loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt was attributed to the write-off of $10.2 million of deferred financing fees and $19.1 million of losses on the extinguishment of debt resulting from the retirement of our 10 1/4% senior notes, refinancing our senior credit facility, and redemptions of 35% of our 9 3/4% senior discount notes and our 8 1/2% senior notes for the year ended December 31, 2005, versus a write-off of $13.1 million of deferred financing fees and $28.1 million of losses on the extinguishment of debt associated with the early retirement of our 12% senior discount notes, a significant portion of our 10 1/4% senior notes and the termination of a prior senior credit facility in the year ended December 31, 2004.

Adjusted EBITDA:

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Adjusted EBITDA

  $95,322  $78,794  21.0%

The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily the result of stronger performance of the site leasing segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2005 versus the year ended December 31, 2004.

Discontinued Operations, Net of Income Taxes:

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(61) $(3,257) 98.1%

Loss from discontinued operations of $3.3 million in 2004 was primarily a result of the loss on the western services business, which was sold in 2004, as compared to only trailing cost of $0.06 million recorded in 2005.

carriers for additional antenna sites and vigorous competition, which adversely affected our volume of activity and the pricing for our services.Net Loss:

 

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2005  2004  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Net loss

  $(94,709) $(147,280) 35.7%

The decrease in net loss is primarily a result of improved operating income (loss) from continuing operations, lower asset impairment charges, lower depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and lower interest expense and non-cash interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2005 as compared with the year ended December 31, 2004.

Cost of Year Ended 2004 Compared to Year Ended 2003

Revenues:

 

  For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

(Decrease)


   For the year ended December 31, 
  2003

  2002

    2004  

Percentage

of Revenues

 2003  Percentage
of Revenues
 Percentage
Change
 
  (in thousands)     (in thousands except for percentages) 

Site leasing

  $42,021  $40,650  3.4%  $144,004  62.2% $127,852  66.6% 12.6%

Site development consulting

   16,723   20,594  (18.8)%   14,456  6.2%  12,337  6.4% 17.2%

Site development construction

   61,087   81,879  (25.4)%   73,022  31.6%  51,920  27.0% 40.6%
  

  

                 

Total cost of revenues

  $119,831  $143,123  (16.3)%

Total revenues

  $231,482  100.0% $192,109  100.0% 20.5%
  

  

                 

Site leasing revenue increased due to the increased number of tenants and the amount of equipment added to our towers. During the year ended 2004, 88% of contractual revenues from new leases and amendments executed in 2004 were related to new tenant installation and 12% were related to additional equipment being added by existing tenants. During the year ended 2003, 89% of contractual revenues from new leases and amendments executed in 2003 were related to new tenant installation and 11% were related to additional equipment being added by existing tenants. Additionally, we have experienced higher average rents per tenant due to higher rents from new tenants, higher rents upon renewal by existing tenants and additional equipment added by existing tenants.

Both siteSite development consulting and construction cost of revenues decreased duerevenue increased primarily to lower levels of activity.

Gross Profit:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

(Decrease)


 
   2003

  2002

  
   (in thousands)    

Site leasing

  $85,821  $74,431  15.4%

Site development consulting

   1,369   6,610  (79.3)%

Site development construction

   5,039   15,958  (68.4)%
   

  

    

Total gross profit

  $92,229  $96,999  (4.9)%
   

  

    

Gross profit for the site leasing business increased as a result of higher revenues per tower and tower operating cost reduction initiatives. Gross profit from both site development consulting and construction decreased as a result of the lower volumes and lower pricing withoutsignificant services contract awarded by Sprint in mid 2003, which increased our volume of activity for the year ended December 31, 2004 compared to the same period a commensurate reduction in cost.year ago.

Gross Profit Margin Percentages:

   

Percentage of revenue
For the years ended

December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Site leasing

  67.1% 64.6%

Site development consulting

  7.6% 24.3%

Site development construction

  7.6% 16.3%

Gross profit margin

  43.5% 40.4%

Operating Expenses:

 

  For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

(Decrease)


   For the year ended
December 31,
   
  2003

  2002

    2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
  (in thousands)     (in thousands)   

Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization):

      

Site leasing

  $47,283  $47,793  (1.1)%

Site development consulting

   12,768   11,350  12.5%

Site development construction

   68,630   47,333  45.0%

Selling, general and administrative

  $31,244  $34,352  (9.0)%   28,887   30,714  (5.9)%

Restructuring and other charges

   2,505   47,762  (94.8)%   250   2,094  (88.1)%

Asset impairment charges

   16,965   25,545  (33.6)%   7,092   12,993  (45.4)%

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   84,380   85,728  (1.6)%   90,453   93,657  (3.4)%
  

  

           

Total operating expenses

  $135,094  $193,387  (30.1)%  $255,363  $245,934  3.8%
  

  

           

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreasedCost of revenues increased primarily as a result of reductionsdue to increased activity associated with the significant services contract awarded by Sprint in mid 2003 related to the number of offices, elimination of personnel and elimination of other infrastructure. As of December 31, 2003, we had approximately 600 employees whereas as of December 2002, we had approximately 750 employees.

site development construction business.

In 2003,2004, we recognized approximately $17.0$7.1 million in asset impairment charges related to 70 towers.40 towers and a microwave network. By comparison, in 20022003 we recognized approximately $16.4$13.0 million of asset impairment charges related to 14470 towers. The impairment of operational tower assets resulted primarily from our evaluations of the fair

value of our operating tower portfolio through a discounted cash flow analysis. Towers determined to be impaired were primarily towers with no tenants and/or with little or deteriorating prospects for future lease-up. In addition, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased primarily due to the 2002 asset impairment charge included $9.2reduction of bad debt expense of approximately $2.0 million of goodwill that was recorded during the first two quarters of 2002, which was determined to be impaired during June 2002 when the transitional impairment test of goodwill was performed under SFAS 142.

In February 2002, as a result of the deteriorationimproved collections and credit quality of capital market conditions for wireless carriers, we reduced our capital expenditures for new tower development and acquisition activities, suspended any new investment for additional towers, reduced our workforce and closed or consolidated offices. Of the $47.3 million charge recorded during the year ended December 31, 2002, approximately $40.4 million related to the abandonment of new tower build and acquisition work in progress and related construction materials on approximately 764 sites. The remaining $6.9 million related primarily to the costs of employee separation for approximately 470 employees and exit costs associated with the closing and consolidation of approximately 40 offices. During 2003, in response to a decline in expenditures by wireless service providers, particularly with respect to site development activities, we committed to new plans of restructuring associated with further downsizing activities. Of the $2.5 million charge recorded for the year ended December 31, 2003, approximately $0.6 million related to the abandonment of new tower build work in process and trailing costs associated with previously abandoned new tower build work in process. The remaining $1.9 million related primarily to the costs of employee separation for approximately 165 employees and exit costs associated with the closing or consolidation of 17 offices. Annualized aggregate lease costs associated with the 17 offices closed or consolidated during 2003 were $0.7 million.

receivables.

Operating Loss Fromfrom Continuing Operations:

 

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

(Decrease)


 
   2003

  2002

  
   (in thousands)    

Operating loss from continuing operations

  $(42,865) $(96,388) (55.5%)

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Operating loss from continuing operations

  $(23,881) $(53,825) (55.6)%

This decrease in operating loss from continuing operations primarily was a result of lower restructuring and other chargeshigher revenues and lower asset impairment charges in 20032004 as compared to 2002.

2003.

Other Expense:Segment Operating Profit:

 

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase


 
   2003

  2002

  
   (in thousands)    

Interest income

  $692  $601  15.1%

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   (90,778)  (83,860) 8.2%

Amortization of debt issue costs

   (5,115)  (4,480) 14.2%

Write-off of deferred financial fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   (24,219)  —    100.0%

Other

   169   (169) 200.0%
   


 


   
   $(119,251) $(87,908) 35.7%
   


 


   
   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Segment operating profit

      

Site leasing

  $96,721  $80,059  20.8%

Site development consulting

   1,688   987  71.0%

Site development construction

   4,392   4,587  (4.2)%
          
  $102,801  $85,633  20.0%
          

The increase in site leasing segment operating profit related primarily to additional revenue per tower generated by the increased number of tenants on our sites in 2004 versus 2003, without a commensurate increase in the cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion, and amortization) due to tower operating cost reduction initiatives.

Other Income (Expense):

 

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Interest income

  $516  $692  (25.4)%

Interest expense

   (47,460)  (81,501) (41.8)%

Non-cash interest expense

   (28,082)  (9,277) 202.7%

Amortization of debt issuance costs

   (3,445)  (5,115) (32.6)%

Loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (41,197)  (24,219) 70.1%

Other

   236   169  39.6%
          

Total other expense

  $(119,432) $(119,251) 0.2%
          

Interest expense increaseddecreased in 2004 primarily as a result of higher borrowingsthe repurchases and higher weighted average interest rates. Additionally,redemption of the 12% senior discount notes with proceeds from the 9 3/4% senior discount notes issued in December 2003 and proceeds from our prior senior credit facility which we obtained in January 2004, as well as repurchases of our 10 1/4% senior notes throughout 2004.

Non cash interest expense increased due to the amortization of the original interest discount of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes, which were issued to refinance the 12% senior discount notes in 2002 was reduced as a result of our interest rate swap agreement that existed during most of 2002. late 2003.

The increase in loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt is attributablewas attributed to a write-off of $13.1 million of deferred financing fees and a $28.1 million loss on the extinguishment of debt associated with the early retirement of our 12% senior discount notes, a significant portion of our 10 1/4% senior notes and the termination of the May 2003 senior credit facility in the year ended December 31, 2004 versus the write-off of $4.4 million of deferred financing fees associated with the terminationrefinancing of the priorour senior credit facility loans which were repaid in full, and a loss on extinguishment of debt of $19.8 million associated withrelating to the early retirement of a portionrepurchase of our 12% senior discount notes and our 10¼% senior notes. We expect to incur additional material chargesfor the comparable period in 2003.

Adjusted EBITDA:

   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Adjusted EBITDA

  $78,794  $61,018  29.1%

The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily the result of improvement in the site leasing segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2004 fromversus the write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt associated with the senior credit refinancing, the 10¼% senior note repurchases and the 12% senior discount note repurchases and redemptions which occurred subsequent toyear ended December 31, 2003.

Discontinued Operations:Operations, Net of Income Taxes:

 

   For the years ended
December 31,


  Percentage 
   

2003


  2002

  Increase

 
   (in thousands) 

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(7,690) $(3,717) 106.9%
   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(3,257) $202  (1,712.4)%

As previously discussedThe increase in loss from discontinued operations was primarily a total of 848 towers (784result the loss on the western services business which was sold in 2004 versus the gain from discontinued operations relating to the towers sold in the Western tower sale and 64 additional towers held for sale) meet the criteria for discontinued operations treatment. The increase in loss from discontinued operations resulted primarily from a loss on sale of $2.1 million related to the Western tower sale.2003.

Cumulative Effect of Changes In Accounting Principle:

 

   For the years ended
December 31,


  Percentage 
   2003

  2002

  (Decrease)

 
   (in thousands) 

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

  $(545) $(60,674) (99.1%)
   

For the year ended

December 31,

    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $—    $545  (100.0)%

Effective January 1, 2003, we adopted a method of accounting for asset retirement obligations in accordance with SFAS 143. Under the new accounting principle, we recognize asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of a fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of our tower fixed assets. The2003 cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle was the changeresult of the adoption of SFAS 143 on prior years resulted in a cumulative effect adjustment of approximately $0.5 million that is included in net loss for the year ended December 31, 2003.

During 2002, we completed the transitional impairment test of goodwill required under SFAS 142, which was adopted effective January 1, 2002. As a result of completing the required transitional test, we recorded a charge retroactive to the adoption date for the cumulative effect of accounting change in the amount of $60.7 million representing the excess of the carrying value of certain assets as compared to their estimated fair value. Of the total $60.7 million cumulative effect adjustment, $58.5 million related to the site development construction reporting segment and $2.2 million related to the site leasing reporting segment.

2003.

Net Loss:

 

   

For the years ended

December 31,


  Percentage 
   2003

  2002

  

(Decrease)


 
   (in thousands) 

Net loss

  $(172,171) $(248,996) (30.9%)
   For the year ended
December 31,
    
   2004  2003  Percentage
Change
 
   (in thousands)    

Net loss

  $(147,280) $(175,148) (15.9)%

ThisThe decrease in net loss is primarily a result of lower restructuring and other charges,improved operating income (loss) from continuing operations, lower asset impairment charges and lower amounts resulting from a cumulative effect in change in accounting principle offset by an increase in interestdepreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and write offs associated with the extinguishment of debt. We expect to incur additional net losses in 2004.

Year Ended 2002 Compared to Year Ended 2001

Revenues:

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2002

  Percentage of
Revenues


  2001

  Percentage of
Revenues


  

Percentage
Increase

(Decrease)


 
   (dollars in thousands)    

Site leasing

  $115,081  47.9% $85,487  38.0% 34.6%

Site development consulting

   27,204  11.3%  24,251  10.8% 12.2%

Site development construction

   97,837  40.8%  115,484  51.2% (15.3%)
   

  

 

  

   

Total revenues

  $240,122  100% $225,222  100% 6.6%
   

  

 

  

   

Site leasing revenue increased due to the increased number of tenants added to our towers, higher average rents received and the increase in the number of towers in our portfolio. As of December 31, 2002 we had 6,389 tenants as compared to 5,558 tenants at December 31, 2001. Site development consulting revenues increased due to several new contracts for site acquisition and zoning services from wireless communications carriers. Site development construction revenue decreased due primarily to reduced carrier activity and price competition resulting from lower capital expenditures by wireless carriers on or around cell sites.

Cost of Revenues:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

 
   2002

  2001

  (Decrease)

 
   (in thousands) 

Site leasing

  $40,650  $30,657  32.6%

Site development consulting

   20,594   17,097  20.5%

Site development construction

   81,879   91,435  (10.5%)
   

  

    

Total cost of revenues

  $143,123  $139,189  2.8%
   

  

    

Site leasing cost of revenue increased due to the increased number of towers owned resulting in an increased amount of lease payments to site owners and related site costs as well as increases in operating costs of certain sites, maintenance and property taxes. Site development consulting cost of revenue increased, reflecting higher levels of activity and increased personnel costs. Site development construction cost of revenue decreased, due primarily to lower levels of activity.

Gross Profit:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

 
   2002

  2001

  (Decrease)

 
   (in thousands) 

Site leasing

  $74,431  $54,830  35.7%

Site development consulting

   6,610   7,154  (7.6%)

Site development construction

   15,958   24,049  (33.6%)
   

  

    

Total gross profit

  $96,999  $86,033  12.7%
   

  

    

Gross profit for the site leasing business increased as a result of the increased number of tenants added to our towers, and to a lesser extent, additional towers added to our portfolio. Gross profit decreased for both site development consulting and construction. This decrease primarily resulted from lower pricing for our services due to competition.

Gross Profit Margin Percentages:

   Percentage of revenue 
  For the years ended December 31,

 
  2002

  2001

 

Site leasing

  64.7% 64.1%

Site development consulting

  24.3% 29.5%

Site development construction

  16.3% 20.8%

Gross profit margin

  40.4% 38.2%

Operating Expenses:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

 
   2002

  2001

  (Decrease)

 
   (in thousands) 

Selling, general and administrative

  $34,352  $42,103  (18.4%)

Restructuring and other charges

   47,762   24,399  95.8%

Asset impairment charges

   25,545   —    100.0%

Depreciation and amortization

   85,728   66,104  29.7%
   

  

    

Total operating expenses

  $193,387  $132,606  45.8%
   

  

    

The decrease in selling, general and administrativerestructuring expense primarily resulted from a decrease in tower developmental expenses as well as the reduction of offices, elimination of personnel and elimination of other infrastructure that had previously been necessary to support our prior level of new asset growth but was no longer required as a result of the restructurings previously discussed. Included within selling, general and administrative expenses is a provision for doubtful accounts. The provision for doubtful accounts increased to $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2002 from $2.6 million for2004 as compared with the year ended December 31, 2001, reflecting our assessment of a more challenging financial environment for our customers.

During the year ended December 31, 2002 we incurred restructuring charges in the amount of $47.3 million. Of the $47.3 million charge, approximately $40.4 million related to the abandonment of new tower build and acquisition work in process and related construction materials on approximately 764 sites. The remaining $6.9 million of restructuring expense related primarily to the costs of employee separation for approximately 470 employees and exit costs associated with the closing and consolidation of approximately 40 offices. Exit costs associated with the closing and consolidation of offices primarily represented our estimate of future lease obligations after considering sublease opportunities.

In the first quarter of 2002, certain tower sites held and used in operations were considered to be impaired resulting in a $16.4 million impairment charge. Towers determined to be impaired were primarily towers with no tenants and little or no prospects for future lease-up. In addition, during the first six months of 2002, we recorded additional goodwill totaling approximately $9.2 million resulting from the achievement of certain earn-out obligations under various construction acquisition agreements entered into prior to July 1, 2001, which was determined to be impaired and written off. The $16.4 million and the $9.2 million are included within asset impairment charges in the year ended December 31, 2002 Consolidated Statement of Operations.

The increase in depreciation, amortization and accretion is directly related to the increased amount of fixed assets, primarily towers, we owned in 2002 as compared to 2001, offset by a decrease in amortization resulting from the write-off of goodwill which was recorded in connection with the implementation of SFAS No. 142.

Operating Loss From Continuing Operations:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

 
   

2002


  2001

  

(Decrease)


 
   (in thousands) 

Operating loss from continuing operations

  $(96,388) $(46,573) 107.0%

This increase in operating loss was a result of increased restructuring and other charges and the asset impairment charges recorded in the year ended December 31, 2002.

Other Expenses:

   For the years ended
December 31,


  

Percentage

Increase

 
   2002

  2001

  (Decrease)

 
   (in thousands) 

Interest income

  $601  $7,059  (91.5%)

Interest expense

   (83,860)  (73,552) 14.0%

Amortization of debt issue costs

   (4,480)  (3,887) 15.3%

Write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   —     (5,069) (100.0%)

Other

   (169)  (76) 122.4%
   


 


   

Total other expenses

  $(87,908) $(75,525) 16.4%
   


 


   

Total other expenses increased primarily as a result of a reduction in interest income, increased interest expense, and increased non-cash amortization of original issue discount and debt issuance costs. The decrease in interest income was due to lower cash balances during 2002. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to higher principal amounts outstanding under the senior credit facility in 2002 as compared to 2001 and to a full quarter of interest expense on our $500.0 million 10¼% senior notes in the first quarter of 2002 compared to a partial quarter of interest expense on these senior notes in the first quarter of 2001. Although the aggregate principal amount of total debt increased from the prior year, the resulting increase in interest expense associated with the higher principal in 2002 was offset in part by the interest rate reduction we recognized in connection with our interest rate swap agreement. The increase in non-cash amortization was primarily due to higher accretion on the 12% senior discount notes.

Discontinued Operations:

   For the years ended
December 31,
  Percentage 
  2002

  2001

  Increase

 
  (in thousands) 

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(3,717) $(2,201) 68.9%

The increase in loss is primarily attributable to interest expense allocated to discontinued operations in 2002. No interest expense was allocated to discontinued operations in 2001 as a result of the lower debt balances in 2001 as compared to 2002.

Cumulative Effect of Changes in Accounting Principle:

   

For the years ended

December 31,

  Percentage

 
   2002

  2001

  Increase

 
   (in thousands) 

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $(60,674) —    100.0%

During the period ended June 30, 2002, we completed the transitional impairment test of goodwill required under SFAS 142, which was adopted effective January 1, 2002. As a result of completing the required transitional test, we recorded a charge retroactive to the adoption date for the cumulative effect of the accounting change in the amount of $60.7 million, representing the excess of the carrying value of certain assets as compared to their estimated fair value at January 1, 2002. Of the total $60.7 million cumulative effect adjustment, $58.5 million related to the site development construction reporting segment and $2.2 million related to the site leasing reporting segment.

Net Loss:

   

For the years ended

December 31,

  Percentage 
   

2002


  2003

  

Increase


 
   (in thousands) 

Net loss

  $(248,996)  $(125,792) 97.9%

As a result of the factors discussed above, net loss significantly increased from 2001 to 2002.

2003.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

SBA Communications Corporation (“SBA Communications”) is a holding company with no business operations of its own. Our only significant asset is the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, Inc. (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns the outstanding capital stock of SBA Senior Finance. SBA Senior Finance owns, directly or indirectly, the capital stock of our subsidiaries.subsidiaries or is the sole member if the subsidiary is a limited liability company (“LLC”). We conduct all of our business operations through our SBA Senior Finance subsidiaries.

Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries. Even if we decided to pay a dividend on or make a distribution of the capital stock of our subsidiaries, we cannot assure you that our subsidiaries will generate sufficient cash flow to pay a dividend. The ability of our subsidiaries to pay cash or stock dividends is restricted under the terms of our currentCMBS Certificates, senior credit facility.

facility and the indentures for the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and the 8 1/2% senior notes.

A summary of our cash flows is as follows:

 

   

For the year ended

December 31, 2003


 
   (in thousands) 

Summary Cash Flow Information:

     

Cash used in operations

  $(29,808)

Cash provided by investing activities

   155,456 

Cash used in financing activities

   (178,451)
   


Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

   (52,803)

Cash and cash equivalents, December 31, 2002

   61,141 
   


Cash and cash equivalents, December 31, 2003

  $8,338 
   


   For the year ended
December 31, 2005
 
   (in thousands) 

Summary cash flow information:

  

Cash provided by operating activities

  $49,767 

Cash used in investing activities

   (99,283)

Cash provided by financing activities

   25,823 
     

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

   (23,693)

Cash and cash equivalents, December 31, 2004

   69,627 
     

Cash and cash equivalents, December 31, 2005

  $45,934 
     

Sources of Liquidity:Liquidity

We have traditionally funded our growth, including our tower portfolio growth, through long-term indebtedness. During 2003 and 2004, we sold 784 sites, representing substantially allissued long-term indebtedness to permit us to redeem our older, more expensive, outstanding notes and reduce our weighted cost of our towers in the western two-thirds of the United States, in exchange for gross cash proceeds of approximately $196.7 million. As a result of this transaction, we produced cash from investing activities. The purchase and sale agreement contained a number of provisions providing for adjustments to the purchase price. We anticipate that the final gross cash proceeds to be realized from the Western tower sale, after all potential purchase price adjustments, will be approximately $194.1 million.

debt. In December 2003, SBA Communications and Telecommunications co-issued $402.0 million of its 9¾aggregate principal amount at maturity of their 9 3/4% senior discount notes, which produced netand used the proceeds of approximately $267.1 million after deducting offering expenses. Proceeds from the senior discount notes were used to tender for approximately $153.3 millionredeem and/or repurchase all of our 12% senior discount notes and to repurchase a portion of our 10 1/4% senior notes. In December 2004, we issued $250.0 million of our 8 1/2% senior notes and used the proceeds to redeem and/or repurchase all of our outstanding 10 1/4% senior notes, of which we repurchased $186.5 million in December 2004 and redeemed the remaining $50.0 million on February 1, 2005.

On May 11, 2005, we issued 8.0 million shares of our Class A common stock. The shares were issued off of the universal shelf registration statement we have on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) which registers the issuance of any combination of the following securities: Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares or warrants. The net proceeds from the issuance were $75.4 million after deducting underwriting fees and offering expenses, and were used to redeem an accreted balance of $68.9 million of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and to pay the applicable premium for generalthe redemption.

On October 5, 2005, we issued 10.0 million shares of our Class A common stock. The shares were issued off of the universal shelf registration statement discussed above. The net proceeds from the issuance were $151.5 million after deducting underwriting fees and offering expenses. On November 7, 2005, these proceeds were used to redeem an accreted balance of $42.9 million of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and pay the applicable premium for the redemption, redeem $87.5 million of our 8 1/2% senior notes and pay the applicable premium for the redemption and for working capital purposes. After adjustment for the May 11, 2005 and October 5, 2005 offerings, we can still issue up to $21.4 million of securities under our universal shelf registration statement.

On November 18, 2005, SBA CMBS-1 Depositor LLC (the “Depositor”), an indirect subsidiary of SBA Communications, sold, in a private transaction, $405 million of Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2005-1 (the “CMBS Certificates”) issued by SBA CMBS Trust (the “Trust”), a trust established by the Depositor. The CMBS Certificates have a contract weighted average fixed interest rate of 5.6%, and an weighted average interest rate to us of 4.8% after giving effect to the settlement gain of two interest rate swap agreements entered in contemplation of the transaction. The CMBS Certificates are rated investment grade and have an expected life of five years with a final repayment date in 2035. We used a substantial portion of the net proceeds from this issuance to refinance the prior senior credit facility and fund reserves and expenses associated with the CMBS Transaction. The remainder of the net proceeds will be used by us at our discretion.

During January 2004, SBA Senior FinanceWe also have on file with the SEC a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or companies that provide related services at various locations in the United States. As of December 31, 2005, we have approximately 2.3 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this shelf registration statement.

On December 22, 2005, we closed on a new senior secured revolving credit facility in the amount of $400.0$160.0 million. ThisThe new facility consists of a $275.0$160.0 million termrevolving loan which was fundedmay be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, subject to compliance with certain covenants. The new facility will mature on December 21, 2007. Amounts borrowed under the facility will accrue interest at closing,LIBOR plus a $50.0 million delayed draw term loan andmargin that ranges from 75 basis points to 200 basis points or at a $75.0 million revolving linebase rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 100 basis points. Amounts borrowed under this facility will be secured by a first lien on substantially all of credit. SBA Senior Finance usedII’s assets and are guaranteed by certain of our other subsidiaries. No amounts were outstanding under this facility at December 31, 2005. As of December 31, 2005, we were in full compliance with the proceedsterms of the new credit facility and had the ability to draw an additional $39.1 million (giving effect to leverage limitations contained in the indenture governing the 9 3/4% senior discount notes).

A main priority for us continues to be reductions in our weighted average cost of debt. As part of this initiative we have, and may continue to, repurchase for cash and/or equity our higher cost outstanding indebtedness. As a result of our refinancing, debt repurchase and redemption activities, we have reduced our weighted average cost of debt from 7.7% at December 31, 2004 to 7.4% at December 31, 2005.

Cash provided by operating activities was $49.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2005. This amount was primarily the result of operating income from the fundingsite leasing segment exclusive of the $275.0 million term loan under the new senior credit facility to, in part, repay the old credit facility in full, consisting of $144.2 million outstanding. In addition to the amounts outstanding, we were required to pay $8.0 million to the lenders under the old facility to facilitate the assignment of the old facility to the new lenders. SBA Senior Finance has recorded additional deferred financing fees of approximately $5.4 million associated with this new facility. See Note 14 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details relating to the financial impact of this refinancing.

depreciation, accretion, and amortization.

In addition to our capital restructuring activities completed in 2003, 2004 and the first quarter of 2004,2005, in order to manage our significant levels of indebtedness and to ensure continued compliance with our financial covenants, we may explore a number of alternatives, including selling certain assets or lines of business, issuing equity, repurchasing, restructuring, or refinancing or exchanging for equity some or all of our debt or pursuing other financial alternatives, including securitization transactions, and we may from time to time implement one or more of these alternatives. Upon closing the CMBS Transaction in November 2005, we used a substantial portion of the net proceeds to refinance the entire $400.0 million senior credit facility, which had a balance outstanding of $320.9 million, and we intend to explore the possibilities and alternatives for refinancing our remaining high yield debt securities in the future. One or more of the alternatives may include the possibility of entering into a new credit facility, issuing high yield notes, entering into a securitization transaction, issuing additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into shares of common stock or converting our existing indebtedness into shares of common stock or securities convertible into shares of common stock, any of which would dilute our existing shareholders. We cannot assure you that any of these strategies can be consummated, or if consummated, would effectively address the risks associated with our significant level of indebtedness.

Uses of Liquidity:Liquidity

WeDuring 2005, cash used by us relating to financing activities included (1) the payment of $52.5 million relating to the redemption of our outstanding 10 1/4% senior notes which were redeemed from proceeds from the May 2003 credit facility discussed in this report, cash on hand and a portionissuance of the proceeds from the Western tower sale to repay in full the prior credit facility, which had $255.0 million outstanding immediately prior to repayment. As discussed above, subsequent to December 31, 2003 we used a portion of the proceeds from the January 2004 credit facility to repay the May 2003 credit facility, to repurchase 12% senior discount notes and 10¼our 8 1/2% senior notes in the open market andfourth quarter of 2004, (2) the payment of $75.6 million relating to redeem all outstanding 12%the redemption of $68.9 million accreted value of our 9 3/4% senior discount notes, on March 1, 2004. As a result primarilywhich were redeemed from the net proceeds of the repaymentissuance of $2558.0 million under a prior credit facility, we used $178.5shares of our Class A common stock in May 2005, (3) the payment of $47.1 million relating to the redemption of $42.9 million accreted value of our 9 3/4% senior discount notes and the payment of $94.9 million relating to the redemption of $87.5 million of cashour 8 1/2% senior notes, which were redeemed from the net proceeds of the issuance of 10.0 million shares of our Class A common stock in financing activities.

October 2005 and (4) the payment of an aggregate of $320.9 million relating to the repayment and refinancing of our prior senior credit facility.

Our cash capital expenditures for the year ended December 31, 20032005 were $15.1$81.0 million. Included in this amount was $12.2 million as comparedrelated to $86.4new tower construction, $2.8 million for maintenance tower capital expenditures, $3.1 million for augmentations and tower upgrades, $1.6 million for general corporate expenditures, and $4.5 million for ground lease purchases. In addition, we had cash capital expenditures of $56.8 million and issued approximately 1.7 million shares of Class A common stock in connection with the acquisition of 208 towers, related prorated rental receipts and payments, and earnouts for the year ended December 31, 2002. This decrease is a result2005.

The $12.2 million of lower investment in new tower assets. During 2003, we built 13construction included costs associated with the completion of 36 new towers as compared to 2002 whenduring 2005 and costs incurred on sites currently in process. As of February 20, 2006, we built 141 new towers and bought 53 existing towers. We currently plan to make total cash capital expenditures during 20042006 of $5.0$25.5 million to $8.0 million. Due$32.5 million primarily in connection with our plans to build between 80 and 100 towers, and to make cash expenditures of approximately $48.4 million relating to the relatively young ageacquisition of 164 towers already acquired or under signed purchase agreements as of February 20, 2006. All of these planned capital expenditures are expected to be funded by cash on hand, cash flow from operations, availability under our new senior credit facility, and/or through the issuances of our towers and remaining capacity available to accommodate new tenants, it is not necessary for us to spend a significant amount of dollars for capital improvements or modifications to our towers to accommodate new tenants. Class A common stock in connection with tower acquisitions.

We estimate we will incur approximately $1,000 per tower per year on these type offor capital expenditures.improvements or modifications to our towers. All of these planned capital expenditures are expected to be funded by cash on hand and cash flow from operations. The exact amount of our future capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio and to complete pending build-to-suit obligations.our new tower build program.

Cash used in operations was $29.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2003. Of this amount $15.2 million was related to an increase in short-term investments and approximately $6.0 million was related to the reduction in accounts payable. During 2003, we focused our efforts on improving our outstanding receivables balances. As a result of these efforts, our accounts receivable balance, after allowances and write-offs, was improved by approximately $17.0 million. Additionally, during 2003 approximately $84.8 million of cash was paid for interest on our various debt instruments. As a result of our refinancing activities discussed above, our cash interest requirements for 2004 are expected to be significantly lower than the requirements in 2003.

Debt Service Requirements:Requirements

At December 31, 20032005, we had $406.4$216.9 million outstanding of our 10¼% senior notes. As of the date of this filing we had $355.4 million outstanding of our 10¼% senior notes. The 10¼% senior notes mature February 1, 2009. Interest on these notes is payable February 1 and August 1 of each year. Based on amounts outstanding at the time of this filing, annual debt service requirements are approximately $36.4 million.

At December 31, 2003 we had $275.8 million outstanding of our 9¾9 3/4% senior discount notes. The 9 3/4% notes accrete in value until December 15, 2007, at which time the notesthey will have a fully accreted balance of $402.0$261.3 million. These notes mature December 15, 2011. Interest on these notes is payable June 15 and December 15, beginning June 15, 2008.

At December 31, 2005, we had $162.5 million outstanding of our 8 1/2% senior notes. The 8 1/2% notes mature on December 1, 2012. Interest on these notes is payable June 1 and December 1, and begun on June 1, 2005. Based on the amounts outstanding at December 31, 2005, annual debt service on these notes is $13.8 million.

At December 31, 2005, we had $405.0 million outstanding of our CMBS Certificates. The CMBS Certificates have an anticipated repayment date of November 15, 2010. Interest on the CMBS Certificates is payable monthly in arrears, generally on the 15th day of each month. Based on the amounts outstanding at December 31, 2005, annual debt service on these notes is $22.7 million.

At December 31, 20032005, we had $65.7 million outstanding of our 12% senior discount notes. The 12% senior discount notes were originally scheduled to mature on March 1, 2008. These notes were redeemed on March 1, 2004 at the call price of 107.5% of the aggregate principal amount.

As of December 31, 2003 we had $118.2 millionno amounts outstanding under the senior credit facility in existence at that time. As of March 10, 2003, we had $275.0 million outstanding under the newour senior credit facility. Based on there being no amounts outstanding and the outstanding amount of $275.0 million and ratesunused commitment fees in effect, at such time, we estimate our annual debt service including amortization to be approximately $13.9$0.6 million annually related to our senior credit facility.

The issuance of our 9¾% senior discount notes and the new senior credit facility coupled with the retirement of the 12% senior discount notes, open market purchases and exchanges of our 10¼% senior notes and the repayment of our prior senior credit facility will result in a cash savings of approximately $50.0 million in debt service and amortization payments in 2004.

Capital Instruments:Instruments

Senior Notes and Senior Discount Notes:Notes

The10¼The 8 1/2% senior notes were issued by SBA Communications, are unsecured and arepari passu in right of payment with our other existing and future senior indebtedness. The 9 3/4% senior discount notes were co-issued by SBA Communications and Telecommunications in December 2003, are unsecured, rankpari passu with the senior indebtedness and are structurally senior to all indebtedness of SBA Communications. Both the 10¼8 1/2% senior notes and the 9 3/4% senior discount notes place certain restrictions on, among other things, the incurrence of debt and liens, issuance of preferred stock, payment of dividends or other distributions, sale of assets, transactions with affiliates, sale and leaseback transactions, certain investments and our ability to merge or consolidate with other entities.

CMBS Certificates

On November 18, 2005, the Depositor sold, in a private transaction $405 million of CMBS Certificates, Series 2005-1 issued by the Trust. The CMBS Certificates consist of five classes, all of which are rated investment grade, as indicated in the table below:

 

Subclass

  Initial Subclass
Principal Balance
  Pass through
Interest Rate
 
   (in thousands)    

2005-1A

  $238,580  5.369%

2005-1B

   48,320  5.565%

2005-1C

   48,320  5.731%

2005-1D

   48,320  6.219%

2005-1E

   21,460  6.709%
      
  $405,000  5.608%
      

May 2003 Senior Credit Facility:The contract weighted average fixed interest rate of the Certificates is 5.6%, and the effective weighted average fixed interest rate to SBA Properties is 4.8% after giving effect to a settlement gain of two interest rate swap agreements entered in contemplation of the transaction. The CMBS Certificates have an

On May 9, 2003, Telecommunications closed onexpected life of five years with a final repayment date in 2035. The proceeds of the CMBS Certificates were primarily used to purchase the prior senior credit facility of SBA Senior Finance and to fund reserves and pay expenses associated with the offering.

The purpose of the CMBS transaction was to refinance our prior senior credit lenders in the amount of $195.0 million.facility and therefore continue to improve our balance sheet. In November, 2003, in connection with the offeringCMBS Transaction, the prior senior credit facility was amended and restated to replace SBA Properties as the new borrower, to completely release SBA Finance and the other guarantors of our 9¾% senior discount notes and our tender offer for 70% of our outstanding 12% senior discount notes, SBA Senior Finance, a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of Telecommunications, assumed all rights andany obligations of Telecommunications under the senior credit facility, pursuant to anincrease the principal amount of the loan to $405.0 million and to amend various other terms (as amended and restated, credit agreementthe “Mortgage Loan”). Furthermore, the Mortgage Loan was purchased by the Depositor with the senior credit lenders. Telecommunications was released from any obligation to repay the indebtedness under the senior credit facility. Simultaneously with this assumption, Telecommunications contributed substantially all of its assets, consisting primarily of stock in our various operating subsidiaries, to SBA Senior Finance. SBA Senior Finance refinanced this credit facility in January 2004 and used the proceeds from the new facilityCMBS Transaction. The Depositor then assigned the Mortgage Loan to repay this facility in full.the Trust, who has all rights as lender under the Mortgage Loan.

This prior senior credit facility, as amended, provided for $95.0 million in term loans and $100.0 million in revolving linesInterest on the Mortgage Loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from SBA Properties’ 1,714 tower sites. SBA Properties is required to make monthly payments of credit, which couldinterest on the Mortgage Loan. Subject to certain limited exceptions described below, no payments of principal will be borrowed, repaid and redrawn and which would have converted to a term loan January 28, 2004. Amortization of amounts borrowed under this facility was to commence in 2004, at an annual rate of 10% in 2004 and 15% in each of 2005, 2006 and 2007. All remaining amounts wererequired to be due and payable at maturity on December 31, 2007. Amounts borrowed under this facility accrued interest at base rate,made prior to the monthly payment date in November 2010, which is the anticipated repayment date. However, if the debt service coverage ratio, defined as the Net Cash Flow (as defined in the agreement plus 300 basis pointsMortgage Loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the Mortgage Loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that SBA Properties will be required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30 times or the Euro dollar rate plus 400 basis points. Additional interestlower, then all cash flow in excess of 3.5% per annum also accrued, but was not dueamounts required to be paid until maturity. As of December 31, 2003, $3.2 million of this additional interest was convertedmake debt service payments, to a term loan. As a result, at December 31, 2003, we had $98.2 million outstandingfund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the term loan documents, referred to as excess cash flow, will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to SBA Properties. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to SBA Properties unless the debt service coverage ratio exceeds 1.30 times for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the debt service coverage ratio falls below 1.15 times as of the senior credit facilityend of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the Mortgage Loan. Otherwise, on a monthly basis, the excess cash flow of SBA Properties held by the Trustee after payment of principal, interest, reserves and expenses is distributed to SBA Properties.

SBA Properties may not prepay the Mortgage Loan in whole or in part at variable cash ratesany time prior to November 2010, except in limited circumstances (such as the occurrence of 5.16%certain casualty and condemnation events relating to 5.17% (excludingSBA Properties’ tower sites). Thereafter, prepayment is permitted provided it is accompanied by any applicable prepayment consideration. If the 3.5%prepayment occurs within nine months of additional interest) and we had $20.0 million outstanding under the revolving credit facilityfinal maturity date, no prepayment consideration is due. The entire unpaid principal balance of the Mortgage Loan will be due in November 2035. The Mortgage Loan may be defeased in whole at a rate of 5.15%. As of December 31, 2003 the remaining $80.0 million under the revolver was fully available to us. any time.

The credit facility was pre-payable at our option. Amounts borrowed under the credit facility wereMortgage Loan is secured by a first lien(1) mortgages, deeds of trust and deeds to secure debt on substantially all of SBA Senior Finance’s assets. In addition, eachthe 1,714 tower sites and their operating cash flows, (2) a security interest in substantially all of SBA Properties’ personal property and fixtures and (3) SBA Properties’ rights under the management agreement it entered into with SBA Network Management, Inc. relating to the management of SBA Properties’ tower sites by SBA Network pursuant to which SBA Network arranges for the payment of all operating expenses and the funding of all capital expenditures out of amounts on deposit in one or more operating accounts maintained on SBA Properties’ behalf. For each calendar month, SBA Network is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 10% of SBA Properties’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.

December 2005 Senior Finance’s domestic subsidiaries guaranteed the obligations ofCredit Facility

On December 20, 2005, SBA Senior Finance under the senior credit facility and pledged substantially all of its assets to secure such guarantee. In addition, SBA Communications and Telecommunications pledged, on a non-recourse basis, all of the common stock of Telecommunications and SBA Senior Finance, respectively, to secure SBA Senior Finance’s obligations under this senior credit facility.

This prior senior credit facility, as amended, required SBA Senior Finance to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding its leverage, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges

for each quarter. The senior credit facility contained affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restricted SBA Senior Finance’s and its subsidiaries’ ability to incur debt and liens, sell assets, make or commit to make capital expenditures, enter into affiliate transactions or sale-leaseback transactions, and/or build towers without anchor tenants. Additionally, as of December 31, 2003, we were in full compliance with all of the financial covenants of this facility.

January 2004 Senior Credit Facility:

On January 29, 2004, SBA Senior FinanceII closed on a new senior credit facility in the amount of $400.0$160.0 million. This facility consists of a $275.0 million term loan which was funded at closing, a $50.0 million delayed draw term loan which we have until November 15, 2004 to draw, and a $75.0 million revolving line of credit. The revolving lines of credit that may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn. Amortization ofAmounts borrowed under the term loans commence September 2004facility will accrue interest at an annualLIBOR plus a margin that ranges from 75 basis points to 200 basis points or at a base rate of 1% in each of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 100 basis points. All remainingoutstanding amounts under the term loan are due October 31, 2008. There is no amortization of the revolving loans and all amounts outstanding under the revolving facility are due on August 31, 2008. Amounts borrowed under this facility accrue interest at either the base rate, as defined in the agreement, plus 250 basis points or a Euro dollar rate plus 350 basis points.December 21, 2007. This facility may be prepaid at any timereplaces our prior senior credit facility which was assigned and became the Mortgage Loan in connection with no prepayment penalty. the CMBS Transaction, as discussed above.

Amounts borrowed under this facility are secured by a first lien on substantially all of SBA Senior Finance’sFinance II’s assets. In addition, each of SBA Senior Finances’s domesticFinance II’s subsidiaries has guaranteed the obligations of SBA Senior Finance II under the senior credit facility and has pledged substantially all of their respective assets to secure such guarantee. In addition, SBA Communications and Telecommunications have pledged, on a non-recourse basis, all of the common stock of Telecommunications and SBA Senior Finance to secure SBA Senior Finance’s obligations under this senior credit facility.

ThisThe new senior credit facility requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding its debt to annualized operating cash flow, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges for each quarter. This new senior credit facility contains affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restrictsrestrict its ability to incur debt and liens, sell assets, commit to capital expenditures, enter into affiliate transactions or sale-leaseback transactions, and/or build towers without anchor tenants. Additionally, this facility permits distributions by SBA Senior Finance II to Telecommunications and SBA Communications to service their debt, pay consolidated taxes, pay holding company expenses and for the repurchase of senior notes or senior discount notes subject to compliance with the covenants discussed above. SBA Senior Finance’sFinance II’s ability in the future to comply with the covenants and access the available funds under the senior credit facility in the future will depend on its future financial performance. Had this facility been in place onAs of December 31, 2003,2005, we wouldwere in full compliance with the financial covenants contained in this agreement.

Registration Statements

We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or companies that provide related services at various locations in the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2005, we issued approximately 1.7 million shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement as partial consideration in connection with the acquisition of 208 towers and related assets. As of December 31, 2005, we had approximately 2.3 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this shelf registration statement.

We also have on file with the abilityCommission a universal shelf registration statement registering Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares or warrants. During the year ended December 31, 2005, we issued 18.0 million shares of our Class A common stock in connection with our May and October 2005 equity offerings. As of December 31, 2005, we can still issue up to draw an additional approximately $21$21.4 million over the $275 million drawn at closing.

of securities under our universal shelf registration statement.

Inflation

The impact of inflation on our operations has not been significant to date. However, we cannot assure you that a highchange in the rate of inflation in the future will not adversely affect our operating results.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2003Stock-based Compensation

In October 2001,December 2004, the FASBFinancial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 143,123R, “Accounting for Asset Retirement ObligationsShare-Based Payment (“”. SFAS 143”). This standardNo. 123R is a revision of SFAS 123 and supersedes APB 25. Among other items, SFAS 123R eliminates the use of APB 25 and the intrinsic value method of accounting, and requires companies to recordrecognize the cost of employee services received in exchange for awards of equity instruments, based on the grant date fair value of those awards, in the financial statements. Pro forma disclosure is no longer an alternative under the new standard. Although early adoption is allowed, we will adopt SFAS 123R as of the required effective date for calendar year companies, which is January 1, 2006.

SFAS 123R permits companies to adopt its requirements using either a “modified prospective” method, or a “modified retrospective” method. Under the “modified prospective” method, compensation expense is recognized in the financial statements beginning with the effective date, based on the requirements of SFAS 123R for all share-based payments granted after that date, and based on the requirements of SFAS 123 for all unvested awards granted prior to the effective date of SFAS 123R. Under the “modified retrospective” method, the requirements

are the same as under the “modified prospective” method, but also permit entities to restate financial statements of previous periods based on proforma disclosures made in accordance with SFAS 123. We have determined that we will use the “modified prospective” method to recognize compensation expense.

We currently utilize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to measure the fair value of stock options granted to our employees. While SFAS 123R permits entities to continue to use such a liability for an asset retirement obligation inmodel, the period in which it is incurred. Whenstandard also permits the liability is initially recorded,use of a company capitalizes a cost by increasing the carrying amountmore complex binomial, or “lattice” model. Based upon our evaluation of the related long-lived asset. Over time,alternative models available to value option grants, we have determined that we will continue to use the liability is accreted to its present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the related asset. Upon settlement of the liability, a company either settles the obligationBlack-Scholes model for its recorded amount or incurs a gain or loss upon settlement. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2003. As a result of our obligation to restore leaseholds to their original condition upon termination of ground leases

option valuation.

underlying a majority of our towers and our estimate as to the probability of incurring these obligations, we recorded a cumulative effect adjustment of approximately $0.5 million during the first quarter of 2003. The adoption of SFAS 143 resulted in an increase in tower fixed assets of approximately $0.9 million and the recording of an asset retirement obligation liability of approximately $1.4 million.

Other Pronouncements

In April 2002, theMay 2005, FASB issued SFASStatement No. 145,Rescission154, “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections-a replacement of FASB Statements Nos. 4, 44 and 62, Amendment of SFAS No. 13 and Technical Corrections (“SFAS 145”). SFAS 145 requires gains and losses on extinguishments of debt to be classified as income or loss from continuing operations rather than as extraordinary items as previously required under SFAS 4. Extraordinary treatment is required for certain extinguishments as provided in APB Opinion No. 30. The statement also amended 20 and FASB Statement No. 3” (“SFAS 13154”). This standard replaces APB Opinion No. 20,Accounting Changes, and FASB Statement No. 3,Reporting Accounting Changes in Interim Financial Statements, and changes the requirements for certain sale-leasebackthe accounting and sublease accounting. We adopted the provisionsreporting of a change in accounting principle. SFAS 145 effective January 1, 2003. Pursuant154 applies to SFAS 145, our previously reported extraordinary item of $5.1 million, relatedall voluntary changes in accounting principle and to the early extinguishment of debt, was reclassified to operating expensechanges required by an accounting pronouncement in the accompanying December 31, 2001 Consolidated Statement of Operations.

In July 2002,unusual instance that the FASB issuedpronouncement does not include specific transition provisions. SFAS No. 146,Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities (“SFAS 146”) and nullified EITF Issue No. 94-3. SFAS 146154 also requires that a liabilitychange in depreciation, amortization, or depletion method for long-lived, nonfinancial assets be accounted for as a cost associated with an exit or disposal activity be recognized when the liability is incurred, whereas EITF No. 94-3 had recognized the liability at the commitment date to an exit plan.change in accounting estimate affected by a change in accounting principle. SFAS 146154 requires that the initial measurement of a liabilitychange in accounting principle be at fair value. We adopted the provisions of SFAS 146 effective January 1, 2003. The adoption of SFAS 146 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2002, the FASB issued SFAS 148. SFAS 148 provides alternative methods of transition for a voluntary changeapplied to the fair value based methodbalances of accountingassets and liabilities as of the beginning of the earliest period for stock-based employee compensation. This statement also amendswhich retrospective application is practicable and that a corresponding adjustment be made to the disclosure requirementsopening balance of SFAS 123retained earnings for that period rather than being reported in an income statement. Such a change would require us to require disclosures in both annual and interimrestate its previously issued financial statements regardingto reflect the method ofchange in accounting for stock-based employee compensation and the effect of the method used on reported results. The standardprinciple to prior periods presented. SFAS 154 is effective for accounting changes and corrections of errors made in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2002. We adopted the disclosure-only provisions2005. The adoption of SFAS 148 as of December 31, 2002. We will continue154 is not expected to account for stock-based compensation in accordance with APB 25. As such, we do not expect this standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.operations and financial position.

In March 2005, FASB Interpretation No. 47, “Accounting for Conditional Asset Retirement Obligations (an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 143)” (“FIN 47”) was issued. FIN 47 provides clarification with respect to the timing of liability recognition of legal obligations associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets when the timing and/or method of settlement of the obligation are conditional on a future event. FIN 47 is effective no later than the end of fiscal years ending after December 15, 2005 (December 31, 2005 for calendar-year enterprises). The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In April 2003,December 2004, the FASB issued StatementSFAS No.153, “Exchanges of Financial Accounting Standards No. 149 (“SFAS 149”),Nonmonetary Assets—an Amendment of Statement 133APB No. 29” (“SFAS 153”). The amendments made by SFAS 153 are based on Derivative Instrumentsthe principle that exchanges of nonmonetary assets should be measured based on the fair value of the assets exchanged. Further, the amendments eliminate the narrow exception for nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and Hedging Activities.replace it with a broader exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not have “commercial substance.” This Statement amends and clarifies financial accounting and reporting for derivative instruments, including certain derivative instruments embedded in other contracts (collectively referred to as derivatives) and for hedging activities under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133 (“SFAS 133”),Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities.The statementstandard was effective for contracts entered into or modifiednonmonetary asset exchanges occurring after June 30, 2003.July 1, 2005. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In May 2003, the FASB issued Statement ofConsolidated Financial Accounting Standards No. 150 (“SFAS 150”),Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity. This Statement establishes standards for how an issuer classifies and measures certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity. It requires that an issuer classify a financial instrument that is within its scope as a liability (or an asset in some circumstances). This standard was effective at the beginning of the first interim period beginning after June 15, 2003, except for mandatorily redeemable financial instruments of nonpublic entities that are subject to the provisions of this Statement for the first fiscal period beginning after December 15, 2003. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In November 2002, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation No. 45 (“FIN 45”),Guarantor’s Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness of Others.Statements.

Fin 45 elaborates on the disclosures to be made by a guarantor in its interim and annual financial statements about its obligations under certain guarantees that it has issued. FIN 45 also clarifies requirements for the recognition of guarantees at the onset of an arrangement. The initial recognition and measurement provisions of FIN 45 are applicable on a prospective basis to guarantees used or modified after December 31, 2002. The disclosure requirements of FIN 45 are effective for interim or annual financial statements after December 15, 2002. We implemented the disclosure requirements of FIN 45 as of December 31, 2002 and there was no material impact on our consolidated financial statements as a result of this implementation.

In January 2003, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46,Consolidation for Variable Interest Entities, an Interpretation of ARB No. 51 which requires all variable interest entities (“VIES”) to be consolidated by the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is the entity that holds the majority of the beneficial interest in the VIE. In addition, the interpretation expands the disclosure requirements for both variable interest entities that are consolidated as well as VIEs from which the entity is the holder of a significant amount of beneficial interests, but not the majority. FIN 46 is effective immediately for all VIEs and for all special purpose entities created or acquired after January 31, 2003. For VIEs created or acquired prior to February 1, 2003, the provisions of FIN 46 must be applied for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004. The adoption of FIN 46 did not have, nor is it expected to have, a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Commitments and Contractual Obligations

The following table summarizes our scheduled contractual commitments as of December 31, 2003:2005:

 

Contractual Obligations


  Total

  Less than 1
year


  1 – 3 Years

  4 – 5 Years

  More than 5
Years


  Total  Less than 1
Year
  1-3 Years  4-5 Years  More than 5
Years

Short-term and long-term debt

  $992,365  $11,500  $34,500  $137,900  $808,465

Capital leases

   38   38   —     —     —  

Long-term debt

  $784,392  $—    $—    $—    $784,392

Interest payments(1)

   309,020   37,125   100,227   120,833   50,835

Operating leases

   124,980   26,195   33,758   18,407   46,620   626,174   28,281   55,640   55,314   486,939

Employment agreements

   1,378   948   430   —     —     1,935   1,015   920   —     —  

Purchase obligations

   13,067   13,067   —     —     —  

Asset retirement obligations

   1,195   —     —     —     1,195
  

  

  

  

  

               

Total

  $1,133,023  $51,748  $68,688  $156,307  $856,280  $1,721,521  $66,421  $156,787  $176,147  $1,322,166
  

  

  

  

  

               

 

(1)Includes interest payments on the 8 1/2% senior notes and 5.6% on the CMBS Certificates based on their stated interest rates, unused line fees associated with the senior credit facility and cash interest on the 9 3/4% senior discount notes that commences June 15, 2008.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We are not involved in any off-balance sheet arrangements.

ITEM 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

We are exposed to certain market risks that are inherent in our financial instruments. These instruments arise from transactions entered into in the normal course of business. We are subject to interest rate risk on our senior credit facility and any future financing requirements. We attempt to limit our exposure to interest rate risk by managing the mix of our long-term fixed rate senior notes and our borrowings under our senior credit facility. As of December 31, 2003,2005, long-term fixed rate borrowings represented approximately 86%100% of our total borrowings. Assuming a 100 basis-point change in LIBOR, our annual interest cost would change by approximately $2.8 million, based on outstanding balances as of the date of this report.

The following table presents the future principal payment obligations and interest rates associated with our long-term debt instruments assuming our actual level of long-term debt indebtedness as of December 31, 2003:2005:

 

   2004

  2005

  2006

  2007

  2008

  Thereafter

  

Fair

Value


   (in thousands)

Long-term debt:

                            

Fixed rate (12.0%)

   —     —     —     —    $65,673   —    $71,584

Fixed rate (10¼%)

   —     —     —     —     —    $406,441  $398,312

Fixed rate (9¾%)

   —     —     —     —     —    $402,024  $279,929

Term loan, $98.2 million, variable cash rates (8.66% to 8.67% at December 31, 2003)

  $9,500  $14,250  $14,250  $60,227   —     —    $98,227

Revolving loans, variable cash rate (8.65% at December 31, 2003)

  $2,000  $3,000  $3,000  $12,000   —     —    $20,000

Notes payable, variable rates (2.9% to 11.4% at December 31, 2003)

  $38   —     —     —    $—     —    $38
   Expected Maturity Date         
   2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  Thereafter  Total  

Fair

Value

   (in thousands)   

Long-term debt:

                

Fixed rate CMBS Certificates (currently 5.6% at December 31, 2005)

  —    —    —    —    —    $405,000  $405,000  $408,516

Fixed rate 9 3/4% senior discount notes(1)

  —    —    —    —    —    $261,316  $261,316  $243,677

Fixed rate 8 1/2% senior notes

  —    —    —    —    —    $162,500  $162,500  $181,188

 

(1)The amount included for the 9 3/4% senior discount notes represents the accreted value of the notes at their maturity date. As of December 31, 2005, these notes had an accreted value of $216.9 million and a fair value of $243.7 million.

Our primary market risk exposure relates to (1) the interest rate risk on variable-rate long-term and short-term borrowings, (2) our ability to refinance our 9 3/4% senior discount notes, and our 10¼8 1/2% senior notes, and CMBS Certificates at their expected repayment dates or at maturity at market rates, and (3)(2) the impact of interest rate movements on our ability to meet financial covenants. We manage the interest rate risk on our outstanding long-term and short-term debt through our use of fixed and variable rate debt. While we cannot predict or manage our ability to refinance existing debt or the impact interest rate movements will have on our existing debt, we continue to evaluate our financial position on an ongoing basis.

Senior Note and Senior Discount Note Disclosure Requirements

The indentures governing our 10¼8 1/2% senior notes and our 9 3/4% senior discount notes require certain financial disclosures for restricted subsidiaries separate from unrestricted subsidiaries. As of December 31, 20032005, we had no unrestricted subsidiaries. Additionally, we are required to disclose(i)disclose (i) Tower Cash Flow, as defined in the indentures, for the most recent fiscal quarter and (ii) Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow, as defined in the

indentures, for the most recently completed four-quarter period. This information is presented solely as a requirement of the indentures. Such information is not intended as an alternative measure of financial position, operating results or cash flows from operations (as determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles). Furthermore, our measure of the following information may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Tower Cash Flow and Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow, as defined in our senior notenotes and senior discount note indentures, are as follows:

 

   

10¼% Senior

Notes


  

9¾% Senior

Discount Notes


   (in thousands)

HoldCo Tower Cash Flow for the three months ended December 31, 2003(1)

  $18,249  $22,676

OpCo Tower Cash Flow for the three months ended December 31, 2003(2)

   n/a  $22,676

HoldCo Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow for the twelve months ended December 31, 2003

  $67,324  $68,679

OpCo Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow for the twelve months ended December 31, 2003

   n/a  $73,340
   

9 3/4% Senior

Discount Notes

   (in thousands)

HoldCo Tower Cash Flow for the three months ended December 31, 2005(1)

  $31,813

OpCo Tower Cash Flow for the three months ended December 31, 2005(2)

  $31,813

HoldCo Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005

  $105,631

OpCo Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005

  $111,015

 

(1)In the indenture for the 9 3/4% senior discount notes HoldCo is referred to as the “Co-Issuer” or SBA Communications Corporation.

(2)In the indenture for the 9 3/4% senior discount notes OpCo is referred to as the “Company” or SBA Telecommunications, Inc.

 

   

8 1/2% Senior

Notes

   (in thousands)

Tower Cash Flow for the three months ended December 31, 2005

  $31,813

Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow of the Company for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005

  $105,631

Adjusted Consolidated Cash Flow of SBA Senior Finance for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005

  $111,280

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This annual report contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements concern expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans, and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Specifically, this annual report contains forward-looking statements regarding:

 

our estimates regarding our liquidity, capital expenditures and sources of both, and our ability to fund operations and meet our obligations as they become due for the foreseeable future;due;

 

our expectations regardingbelief that we will experience continued long-term growth of our incurrencesite leasing revenues due to increasing minutes of additional net losses in 2004;

our expectations regarding the final aggregate gross cash proceeds to be generated by the Western tower sale;

our ability to sell the 61 towers remaining in the Western two-thirds of the United States;

our estimates of the amountuse and timing of site development revenue to be generated from the network development contract with Sprint Spectrum L.P.;coverage and capacity requirements;

 

our strategy to focus our business on the site leasing business, and the consequential shift in our revenue stream and gross profits from project driven revenues to recurring revenues, predictable operating costs and minimal capital expenditures;

 

our belief that focusing our site leasing activities in the Eastern third of the United States will improve our operating efficiencies, reduce overhead expenses and procure higher revenue per tower;

our expectation of growing our cash flows by using existing tower capacity or requiring carriers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications;

our belief that our towers have significant capacity to accommodate additional tenants;tenants and increased use of our towers can be achieved at a low incremental cost;

 

our estimates regarding the future development of the site leasing industryintention to selectively invest in new tower builds and/or tower acquisitions and site development industry and its effect onto fund such new tower builds and/or acquisitions in part from our revenues and profits;

our estimate that we will not make any additional material change to our tower portfolio in 2004;

our belief that the Western tower sale will not have a material impact on our site leasing gross profit margin;cash flow from operating activities;

 

our intent to focuspurchase the land that underlies our tower ownership activitiestowers if available at commercially reasonable prices;

our expectations regarding our new build program and our intent to build 80 - 100 new towers in the eastern third2006;

our intent that substantially all of the United States;our new builds will at least have one tenant upon completion and our expectation that some will have multiple tenants;

 

our belief regarding our position to capture additional site leasing business in our markets and identify and participate in site development projects across our markets;

 

our expectationsestimates regarding the incurrence of material additional chargesour annual debt service and cash interest requirements in 2004 for the write-off of deferred financing fees2006 and extinguishment of debt;

our estimates that interest expense and depreciation charges will continue to be substantial in the future;

our belief regarding the financial impact of certain accounting pronouncements;thereafter; and

 

our estimates regarding non-cash compensation expensecash savings in each year from 2004 through 2006.debt service and amortization payments in 2006 as a result of our debt refinancing activities and our intent to continue to reduce our interest expense.

These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We wish to caution readers that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. The most important factors that could prevent us from achieving our goals, and cause the assumptions underlying forward-looking statements and the actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

our inability to sufficiently increase our revenues and maintain or decrease expenses and cash capital expenditures to permit us to fund operations and meet our obligations as they become due;

 

our potential adjustments to the purchase price of the Western tower sale;

our ability to identify suitable purchasers for the additional 61 towers held for sale and enter into agreements on mutually acceptable terms;further reduce our interest expense;

 

the inability of our clients to access sufficient capital or their unwillingness to expend capital to fund network expansion or enhancements;

 

our ability to continue to comply with covenants and the terms of our senior credit facility and to access sufficient capital to fund our operations;

 

our ability to secure as many site leasing tenants as planned;

 

our ability to expand our site leasing business and maintain or expand our site development business;

 

our ability to successfully build 80 - 100 new towers in 2006;

our ability to successfully implement our strategy of having at least one tenant on each new build upon completion;

our ability to successfully address zoning issues;

 

our ability to retain current lessees on our towers;

 

the actual amount and timing of services rendered and revenues received under ourcontract with Sprint Spectrum L.P.;

our ability to realize economies of scale from our tower portfolio;

the impact of our lack of a permanent Chief Financial Officer and our inability totimely hire a permanent Chief Financial Officer; and

 

the continued use of towers and dependence on outsourced site development servicesbyservices by the wireless communications industry.

We assume no responsibility for updating forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This report contains certain non-GAAP measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Segment Operating Profit information. We have provided below a description of such non-GAAP measures, a reconcilement of such non-GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measures, an explanation as to why management utilizes these measures, their respective limitations and how management compensates for such limitations.

Adjusted EBITDA

We define Adjusted EBITDA as loss from continuing operations plus net interest expenses, provision for income taxes, depreciation, accretion and amortization, asset impairment charges, non-cash compensation, restructuring and other charges, and other expenses and excluding non-cash leasing revenue and non-cash ground lease expense. We have included this non-GAAP financial measure because we believe this item is an indicator of the profitability and performance of our core operations and reflects the changes in our operating results. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is a component of the calculation used by our lenders to determine compliance with some of our debt instruments, particularly our senior credit facility. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be an alternative measure of operating income as determined in accordance with GAAP.

The Non-GAAP measurements of Adjusted EBITDA and the Adjusted EBITDA margin have certain material limitations, including:

 

They do not include interest expense. Because we have borrowed money in order to finance our operations, interest expense is a necessary element of our costs and ability to generate profits and cash flows. Therefore any measure that excludes interest expense has material limitations;

They do not include depreciation and amortization expense. Because we use capital assets, depreciation and amortization expense is a necessary element of our costs and ability to generate profits. Therefore any measure that excludes depreciation and amortization expense has material limitations;

They do not include provision for income taxes. Because the payment of income taxes is a necessary element of our costs, particularly in the future, any measure that excludes tax expense has material limitations; and

They do not include non-cash expenses such as asset impairment charges, non-cash compensation, restructuring and other charges, other expenses, non-cash leasing revenue and non-cash ground lease expense. Because these non-cash items are a necessary element of our costs and our ability to generate profits, any measure that excludes these non-cash items has material limitations.

We compensate for these limitations by using Adjusted EBITDA and the Adjusted EBITDA Margin as only two of several comparative tools, together with GAAP measurements, to assist in the evaluation of our profitability and operating results.

   For the year ended
December 31,
 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Loss from continuing operations

  $(94,648) $(144,023) $(174,805)

Add back (deduct):

    

Interest income

   (2,096)  (516)  (692)

Interest expense

   40,511   47,460   81,501 

Non-cash interest expense

   26,234   28,082   9,277 

Amortization of deferred financing fees

   2,850   3,445   5,115 

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   87,218   90,453   93,657 

Asset impairment charges

   398   7,092   12,993 

Provision for income taxes

   2,104   710   1,729 

Loss from write off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   29,271   41,197   24,219 

Non-cash compensation (included in selling, general, and administrative)

   462   470   803 

Non-cash leasing revenue

   (1,765)  (1,169)  (2,372)

Non-cash ground lease expense

   4,764   5,579   5,852 

Restructuring expense

   50   250   2,094 

Other

   (31)  (236)  1,647 
             

Adjusted EBITDA

  $95,322  $78,794  $61,018 
             

Segment Operating Profit

Each respective Segment Operating Profit is defined as segment revenues less segment cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion and amortization). Total Segment Operating Profit is the total of the operating profits of the two segments. Segment Operating Profit is, in our opinion, an indicator of the operating performance of our site leasing and site development segments and is used to provide management with the ability to monitor the operating results and margin of each segment, while excluding the impact of depreciation and amortization. Segment Operating Profit is not intended to be alternative measures of revenue or operating income as determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

   Site leasing segment 
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Segment revenue

  $161,277  $144,004  $127,852 

Segment cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion and amortization)

   (47,259)  (47,283)  (47,793)
             

Segment operating profit

  $114,018  $96,721  $80,059 
             
   Site development consulting segment 
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Segment revenue

  $13,549  $14,456  $12,337 

Segment cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion and amortization)

   (12,004)  (12,768)  (11,350)
             

Segment operating profit

  $1,545  $1,688  $987 
             
   Site development construction segment 
   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Segment revenue

  $85,165  $73,022  $51,920 

Segment cost of revenues (excluding depreciation, accretion and amortization)

   (80,689)  (68,630)  (47,333)
             

Segment operating profit

  $4,476  $4,392  $4,587 
             

The Non-GAAP measurement of Segment Operating Profit has certain material limitations. Specifically this measurement does not include depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense. Because depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense is required by GAAP as it is deemed to reflect additional operating expenses relating to our site leasing and site development segments, any measure that excludes these items has material limitations. We compensate for these limitations by using Segment Operating Profit as only one of several comparative tools, together with GAAP measurements, to assist in the evaluation of the cash generation of our segment operations.

ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Financial statements and supplementary data for the Company are on pages F-1 through F-35.F-35.

 

ITEM 9.CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

ITEM 9A.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

In orderDisclosure Controls and Procedures - We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that the information we must discloserequired to be disclosed in our filings withreports under the Securities and Exchange CommissionAct of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), is recorded, processed, summarized and reported on awithin the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate, to allow timely basis, we have formalized ourdecisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures. Our principal executive officerprocedures, management recognized that any controls and principal financial officer have reviewedprocedures, no matter how well designed and evaluatedoperated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, as ours are

designed to do, and management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

In connection with the preparation of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as of December 31, 2005, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as(as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e), as of December 31, 2003.Act). Based on such evaluation, such officers haveour CEO and CFO concluded that, as of December 31, 2003,2005, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective in timely

effective.

alerting them to material information relating to us (and our consolidated subsidiaries) required to be includedThere has been no change in our periodic SEC filings.

As previously discussed, in performinginternal control over financial reporting during the audits of our consolidated financial statements for the yearsquarter ended December 31, 20012005 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting - Management of the Company is responsible for establishing and 2002maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. The Company’s internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance to the Company’s management and Board of Directors regarding the interim reviewspreparation and fair presentation of our consolidatedpublished financial statements forstatements. All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.

Under the threesupervision and six month periods ended June 30, 2003, our independent auditors,with the participation of management, including the CEO and CFO, the Company conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting, as of December 31, 2005, based upon the framework in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on such evaluation under the framework in Internal Control — Integrated Framework, management concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2005. Management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005 has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, (“E&Y”), noted a matter involvingan independent certified registered public accounting firm, as stated in their attestation report which appears below.

Report of Independent Certified Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, that SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and its operationperforming such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that E&Y consideredour audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to be a material weakness. Specifically, E&Y, notedprovide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that we did not have an adequate process(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in place to ensure thatreasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the appropriate personnel, with adequate understandingtransactions and dispositions of the relevantassets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting implications, thoroughly assessedmay not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, management’s assessment that SBA Communications Corporation and appliedSubsidiaries maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the proper accountingCOSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting principles to certain significant asset or business acquisitionas of December 31, 2005, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of SBA Communications Corporation and disposition transactions.

To addressSubsidiaries as of December 31, 2005 and 2004, and the matter identified, we have established a process to ensure that our Chief Financial Officerrelated consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity (deficit) and Chief Accounting Officer are involved throughoutcash flows for each significant asset or business acquisition or disposition and that such officers haveof the appropriate knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and consultthree years in the applicable accounting literature and outside professionals as appropriate. In performing the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the yearperiod ended December 31, 2003, E&Y, noted no matters involving internal control2005, and its operation that it consideredour report dated March 8, 2006 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

West Palm Beach, Florida

March 8, 2006

ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION

Amendments to be a material weakness. AsEmployment Agreements with Messrs. Stoops, Hunt and Bagwell

On November 10, 2005, SBA Properties, Inc., SBA Communications and each of Messrs. Stoops, Bagwell and Hunt entered into an amendment to each of their Employment Agreements (the “Amendments”). The sole purpose of the dateAmendments was to assign each of the filingEmployment Agreements from SBA Properties to SBA Communications. Under the Amendments, each of this report, we do not haveMessrs. Stoops, Bagwell and Hunt consented to the assignment and assumption of their respective Employment Agreements. The Employment Agreements remain unchanged in all other respects. These Amendments were entered into in conjunction with the CMBS transaction.

Compensation Committee Actions Regarding Executive Officer Salary and Bonus

During the first quarter of 2006, SBA Communications’ Compensation Committee (the “Compensation Committee”) approved a Chief Financial Officer. We have continuedbase salary increase for Mr. Stoops of 4.6% and increases ranging from 2.8% to actively pursue6.7% for each of our searchother named executive officers.

During the first quarter of 2006, the Compensation Committee approved a discretionary cash bonus payment for certain of its named executive officers, Messrs. Stoops, Bagwell, Hunt and Macaione in the amount of $400,000, $90,000, $200,000 and $95,000, respectively. The Compensation Committee also approved an annual cash bonus payment for our other named executive officer Mr. Silberstein in the amount of $187,752, equal to 139% of his target bonus calculated pursuant to the terms of his bonus plan. Pursuant to the terms of his bonus plan, Mr. Silberstein has a qualified individualtarget bonus equal to fill100% of his base salary determined in relation to the vacancy inCompany’s budget at the beginning of each year. Of Mr. Silberstein’s target bonus, 85% is calculated pursuant to a formula based on (1) the amount of revenue added through new leases and amendments, (2) average rents paid by initial tenants and (3) tenant loss, and 15% is based upon our Chief Financial Officer position by engaging an executive search firm who has identified several possible candidates.Adjusted EBITDA. The

amount of the bonus paid may be more or less depending on the amount of revenue added through new leases and amendments and rents paid. In 2005, the Company’s actual leasing results exceeded its budget.

PART III

 

ITEM 10.DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

We have adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer. The Code of Ethics is located on our internet web site at www.sbasite.com under “Investor Relations-Corporate Governance.”

The remaining items required by Part III, Item 10 are incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 20042006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or before April 29, 2004.30, 2006.

 

ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The items required by Part III, Item 11 are incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 20042006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or before April 29, 2004.30, 2006.

 

ITEM 12.SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The items required by Part III, Item 12 are incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 20042006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or before April 29, 2004.30, 2006.

 

ITEM 13.CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

The items required by Part III, Item 13 are incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 20042006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or before April 29, 2004.30, 2006.

 

ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

The items required by Part III, Item 14 are incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 20042006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or before April 29, 2004.30, 2006.

PART IV

 

ITEM 15.EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

(a) Documents filed as part of this report:

(a)Documents filed as part of this report:

(1)(1) Financial Statements

See “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”Item 8 for Financial Statements included with this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(2)(2) Financial Statement Schedules

See “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for Financial Statements Schedules included with this Annual Report on Form 10-K.None.

(3) Exhibits

All other schedules have been omitted because they are not required, not applicable, or the information is otherwise set forth in the financial statements or notes thereto.

(3)Exhibits

 

Exhibit

No.


  

Description of Exhibits


3.4  —Fourth Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of SBA Communications Corporation.(1)
3.5  —Amended and Revised By-Laws of SBA Communications Corporation.(1)

4.1  4.4       

—Indenture, dated as of March 2, 1998, between SBA Communications Corporation and State Street Bank and Trust Company, as trustee, relating to $269,000,000 in aggregate principal amount at maturity of 12% Senior Discount Notes due 2008.(2)

4.3—Specimen Certificate of 12% Senior Discount Note due 2008 (included in Exhibit 4.1)
4.4

—Indenture, dated as of February 2, 2001, between SBA Communications Corporation and State Street Bank and Trust Company, as trustee, relating to $500,000,000 in aggregate principal amount and maturity of 10¼10 1/4% senior notes due 2009.(3)(2)

4.5  —Form of 10¼10 1/4% senior note due February 1, 2009.(3)(2)
4.6  —Rights Agreement, dated as of January 11, 2002, between the CompanySBA Communications Corporation and the Rights Agent.(4)(3)
4.7  

—Indenture, dated as of December 19, 2003, among SBA Communications Corporation, SBA Telecommunications, Inc. and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, relating to the $402,024,000 in aggregate principal amount at maturity of 9 3/4% senior discount notes due 2011.*

(4)
4.8  —Form of 9 3/4% senior discount note due 2011.(4)
  4.9     —Indenture, dated as of December 14, 2004, between SBA Communications Corporation and U.S. Bank, N.A., as trustee, relating to $250,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 8 1/2% senior notes due 2012. (11)
  4.10   —Form of 8 1/2% senior note due December 1, 2012.(11)
  5.1     —Opinion of Akerman Senterfitt regarding validity of common stock.*
10.1  

—SBA Communications Corporation Registration Rights Agreement dated as of March 5, 1997, among the Company, Steven E. Bernstein, Ronald G. Bizick, II and Robert Grobstein.(2)(5)

10.3  

—Purchase and Sale Agreement, dated as of March 17, 2003, by and among SBA Properties, Inc.*, SBA Towers, Inc., SBA Properties Louisiana LLC and AAT Communications Corp.(8)(6)

10.23  —1996 Stock Option Plan.(1)+
10.24  —1999 Equity Participation Plan.(1)+

10.25  

—1999 Stock Purchase Plan.(1)

+
10.27  

—Incentive Stock Option Agreement, dated as of September 5, 2000, between SBA Communications Corporation and Thomas P. Hunt.(5)(7)

+
10.28  

—Restricted Stock Agreement, dated as of September 5, 2000, between SBA Communications Corporation and Thomas P. Hunt.(5)(75)

+
10.33  —2001 Equity Participation Plan.(6)(8)+
10.35  —Employment Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2003, between SBA Properties Inc. and Jeffrey A. Stoops.(7)(9)+
10.35A—Amendment to Employment Agreement, dated as of June 24, 2005, by and between SBA Properties, Inc. and Jeffrey A. Stoops.(11)+
10.35B—Amendment to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 10, 2005, by and between SBA Properties, Inc., SBA Communications Corporation and Jeffrey A. Stoops.*+
10.36  —Employment Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2003, between SBA Properties Inc. and Kurt L. Bagwell.(7)(9)+
10.36A—Amendment to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 10, 2005, by and between SBA Properties, Inc., SBA Communications Corporation and Kurt L. Bagwell.*+
10.37  —Employment Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2003, between SBA Properties Inc. and Thomas P. Hunt.(7)(9)+
10.3910.37A  

$195,000,000 Amended and Restated CreditAmendment to Employment Agreement, dated as of November 21, 2003, among10, 2005, by and between SBA Senior Finance,Properties, Inc., as borrower, the lenders from time to time parties thereto, General Electric CapitalSBA Communications Corporation as Administrative Agent and GECC Capital Markets Group, Inc. as Lead Arranger and Bookrunner.(9)

Thomas P. Hunt.*+
10.41  

—$400,000,000 Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of January 30, 2004, among SBA Senior Finance, Inc., as borrower, the lenders from time to time parties thereto, Lehman Brothers Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as Joint Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners, Lehman Commercial Paper Inc., as Administrative Agent, General Electric Capital Corporation as Co-Lead Arranger and Co-Syndication Agent, and TD Securities (USA) Inc., as Documentation Agent.*

(4)
10.42  

—Guarantee and Collateral Agreement dated January 30, 2004 among SBA Communications Corporation, SBA Telecommunications, Inc., SBA Senior Finance, Inc. and certain of their subsidiaries in favor of Lehman Commercial Paper, Inc.(4)

10.44   —First Amendment, dated as of November 12, 2004, to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of January 30, 2004, among SBA Senior Finance, Inc., as borrower, the lenders from time to time parties thereto, Lehman Brothers Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as Joint Advisors, Joint Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners, Lehman Commercial Paper Inc., as Administrative Agent, General Electric Capital Corporation as Co-Lead Arranger and Co-Syndication Agent, and TD Securities (USA) Inc., as Documentation Agent.(10)

10.45   —Second Amendment, dated as of June 16, 2005, to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of January 30, 2004, among SBA Senior Finance, Inc., as borrower, the lenders from time to time parties thereto, Lehman Brothers Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as Joint Advisors, Joint Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners, Lehman Commercial Paper Inc., as Administrative Agent, General Electric Capital Corporation as Co-Lead Arranger and Co-Syndication Agent, and TD Securities (USA) Inc., as Documentation Agent. (13)
10.47   —$160,000,000 Credit Agreement, dated as of December 21, 2005, among SBA Senior Finance II LLC, as borrower, the lenders from time to time parties thereto, GE Capital Markets, Inc., as Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, General Electric Capital Corporation, as Administrative Agent, TD Securities (USA) LLC, as Co-Lead Arranger and Syndication Agent, and DB Structured Products, Inc. and Lehman Commercial Paper, Inc., as Co-Documentation Agents. (14)
10.48   —Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, dated as of December 21, 2005, among SBA Communications Corporation, SBA Telecommunications, Inc., SBA Senior Finance, Inc., SBA Senior Finance II LLC and certain of their subsidiaries in favor of General Electric Capital Corporation. (14)
10.49   —Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of November 18, 2005, by and between SBA Properties, Inc. and the Additional Borrower or Borrowers that may become a party thereto and SBA CMBS 1 Depositor LLC.*

10.50   —Management Agreement, dated as of November 18, 2005, by and among SBA Properties, Inc., SBA Network Management, Inc. and SBA Senior Finance, Inc.*
21  —Subsidiaries.*
23.1  —Consent of Ernst & Young LLP.*
31.1  —Certification by Jeffrey A. Stoops, Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
31.2  —Certification by John F. Fiedor,Anthony J. Macaione, Chief AccountingFinancial Officer, pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
32.1  —Certification by Jeffrey A. Stoops, Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*
32.2  —Certification by John F. Fiedor,Anthony J. Macaione, Chief AccountingFinancial Officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.*

 

+Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

*Filed herewith

(1)Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 previously filed by the Registrant (Registration No. 333-76547).

(2)Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form S-4 previously filed by the Registrant (Registration No. 333-50219)333-58128).

(3)Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form S-4 previously filed by the Registrant (Registration No. 333-58128).

(4)Incorporated by reference to the Form 8-K, dated January 11, 2002, previously filed by the Registrant.

(4)Incorporated by reference to the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 previously filed by the Registrant.

(5)Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form S-4 previously filed by the Registrant (Registration No. 333-50219).

(6)Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, dated May 9, 2003, previously filed by Registrant.

(7)Incorporated by reference to the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, previously filed by the Registrant.

(6)(8)Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form S-8, previously filed by the Registrant (Registration No. 333-69236).

(7)(9)Incorporated by reference to the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002, previously filed by the Registrant.

(8)(10)Incorporated by reference to the Form 8-K, dated November 12, 2004, previously filed by the Registrant.

(11)Incorporated by reference to the Form 8-K, dated May 9, 2003,10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, previously filed by the Registrant.

(9)(12)Incorporated by reference to the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, previously filed by the Registrant.

(13)Incorporated by reference to the Form 8-K, dated November 21, 2003,June 16, 2005, previously filed by the Registrant.

(b)(14)Reports onIncorporated by reference to the Form 8-K:8-K, dated December 21, 2005, previously filed by the Registrant.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated October 1, 2003. In the report, the Company reported under Items 5 and 7 that its re-audit had been substantially completed and announced its plans to restate its fiscal year 2001, fiscal year 2002, first and second quarter 2003 financial statements and discussed the anticipated impact of the restatement.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated November 10, 2003. In the report, the Company furnished under Item 12, the Company’s financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2003.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated November 10, 2003. In the report, under Items 5 and 12, the Company announced its plans to restate its financial statements for fiscal year 2002, fiscal year 2001 and the three and six months ended June 30, 2003 and 2002, and discussed the anticipated impact of the restatement.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated November 14, 2003. In the report, the Company disclosed under Items 5 and 12, the effect of the financial statement restatements for fiscal year 2002, fiscal year fiscal year 2001 and the six months ended June 30, 2003 and 2002, and the restated audited financial statements for fiscal years 2002 and 2001 and the amended Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2001.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated November 21, 2003. In the report, the Company reported under Item 5, that SBA Senior Finance, Inc., a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of SBA Telecommunications, Inc., assumed all rights and obligations of SBA Telecommunications, Inc., under the existing $195.0 million senior credit facility pursuant to an amended and restated credit agreement. Under Item 7, the Company included the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of November 21, 2003.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K dated December 1, 2003. In the report under Item 7, the Company included a press release announcing its intent to issue approximately $200 million in gross proceeds of senior discount notes due 2011. Under Items 9 and 12, the Company released selected historical financial data for the years ended December 31, 2000, 1999, and 1998, and other financial and operations data.

The Company filed a report for Form 8-K dated December 10, 2003. In the report under Items 5 and 7, the Company reported that on December 8, 2003, it priced an offering by the Company and SBA Telecommunications, Inc., of $402.0 million aggregate principal amount at maturity ($275 million in gross proceeds) of 9¾% senior discount notes due 2011.

The Company filed a report on Form 8-K on December 23, 2003. In the report under Items 5 and 7, the Company announced the expiration of a tender offer and its related consent solicitation with respect to its 12% senior discount notes due 2008 and its use of net proceeds from its recent issue of $275 million of 9¾% senior discount notes due 2011. Additionally, the Company reported that 5.5 million shares of Class B common stock held by Steven E. Bernstein, SBA’s Chairman, converted into 5.5 million shares of Class A common stock. As a result, the Class A common stock now held by Mr. Bernstein no longer have the super-voting rights that the Class B common stock held by Mr. Bernstein had.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION

By: 

/s/    STEVENSTEVEN E. BERNSTEIN        BERNSTEIN


 

Steven E. Bernstein

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Date

Date: 

 

March 11, 2004


10, 2006

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature


  

Title


 

Date


/s/ STEVEN E. BERNSTEIN


Steven E. Bernstein

  

Chairman of the Board of Directors

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Steven E. Bernstein

/s/ JEFFREY A. STOOPS


Jeffrey A. Stoops

  

Chief Executive Officer and President (Principal

(Principal Executive Officer)

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Jeffrey A. Stoops

/s/ JOHN F. FIEDOR        


John F. FiedorANTHONY J. MACAIONE

  

Chief AccountingFinancial Officer (Principal Accounting

(Principal Financial Officer)

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Anthony J. Macaione

/s/ DONALD B. HEBB, JR.        BRENDAN T. CAVANAGH


Donald B. Hebb, Jr.Chief Accounting Officer

(Principal Accounting Officer)

March 10, 2006

Brendan T. Cavanagh

/s/ BRIAN C. CARR

  

Director

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Brian C. Carr

/s/ RICHARD W. MILLER        


Richard W. MillerDUNCAN H. COCROFT

  

Director

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Duncan H. Cocroft

/s/ PHILIP L. HAWKINS

Director

March 10, 2006

Philip L. Hawkins

/s/ JACK LANGER

Director

March 10, 2006

Jack Langer

/s/ STEVEN E. NIELSEN


Steven E. Nielsen

  

Director

 March 11, 200410, 2006

Steven E. Nielsen

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Table of Contents

 

Page

ReportsReport of Independent Certified Registered Public AccountantsAccounting Firm

  F-2F-1

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 20032005 and 20022004

  F-3F-2

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002,2005, 2004 and 20012003

  F-4F-3

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit) for the years ended December 31, 2003, 20022005, 2004 and 20012003

  F-5F-4

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002,2005, 2004 and 20012003

  F-6F-5

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

  F-8
Valuation and Qualifying AccountsF-35F-7


REPORT OF INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTSACCOUNTING FIRM

The Board of Directors

and Shareholders of SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 20032005 and 2002,2004 and the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2003. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a).2005. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditingthe standards generally accepted inof the United States.Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries as ofat December 31, 20032005 and 2002,2004, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2003,2005, in conformity with accounting principlesU.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the United States. Also,standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of SBA Communications Corporation and Subsidiaries internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 8, 2006 expressed an unqualified opinion the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein.thereon.

 

As discussed in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements, effective January 1, 2003, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations.” As also discussed in Note 5, effective January 1, 2002, the Company changed its method of accounting for goodwill and other intangible assets to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.”

/s/    ERNST & YOUNG

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

West Palm Beach, Florida

March 5, 2004

West Palm Beach, Florida

March 8, 2006

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except par values)

 

   

December 31,

2003


  

December 31,

2002


 
ASSETS         

Current assets:

         

Cash and cash equivalents

  $8,338  $61,141 

Short-term investments

   15,200   —   

Restricted cash

   10,344   —   

Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $1,400 and $5,572 in 2003 and 2002, respectively

   19,414   36,292 

Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts

   10,227   10,425 

Prepaid and other current assets

   5,009   5,129 

Assets held for sale

   395   202,409 
   


 


Total current assets

   68,927   315,396 

Property and equipment, net

   856,213   940,961 

Deferred financing fees, net

   24,253   24,517 

Other assets

   31,181   18,787 

Intangible assets, net

   2,408   3,704 
   


 


Total assets

  $982,982  $1,303,365 
   


 


LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY         

Current liabilities:

         

Accounts payable

  $11,352  $16,810 

Accrued expenses

   17,709   13,943 

Deferred revenue

   11,137   11,142 

Interest payable

   20,319   22,919 

Long-term debt, current portion

   11,538   60,083 

Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts

   1,577   2,362 

Other current liabilities

   1,807   3,595 

Liabilities held for sale

   608   2,685 
   


 


Total current liabilities

   76,047   133,539 
   


 


Long-term liabilities:

         

Long-term debt

   859,220   964,199 

Deferred revenue

   511   703 

Other long-term liabilities

   3,327   1,434 
   


 


Total long-term liabilities

   863,058   966,336 
   


 


Commitments and contingencies

         

Shareholders’ equity:

         

Preferred stock-$.01 par value, 30,000 shares authorized, none issued or outstanding

   —     —   

Common stock-Class A par value $.01 (200,000 and 100,000 shares authorized, 55,016 and 45,674 shares issued and outstanding in 2003 and 2002, respectively)

   550   457 

Common stock-Class B par value $.01 (8,100 shares authorized, 0 and 5,456 shares issued and outstanding in 2003 and 2002, respectively)

   —     55 

Additional paid-in capital

   679,961   667,441 

Accumulated deficit

   (636,634)  (464,463)
   


 


Total shareholders’ equity

   43,877   203,490 
   


 


Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

  $982,982  $1,303,365 
   


 


   December 31, 2005  December 31, 2004 
ASSETS   

Current assets:

   

Cash and cash equivalents

  $45,934  $69,627 

Short term investments

   19,777   —   

Restricted cash

   19,512   2,017 

Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $1,136 and $1,731 in 2005 and 2004, respectively

   17,533   21,125 

Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts

   25,184   19,066 

Prepaid and other current expenses

   4,248   4,327 

Assets held for sale

   —     10 
         

Total current assets

   132,188   116,172 

Property and equipment, net

   728,333   745,831 

Intangible assets, net

   31,491   1,365 

Deferred financing fees, net

   19,931   19,421 

Other assets

   40,593   34,455 
         

Total assets

  $952,536  $917,244 
         
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)   

Current liabilities:

   

Accounts payable

  $17,283  $15,204 

Accrued expenses

   15,544   14,997 

Deferred revenue

   11,838   10,810 

Interest payable

   3,880   3,729 

Long term debt, current portion

   —     3,250 

Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts

   1,391   1,251 

Other current liabilities

   2,207   1,762 
         

Total current liabilities

   52,143   51,003 
         

Long term liabilities:

   

Long term debt

   784,392   924,456 

Deferred revenue

   302   384 

Other long-term liabilities

   34,268   30,072 
         

Total long term liabilities

   818,962   954,912 
         

Commitments and contingencies

   

Shareholders’ equity (deficit):

   

Preferred stock - $.01 par value, 30,000 shares authorized, none issued or outstanding

   —     —   

Common Stock - Class A par value $.01, 200,000 shares authorized, 85,615 and 64,903 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2005 and 2004, respectively

   856   649 

Additional paid-in capital

   990,181   740,037 

Accumulated deficit

   (924,066)  (829,357)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

   14,460   —   
         

Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)

   81,431   (88,671)
         

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficit)

  $952,536  $917,244 
         

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 

Revenues:

             

Site leasing

  $127,842  $115,081  $85,487 

Site development

   84,218   125,041   139,735 
   


 


 


Total revenues

   212,060   240,122   225,222 
   


 


 


Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization shown below):

             

Cost of site leasing

   42,021   40,650   30,657 

Cost of site development

   77,810   102,473   108,532 
   


 


 


Total cost of revenues

   119,831   143,123   139,189 
   


 


 


Gross profit

   92,229   96,999   86,033 

Operating expenses:

             

Selling, general and administrative

   31,244   34,352   42,103 

Restructuring and other charges

   2,505   47,762   24,399 

Asset impairment charges

   16,965   25,545   —   

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   84,380   85,728   66,104 
   


 


 


Total operating expenses

   135,094   193,387   132,606 
   


 


 


Operating loss from continuing operations

   (42,865)  (96,388)  (46,573)

Other income (expense):

             

Interest income

   692   601   7,059 

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   (81,501)  (54,822)  (47,709)

Non-cash interest expense

   (9,277)  (29,038)  (25,843)

Amortization of debt issuance costs

   (5,115)  (4,480)  (3,887)

Write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   (24,219)  —     (5,069)

Other

   169   (169)  (76)
   


 


 


Total other expense

   (119,251)  (87,908)  (75,525)
   


 


 


Loss from continuing operations before provision for income taxes and cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (162,116)  (184,296)  (122,098)

Provision for income taxes

   (1,820)  (309)  (1,493)
   


 


 


Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (163,936)  (184,605)  (123,591)

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   (7,690)  (3,717)  (2,201)
   


 


 


Loss before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (171,626)  (188,322)  (125,792)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (545)  (60,674)  —   
   


 


 


Net loss

  $(172,171) $(248,996) $(125,792)
   


 


 


Basic and diluted loss per common share amounts:

             

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

  $(3.14) $(3.66) $(2.61)

Loss from discontinued operations

   (0.15)  (0.07)  (0.05)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (0.01)  (1.20)  —   
   


 


 


Net loss per common share

  $(3.30) $(4.93) $(2.66)
   


 


 


Weighted average number of common shares

   52,204   50,491   47,321 
   


 


 


   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 

Revenues:

    

Site leasing

  $161,277  $144,004  $127,852 

Site development

   98,714   87,478   64,257 
             

Total revenues

   259,991   231,482   192,109 
             

Operating expenses:

    

Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization shown below):

    

Cost of site leasing

   47,259   47,283   47,793 

Cost of site development

   92,693   81,398   58,683 

Selling, general and administrative

   28,178   28,887   30,714 

Restructuring and other charges

   50   250   2,094 

Asset impairment charges

   398   7,092   12,993 

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   87,218   90,453   93,657 
             

Total operating expenses

   255,796   255,363   245,934 
             

Operating income (loss) from continuing operations

   4,195   (23,881)  (53,825)
             

Other income (expense):

    

Interest income

   2,096   516   692 

Interest expense

   (40,511)  (47,460)  (81,501)

Non-cash interest expense

   (26,234)  (28,082)  (9,277)

Amortization of deferred financing fees

   (2,850)  (3,445)  (5,115)

Loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (29,271)  (41,197)  (24,219)

Other

   31   236   169 
             

Total other expense

   (96,739)  (119,432)  (119,251)
             

Loss from continuing operations before provision for income taxes

   (92,544)  (143,313)  (173,076)

Provision for income taxes

   (2,104)  (710)  (1,729)
             

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (94,648)  (144,023)  (174,805)

(Loss) gain from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   (61)  (3,257)  202 
             

Loss before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (94,709)  (147,280)  (174,603)

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   —     —     (545)
             

Net loss

  $(94,709) $(147,280) $(175,148)
             

Basic and diluted loss per common share amounts:

    

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $(1.28) $(2.47) $(3.35)

Loss from discontinued operations

   —     (0.05)  —   

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   —     —     (0.01)
             

Net loss per common share

  $(1.28) $(2.52) $(3.36)
             

Weighted average number of common shares

   73,823   58,420   52,204 
             

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003, 20022005, 2004, AND 20012003

(in thousands)

 

   Common Stock

  

Additional

Paid-In

Capital


  

Accumulated

Deficit


  Total

 
   Class A

  Class B

    
   Number

  Amount

  

Number


  Amount

    

BALANCE, December 31, 2000

  40,989  $410  5,456  $55  $627,370  $(89,675) $538,160 

Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions

  1,575   16  —     —     29,784   —     29,800 

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     3,326   —     3,326 

Common stock issued in connection with employee stock purchase/ option plans

  669   6  —     —     3,244   —     3,250 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     (125,792)  (125,792)
   
  

  

 


 


 


 


BALANCE, December 31, 2001

  43,233   432  5,456   55   663,724   (215,467)  448,744 

Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions

  1,316   13  —     —     1,383   —     1,396 

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     2,017   —     2,017 

Common stock issued in connection with employee stock purchase/ option/severance plans

  1,125   12  —     —     317   —     329 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     (248,996)  (248,996)
   
  

  

 


 


 


 


BALANCE, December 31, 2002

  45,674   457  5,456   55   667,441   (464,463)  203,490 

Conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock

  5,456   55  (5,456)  (55)  —     —     —   

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     832   —     832 

Payment of restricted stock guarantee

  —     —    —     —     (936)  —     (936)

Common stock issued in exchange for 10¼% senior notes

  3,853   38  —     —     12,593   —     12,631 

Common stock issued in connection with employee stock option plans

  33   —    —     —     31   —     31 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     (172,171)  (172,171)
   
  

  

 


 


 


 


BALANCE, December 31, 2003

  55,016  $550  —    $—    $679,961  $(636,634) $43,877 
   
  

  

 


 


 


 


   Common Stock  Additional
Paid-In
Capital
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income
  Accumulated
Deficit
  Total 
   Class A  Class B      
   Shares  Amount  Shares  Amount      

BALANCE, December 31, 2002,

  45,674  $457  5,456  $55  $667,441  $—    $(506,929) $161,024 

Conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock

  5,456   55  (5,456)  (55)  —     —     —     —   

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     832   —     —     832 

Payment of restricted stock guarantee

  —     —    —     —     (936)  —     —     (936)

Common stock issued in exchange for 10 1/4% senior notes

  3,853   38  —     —     12,593   —     —     12,631 

Common stock issued in connection with stock purchase/option plans

  33   —    —     —     31   —     —     31 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     —     (175,148)  (175,148)
                               

BALANCE, December 31, 2003,

  55,016   550  —     —     679,961   —     (682,077)  (1,566)

Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions

  413   4  —     —     3,003   —     —     3,007 

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     470   —     —     470 

Common stock issued in exchange for 10 1/4% senior notes and 9 3/4% senior discount notes

  8,817   88  —     —     54,484   —     —     54,572 

Common stock issued in connection with stock purchase/option plans

  657   7  —     —     2,119   —     —     2,126 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     —     (147,280)  (147,280)
                               

BALANCE, December 31, 2004

  64,903   649  —     —     740,037   —     (829,357)  (88,671)

Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions and earn outs

  1,665   17  —     —     18,329   —     —     18,346 

Non-cash compensation

  —     —    —     —     462   —     —     462 

Common stock issued in connection with public offerings

  18,000   180  —     —     226,677   —     —     226,857 

Common stock issued in connection with stock purchase/option plans

  1,047   10  —     —     4,676   —     —     4,686 

Deferred gain from settlement of derivative financial instrument

  —     —    —     —     —     14,460   —     14,460 

Net loss

  —     —    —     —     —     —     (94,709)  (94,709)
                               

BALANCE, December 31, 2005

  85,615  $856  —    $—    $990,181  $14,460  $(924,066) $81,431 
                               

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

 

  For the years ended December 31,

   For the year ended December 31, 
  2003

 2002

 2001

   2005 

2004

(revised)

 

2003

(revised)

 

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:

       

Net loss

  $(172,171) $(248,996) $(125,792)  $(94,709) $(147,280) $(175,148)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:

   

Depreciation, accretion and amortization

   84,380   85,728   66,104 

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:

    

Depreciation, accretion, and amortization

   87,218   90,549   101,871 

Non-cash restructuring and other charges

   1,327   43,438   24,119    50   250   1,119 

Asset impairment charges

   16,965   25,545   —      398   7,183   16,347 

Non-cash items reported in discontinued operations (primarily depreciation, asset impairment charges and loss on sale of towers)

   9,837   16,600   12,604 

Gain/loss on sale of assets

   79   (158)  (6,198)

Non-cash compensation expense

   832   2,017   3,326    462   470   832 

Provision for doubtful accounts

   3,554   3,371   2,641 

Amortization of original issue discount and debt issuance costs

   11,011   33,518   29,730 

Write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   24,219   —     5,069 

Amortization of deferred gain from derivative

   (676)  (133)  —   

(Credit) provision for doubtful accounts

   (300)  (287)  3,554 

Accretion of interest income on short-term investments

   (145)  —     —   

Amortization of original issue discount and deferred financing fees

   29,084   30,994   11,011 

Interest converted to term loan

   3,227   —     —      —     554   3,227 

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

   545   60,674   —   

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:

   

Short-term investments

   (15,200)  —     —   

Loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   29,271   41,197   24,219 

Amortization of deferred gain of derivative

   (346)  (746)  (676)

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   —     —     545 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Short term investments

   —     15,200   (15,200)

Accounts receivable

   13,129   17,133   (3,972)   3,891   (1,208)  13,129 

Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts

   198   908   3,201    (6,118)  (8,839)  198 

Prepaid and other current assets

   (343)  1,356   (3,849)   754   641   (343)

Other assets

   (4,176)  (5,674)  2,721    (5,685)  (3,759)  (4,176)

Accounts payable

   (5,758)  (15,229)  (12,183)   138   3,559   (5,758)

Accrued expenses

   (54)  (144)  (2,417)   618   (3,164)  103 

Deferred revenue

   1,466   761   6,113    (291)  (493)  1,466 

Interest payable

   (2,387)  1,104   21,766    151   (15,732)  (2,387)

Other liabilities

   1,052   (230)  (584)   5,106   5,202   1,790 

Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts

   (785)  (3,940)  156    141   83   667 
  


 


 


          

Total adjustments

   142,363   266,803   154,545 
  


 


 


Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

   (29,808)  17,807   28,753    49,767   14,216   (29,808)
  


 


 


          

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:

       

Proceeds from termination of interest rate swap agreement

   —     5,369   —   

Purchase of short term investments

   (34,628)  —     —   

Sale of short term investment

   14,996   —     —   

Capital expenditures

   (15,136)  (86,361)  (307,557)   (19,648)  (7,214)  (15,136)

Acquisitions and related earn-outs

   (3,126)  (29,724)  (239,143)   (61,326)  (1,791)  (3,126)

Proceeds from sale of towers

   192,450   —     —   

Receipt (payment) of restricted cash

   (18,732)  8,000   (8,000)

Proceeds from sale of fixed assets

   1,335   1,496   192,450 

(Payment) receipt of restricted cash

   (12)  8,835   (18,732)
  


 


 


          

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

   155,456   (102,716)  (554,700)

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities

   (99,283)  1,326   155,456 
  


 


 


          

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

       

Proceeds from employee stock purchase/option plans

   31   329   3,250 

Proceeds from 9¾% senior discount notes payable, net of financing fees

   267,109   —     —   

Proceeds from 10¼% senior notes, net of financing fees

   —     —     484,223 

Borrowings under senior credit facility, net of financing fees

   356,955   143,809   134,430 

Repayment of senior credit facility and notes payable

   (505,085)  (445)  (105,634)

Repurchase of senior discount notes and senior notes

   (296,925)  —     —   

Proceeds from equity offering, net of fees paid

   226,857   —     —   

Proceeds from CMBS-1 Trust, net of fees paid

   393,328   —     —   

Initial funding of restricted cash relating to CMBS-1 Trust

   (6,687)  —     —   

Net increase in restricted cash relating to CMBS-1 Trust

   (11,250)  —     —   

Proceeds from settlement of swap

   14,774   —     —   

Proceeds from 9 3/4% senior discount notes, net of financing fees paid

   —     —     267,109 

Proceeds from 8 1/2% senior notes, net of financing fees paid

   (96)  244,788   —   

Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans

   4,686   2,126   31 

Borrowings under senior credit facility, net of financing fees paid

   25,321   363,457   356,955 

Repayment of 9 3/4% senior discount notes

   (122,681)  —     —   

Repayment of 8 1/2% senior notes

   (94,938)  —     —   

Repayment of senior credit facility

   (350,375)  (173,403)  (505,085)

Repurchase of 10 1/4% senior notes

   (52,590)  (320,553)  —   

Repurchase of 12% senior discount notes

   —     (70,794)  (296,925)

Payment of restricted stock guarantee

   (936)  —     —      —     —     (936)

Bank overdraft (repayments) borrowings

   (526)  126   400 
          

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

   25,823   45,747   (178,451)
          

NET (DECREASE) INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

   (23,693)  61,289   (52,803)

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS:

    

Beginning of period

   69,627   8,338   61,141 
          

End of period

  $45,934  $69,627  $8,338 
          

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Continued)

(in thousands)

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 

Bank overdraft borrowings (repayments)

   400   (11,547)  8,602 
   


 


 


Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

   (178,451)  132,146   524,871 
   


 


 


Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   (52,803)  47,237   (1,076)

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS:

             

Beginning of year

   61,141   13,904   14,980 
   


 


 


End of year

  $8,338  $61,141  $13,904 
   


 


 


SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:

             

Cash paid during the year for:

             

Interest, net of amounts capitalized

  $84,847  $58,261  $25,943 
   


 


 


Taxes

  $1,852  $1,502  $2,215 
   


 


 


NON-CASH ACTIVITIES:

             

Assets acquired in connection with acquisitions

  $—    $3,396  $4,835 
   


 


 


Liabilities assumed in connection with acquisitions

  $—    $(2,000) $(3,685)
   


 


 


Common stock issued in connection with acquisitions

  $—    $(1,396) $(29,800)
   


 


 


Class A common stock issued in exchange for 10¼% senior notes and accrued interest

  $12,631  $—    $—   
   


 


 


10¼% senior notes and accrued interest redeemed for Class A common stock

  $(13,713) $—    $—   
   


 


 


   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:

     

Cash paid during the period for:

     

Interest

  $40,744  $63,746  $84,847 
             

Income taxes

  $1,425  $971  $1,852 
             

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION OF NON-CASH ACTIVITIES:

     

Class A common stock issued in exchange for 10 1/4% senior notes, 9 3/4% senior discount notes, and accrued interest

  $—    $54,572  $12,631 
             

10 1/4% senior notes and accrued interest exchanged for Class A common stock

  $—    $(51,433) $(13,713)
             

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

1. GENERAL

1.GENERAL

SBA Communications Corporation (the “Company” or “SBA”) was incorporated in the State of Florida in March 1997. The Company holds all of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, Inc. (“Telecommunications”). Telecommunications holds all of the capital stock of SBA Senior Finance, Inc. (“SBA Senior Finance”). SBA Senior Finance is the sole member of SBA Senior Finance II LLC (“SBA Senior Finance II”), and is the sole member of SBA CMBS-1 Holdings LLC and SBA CMBS-1 Depositor LLC. SBA CMBS-1 Holdings is the sole member of SBA CMBS-1 Guarantor LLC, which holds all of the capital stock of SBA Towers, Inc., SBA Properties, Inc., (“SBA Sites, Inc., andProperties”). SBA Senior Finance II holds all the capital stock and/or membership interests of certain other tower companies (collectively with SBA Properties known as “Tower Companies”), SBA Leasing,Network Services, Inc. (“Leasing”) and SBA Network Services,Management, Inc. SBA Network Services, Inc. holds all of the capital stock of other companies engaged in similar businesses (collectively “Network Services”).

The Tower Companies own and operate transmission towers in the easternEastern third of the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Space on these towers is leased primarily to wireless communications carriers.

Leasing leases antenna SBA Properties owns 1,714 towers, which are the collateral for the Commercial Mortgage Pass Through Certificates, Series 2005-1 (“CMBS notes” or “Certificates”). SBA Network Management, Inc. (“Network Management”) is a management company, which manages all of SBA Properties’ tower sites from owners and then subleases such sites to wireless telecommunications providers.

sites.

Network Services provides comprehensive turnkey services for the telecommunications industry in the areas of site development services for wireless carriers and the construction and repair of transmission towers. Site development services provided by Network Services include network pre-design, site audits, site identification and acquisition, contract and title administration, zoning and land use permitting, construction management, microwave relocation and the construction and repair of transmission towers, including the hanging of antennas, cabling and associated tower components. In addition to providing turnkey services to the telecommunications industry, Network Services historically has constructed, or has overseen the construction of, approximately 60%57% of the newly-builtnewly built towers that the Company owns.

 

2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

2.SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

A summary of the significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements is as follows:

 

a. Basis of Consolidation

a.Basis of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and all of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

b. Use of Estimates

b.Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. The more significant estimates made by management relate to the allowance for doubtful accounts, the costs and revenue relating to the Company’s site development and construction contracts, valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, carrying value of long-lived assets, the useful lives of towers, anticipated property tax assessments, and asset retirement obligations. Actual results will differ from those estimates and such differences could be material.

 

c. Cash and Cash Equivalents

c.Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

The Company classifies as cash and cash equivalents all interest-bearing deposits orhighly liquid investments purchased with an original maturitiesmaturity of three months or less as cash equivalents. Marketable short-term investments are generally classified and highly liquidaccounted for as held to maturity. Investments in debt securities classified as held-to-maturity are reported at amortized cost plus accrued interest. The Company does not hold these securities for speculative or trading purposes. During 2005, the Company sold $15.0 million of short-term investments which were classified as held to maturity, the proceeds of which were used to fund acquisitions in 2005 that were expected to close in 2006. At December 31, 2005, short term investments were comprised of commercial paper.paper with a carrying amount of $19.8 million and had original maturities between three and four months.

d.Restricted Cash

The Company classifies all cash pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations and all cash whose use is limited as restricted cash. This includes cash held in escrow to fund certain reserve accounts relating to the CMBS notes, surety bonds issued for the benefit of the Company in the ordinary course of business, and for payment and performance bonds.

 

d. Short Term Investments

The Company’s short-term investments consist of debt securities which are acquired and held for a short period of time. Trading securities are recorded at fair value. Investment income and unrealized holding gains and losses are included in earnings.

e. Property and Equipment

e.Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, adjusted for asset impairment and estimated asset retirement obligations. Costs associated with the acquisition, development and construction of towers are capitalized as a cost of the towers. Costs for self-constructed towers include direct materials and labor, indirect costs and capitalized interest. Depreciation on towers and related components is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives.lives, not to exceed the minimum lease term of the underlying ground lease. Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the useful life of the improvement or the term of the lease. The Company defines the lease term as the shorter of the period from lease inception through the end of the term of all tenant lease obligations in existence at ground lease inception, including renewal periods, or the ground lease term, including renewal periods.

If no tenant lease obligation exists at the date of ground lease inception, the initial term of the ground lease is considered the minimum lease term. All rental obligations due to be paid out over the minimum lease term, including fixed escalations are straight-lined evenly over the minimum lease term. Additionally, the Company records the depreciable life of the tower to coincide with the minimum lease term of the ground lease.

For all other property and equipment, depreciation is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives. The Company performs ongoing evaluations of the estimated useful lives of its property and equipment for depreciation purposes. The estimated useful lives are determined and continually evaluated based on the period over which services are expected to be rendered by the asset. If the useful lives of assets are reduced, depreciation may be accelerated in future years. Maintenance and repair items are expensed as incurred.

Asset classes and related estimated useful lives are as follows:

 

Towers and related components

  2 - 15 years

Furniture, equipment and vehicles

  2 -   7 years

Buildings and improvements

  5 - 39 years

Capitalized costs incurred subsequent to when an asset is originally placed in service are depreciated over the remaining estimated useful life of the respective asset. Changes in an asset’s estimated useful life are accounted for prospectively, with the book value of the asset at the time of the change being depreciated over the revised remaining useful life. There has been no material impact for changes in estimated useful lives for any years presented.

Interest is capitalized in connection with the self-construction of Company-owned towers. Capitalized interest is recorded as part of the asset to which it relates and is amortized over the asset’s estimated useful life. Approximately $0.1$0.08 million, $1.7$0.01 million and $3.9$0.1 million of interest cost was capitalized in 2005, 2004, and 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively. Approximately $1.9 million of capitalized interest was reclassified to discontinued operations in 2002. No capitalized interest was reclassified in 2003.

 

f. Deferred Financing Fees

f.Deferred Financing Fees

Financing fees related to the issuance of debt have been deferred and are being amortized using a method that approximates the effective interest rate method over the length of indebtedness to which they relate.

 

g. Deferred Lease Costs

g.Deferred Lease Costs

The Company defers certain initial direct costs associated with lease originations and lease amendments and amortizes these costs over the initial lease term, generally five years.years, or over the lease term remaining if related to a lease amendment. Such costs deferred were approximately $2.2 million, $1.8 million, and $2.0 million $1.7 millionin 2005, 2004, and $1.6 million in 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively. Amortization expense was $1.3$1.8 million, $0.8$1.6 million, and $0.5$1.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2003, 20022005, 2004 and 2001,2003, respectively, and is included in cost of site leasing in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations. As of December 31, 20032005 and 2002,2004, unamortized deferred lease costs were $4.1$4.7 million and $3.4$4.3 million, respectively, and are included in other assets. Accumulated amortization totaled $3.2$6.5 million and $1.6$4.7 million at December 31, 20032005 and 2002,2004, respectively.

h.Intangible Assets

h. Intangible Assets

IntangibleThe Company classifies as intangible assets are comprised of costs paid related to covenants not to compete. These finite-livedcompete, the fair value of current leases in place at the acquisition date of towers and related assets, and the fair value of future tenant leases anticipated to be added to the acquired towers. The current leases and future tenant leases are referred to as “contract intangibles”. The contract intangibles are being amortized overestimated to have an economic useful life consistent with the termseconomic useful life of the contracts,related tower assets, which range fromis typically 15 years. Covenants not to compete have an estimated useful life of 3 to 5 years. For all intangible assets, amortization is provided using the straight line method over the estimated useful lives as the benefit associated with these intangible assets is anticipated to be derived evenly over the life of the asset.

 

i. Goodwill

There was no goodwill at December 31, 2003 or 2002 or amortization of goodwill during 2003 and 2002, as a result of adopting the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 142,Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (“SFAS 142”) in 2002.

j. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

i.Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”)SFAS No. 144,Accounting for the Impairment ofor Disposal of Long-Lived Assets (“SFAS 144”), long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If an asset is determined to be impaired, the loss is measured by the excess of the carrying amount of the asset over its fair value as determined by an estimate of discounted future cash flows. Estimates and assumptions inherent in the impairment evaluation include, but are not limited to, general market conditions, historical operating results, tower lease-up potential and expected timing of lease-up.

 

k. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

j.Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying values of the Company’s financial instruments, which primarily includes cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, restricted cash, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, accounts payable, accrued expenses and notes payable, approximates fair value due to the short maturity of those instruments. The senior credit facility has a floating rate of interest and is carried at an amount which approximates fair value.

The Company’s 12% senior discount notes and 10¼% senior notes are publicly traded. The 9¾% senior discount notes were sold in December 2003 pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since the 9¾% senior discount notes are not registered, they are subject to certain restrictions on resale. The following table reflects yields, fair values as determined by quoted market prices (for the 10 1/4% notes, the tendered value of the notes was used in 2004) and carrying values of these notes as of December 31, 20032005 and 2002:

   As of December 31, 2003

  

As of December 31, 2002


   Yield

  Fair
Value


  Carrying
Value


  Yield

  Fair
Value


  Carrying
Value


   (dollars in millions)  (dollars in millions)

12% Senior Discount Notes

  2.8% $71.6  $65.7  28.5% $145.1  $263.9

10¼% Senior Notes

  10.8% $398.3  $406.4  25.0% $275.0  $500.0

9¾% Senior Discount Notes

  8.8% $279.9  $275.8  —     —     —  

l. Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable2004:

 

   At December 31, 2005  At December 31, 2004
   Fair Value  Carrying Value  Fair Value  Carrying Value
   (in millions)

CMBS Notes (see Note 12)

  $408.5  $405.0  $—    $—  

9 3/4% Senior Discount Notes

  $243.7  $216.9  $337.7  $302.4

8 1/2% Senior Notes

  $181.2  $162.5  $255.0  $250.0

10 1/4% Senior Notes

  $—    $—    $52.5  $50.0

 

k.Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable

Revenue from site leasing is recorded monthly and recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the related lease agreements.agreements, which are generally five years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases isare reflected in prepaid and other current assets and other assets in the consolidated balance sheets.Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue in the consolidated balance sheets.

Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Site development projects in which the Company performs consulting services include contracts on a time and materials basis or a fixed price basis. Time and materials based contracts are billed at contractual rates as the services are rendered. For those site development contracts in which the Company performs work on a fixed price basis, site development billing (and revenue recognition) is based on the completion of agreed upon phases of the project on a per site basis. Upon the completion of each phase on a per site basis, the Company recognizes the revenue related to that phase. Revenue related to services performed on

uncompleted phases of site development projects was not recorded by the Company at the end of the reporting periods presented as it was not material to the Company’s results of operations. Any estimated losses on a particular phase of completion are recognized in the period in which the loss becomes evident. Site development projects generally take from 3 to 12 months to complete.

Revenue from construction projects is recognized on the percentage-of-completion method of accounting, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. The asset “Costs“costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts” represents expenses incurred and revenues recognized in excess of amounts billed. The liability “Billings“billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts” represents billings in excess of revenues recognized. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.

Cost of site leasing revenue includes ground lease rent, property taxes, maintenance (exclusive of employee related costs) and other tower expenses. Cost of site development revenue includes all materials costs, salaries and labor costs, including payroll taxes, subcontract labor, vehicle expense and other costs directly and indirectly related to the projects. All costs related to site development projects are recognized as incurred.

The Company performs periodic credit evaluations of its customers. The Company continuously monitors collections and payments from its customers and maintains a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case by case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectability is determined to be probable. If the capital markets and the ability of wireless carriers to access capital were to deteriorate, the ultimate collectability of accounts receivable may be negatively impacted.

m. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses represent those costs incurred which are related to the administration or management The following is a rollforward of the Company. Also included in this category are corporate development expenses incurred in the normal course of business that represent costs incurred in connection with proposed acquisitions which have not been consummated, new build activities where a capital asset is not produced, and expansion of the customer base. The above costs are expensed as incurred. There were no corporate development expenses in 2003 or 2002. Development expenses included in selling, general and administrative were $4.2 millionallowance for doubtful accounts for the yearyears ended December 31 2001.2005, 2004, and 2003:

 

n.Income Taxes

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Beginning Balance

  $1,731  $1,400  $5,572 

Provisions (credits)

   (300)  (287)  3,554 

Writeoffs, net of recoveries

   (295)  618   (7,726)
             

Ending Balance

  $1,136  $1,731  $1,400 
             

 

l.Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 109,Accounting for Income Taxes (“(“SFAS 109”). SFAS 109 requires the Company to recognize deferred tax liabilities and assets for the expected future income tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Deferred tax liabilities and assets are determined based on the temporary differences between the consolidated financial statements carrying amounts and the tax bases of assets and liabilities, using enacted tax rates in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. In assessing the likelihood of utilization of existing deferred tax assets, management has considered historical results of operations and the current operating environment.

 

m.Stock-Based Compensation

o. Stock-Based Compensation

In December 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 148,Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation—Transition and Disclosure—an Amendment of SFAS 123 (“SFAS 148”) which provides alternative methods for a voluntary change to the fair value method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation and amends the disclosure requirements of SFAS 123,Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation(“SFAS 123”). The Company has

elected to continue to account for its stock-based employee compensation plans under APBAccounting Principles Board No. 25,Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees (“APB 25”), and related interpretations and adopt the disclosure provisions of SFAS 148.148 through December 31, 2005.

p. Loss Per Share

BasicThe following table illustrates the effect on net loss and diluted loss per share are calculated in accordanceas if the Company had applied the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS 123, to stock-based employee compensation.

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in millions except per share
amounts)
 

Net loss, as reported

  $(94.7) $(147.3) $(175.1)

Non-cash compensation charges included in net loss

   0.5   0.5   0.8 

Incremental stock-based employee compensation expense determined under fair value based method for all awards, net of related tax effects

   (4.2)  (5.4)  (4.2)
             

Pro forma net loss

  $(98.4) $(152.2) $(178.5)
             

Loss per share

    

Basic and diluted - as reported

  $(1.28) $(2.52) $(3.36)

Basic and diluted - pro forma

  $(1.33) $(2.61) $(3.42)

The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was used with SFAS No. 128,Earnings per Share. Weighted average shares outstanding include the following assumptions:

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 

Risk free interest rate

  3.8 – 4.2% 3.5% 2.0%

Dividend yield

  0% 0% 0%

Expected volatility

  45% 113% 90%

Expected lives

  3.75 years  4 years  4 years 

The effect of applying SFAS 123 in the pro-forma disclosure is not necessarily indicative of future results.

From time to time, restricted shares issuable under acquisition earn-out obligations. The Company has potentialof Class A common stock equivalents relatedor options to its outstanding stock options. These potentialpurchase Class A common stock equivalents were not included in diluted loss per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. Accordingly, basic and diluted loss per common share andgranted under the weighted average numberCompany’s equity participation plans at prices below market value at the time of shares used in the computations are the same for all periods presented. There were 3.8 million, 2.8 million and 3.8 million options outstanding at December 31, 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively.

q. Comprehensive Loss

During the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002, and 2001,grant. In addition, the Company did not have any changes in its equity resulting from non-owner sourceshad bonus agreements with certain executives and accordingly, comprehensive loss was equalemployees to the net loss amounts presented for the respective periods in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

r. Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications have been made to the 2002 and 2001 consolidated financial statements to conform to the 2003 presentation.

3. DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

In March 2003 certainissue shares of the Company’s subsidiaries entered into a definitive agreement (the “Western tower sale”) to sell up to an aggregateClass A common stock in lieu of 801 towers, which represented substantially all of the Company’s towers in the Western two-thirds of the United States.cash payments. The Company ultimately sold 784 of the 801 towers. Gross proceeds realized during 2003 from the sale of the 784 towers was $196.7 million, subject to certain remaining potential adjustments. At December 31, 2003,recorded approximately $7.3$0.5 million of the proceeds were held by an escrow agent in accordance with adjustment provisions of the agreement. At December 31, 2003, the Company had recorded a liability of approximately $2.6 million for the estimated remaining potential adjustments associated with the Western tower sale which is reflected in accrued expenses in the December 31, 2003 Consolidated Balance Sheet. Accordingly, we estimate that the final gross cash proceeds to be realized from the Western tower sale, after all potential remaining purchase price adjustments, will be approximately $194.1 million.

In consideration of the Company’s recent Western tower sale, the Company evaluated the scope and operating plan with respect to its 64 remaining towers in the same U.S. geographic market as the 784 towers sold. This evaluation resulted in the Company’s decision to sell all tower operations in this geographic market. The Company has begun to market these towers for sale on its own and believes that the activities necessary to sell the towers will be completed within one year. As a result of this decision, the Company has accounted for the remaining 64 towers as discontinued operations, which includes the 17 towers subsequently excluded from the original 801 Western tower sale. During 2003, the Company sold 3 of the 64 towers held for sale leaving 61 towers held for sale as of December 31, 2003.

The Company evaluated these 61 towers for impairment. The December 31, 2003 loss from discontinued operations includes a $4.5 million asset impairment charge associated with the write-down of the carrying value of these towers to their fair value less estimated costs to sell.

In accordance with SFAS No. 144, the Company has classified the operating results of the 784 towers sold in the Western tower sale and 64 remaining western

towers as discontinued operations in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements. All prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

The discontinued operations affect only the Company’s site leasing segment. The following is a summary of the operating results of the discontinued operations:

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 
   (in thousands) 

Revenues

  $11,198  $24,542  $17,672 
   


 


 


Site leasing gross profit

  $7,049  $15,564  $11,607 
   


 


 


Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(5,605) $(3,717) $(2,201)

Loss on disposal of discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   (2,085)  —     —   
   


 


 


Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(7,690) $(3,717) $(2,201)
   


 


 


A portion of the Company’s interestnon-cash compensation expense has been allocated to discontinued operations based upon the debt balance attributable to those operations. Interest expense allocated to discontinued operations was $0.8 million and $1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 20032005 and 2002,2004, respectively. No interest expense was allocated to discontinued operations in 2001 as there was no associated debt outstanding during 2001.

 

The following is a summarized balance sheet presenting the carrying amounts of the major classes of assets and liabilities related to the towers held for sale and classified as discontinued operations as of December 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively:

   As of December 31,

   2003

  2002

   (in thousands)

Property and equipment, net

  $148  $198,259

Other assets

   247   4,150
   

  

Assets held for sale

  $395  $202,409
   

  

Liabilities held for sale

  $608  $2,685
   

  

The notes to the consolidated financial statements for all years presented have been adjusted for the discontinued operations described above.

n.Asset Retirement Obligations

4. ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In October 2001, the FASB issued SFAS No. 143,Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations (“SFAS 143”). This standard requires companies to record the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation in the period in which it is incurred. When the liability is initially recorded, we capitalize a cost by increasing the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. Over time, the liability is accreted to its present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the related asset. Upon settlement of the liability, we either settle the obligation for its recorded amount or incur a gain or loss upon settlement. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2003. As a result of our obligation to restore leaseholds to their original condition upon termination of ground leases underlying a majority of our towers and our estimate as to the probability of incurring these obligations, we recorded a cumulative effect adjustment of approximately $0.5 million during the first quarter of 2003. The adoption of SFAS 143 resulted in an increase in tower fixed assets of approximately $0.9 million and the recording of an asset retirement obligation liability of approximately $1.4 million.

In April 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 145,Rescission of FASB Statements Nos. 4, 44 and 62, Amendment of SFAS No. 13 and Technical Corrections (“SFAS 145”). SFAS 145 requires gains and losses on extinguishments of debt to be classified as income or loss from continuing operations rather than as extraordinary items as previously required under SFAS 4. Extraordinary treatment is required for certain extinguishments as provided in APB Opinion No. 30. The statement also amended SFAS 13 for certain sale-

leaseback and sublease accounting. We adopted the provisions of SFAS 145 effective January 1, 2003. Pursuant to SFAS 145, our previously reported extraordinary item of $5.1 million, related to the early extinguishment of debt, was reclassified to operating expense in the accompanying December 31, 2001 Consolidated Statement of Operations.

In July 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 146,Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities (“SFAS 146”) and nullified EITF Issue No. 94-3. SFAS 146 requires that a liability for a cost associated with an exit or disposal activity be recognized when the liability is incurred, whereas EITF No. 94-3 had recognized the liability at the commitment date to an exit plan. SFAS 146 requires that the initial measurement of a liability be at fair value. We adopted the provisions of SFAS 146 effective January 1, 2003. The adoption of SFAS 146 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 148. SFAS 148 provides alternative methods of transition for a voluntary change to the fair value based method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation. This statement also amends the disclosure requirements of SFAS 123 to require disclosures in both annual and interim financial statements regarding the method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation and the effect of the method used on reported results. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2002. We adopted the disclosure-only provisions of SFAS 148 as of December 31, 2002. We will continue to account for stock-based compensation in accordance with APB 25. As such, we do not expect this standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.

In April 2003, the FASB issued SFAS No. 149 (“SFAS 149”),Amendment of Statement 133 on Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities. This Statement amends and clarifies financial accounting and reporting for derivative instruments, including certain derivative instruments embedded in other contracts (collectively referred to as derivatives) and for hedging activities under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133 (“SFAS 133”),Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities.The statement was effective for contracts entered into or modified after June 30, 2003. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In May 2003, the FASB issued SFAS No. 150 (“SFAS 150”),Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity. This Statement establishes standards for how an issuer classifies and measures certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity. It requires that an issuer classify a financial instrument that is within its scope as a liability (or an asset in some circumstances). This standard was effective at the beginning of the first interim period beginning after June 15, 2003, except for mandatorily redeemable financial instruments of nonpublic entities that are subject to the provisions of this Statement for the first fiscal period beginning after December 15, 2003. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

In November 2002, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation No. 45 (“FIN 45”),Guarantor’s Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness of Others.FIN 45 elaborates on the disclosures to be made by a guarantor in its interim and annual financial statements about its obligations under certain guarantees that it has issued. FIN 45 also clarifies requirements for the recognition of guarantees at the onset of an arrangement. The initial recognition and measurement provisions of FIN 45 are applicable on a prospective basis to guarantees used or modified after December 31, 2002. The disclosure requirements of FIN 45 are effective for interim or annual financial statements after December 15, 2002. We implemented the disclosure requirements of FIN 45 as of December 31, 2002 and there was no material impact on our consolidated financial statements as a result of this implementation.

In January 2003, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46,Consolidation for Variable Interest Entities, an Interpretation of ARB No. 51 which requires all variable interest entities (“VIES”) to be consolidated by the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is the entity that holds the majority of the beneficial interest in the VIE. In addition, the interpretation expands the disclosure requirements for both variable interest entities that are consolidated as well as VIEs from which the entity is the holder of a significant amount of beneficial

interests, but not the majority. FIN 46 is effective immediately for all VIEs and for all special purpose entities created or acquired after January 31, 2003. For VIEs created or acquired prior to February 1, 2003, the provisions of FIN 46 must be applied for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004. The adoption of FIN 46 did not have, nor is it expected to have, a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

5. CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CHANGES IN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES

a. SFAS 143

Effective January 1, 2003, the Company adopted the provisions of SFAS 143.143“Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations”. Under the new accounting principle,SFAS 143, the Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred, if a reasonable estimate of a fair value can be made, and accretes such liability through the obligation’s estimated settlement date. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the related tower fixed assets and depreciated over the estimated useful life.

The Company has entered into ground leases for the land underlying the majority of the Company’s towers. A majority of these leases require the Company to restore leaseholds to their original condition upon termination of the ground lease. SFAS 143 requires that the net present value of future restoration obligations be recorded as a liability as of the date the legal obligation arises and this amount be capitalized to the related operating asset. At January 1, 2003, the effective date of adoption, the cumulative effect of the change on prior years resulted in a charge of approximately $0.5 million ($0.01 per share), which is included in net loss for the year ended December 31, 2003. In addition, at the date of adoption, the Company recorded an increase in tower assets of approximately $0.9$0.6 million and recorded an asset retirement obligation liability of approximately $1.4$1.1 million. The asset retirement obligation at December 31, 20032005 of $1.2$0.9 million is included in other long-term liabilities in the December 31, 2003 Consolidated Balance Sheet. In determining the impact of SFAS 143, the Company considered the nature and scope of legal restoration obligation provisions contained in its third party ground leases, the historical retirement experience as an indicator of future restoration probabilities, intent in renewing existing ground leases through lease termination dates, current and future value and timing of estimated restoration costs, and the credit adjusted risk-free rate used to discount future obligations.

The following pro-forma summary presents the Company’s loss from continuing operations, net loss and related loss per share information as if the Company had been accounting for asset retirement obligations under SFAS 143 for the periods presented:

   For the years ended
December 31,


 
   2002

  2001

 
   (in thousands, except per
share data)
 

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

  $(184,794) $(123,748)

Per share loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles

  $(3.66) $(2.62)

Net loss

  $(249,206) $(125,970)

Per share net loss

  $(4.94) $(2.66)

The following summarizes the activity of the asset retirement obligation liability:

 

  For the years ended
December 31,


   For the year ended December 31,
  2003

 2002

   2005 2004
  (in thousands)   (in thousands)

Asset retirement obligation at January 1

  $—    $957   $1,404  $1,195

Liability recorded in transition

   1,140   —   

Accretion expense

   119   130    22   131

Reclassification of asset retirement obligation from discontinued operations

   —     78

Revision in estimates

   (64)  (38)   (484)  —  
  


 


      

Asset retirement obligation at December 31

  $1,195  $1,049   $942  $1,404
  


 


      

o.Loss Per Share

Basic and diluted loss per share is calculated in accordance with SFAS No. 128,Earnings per Share.The Company has potential common stock equivalents related to its outstanding stock options. These potential common stock equivalents were not included in diluted loss per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. Accordingly, basic and diluted loss per common share and the weighted average number of shares used in the computations are the same for all periods presented. There were 4.6 million, 4.4 million and 3.8 million options outstanding at December 31, 2005, 2004, and 2003, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2005, the

b. SFAS 142Company granted approximately 1.3 million options at exercise prices between $8.56 and $15.05 per share, which was the fair market value at the date of grant.

 

p.Comprehensive Income (Loss)

During 2002,Comprehensive income (loss) is defined as the change in equity (net assets) of a business enterprise during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, and is comprised of net income (loss) and “other comprehensive income (loss).”

Comprehensive loss for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003 is comprised of the following:

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Net loss

  $(94,709) $(147,280) $(175,148)

Other comprehensive income, deferred gain from settlement of interest rate swap

   14,460   —     —   
             

Comprehensive loss

  $(80,249) $(147,280) $(175,148)
             

For the year ended December 31, 2005, the Company’s net loss includes a deferred gain from the termination of two interest rate swap agreements entered in anticipation of the November 2005 CMBS Transaction (Note 12 and 14), resulting in a $14.8 million settlement payment to the Company. The settlement payment is being amortized based on the effective interest method over the anticipated five year life of the CMBS notes. The unamortized value of the settlement payment is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

q.Reclassifications

The Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2004 have been revised for asset impairment charges and depreciation, accretion and amortization relating to discontinued operations (See note 3).

3.DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

In March 2003 certain of the Company’s subsidiaries entered into a definitive agreement (the “Western tower sale”) to sell up to an aggregate of 801 towers, which represented substantially all of the Company’s towers in the Western two-thirds of the United States. The Company ultimately sold 784 of the 801 towers as part of the Western tower sale, representing all but three of the 787 total towers sold in 2003. On April 29, 2004, the Company completedreceived notification from the transitional impairment testpurchaser of goodwill required under SFAS 142,Goodwillthe Western towers as to certain claims for indemnification totaling approximately $4.3 million. In December 2004, the claims for indemnification of $4.3 million were settled for $2.8 million and other Intangible Assets(“SFAS 142”), whichthis amount was adopted effective January 1, 2002. As a resultreleased to the purchaser of completing the required transitional test,Western towers. The remaining $1.5 million was released to the Company in December 2004. The Company recorded a charge retroactiveof $2.1 million in 2004 relating to the adoption datesettlement of the claims, which is included in discontinued operations, net of income taxes in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.

During the year ended December 31, 2004, the Company sold or disposed of 41 of the 61 towers held for sale at December 31, 2003, and reclassified 14 towers back to continuing operations, leaving six towers accounted for as discontinued operations as of December 31, 2004. These six towers were sold in the first two quarters of 2005. Gross proceeds realized from the sale of towers during the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2004 were $0.2 million and $1.2 million, respectively. These sales resulted in a gain of approximately $0.1 million and a loss on sale of approximately $1.6 million for the cumulative effectyears ended December 31, 2005 and 2004, which is included in loss from discontinued operations, net of the accounting changeincome taxes in the amountaccompanying Consolidated Statement of $60.7Operations.

The December 31, 2003 loss from discontinued operations includes $3.4 million representingin asset impairment charges associated with the excesswrite-down of the carrying value of certain assetsthe 47 additional towers accounted for as compareddiscontinued operations at December 31, 2003 to their fair value less estimated fair value. Ofcost to sell.

The following is a summary of the total $60.7operating results of the discontinued operations relating to the Western tower sale and the 47 additional towers accounted for as discontinued operations:

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Revenues

  $16  $168  $11,208 
             

Loss from operations, net of income taxes

  $(43) $(270) $(6,170)

Gain (loss) on disposal of discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   101   (1,622)  6,750 
             

Gain (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $58  $(1,892) $580 
             

A portion of the Company’s interest expense has been allocated to discontinued operations based upon the debt balance attributable to those operations. Interest expense allocated to discontinued operations was $0.8 million cumulative effect adjustment, $58.5 millionfor the year ended December 31, 2003. No interest expense was allocated to discontinued operations in 2005 and 2004 as there was no associated debt outstanding during these years.

In May 2004, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a plan of disposition related to site development services operations (including both the site development consulting and site development construction reporting segmentsegments) in the Western portion of the United States (“Western site development services”). In June 2004, two business units were sold, and $2.2two business units were abandoned within the Western site development services unit. In the third quarter of 2004, the remaining two site development construction business units within the Western site development services unit were sold. Gross proceeds realized from sale during 2004 were $0.4 million, related to the site leasing reporting segment. In addition,and a loss on disposal of discontinued operations of $0.8 million was recorded during 2002, the Company recorded additional goodwill totaling approximately $9.2 million resulting from the achievement of certain earn-out obligations under various construction acquisition agreements entered into prior to July 1, 2001, which was determined to be impaired during 2002 and written off (See Note 18). The Company currently does not have any remaining goodwill or other intangible assets subject to SFAS 142.

2004.

The following unaudited pro formais a summary presentsof the Company’s net lossoperating results of the discontinued operations relating to the Western site development services:

   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Revenues

  $51  $14,280  $19,961 
             

Loss from operations, net of income taxes

  $(119) $(578) $(378)

Loss on disposal of discontinued operations, net of income taxes

   —     (787)  —   
             

Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

  $(119) $(1,365) $(378)
             

No interest expense has been allocated to discontinued operations related to Western site development services for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and per share information as if2003.

At December 31, 2005, there were no assets or liabilities held for sale and at December 31, 2004, there were $0.01 million of assets held for sale which relate to the Company had been accounting for its goodwill under SFAS 142Western services division. The notes to the consolidated financial statements for all periods presented:years presented have been adjusted for the discontinued operations described above.

 

   For the years ended
December 31,


 
   2002

  2001

 
   (in thousands, except per
share data)
 

Reported net loss

  $(248,996) $(125,792)

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   60,674   —   
   


 


Loss excluding cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (188,322)  (125,792)

Add back goodwill amortization

   —     3,802 
   


 


Adjusted net loss

  $(188,322) $(121,990)

Reported basic and diluted loss per share

  $(4.93) $(2.66)

Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   1.20   —   
   


 


Loss per share excluding cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

   (3.73)  (2.66)

Add back goodwill amortization

   —     .08 
   


 


Adjusted net loss per share

  $(3.73) $(2.58)
   


 


4.RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Stock-based Compensation

6. SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS

The carryingIn December 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 123R, “Share-Based Payment”. SFAS No. 123R is a revision of SFAS 123 and supersedes APB 25. Among other items, SFAS 123R eliminates the use of APB 25 and the intrinsic value method of accounting, and requires companies to recognize the cost of employee services received in exchange for awards of equity instruments, based on the grant date fair value of short-term investmentsthose awards, in the financial statements. Pro forma disclosure is no longer an alternative under the new standard. Although early adoption is allowed, we will adopt SFAS 123R as of $15.2 million equaledthe required effective date for calendar year companies, which is January 1, 2006.

SFAS 123R permits companies to adopt its requirements using either a “modified prospective” method, or a “modified retrospective” method. Under the “modified prospective” method, compensation expense is recognized in the financial statements beginning with the effective date, based on the requirements of SFAS 123R for all share-based payments granted after that date, and based on the requirements of SFAS 123 for all unvested awards granted prior to the effective date of SFAS 123R. Under the “modified retrospective” method, the requirements are the same as under the “modified prospective” method, but also permit entities to restate financial statements of previous periods based on proforma disclosures made in accordance with SFAS 123. We have determined that we will use the “modified prospective” method to recognize compensation expense.

We currently utilize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to measure the fair value of these investmentsstock options granted to our employees. While SFAS 123R permits entities to continue to use such a model, the standard also permits the use of a more complex binomial, or “lattice” model. Based upon our evaluation of the alternative models available to value option grants, we have determined that we will continue to use the Black-Scholes model for option valuation.

Other Pronouncements

In May 2005, the FASB issued Statement No. 154, “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections-a replacement of APB Opinion No. 20 and FASB Statement No. 3” (“SFAS 154”). This standard replaces APB Opinion No. 20,Accounting Changes, and FASB Statement No. 3,Reporting Accounting Changes in Interim Financial Statements, and changes the requirements for the accounting and reporting of a change in accounting principle. SFAS 154 applies to all voluntary changes in accounting principle and to changes required by an accounting pronouncement in the unusual instance that the pronouncement does not include specific transition provisions. SFAS 154 also requires that a change in depreciation, amortization, or depletion method for long-lived, nonfinancial assets be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate affected by a change in accounting principle. SFAS 154 requires that the change in accounting principle be applied to the balances of assets and liabilities as of the beginning of the earliest period for which retrospective application is practicable and that a corresponding adjustment be made to the opening balance of retained earnings for that period rather than being reported in an income statement. Such a change would require the Company to restate its previously issued financial statements to reflect the change in accounting principle to prior periods presented. SFAS 154 is effective for accounting changes and corrections of errors made in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2005. The adoption of SFAS 154 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations and financial position.

In March 2005, FASB Interpretation No. 47, “Accounting for Conditional Asset Retirement Obligations (an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 143)” (“FIN 47”) was issued. FIN 47 provides clarification with respect to the timing of liability recognition of legal obligations associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets when the timing and/or method of settlement of the obligation are conditional on a future event. FIN 47 is effective no later than the end of fiscal years ending after December 15, 2005 (December 31, 2005 for calendar-year enterprises). The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No.153,“Exchanges of Nonmonetary Assets—an Amendment of APB No. 29” (“SFAS 153”). The amendments made by SFAS 153 are based on the principle that exchanges of nonmonetary assets should be measured based on the fair value of the assets exchanged. Further, the amendments eliminate the narrow exception for nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and replace it with a broader exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not have “commercial substance.” This standard was effective for nonmonetary asset exchanges occurring after July 1, 2005. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

5.RESTRICTED CASH

Restricted cash at December 31, 2003. In January 2004 these investments were sold2005 was $27.8 million. This balance includes $17.9 million of cash held in escrow to fund certain reserve accounts for their face value plus accrued interest.

7. RESTRICTED CASH

the payment of debt service and certain expenses relating to the commercial mortgage pass-through certificates issued in November 2005 (See note 12 for further discussion of the restricted cash on the CMBS notes). Approximately $8.3 million of this balance relates to cash pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations of the Company and certain of its affiliates related to surety bonds issued for the benefit of the Company or its affiliates in the ordinary course of business, and is included in other assets. Approximately $1.6 million of the collateral relates to payment and performance bonds, which are shorter term in nature and are included in restricted cash and reflected as a current asset.

Restricted cash at December 31, 20032004 was $18.7$9.9 million. This balance includes $11.4$7.9 million of cash pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations of the Company and certain of its affiliates related to surety bonds issued for the benefit of the Company or its affiliates in the ordinary course of business. Approximately $8.4 million of the collateral relates to tower removal obligations, is long-term in nature,business, and is included in other assets in the December 31, 2003 Consolidated Balance Sheet.assets. Approximately $3.0$2.0 million of the collateral relates to payment and performance bonds, which are shorter term in nature and are included in restricted cash and reflected as a current asset. The remaining $7.3 million of restricted cash relates to funds being held by an escrow agent in accordance with certain potential purchase price adjustments to the Western tower purchase and sale agreement. These funds are classified as current as they are expected to be released, net of any required obligations, to the Company during the next twelve months.

8. INTANGIBLE ASSETS, NET

Amortization expense was $1.3 million, $1.1 million and $1.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively. As of December 31, 2003 and 2002, total costs of covenants not to compete were $6.3 million and $6.4 million, respectively, and accumulated amortization totaled $3.9 million and $2.7 million, respectively.

Estimated amortization expense on the Company’s covenants not to compete is as follows:

   Year ending December 31,

   (in thousands)

2004

  $1,051

2005

   976

2006

   375

2007

   6
   

Total

  $2,408
   

9. ACQUISITIONS

6.ACQUISITIONS

During 2003, the Company did not acquire any towers or businesses. However, during 2003, the Company paid approximately $3.1 in settlement of contingent purchase price amounts payable as a result of towers or businesses it acquired having met or exceeded earnings or new tower targets.

During 2002,2005, the Company acquired 53172 towers and related assets from various sellers.sellers as well as the equity of two entities, whose assets consisted almost entirely of 36 towers and related assets. The aggregate purchase price for all acquisitions was $73.5 million. The aggregate consideration paid was $15.5$55.1 million in cash and 330,736approximately 1,641,000 shares of Class A common stock. In addition, the Company issued 397,773 shares of Class A common stock in settlement of contingent purchase price amounts payable as a result of towers or businesses it acquired having met or exceeded certain earnings or new tower targets.

During 2001, the Company purchased two site development construction companies. The Company paid $14.5 million in cash and issued 413,631 shares of Class A common stock to the sellers. During 2002 the Company paid $7.0 million in cash and issued 587,260 shares of Class A common stock to the former owners of these two companies as a result of certain earnings targets having been met. In addition, as of December 31, 2002, certain of the former owners were entitled to receive an additional $2.0 million as a result of certain 2002 earnings targets being met. The Company accrued the $2.0 million within other current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2002. The $12.2 million in original goodwill plus the $12.0 million that was recorded as a result of the earn-out targets having been met were written off during 2002 in connection with the implementation of SFAS 142 (See Note 5). During 2003, the $2.0 million accrued at December 31, 2002 was paid in cash.

Additionally, during 2001, the Company acquired 677 towers and related assets from various sellers. The aggregate consideration paid to the sellers for these acquisitions for the year ended December 31, 2001 was $218.7 million in cash and 370,502 shares of Class A common stock. In addition, the Company issued 790,495 shares of Class A common stock as a result of towers or businesses it acquired having met or exceeded certain earnings or new tower targets identified in the various acquisition agreements.

The Company accounted for all of the above tower acquisitions usingat fair market value at the purchase methoddate of accounting.acquisition. The results of operations of the acquired assets and companies are included with those of the Company from the dates of the respective acquisitions. None of the individual acquisitions or aggregate acquisitions consummated were significant to the Company and, accordingly, pro forma financial information has not been presented. In addition, the Company paid $0.2 million and issued approximately 24,000 shares of Class A common stock in settlement of contingent purchase price amounts payable as a result of acquired towers exceeding certain performance targets.

During 2004, the Company acquired five towers and related assets from various sellers. The aggregate consideration paid was $0.5 million in cash and approximately 413,000 shares of Class A common stock. In addition, the Company paid $0.6 million in settlement of contingent purchase price amounts payable as a result of towers it acquired having met or exceeded certain earnings or new tower targets.

In accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 141,Business Combinations, the Company continues to evaluate all acquisitions within one year after the respective closing date of the transactions to determine whether any additional adjustments are needed to the allocation of the purchase price paid for the assets acquired and liabilities assumed by major balance sheet caption, as well as the separate recognition of intangible assets from goodwill if certain criteria are met. As a result of these evaluations, the Company has recorded on the balance sheet in intangible assets $32.0 million of the purchase price paid for acquisitions consummated prior to December 31, 2005. These intangible assets represent the value associated with current leases in place at the acquisition date and future tenant leases anticipated to be added to the acquired towers and were calculated using the discounted values of the current or future expected cash flows. The intangible assets are estimated to have an economic useful life consistent with the economic useful life of the related tower assets, which is typically 15 years.

The table below outlines the composition of the purchase price paid for acquisitions including earnouts:

 

   For the year ended December 31,
   2005  2004
   (in thousands)

Purchase price of acquisitions1

   

Amount paid in cash

  $55,273  $492

Amount paid in stock

   18,738   3,062
        
  $74,011  $3,554
        

Purchase price consists of:

   

Towers and related assets

  $44,323  $1,219

Contract intangibles

   29,680   2,335

Other assets

   489   —  

Other liabilities

   (481)  —  
        
  $74,011  $3,554
        

1Amounts paid at acquisition do not include the impact of adjustments made at closing for the 172 towers acquired associated with prorated rental receipts and payments. The net impact of these adjustments was to reduce the amount paid in stock by approximately $0.3 million and the amount paid in cash by approximately $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 and to reduce the amount paid in stock of $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2004.

10. CONCENTRATION OF CREDIT RISKFrom time to time, the Company agrees to pay additional consideration for such acquisitions if the towers or businesses that are acquired meet or exceed certain performance targets in the 1-3 years after they have been acquired. As of December 31, 2005, the Company has an obligation to pay up to an additional $2.2 million in consideration if the targets contained in various acquisition agreements are met. These obligations are associated with acquisitions within the Company’s site leasing segment. On certain acquisitions, at the Company’s option, additional consideration may be paid in cash or shares of Class A common stock. The Company records such obligations as additional consideration when it becomes probable that the targets will be met.

7.INTANGIBLE ASSETS, NET

The following table provides the gross and net carrying amounts for each major class of intangible asset at December 31, 2005:

 

   Gross
Carrying
Amount
  Less
Accumulated
Amortization
  

Net
Carrying

Amount

   (in thousands)

Contract intangibles

  $32,015  $(929) $31,086

Covenants not to compete

   6,231   (5,826)  405
            
  $38,246  $(6,755) $31,491
            

All intangibles noted above are contained in our site leasing segment. Amortization expense relating to the intangible assets above was $1.9 million, $1.0 million and $1.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively. Estimated amortization expense on the Company’s contract intangibles and covenants not to compete is as follows:

For the year ended

December 31,

  Covenants
not to
Compete
  Contract
Intangibles
  Total
   (in thousands)

2006

  $398  $2,134  $2,532

2007

   7   2,134   2,141

2008

   —     2,134   2,134

2009

   —     2,134   2,134

2010

   —     2,134   2,134

Thereafter

   —     20,416   20,416
            

Total

  $405  $31,086  $31,491
            

8.CONCENTRATION OF CREDIT RISK

The Company’s credit risks consist primarily of accounts receivable with national, regional and local wireless communications providers and federal and state governmental agencies. The Company performs periodic credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and provides allowances for doubtful accounts as

required based upon factors surrounding the credit risk of specific customers, historical trends and other information. The Company generally does not require collateral. The following is a list of significant customers and the percentage of total revenue derived from such customers:

 

For the year ended
December 31, 2003


(% of revenue)
   Percentage of Total Revenues
For the year ended December 31,
 
   2005  2004  2003 

Cingular

  25.5% 22.7% 20.3%

Sprint Nextel

  20.8% 21.4% 13.5%

Bechtel Corporation*

  5.0% 6.1% 10.4%

Bechtel Corporation

14.3%

AT&T Wireless

10.8%

Cingular Wireless

10.2%
For the year ended
December 31, 2002


(% of revenue)

Bechtel Corporation

15.3%

Cingular Wireless

12.6%

AT&T Wireless

10.1%
For the year ended
December 31, 2001


(% of revenue)

Bright/Horizon

11.3%

Nextel

10.9%

AT&T Wireless

10.5%

The Company’s site development consulting, site development construction and site leasing segments derive revenue from these customers. Client concentrations with respect to revenues in each of the segments are as follows:

 

   Percentage of Site Leasing Revenue
for the year ended December 31,
 
   2005  2004  2003 

Cingular

  28.0% 27.5% 28.0%

Sprint Nextel

  15.0% 14.3% 13.9%

Verizon

  10.1% 9.5% 10.0%
   

Percentage of Site Development
Consulting Revenue

for the year ended December 31,

 
   2005  2004  2003 

Verizon Wireless

  32.4% 26.1% 13.6%

Cingular

  28.3% 26.6% 4.3%

Bechtel Corporation*

  23.3% 24.7% 40.3%
   

Percentage of Site Development
Construction Revenue

for the year ended December 31,

 
   2005  2004  2003 

Sprint Nextel

  34.9% 39.2% 15.3%

Cingular

  20.3% 12.5% 5.5%

Bechtel Corporation*

  11.6% 14.5% 28.9%

11. COSTS AND ESTIMATED EARNINGS ON UNCOMPLETED CONTRACTS

*Substantially all the work performed for Bechtel Corporation was for its client Cingular.

At December 31, 2005 and 2004, three significant customers comprise 43.6% and 61.1%, respectively of site development and construction segments combined accounts receivable. These same customers comprise 41.0% and 60.2% of the Company’s total accounts receivable at December 31, 2005 and 2004, respectively.

 

9.COSTS AND ESTIMATED EARNINGS IN EXCESS OF BILLINGS ON UNCOMPLETED CONTRACTS

Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts consist of the following:

 

  As of December 31,

 
  2003

 2002

   As of
December 31, 2005
 As of
December 31, 2004
 
  (in thousands)   (in thousands) 

Costs incurred on uncompleted contracts

  $43,738  $74,506   $94,323  $63,198 

Estimated earnings

   3,809   17,148    15,609   10,334 

Billings to date

   (38,897)  (83,591)   (86,139)  (55,717)
  


 


       
  $8,650  $8,063   $23,793  $17,815 
  


 


       

These amounts are included in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets under the following captions:

 

  As of December 31,

 
  2003

 2002

   As of
December 31, 2005
 As of
December 31, 2004
 
  (in thousands)   (in thousands) 

Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts

  $10,227  $10,425   $25,184  $19,066 

Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts

   (1,577)  (2,362)   (1,391)  (1,251)
  


 


       
  $8,650  $8,063   $23,793  $17,815 
  


 


       

12. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENTAt December 31, 2005 three significant customers comprised 75.4% of the costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings, net of billings in excess of costs, while at December 31, 2004, two significant customers comprised 83.0% of the costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings, net of billings in excess of costs.

 

10.PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment, excluding assets held for sale, consists of the following:

 

   As of December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

 
   (in thousands) 

Towers and related components

  $1,055,912  $1,058,805 

Construction-in-process

   498   4,595 

Furniture, equipment and vehicles

   38,403   40,883 

Land, buildings and improvements

   16,160   16,500 
   


 


    1,110,973   1,120,783 

Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization

   (254,760)  (179,822)
   


 


Property and equipment, net

  $856,213  $940,961 
   


 


   As of
December 31, 2005
  As of
December 31, 2004
 
   (in thousands) 

Towers and related components

  $1,117,497  $1,064,085 

Construction-in-process

   4,792   55 

Furniture, equipment and vehicles

   25,552   30,223 

Land, buildings and improvements

   22,549   20,658 
         
   1,170,390   1,115,021 

Less: accumulated depreciation

   (442,057)  (369,190)
         

Property and equipment, net

  $728,333  $745,831 
         

Construction-in-process represents costs incurred related to towers that are under development and will be used in the Company’s operations.

Depreciation expense was $83.0$85.3 million, $84.5$89.3 million, and $61.0$92.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004, and 2003, 2002respectively. At December 31, 2005, non-cash capital expenditures that are included in accounts payable and 2001, respectively.accrued expenses were $3.2 million.

 

13. ACCRUED EXPENSES

11.ACCRUED EXPENSES

The Company’s accrued expenses are comprised of the following:

 

   As of December 31,

   2003

  2002

   (in thousands)

Salaries and benefits

  $2,421  $1,791

Real estate and property taxes

   6,084   5,289

Restructuring and other charges

   1,040   1,706

Insurance

   1,234   3,738

Tower sale purchase price adjustment

   2,573   —  

Other

   4,357   1,419
   

  

   $17,709  $13,943
   

  

   As of
December 31, 2005
  As of
December 31, 2004
   (in thousands)

Salaries and benefits

  $3,746  $2,941

Real estate and property

   4,410   4,319

Other

   7,388   7,737
        
  $15,544  $14,997
        

12.14. CURRENT AND LONG-TERM DEBT

   As of
December 31, 2005
  As of
December 31, 2004
 
   (in thousands) 

Commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2005-1, secured, interest payable monthly in arrears, balloon payment principal of $405,000,000 with an anticipated repayment date of November 15, 2010. Interest at varying rates (5.369% to 6.706%) at December 31, 2005.

  $405,000  $—   

8 1/2% senior notes, unsecured, interest payable semi- annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1. Balance due in full December 1, 2012.

   162,500   250,000 

9 3/4% senior discount notes, net of unamortized original issue discount of $44,424 and $98,337 at December 31, 2005 and 2004, respectively, unsecured, cash interest payable semi- annually in arrears beginning June 15, 2008, balloon principal payment of $261,316 due at maturity on December 15, 2011.

   216,892   302,437 

10 1/4% senior notes, unsecured, interest payable semi- annually in arrears, includes deferred gain related to termination of derivative of $1,909 at December 31, 2004. Amount repaid in full in February 2005.

   —     51,894 

Senior secured credit facility. This facility was paid in full in November 2005.

     323,375 

Senior secured credit facility. Facility originated in December 2005. No amounts outstanding at December 31, 2005.

   —     —   
         
   784,392   927,706 

Less: current maturities

   —     (3,250)
         

Long-term debt

  $784,392  $924,456 
         

Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2005-1

On November 18, 2005, SBA CMBS-1 Depositor LLC (the “Depositor”), an indirect subsidiary of the Company, sold, in a private transaction, $405 million of CMBS Notes, Series 2005-1 issued by SBA CMBS Trust (the “Trust”), a trust established by the Depositor (the “CMBS Transaction”). The CMBS Notes consist of five classes, all of which are rated investment grade, as indicated in the table below:

 

   As of December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

 
   (in thousands) 
10¼% senior notes, unsecured, interest payable semi-annually, balloon principal payment of $406,441 due at maturity on February 1, 2009, including deferred gain related to termination of derivative of $4,559 and $5,236 at December 31, 2003, and 2002, respectively. See Note 20.  $411,000  $505,236 
9¾% senior discount notes, net of unamortized original issue discount of $126,204 at December 31, 2003, unsecured, cash interest payable semi-annually in arrears beginning June 15, 2008, balloon principal payment of $402,024 due at maturity on December 15, 2011.   275,820   —   
12% senior discount notes, net of unamortized original issue discount of $5,077 at December 31, 2002, unsecured, cash interest payable semi-annually in arrears beginning September 1, 2003, balloon principal payment of $65,673 due at maturity on March 1, 2008. See Note 24.   65,673   263,923 
Senior secured credit facility loans, interest at varying cash rates (5.15% to 5.17% at December 31, 2003). Additional interest accrues at 3.5% and is payable at maturity. See Note 24.   118,227   —   

Senior secured credit facility loans. This facility was paid in full in May 2003.

   —     255,000 
Notes payable, interest at varying rates (2.9% to 11.4% at December 31, 2003 maturing at various dates through 2004).   38   123 
   


 


    870,758   1,024,282 

Less: current maturities

   (11,538)  (60,083)
   


 


Long-term debt

  $859,220  $964,199 
   


 


Subclass

  Initial Subclass
Principal Balance
  Pass through
Interest Rate
 
   (in thousands) 

2005-1A

  $238,580  5.369%

2005-1B

   48,320  5.565%

2005-1C

   48,320  5.731%

2005-1D

   48,320  6.219%

2005-1E

   21,460  6.709%
      
  $405,000  5.608%
      

The contract weighted average fixed interest rate of the CMBS Notes is 5.6% and the effective weighted average fixed interest rate to SBA Properties is 4.8%, after giving effect to a settlement gain of two interest rate swap agreements entered in contemplation of the transaction. The Company terminated the interest rate swap agreements in November 2005, resulting in a $14.8 million settlement payment to the Company. The settlement payment will be amortized into interest expense on the statement of operations utilizing the effective interest method over the anticipated five year life of the CMBS Notes and will reduce the effective interest rate on the CMBS Notes by 0.8%. The

CMBS Notes have an anticipated repayment date of November 15, 2010 with a final repayment date in 2035. As discussed below, the proceeds of the CMBS Notes were primarily used to repay the senior credit facility of SBA Senior Finance, Inc. and to fund reserves and pay expenses associated with the offering. The Company paid deferred fees of $12.0 million in connection with the closing of this transaction.

In connection with the CMBS Transaction, the $400 million Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (“Senior Credit Facility”), dated as of January 30, 2004, among SBA Senior Finance, as borrower and the lenders (the “Loan Agreement”) was amended and restated to replace SBA Properties as the new borrower under the Loan Agreement and to completely release SBA Senior Finance and the other guarantors of any obligations under the Loan Agreement, to increase the principal amount of the loan to $405.0 million and to amend various other terms (as amended and restated, the “Mortgage Loan Agreement”). Furthermore, the Mortgage Loan Agreement was purchased by the Depositor with proceeds from the CMBS Transaction. The Depositor then assigned the Mortgage Loan to the Trust, who will have all rights as Lender under the Mortgage Loan Agreement.

The Mortgage Loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust and deeds to secure debt on substantially all of the 1,714 tower sites and their operating cash flows, (2) a security interest in substantially all of SBA Properties’ personal property and fixtures and (3) SBA Properties’ rights under the Management Agreement (as defined below). SBA CMBS-1 Guarantor LLC (“Guarantor”), a subsidiary of SBA CMBS-1 Holdings LLC, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Company and the direct parent of SBA Properties, guarantees all of the payment under the Mortgage Loan (the “Guaranty”) and other obligations under the CMBS Notes. The Guarantor is a special purpose company established for the sole purpose of holding the equity interest of SBA Properties. As security for its guaranty, the Guarantor grants a first priority security interest in 100% of the equity interest of SBA Properties. The Guarantor owns no assets other than the equity interest of the SBA Properties, is prohibited from acquiring any other assets or incurring any liabilities, and has no employees. SBA Holdings will guaranty all of the payment obligations of the Borrower under the Mortgage loan (the “Parent Guaranty”) and will grant a first priority security interest in 100% of the equity interest of the Guarantor as security for the Parent Guaranty. SBA Holdings will have no material assets other than the equity interest of the Guarantor. No other affiliate of the Borrower will guaranty repayment of the Mortgage loan.

The Mortgage Loan documents include covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, SBA Properties is prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering its assets. The organizational documents of SBA Properties were amended to limit its purposes and to add provisions consistent with rating agency securitization criteria for special purpose entities, including the requirement that SBA Properties maintains at least two independent directors.

The CMBS Notes contain certain covenants that require SBA Properties to provide the Indenture Trustee reasonable access rights to its tower sites, including the right to conduct site investigations with respect to environmental matters; promptly notify the Indenture Trustee of any material adverse changes or the existence of an event of default under the CMBS Notes; and provide regular financial and operating reports.

SBA Properties is required to make monthly payments of interest on the Mortgage Loan. Interest on the Mortgage Loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from SBA Properties’ 1,714 tower sites. Subject to certain limited exceptions described below, no payments of principal will be required to be made prior to November 2010, which is the anticipated repayment date (“ARD”). On a monthly basis, the excess cash flows of SBA Properties, held by the indenture trustee, after payment of principal, interest, reserves, and expenses, are distributed to SBA Properties.

As of the end of any calendar quarter if the debt service coverage ratio (defined as the Net Cash Flow per the Mortgage Loan Agreement divided by the amount of interest expense on the Mortgage Loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that SBA Properties will be required to pay over the succeeding twelve months) falls to 1.30 times or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required under the loan document to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to SBA Properties. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to SBA Properties unless the debt service coverage ratio exceeds 1.30 times for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the debt service coverage ratio falls below 1.15 times (“Minimum DSCR”) as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the Mortgage Loan. The amortization period will continue until such time the Minimum DSCR exceeds 1.15 times for one quarter.

SBA Properties may not prepay the Mortgage Loan in whole or in part at any time prior to November 2010, except in limited circumstances (such as the occurrence of certain casualty and condemnation events relating to SBA Properties’ tower sites). Thereafter, prepayment is permitted provided it is accompanied by any applicable prepayment consideration. If the prepayment occurs within nine months of the final maturity date, no prepayment consideration is due. The entire unpaid principal balance of the Mortgage Loan will be due in November 2035. The Mortgage Loan may be defeased in whole at any time prior to the ARD with United States government securities.

In connection with the Mortgage Loan, SBA Properties entered into a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) with Network Management to manage all of SBA Properties’ tower sites. Pursuant to the Management Agreement, Network Management performs those functions reasonably necessary to maintain, market, operate, manage and administer SBA Properties’ tower sites. Additionally, Network Management arranges for the payment of all operating expenses and the funding of all capital expenditures out of amounts on deposit in one or more operating accounts maintained on SBA Properties’ behalf. For each calendar month, Network Management is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 10% of SBA Properties’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.

In connection with issuance of the CMBS Notes, the Company is required to fund a restricted cash amount, which represents the cash held in escrow pursuant to the Mortgage Loan governing the CMBS Notes to fund certain reserve accounts for the payment of debt service costs, ground rents, real estate and personal property taxes, insurance premiums related to tower sites, trustee and service expenses, and to reserve a portion of advance rents from tenants on the 1,714 tower sites. Based on the terms of the CMBS Notes, all rental cash receipts each month are restricted and held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee as of December 31, 2005 are classified as restricted cash on the Company’s Balance Sheet. The monies held by the indenture trustee in excess of required reserve balances are subsequently released to SBA Properties on or before the 15th calendar day following month end. On January 10, 2006, $11.6 million of the restricted cash balance was released to SBA Properties.

10¼8 1/2% Senior Notes

In February 2001,On December 1, 2004, the Company issued $500.0$250.0 million of its 10¼8 1/2% senior notes due 2009,2012, which produced net proceeds of approximately $484.3$244.8 million after deducting offering expenses. Interest accrues on the notes and is payable in cash semi-annually in arrears on FebruaryJune 1 and AugustDecember 1, commencing AugustJune 1, 2001.2005. The proceeds from this offering were available to be used to repurchase and/or redeem any remaining 10 1/4% senior notes, repurchase 9 3/4% senior discount notes, or repay a portion of the amount outstanding under the revolving line of credit of our senior credit facility. Proceeds from the 8 1/2% senior notes were used to acquire and construct telecommunications towers, repay borrowings underrepurchase and/or redeem the senior credit facility, and for general working capital purposes.

Approximately $105.6 million of the proceeds were used to repay all borrowings under the Company’s former senior credit facility. The Company wrote off the deferred financing fees relating to the former senior credit facility and recorded a $5.1 million charge in the first quarter of 2001 in connection with the termination of this facility. During the year ended December 31, 2003, the Company exchanged $13.5 million in principal amount of its 10¼10 1/4% senior notes for 3.85 million shares of Class A common stock. Additionally,as discussed below.

On November 7, 2005, the Company repurchased $80.1redeemed $87.5 million in principal amount of its 10¼% seniorthese notes inand paid the open marketapplicable premium for $79.5 million in cash. During 2003, the Company recognized a gain on extinguishment of debt of $1.5 million and wrote-off deferred financing fees of $1.9 million in connectionredemption with proceeds from the 10¼% senior note retirement transactions. See Note 24 for further discussion of repurchase activity subsequent to December 31, 2003.October 5, 2005 equity offering.

The 10¼8 1/2% senior notes are unsecured and arepari passu in right of payment with the Company’s other existing and future senior indebtedness. The 10¼8 1/2% senior notes place certain restrictions on, among other things, the incurrence of debt and liens, issuance of preferred stock, payment of dividends or other distributions, sales of assets, transactions with affiliates, sale and leaseback transactions, certain investments and the Company’s ability to merge or consolidate with other entities. The ability of the Company to comply with the covenants and other terms of the 10¼8 1/2% senior notes and to satisfy its respective debt obligations will depend on the future operating performance of the Company. In the event the Company fails to comply with the various covenants contained in the 10¼8 1/2% senior notes, it would be in default thereunder,there under, and in any such case, the maturity of a portion or all of its long-term indebtedness could be accelerated. In addition, the acceleration of amounts due under the senior credit facility would also cause a cross-default under the indenture for the 10¼8 1/2% senior notes.

9 3/4% Senior Discount Notes

In December 2003, the Company and Telecommunications co-issued $402.0 million of its 9¾their 9 3/4% senior discount notes due 2011, which produced net proceeds of approximately $267.1 million after deducting offering expenses. The senior discount notes accrete in value until December 15, 2007 at which time, after giving effect to the redemptions discussed below, they will have an aggregate principal amount of $402.0 million.$261.3 million at maturity. Thereafter, interest accrues on the senior discount notes and will be payable in cash semi-annually in arrears on June 15 and December 15, commencing June 15, 2008. Proceeds from the senior discount notes were used to tender for approximately $153.3 million of the Company’s 12% senior discount notes and for general working capital purposes. During 2004, the Company exchanged $1.3 million in face value of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes for approximately 136,000 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock.

On May 11, 2005, the Company redeemed an accreted balance of $68.9 million of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and paid the applicable premium for the redemption with the proceeds from the May 11, 2005 equity offering.

On November 7, 2005, the Company redeemed an accreted balance of $42.9 million of the Company’s 9 3/4% senior discount notes and paid the applicable premium for the redemption with proceeds from the October 5, 2005 equity offering.

The 9 3/4% senior discount notes are unsecured and arepari passu in right of payment with the Company’s other existing and future senior indebtedness. The 9 3/4% senior discount notes place certain restrictions on, among other things, the incurrence of debt and liens, issuance of preferred stock, payment of dividends or other distributions, sales of assets, transactiontransactions with affiliates, sale and leaseback transactions, certain investments and the Company’s ability to merge or consolidate with other entities. The ability of the Company to

comply with the covenants and other terms of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes and to satisfy its respective debt obligations will depend on the future operating performance of the Company. In the event the Company fails to comply with the various covenants contained in the 9 3/4% senior discount notes, it would be inan event of default thereunder,under the indenture governing the notes and in any such case,the trustee may accelerate the maturity of a portion or all of its long-term indebtedness could be accelerated.the notes. In addition, the acceleration of amounts due under the senior credit facility would also cause a cross-default under the indenture for the 9 3/4% senior discount notes.

Senior Secured Credit Facility (closed in December 2005)

On December 22, 2005, SBA Senior Finance II closed on a new senior secured revolving credit facility in the amount of $160.0 million (“GECC II facility”). The new facility replaces Lehman facility which was assigned and became the Mortgage Loan underlying the Company’s recent $405 million commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance. The Company paid deferred financing fees of $1.1 million associated with the closing of this transaction.

The new facility consists of a $160 million revolving loan which may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, subject to compliance with certain covenants. The new facility will mature on December 21, 2007. Amounts borrowed under the facility will accrue interest at LIBOR plus a margin that ranges from 75 basis points to 200 basis points or at base rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 100 basis points. Unused amounts on this facility accrue interest at 37.5 basis points on the $160.0 million committed amount. Amounts borrowed under this facility will be secured by a first lien on substantially all of SBA Senior Finance II’s assets and are guaranteed by the Company and certain of its other subsidiaries. No amounts were drawn on this facility as of December 31, 2005.

The new senior credit facility requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding its debt to annualized operating cash flow, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges for each quarter. This new senior credit facility contains affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limits its ability to incur debt and liens, sell assets, commit to capital expenditures, enter into affiliate transactions or sale-leaseback transactions, and build and/or acquire towers without anchor or acceptable tenants. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability in the future to comply with the covenants and access the available funds under the senior credit facility in the future will depend on its future financial performance. As of December 31, 2005, SBA Senior Finance II was in full compliance with the terms of the new credit facility and had the ability to draw an additional $39.1 million.

10 1/4% Senior Notes

In February 2001, the Company issued $500.0 million of its 10 1/4% senior notes due 2009, which produced net proceeds of approximately $484.3 million after deducting offering expenses. Proceeds from the senior notes were used to acquire and construct telecommunications towers, repay borrowings under the senior credit facility, and for general working capital purposes.

During the year ended December 31, 2004, the Company exchanged $49.7 million in principal amount of the notes for 8.7 million shares of Class A common stock. Additionally, the Company repurchased $306.8 million in principal amount of the notes in the open market for $320.5 million in cash. During 2004, the Company recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of $14.9 million and wrote-off deferred financing fees of $6.2 million in connection with the 10 1/4% senior note retirement transactions.

On November 16, 2004, the Company commenced a cash tender offer to purchase up to $236.5 million aggregate principal amount of its 10 1/4% senior notes of which $186.5 million was tendered. The Company offered consideration of $1,050.75 per $1,000 of principal amount of the notes tendered plus a premium of $10.00 per $1,000 of principal amount of notes tendered prior to November 30, 2004. Tenders submitted after November 30, 2004, and prior to the expiration date of December 14, 2004 did not receive the premium of $10.00 per $1,000 of principal amount tendered. Consequently at December 31, 2004, there was $50.0 million of the 10 1/4% senior notes remaining outstanding. The remaining 10 1/4% senior notes were redeemed by the Company on February 1, 2005 for $52.5 million plus accrued interest, in accordance with the terms of the indenture.

12% Senior Discount Notes

In March 1998, the Company issued $269.0 million of its 12% senior discount notes due March 1, 2008, which produced net proceeds of approximately $150.2 million. The senior discount notes accreted in value until March 1, 2003 at which time they had an aggregate principal amount of $269.0 million. Thereafter, interest accrues on the senior discount notes and is payable in cash semi-annually in arrears on March 1 and September 1, commencing September 1, 2003. Proceeds from the senior discount notes were used to acquire and construct telecommunications towers as well as for general working capital purposes. During the year ended December 31, 2003, the Company repurchased $50.0 million in principal amount of its 12% senior discount notes in the open market for $50.3 million in cash. Additionally, during 2003, the Company

completed a tender for 70% of its outstanding 12% senior discount notes and retired $153.3 million face value of its 12% senior discount notes for $167.1 million. During 2003, the Company recognized a loss on extinguishment of $14.6 million and wrote-off deferred financing fees of $4.8 million in connection with the 12% senior discount note retirement transactions. See Note 24 for a discussion

In the first quarter of repurchase activity subsequent to December 31, 2003.

The2004, the Company repurchased $19.3 million of its 12% senior discount notes were unsecuredin open market transactions. The Company paid $20.9 million plus accrued interest in cash and were pari passu in rightrecognized a loss of payment with$1.6 million related to these debt repurchases and wrote-off $0.4 million of deferred financing fees. Additionally, on March 1, 2004 the Company’s other existing and future senior indebtedness. TheCompany, pursuant to the indenture for the 12% senior discount notes, placed certain restrictions on, among other things,redeemed all remaining outstanding 12% notes. These notes were redeemed at a price of 107.5% of the incurrenceprincipal balances outstanding. As a result of debtthis transaction, the Company recorded a loss of $3.5 million associated with the premium paid and liens, issuancewrote off $1.0 million of preferred stock, payment of dividends or other distributions, sales of assets, transactionsdeferred financing fees associated with affiliates, sale and leaseback transactions, certain investments and the Company’s ability to merge or consolidate with other entities.

this transaction.

Senior Secured Credit Facility (put(paid in place January 2004)full November 2005)

DuringOn January 30, 2004, SBA Senior Finance closed on a new senior credit facility in the amount of $400.0 million.million (“Lehman facility”). This facility consistsconsisted of a $275.0 million term loan which was funded at closing, a $50.0 million delayed draw term loan, which the Company has until November 15, 2004 to draw and a $75.0 million revolving line of credit. The revolving lines of credit may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn. Amortization of the term loans commence September 2004 at an annual rate of 1% in each of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. All remaining amounts under the term loan are due in 2008. There is no amortization of the revolving loans and all amounts outstanding are due on August 31, 2008. Amounts borrowed under thisThis facility accrueaccrued interest at either the base rate, asEurodollar Rate (as defined in the agreement,senior credit facility) plus 250a spread of 350 basis points or the Euro dollar rate plus 350 basis points. Had this facility beenBase Rate (as defined in place on December 31, 2003, the borrowing rate under this facility would have been 4.6%. This facility may be prepaid at any time with no prepayment penalty. Amounts borrowed under this facility are secured by a first lien on substantially all of SBA Senior Finance’s assets. In addition, each of SBA Senior Finance’s domestic subsidiaries has guaranteed the obligations of SBA Senior Finance under the senior credit facility and has pledged substantially allfacility), plus a spread of their respective assets to secure such guarantee, and the Company and Telecommunications have pledged substantially all of their assets to secure SBA Senior Finance’s obligations under this senior credit facility.

This new credit facility requires SBA Senior Finance to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding its debt to annualized operating cash flow, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges for each quarter. This new senior credit facility contains affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restricts SBA Senior Finance’s ability to incur debt and liens, sell assets, commit to capital expenditures, enter into affiliate transactions or sale-leaseback transactions, and/or build towers without anchor tenants. Additionally, this facility permits distributions by SBA Senior Finance to Telecommunications and SBA Communications to service their debt, pay consolidated taxes, pay holding company expenses and for the repurchase of senior notes and senior discount notes subject to compliance with the covenants discussed above. SBA Senior Finance’s ability in the future to comply with the covenants and access the available funds under the senior credit facility will depend on its future financial performance.

On January 30, 2004,250 basis points, SBA Senior Finance used the proceeds from funding of the $275.0 million term loan under the new seniorthis credit facility to repay the old creditGECC I facility in full. This facility was subsequently repaid in full consisting of $144.2 million outstanding. In addition tofrom proceeds obtained from the amounts outstanding, the Company was required to pay $8.0 million to the lenders under the old facility to facilitate the assignment of the old facility to the new lenders.CMBS transaction noted above in November 2005. As a result of this prepayment,repayment, SBA Senior Finance has writtenwrote off deferred financing fees associated with the oldthis facility of $5.4 million in addition to the $8.0 million fee paid to facilitate the assignment during the first quarter of 2004. Additionally, SBA Senior Finance has recorded deferred financing fees of approximately $5.4 million associated with this new facility in the first quarter of 2004.

million.

Senior Secured Credit Facility (paid in full January 2004)

On May 9, 2003, Telecommunications closed on a senior credit facility in the amount of $195.0 million from General Electric Capital Corporation (“GECC”) and affiliates of Oak Hill Advisors, Inc. (“Affiliates of Oak Hill”GECC I facility”). The facility consisted of $95.0 million of term loans and a $100.0 million revolving line of credit. In November 2003, in connection with the offering of the Company’s 9 3/4% senior discount notes and the Company’s tender offer for 70% of its outstanding 12% senior discount notes, SBA Senior Finance a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of Telecommunications, assumed all rights and obligations of Telecommunications under the senior credit facility pursuant to an amended and restated credit agreement with the senior credit lenders. Telecommunications was released from any obligation to repay the indebtedness under the senior credit facility. Simultaneously with this assumption, Telecommunications contributed substantially all of its assets, consisting primarily of stock in our various operating subsidiaries,

to SBA Senior Finance. As of December 31, 2003, the Company had $98.2 million outstanding under the term loan and $20.0 million outstanding under the revolving line of credit. The Company refinanced this credit facility in January 2004 and usedwith the proceeds obtained from the newLehman facility to repay this facility in full. See senior credit facility discussionnoted above.

Senior Secured Credit Facility (paid in full May 2003)

In June 2001, Telecommunications entered into a $300.0 million senior secured credit facility. The facility provided for a $100.0 million term loan and a $200.0 million revolving line of credit. As of December 31, 2002, the Company had $100.0 million outstanding under the term loan and $155.0 million outstanding under the revolving line of credit. In addition, the Company had $14.5 million of letters of credit issued on its behalf to serve as collateral to secure certain obligations in the ordinary course of business. The Company refinanced this credit facility in May 2003 and used the proceeds from the new credit facility, cash on hand and a portion of the proceeds from the Western tower sale to repay this credit facility in full. As a result of this prepayment, the Company has written off deferred financing fees associated with this facility of approximately $4.4 million during 2003.

At December 31, 2002 the current portion of long-term debt in the amount of $60.0 million had been reclassified to reflect the amount by which the senior credit facility borrowings were reduced through the May 2003 refinancing. The portion of this debt reflected as long-term at December 31, 2002, $195.0 million, represents the amount of the facility which was replaced by the new facility.

As of December 31, 2003,2005, the Company was in compliance with the covenants of each of the above agreements, as applicable.

indentures relating to the CMBS notes, the 8 1/2% senior notes, the 9 3/4% senior discount notes, and the December 2005 senior secured credit facility. The Company’s debt excluding the deferred interest rate swap discussed below, at December 31, 2003, would have maturedmatures as follows had the senior credit facility not been refinanced:

   (in thousands)

2004

  $11,538

2005

   17,250

2006

   17,250

2007

   72,227

2008

   65,673

Thereafter

   682,261
   

Total

  $866,199
   

The Company previously entered into an interest rate swap agreement to manage its exposure to interest rate movements by effectively converting a portion of its $500.0 million senior notes from fixed interest rate to variable rate notes. During October 2002, the counter-party to this agreement terminated the agreement. This termination resulted in a $5.4 million deferred gain which is recorded in long-term debt and is being recognized as a reduction to interest expense over the remaining term of the notes to which the swap related. Amortization during 2003 and 2002 was approximately $0.7 million and $0.2 million, respectively. The amortization of the remaining deferred gain as of December 31, 2003 is as follows:

   (in thousands)

2004

  $740

2005

   810

2006

   886

2007

   969

2008

   1,061

2009

   93
   

Total

  $4,559
   

See Note 20 for further discussion regarding the interest rate swap agreement.

15. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

a. Offerings of Common Stock

For the year ended

December 31,

  (in thousands)

2006

  $—  

2007

   —  

2008

   —  

2009

   —  

2010

   —  

Thereafter*

   784,392
    

Total

  $784,392
    

 

*Includes 9 3/4% senior discount notes at an accreted value of $216.9 million as of December 31, 2005. These notes will have an accreted value of $261.3 million at their maturity date of December 15, 2011.

13.SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

a.Offerings of Common Stock

In July 2000, the Company filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission registering the sale of up to $500.0 million of any combination of Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositarydepository shares, or warrants. On May 11, 2005, the Company issued 8.0 million shares of Class A common stock off of the universal shelf registration statement. The net proceeds were $75.4 million after deducting underwriters’ fees and offering expenses, and were used to redeem an accreted balance of $68.9 million of the 9 3/4% senior discount notes.

b. RegistrationOn October 5, 2005, the Company issued 10.0 million shares of Additional SharesClass A common stock off of the universal shelf registration statement. The net proceeds were $151.5 million after deducting underwriters’ fees and offering expenses, and were used to redeem $130.4 million of the Company’s 9  3/4% senior discount notes and 8 1/2% senior notes. At December 31, 2005, the Company can issue up to $21.4 million of securities under our universal shelf registration statement.

 

b.Registration of Additional Shares

During 2001, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission registering an aggregate 5.0 million shares of its Class A common stock. These 5.0 million shares are in addition to 3.0 million shares registered during 2000. These shares may be issued in connection with acquisitions of wireless communication towers or companies that provide related services. During the years ended December 31, 2003, 20022005, 2004 and 2001,2003, the Company issued zero1.7 million shares, 1.30.4 million shares and 1.6 millionzero shares, respectively, of its Class A common stock pursuant to these registration statements in connection with acquisitions. At December 31, 2005, 2.3 million shares remain available for issuance under this shelf registration.

 

c.Other Common Stock Transactions

c. Other Common Stock Transactions

During 2003,2004, the Company exchanged $13.5$49.7 million of its 10¼10 1/4% senior notes for 3.858.7 million shares of its Class A common stock.

The issuanceCompany also exchanged $1.3 million in face value of theseits 9 3/4% senior discount notes for approximately 136,000 shares triggered an event whereby the 5.5 million of Class B common stock outstanding automatically converted toits Class A common stock.

d. Employee Stock Purchase Plan

 

d.Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In 1999, the Board of Directors of the Company adopted the 1999 Stock Purchase Plan (the “Purchase Plan”). A total of 500,000 shares of Class A common stock were reserved for purchase under the Purchase Plan. During 2003, an amendment to the Purchase Plan was adopted which increased the number of shares reserved for purchase from 500,000 to 1,500,000 shares. The Purchase Plan permits eligible employee participants to purchase Class A common stock at a price per share which is equal to the lesser of 85% of the fair market value of the Class A common stock on the first or the last day of an offering period. AsNo compensation expense is recognized for the difference between the employees’ purchase price and the fair value of the stock. For the year ended December 31, 2003,2005, employees had purchased 271,03869,711 shares under the Purchase Plan. At December 31, 2005, approximately 675,000 shares remain which can be issued under the Purchase Plan.

 

e. Non-cash Compensation

e.Non-Cash Compensation

From time to time, restricted shares of Class A common stock or options to purchase Class A common stock have been granted under the Company’s equity participation plans at prices below market value at the time of grant. As a result, the Company expects to record approximately $0.5 million in non-cash compensation expense in each year from 2004 through 2006. In addition, the Company had bonus agreements with certain executives and employees to issue shares of the Company’s Class A common stock in lieu of cash payments. The Company recorded approximately $0.8$0.5 million, $0.5 million and $2.0$0.8 million of non-cash compensation expense during the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003, and 2002, respectively.

In connection with an employment agreement with one of the officers of the Company, the Company was obligated to pay an amount equal to the difference between $1.0 million and the value of all vested options and restricted stock belonging to this officer on September 19, 2003. The Company had the option of settling the obligation in cash or shares of Class A common stock. This obligation was settled in September 2003 in cash for $0.9 million. This amount had been expensed over the three-year period of the original agreement as non-cash compensation expense.

f. Shareholder Rights Plan and Preferred Stock

 

f.Shareholder Rights Plan and Preferred Stock

During January 2002, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted a shareholder rights plan and declared a dividend of one preferred stock purchase right for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock. Each of these rights which are currently not exercisable, will entitle the holder to purchase one one-thousandth (1/1000) of a share of the Company’s newly designated Series E Junior Participating Preferred Stock. In the event that any person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock or commences or announces an intention to commence a tender offer that would result in such person or group owning 15% or more of the Company’s common stock, each holder of a right (other than the acquirer) will be entitled to receive, upon payment of the exercise price, a number of shares of common stock having a market value equal to two times the exercise price of the right. In order to retain flexibility and the ability to maximize shareholder value in the event of transactions that may arise in the future, the Board retains the power to redeem the rights for a set amount. The rights were distributed on January 25, 2002 and expire on January 10, 2012, unless earlier redeemed or exchanged or terminated in accordance with the Rights Agreement.

14.DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Interest Rate Swap

On June 22, 2005, in anticipation of the CMBS Transaction (see note 12), the Company entered into two forward-starting interest rate swap agreements, each with a notional principal amount of $200.0 million to hedge the variability of future interest rates on the CMBS Transaction. Under the swap agreements, we agreed to pay the counterparties a fixed interest rate of 4.199% on the total notional amount of $400.0 million, beginning on December 22, 2005 through December 22, 2010 in exchange for receiving floating payments based on three-month LIBOR on the same notional amount for the same five year period. The Company determined the swaps to be effective cash flow hedges and recorded the fair value of the interest rate swaps in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of applicable income taxes.

On November 4, 2005, two of our subsidiaries entered into a purchase agreement with Lehman Brothers Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. regarding the purchase and sale of $405.0 million of CMBS Notes issued by the Trust. In connection with this agreement, the Company terminated the interest rate swap agreements, resulting in a $14.8 million settlement payment to the Company. The settlement payment will be amortized into interest expense on the Statement of Operations utilizing the effective interest method over the anticipated five year life of the Certificates and will reduce the effective interest rate on the Certificates by 0.8%. During 2005, the Company amortized $0.3 million of this settlement into interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2005. The unamortized value of the settlement payment is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

16. STOCK OPTIONS AND WARRANTSFair Value Hedge

The Company previously had an interest rate swap agreement to manage its exposure to interest rate movements by effectively converting a portion of its fixed rate 10 1/4% senior notes to variable rates. The swap qualified as a fair value hedge. The notional principal amount of the swap was $100.0 million and the maturity date and payment provisions matched that of the underlying senior notes.

The counter-party to the interest rate swap agreement terminated the swap agreement in October 2002. In connection with this termination, the counter-party paid the Company $6.2 million, which included approximately $0.8 million in accrued interest. The remaining approximately $5.4 million received was deferred and recognized as a reduction to interest expense over the remaining term of the senior notes using the effective interest method. Amortization of the deferred gain during 2004 and 2003 was approximately $0.7 million. Additionally, $1.9 million of the deferred gain was recognized as a reduction in loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt in connection with the repurchase of $186.5 million of 10 1/4% senior notes in December 2004. The balance of $1.9 million outstanding at December 31, 2004 was written off in connection with the repayment of the 10 1/4% senior notes in February 2005 and is included as a reduction in loss from write-off of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt on the Statement of Operations.

 

15.STOCK OPTIONS

The Company has three stock option plans (the 1996 Stock Option Plan, the 1999 Equity Participation Plan and the 2001 Equity Participation Plan) whereby options (both non-qualified and incentive stock options), stock appreciation rights and restricted stock may be granted to directors, employees and consultants. Upon adoption of the 2001 Equity Participation Plan, all unissued options under the 1996 Stock Option Plan and the 1999 Equity Participation Plan were cancelled. The 2001 Equity Participation Plan provides for a maximum issuance of shares, together with all outstanding options and unvested shares of restricted stock under all three of the plans, equal to 15% of the Company’s common stock outstanding, adjusted for certain shares issued pursuant toand the exercise of certain options.

A summary of shares reserved for future issuance under these plans as of December 31, 20032005 is as follows:

 

   (in thousands)

Reserved for 1996 Stock Option Plan

  186114

Reserved for 1999 Equity Participation Plan

  758438

Reserved for 2001 Equity Participation Plan

  7,21510,251
   

10,803
   8,159

These options generally vest between three and six years from the date of grant on a straight-line basis and generally have a ten year life. The Company accounts for these plans under APB 25, under which compensation cost is not recognized on those issuances where the exercise price equals or exceeds the market price of the underlying stock on the grant date. From time to time, options to purchase shares of Class A common stock have been granted under the 1999 Equity Participation Plan and the 2001 Equity Participation Plan at prices which were below market value at the time of grant. As a result, the Company recorded non-cash compensation expense of $0.8 million, $2.0 million and $3.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively.

As required by SFAS 123, the Company has determined the pro-forma effect of the options granted had the Company accounted for stock options granted under the fair value method of SFAS 123.

A summary of the status of the Company’s stock option plans including their weighted average exercise price is as follows:

 

   2003

  2002

  2001

   Shares

  Price

  Shares

  Price

  Shares

  Price

   (shares in thousands)

Outstanding at beginning of year

  2,848  $11.37  3,824  $20.57  3,090  $16.97

Granted

  1,630  $2.20  2,445  $10.17  1,748  $23.34

Exercised/redeemed

  (34) $1.26  (145) $0.93  (588) $4.26

Forfeited/canceled

  (656) $9.78  (3,276) $21.59  (426) $27.65
   

     

     

   

Outstanding at end of year

  3,788  $7.79  2,848  $11.37  3,824  $20.57
   

     

     

   

Options exercisable at end of year

  1,235  $12.66  993  $12.63  1,617  $14.12

Weighted average fair value of options granted during the year

     $2.20     $6.63     $27.37

   2005  2004  2003
   Shares  Price  Shares  Price  Shares  Price
   (shares in thousands)

Outstanding at beginning of year

  4,415  $7.04  3,788  $7.79  2,848  $11.37

Granted

  1,345  $8.91  1,390  $4.27  1,630  $2.20

Exercised/redeemed

  (978) $4.04  (173) $3.11  (34) $1.26

Forfeited/canceled

  (207) $7.29  (590) $6.81  (656) $9.78
               

Outstanding at end of year

  4,575  $8.22  4,415  $7.04  3,788  $7.79
               

Options exercisable at end of year

  1,516  $12.46  1,588  $11.56  1,235  $12.66

Option groups outstanding at December 31, 20032005 and related weighted average exercise price and remaining life, in years, information areis as follows:

 

Options Outstanding


 

Options Exercisable


Range


 

Outstanding

(in thousands)


 

Weighted Average

Contractual Life


 

Weighted Average
Exercise Price


 

Exercisable

( in thousands)


 

Weighted Average
Exercise Price


$  0.05 –   $  4.00

 1,890 8.7 $  2.13 249 $  2.19

$  5.37 –   $  9.75

 1,060 5.3 $  8.03 464 $  8.06

$10.17 –   $13.35

 311 7.0 $12.40 92 $12.14

$15.25 –   $24.75

 303 4.9 $17.31 262 $16.62

$26.63 –   $51.94

 224 2.5 $35.12 168 $35.03
  
     
  
  3,788   $  7.79 1,235 $12.66
  
     
  
Options Outstanding  Options Exercisable
Range  Outstanding
(in thousands)
  Weighted Average
Contractual Life
  Weighted Average
Exercise Price
  Exercisable
(in thousands)
  Weighted Average
Exercise Price
$0.05 - $  4.00  1,131  6.9  $2.32  388  $2.43
$4.15 - $  9.75  2,589  8.4  $6.90  420  $6.70
$10.17 - $14.80  349  6.7  $13.03  206  $12.63
$15.05 - $24.75  289  4.5  $17.22  285  $17.25
$26.63 - $50.13  217  5.0  $34.98  217  $34.98
            
  4,575    $8.22  1,516  $12.46
            

 

The Company has various stock-based employee compensation plans. From time to time, options to purchase Class A common stock have been granted under the Company’s 1999 Equity Participation Plan and the 2001 Equity Participation Plan which were below market value at the time of the grant. The Company recorded non-cash compensation expense of $0.8 million, $2.0 million and $3.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively. Except for the amount of non-cash compensation recognized, no other stock-based employee compensation cost is reflected in net loss, as all other options granted under the Company’s stock-based employee compensation plans had an exercise price equal to, or in excess of, the market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant.

The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was used with the following assumptions:

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 

Risk free interest rate

  2.0% 3.25% 4.5%

Dividend yield

  0% 0% 0%

Expected volatility

  90% 171% 99%

Expected lives

  4 years  4 years  4 years 

The following table illustrates the effect on net loss and loss per share as if the Company had applied the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS 123, to stock-based employee compensation:

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 
   (in millions) 

Net loss, as reported

  $(172.2) $(249.0) $(125.8)

Non-cash compensation charges included in net loss

   0.8   2.0   3.3 

Incremental stock-based employee compensation expense determined under fair value based method for all awards, net of related tax effects

   (4.2)  (6.2)  (19.9)
   


 


 


Pro forma net loss

  $(175.6) $(253.2) $(142.4)
   


 


 


Loss per shares

             

Basic and diluted – as reported

  $(3.30) $(4.93) $(2.66)

Basic and diluted – pro forma

  $(3.36) $(5.01) $(3.01)

The effect of applying SFAS 123 in the pro-forma disclosure is not necessarily indicative of future results.

17. RESTRUCTURING AND OTHER CHARGES

16.RESTRUCTURING

In response to capital market conditions in the telecommunications industry duringin 2002 and 2003, the past three years, the Company has implemented various restructuring plans discussed below.

2002 Plan

Restructuring expense consisted of the following during these three years:

   For the years ended December 31,

   2003

  2002

  2001

   (in thousands)

Abandonment of new tower build and acquisition work-in-process and related construction materials

  $635  $40,380  $24,088

Employee separation and exit costs

   1,870   6,907   311
   

  

  

   $2,505  $47,287  $24,399
   

  

  

In August 2001, in response to deteriorating capital market conditions within the telecommunications industry, the Company implemented a plan of restructuring primarily associated with the downsizing of its new tower build construction activities. The plan included the abandonment of certain acquisition and new tower build sites resulting in a non-cash charge of approximately $24.1 million. The plan also included the elimination of 102 employee positions and closing and/or consolidation of selected offices. Payments made related to employee separation and office closings were approximately $0.3 million.

In February 2002, as a result of the continuingcontinued deterioration of capital market conditions for wireless carriers, the Company further reducedannounced it was reducing its capital expenditures for new tower development and acquisition activities, suspendedsuspending any material new investment for additional towers, and reduced its workforce and closed or consolidated offices. Under then existing capital market conditions, the Company did not anticipate building or buying a material number of new towers beyond those it was currently contractually obligated to build or buy, thereby resulting in the abandonment of a majority of its existing new tower build and acquisition work in process during 2002. In connection with this restructuring, a portion of the Company’s workforce was reduced and certain offices were closed, substantially all of which were primarily dedicated to new tower development activities. As a result ofactivities in the implementation of its plans, the Company recorded a restructuring charge of $47.3 million in accordance with SFAS 144, and Emerging Issues Task Force 94-3,Liability Recognition for Certain Employee Termination Benefits and Other Costs to Exit an Activity, including Certain Costs Incurred in a Restructuring. Of the $47.3 million restructuring charge recorded during the year ended December 31, 2002, approximately $40.4 million related to the abandonment of new tower build and acquisition work in process and related construction materials on approximately 764 sites. The remaining $6.9 million of restructuring expense related primarily to the costs of employee separation for approximately 470 employees and exit costs associated with the closing and consolidation of approximately 40 offices.site development segment. The accrual of approximately $1.0$0.5 million remaining at December 31, 2003,2005 with respect to the 2002 plan, relates primarily to remaining obligations through the year 2012 associated with offices exited or downsized as part of this plan.

The following summarizes the activity during the year ended December 31, 2003,2005 related to the 2002 and 2001 restructuring plans:plan:

 

   Accrued as of
January 1,
2003


  

Restructuring

Charges


  

Payments/

Adjustments


  Payments Related to
January 1, 2003
Accrual


  

Accrual as of

December 31,

2003


       Cash

  Non-Cash

   
   (in thousands)

Abandonment of new tower build work in process

  $—    $59  $   $(59) $—    $—  

Employee separation and exit costs

   1,706   122   (167)  45   (666)  1,040
   

  

  


 


 


 

   $1,706  $181  $(167) $(14) $(666) $1,040
   

  

  


 


 


 

   Accrual
as of
January 1, 2005
  Restructuring
Charges
  Payments  Accrual
as of
December 31, 2005
   (in thousands)

Employee separation and exit costs

  $733  $50  $(267) $516

2003 Plan

In 2003, in response to the continued deterioration in expenditures by wireless service providers, particularly with respect to site development activities, the Company committed to new plans of restructuring associated with further downsizing activities, including reduction in workforce and closing or consolidation of offices. As a result of the implementation of its plans, the Company recorded a restructuring charge of $2.5$2.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2003, in accordance with SFAS 146.2003. Of the $2.5$2.1 million charge recorded during the year ended December 31, 2003, approximately $0.6 million related to the abandonment of new tower build work in process. The remaining $1.9$1.5 million related primarily to the costs of employee separation for approximately 165 employees and exit costs associated with the closing or consolidation of approximately 1712 offices. In connection with employee separation costs, the Company paid approximately $0.7 million in one-time termination benefits. Of the $2.5$2.1 million in expense recorded during the year ended December 30,31, 2003, $2.4$2.0 million pertains to the Company’s site development segment and $0.1 million pertains to the Company’s site leasing segment.

The following summarizesDuring the activity relatedyear ended December 31, 2004, restructuring charges of $0.04 million and non-cash adjustments reducing these charges of $0.04 million were recorded relating to the 2003 restructuring plan. As of December 31, 2004, there were no remaining liabilities relating to the 2003 restructuring plan.

Restructuring expense for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004, and 2003, which relate to the 2003 and 2002 restructuring plans consisted of the following:

   For the year ended
December 31,
   2005  2004  2003
   (in thousands)

Abandonment of new tower build and acquisition work-in-process and related construction materials

  $-  $(110) $617

Employee separation and exit costs

   50   360   1,477
            
  $50  $250  $2,094
            

17.ASSET IMPAIRMENT CHARGES

During 2005, the Company reevaluated its future cash flow expectations on one tower that has not achieved expected lease up results. The resulting change in fair value of this tower, as determined using a discounted cash flow analysis, resulted in an impairment charge of $0.2 million. By comparison, in 2004 the Company reevaluated its future cash flow expectations on ten towers and other related equipment that have not achieved expected lease up results. The change in fair value of these towers, as determined using a discounted cash flow analysis, resulted in an impairment charge of $2.6 million.

Additionally in 2004, the Company reevaluated its future cash flow expectations on three microwave networks utilized by its customers. One of these customers rejected their microwave backhaul agreements under the settlement plan approved as part of their bankruptcy. The other customer notified the Company in the fourth quarter of 2004 of their intention not to renew their agreement upon expiration. An analysis of these networks resulted in a remote possibility of other customers utilizing the network. As a result, the Company wrote down the value of the underlying equipment utilized in these networks and recorded a charge of $4.5 million. Furthermore, in the fourth quarter of 2005, the Company determined that the remaining microwave network equipment has no residual value and recorded an additional charge of $0.2 million. These amounts are included in asset impairment charges in the Consolidated Statement of Operations for the years ended December 31 2005 and 2004, respectively.

During the second quarter of 2004, the Company identified 14 towers previously classified as held for sale and included in discontinued operations and reclassified them into continuing operations as of June 30, 2004 in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets”. As a result of this reclassification, the book value of the towers were recorded at the lower of (1) the carrying amount of the tower before it was classified as held for sale, net of any depreciation expense that would have been recognized had the asset never been classified as held for sale; or (2) the estimated fair value of the tower at the date of the subsequent decision not to sell. As a result of applying SFAS 144, the Company increased the book value of these towers by $0.3 million, and recorded this credit as a net reduction to asset impairment charges in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2003:2004.

   

Restructuring

Charges


  

Payments/

Adjustments


   Accrual as of
December 31,
2003


     Cash

  Non-Cash

   
   (in thousands)

Abandonment of new tower build work in process

  $576  $—    $(576)  $—  

Employee separation and exit costs

   1,748   (1,012)  (736)   —  
   

  


 


  

   $2,324  $(1,012) $(1,312)  $—  
   

  


 


  

18. ASSET IMPAIRMENT CHARGES

In accordance with SFAS 144, long-lived assets consisting primarily of tower assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If an asset is determined to be impaired, the loss is measured by the excess of the carrying amount of the asset over its fair value as determined by an estimate of discounted future cash flows. Estimates and assumptions inherent in the impairment evaluation include, but are not limited to, general market conditions, historical operating results, lease-up potential and expected timing of lease-up. During the second and fourth quarters of 2003, the Company modified its future tower lease-up assumptions for certain tower assets that had not achieved expected lease-up results. The changes to the future cash flow expectations and the resulting change in the fair value of these towers, as determined using a discounted cash flow analysis, resulted in an impairment charge of $10.3$7.9 million during the second quarter of 2003 related to approximately 40 operating towers and an impairment charge of $6.2$4.6 million during the fourth quarter

of 2003 related to approximately 30 additional operating towers. These amounts are included in asset impairment charges in the Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2003.

During the first quarter of 2003, tower assets previously impaired in 2002 were evaluated under the provisions of recently adopted SFAS 143 as to the existence of asset retirement obligations. In connection with the adoption of SFAS 143, effective January 1, 2003, approximately $0.5 million of additional tower costs were capitalized to the previously impaired assets effective January 1, 2003. The recoverability of the capitalized tower costs were evaluated in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 144 and determined to be impaired. As discussed above, during the second and fourth quarters of 2003, the Company identified approximately 70 operating towers that were determined to be impaired.

 

During the first and second quarters of 2002, the Company recorded goodwill totaling approximately $9.2 million resulting from the achievement of certain earn-out obligations under various construction acquisition agreements entered into prior to July 1, 2001. In accordance with SFAS 142, goodwill is subject to an impairment assessment at least annually, or at any time that indicators of impairment are present. The Company determined that as of June 30, 2002, indicators of impairment were present, thereby requiring an impairment analysis be completed. The indicators of impairment during the quarter ended June 30, 2002 giving rise to this analysis included significant deterioration of overall Company value, continued negative trends with respect to wireless carrier capital expenditure plans and related demand for wireless construction services, and perceived reduction in value of similar site development construction services businesses. As a result of this analysis, using a discounted cash flow valuation method for estimating fair value, $9.2 million of goodwill within the site development construction reporting segment was determined to be impaired as of June 30, 2002 and was written off.

In the first quarter of 2002, certain tower sites held and used in operations were considered to be impaired. Towers determined to be impaired were primarily towers with no tenants and little or no prospects for future lease-up. An asset impairment charge of approximately $16.4 million was recorded during the first quarter of 2002.

19. INCOME TAXES

18.INCOME TAXES

The provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations consists of the following components:

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 
   (in thousands) 

Current provision (benefit) for taxes:

             

Federal income tax

  $125  $(1,382) $—   

State and local taxes

   1,695   1,691   1,493 
   


 


 


Total current

   1,820   309   1,493 
   


 


 


Deferred provision (benefit) for taxes:

             

Federal income tax

   (58,122)  (57,000)  (39,868)

State and local taxes

   7,728   (3,767)  (1,528)

Increase in valuation allowance

   50,394   60,767   41,396 
   


 


 


Total deferred

   —     —     —   
   


 


 


Total

  $1,820  $309  $1,493 
   


 


 


   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Current provision for taxes:

    

Federal income tax

  $—    $—    $125 

State and local taxes

   2,104   710   1,604 
             

Total current

   2,104   710   1,729 
             

Deferred provision (benefit) for taxes:

    

Federal income tax

   (30,686)  (44,937)  (54,941)

State and local taxes

   (3,259)  (10,622)  (12,658)

Increase in valuation allowance

   33,945   55,559   67,599 
             

Total deferred

   —     —     —   
             

Total

  $2,104  $710  $1,729 
             

A reconciliation of the provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations at the statutory U.S. Federal tax rate (34%) and the effective income tax rate is as follows:

 

   For the years ended December 31,

 
   2003

  2002

  2001

 
   (in thousands) 

Statutory Federal benefit

  $(55,119) $(62,653) $(41,513)

State and local taxes

   6,219   (1,371)  (23)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   —     3,018   —   

Other

   326   395   367 

Goodwill amortization

   —     153   1,266 

Valuation allowance

   50,394   60,767   41,396 
   


 


 


   $1,820  $309  $1,493 
   


 


 


   For the year ended December 31, 
   2005  2004  2003 
   (in thousands) 

Statutory Federal benefit

  $(31,466) $(48,726) $(59,031)

State and local taxes

   (762)  (6,542)  (7,171)

Other

   387   419   332 

Valuation allowance

   33,945   55,559   67,599 
             
  $2,104  $710  $1,729 
             

The components of the net deferred income tax asset (liability) accounts are as follows:

 

  As of December 31,

   As of December 31, 
  2003

 2002

   2005 2004 
  (in thousands)   (in thousands) 

Allowance for doubtful accounts

  $759  $1,922   $370  $391 

Deferred revenue

   4,465   8,555    4,675   4,186 

Accrued liabilities

   5,654   4,612    3,661   2,971 

Other

   48   106 

Valuation allowance

   (10,926)  (15,195)   (8,706)  (7,548)
  


 


       

Current net deferred taxes

  $—    $—     $—    $—   
  


 


       

Original issue discount

  $13,028  $44,559    13,476   10,717 

Net operating loss

   198,385   96,731    245,585   250,322 

Book vs. tax depreciation

   (34,566)  (38,726)

Property, equipment & intangible basis differences

   (6,827)  (3,738)

Straight-line rents

   (6,152)  (4,930)   5,792   10,273 

Early extinguishment of debt

   5,249   —   

Other

   2,323   5,720    2,399   2,966 

Valuation allowance

   (173,018)  (103,354)   (265,674)  (270,540)
  


 


       

Non-current net deferred taxes

  $—    $—     $—    $—   
  


 


       

The Company has recorded a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets as management believes that it is not “more likely than not” that the Company will be able to generate sufficient taxable income in future periods to recognize the assets.

The net change in the valuation allowance for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003 was $(3.7) million, $57.9 million, and $68.6 million, respectively.

The Company has available at December 31, 2003,2005, a net federal operating tax loss carry-forward of approximately $583.5$722.1 million. Approximately $8.6 million, $35.8 million, $105.7 million, $140.0 million and $293.4 million of theThese net operating tax loss carry-forwards will expire in 2019,between 2020 2021 2022, and 2023, respectively.2025. The Internal Revenue Code places limitations upon the future availability of net operating losses based upon changes in the equity of the Company. If these occur, the ability for the Company to offset future income with existing net operating losses may be limited.

20. DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT

The Company previously had an interest rate swap agreement to manage its exposure to interest rate movements by effectively converting a portion of its fixed rate senior notes to variable rates. The swap qualified as a fair value hedge.

The notional principal amount of the swap was $100.0 million and the maturity date and payment provisions matched that of the underlying senior notes. The swap was to mature in seven years and provided for the exchange of fixed rate payments for variable rate payments without the exchange of the underlying notional amount. The variable rates were based on six-month EURO plus 4.47% and were reset on a semi-annual basis. The differential between fixed and variable rates to be paid or received was accrued as interest rates changed in accordance with the agreement and were recognized as an adjustment to interest expense. The Company recorded a reduction of approximately $3.1 million to interest expense during the year ended December 31, 2002 as a result of the differential between fixed and variable rates.

The counter-party to the interest rate swap agreement terminated the swap agreement in October 2002. In connection with this termination, the counter-party paidaddition the Company $6.2 million, which included approximately $0.8 million in accrued interest. The remaining approximately $5.4 million received was deferred and is being recognized as a reduction to interest expense over the remaining term of the senior notes using the effective interest method. Amortization of the deferred gain during 2003 and 2002 was approximately $0.7 million and $0.2 million, respectively. The remaining deferred gain balancehas available at December 31, 20032005, a net state operating tax loss carry-forward of approximately $486.2 million. These net operating tax loss carry-forwards will expire between 2006 and 2002 of $4.5 million and $5.2 million, respectively is included in long-term debt in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

21. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES2025.

 

a. Operating Leases

19.COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

a.Operating Leases

The Company is obligated under various non-cancelable operating leases for land, office space, vehicles and equipment, and site leases that expire at various times through May 2100.December 2104. The annual minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases in effect as of December 31, 20032005 are as follows:

 

   (in thousands)

2004

  $26,195

2005

   20,162

2006

   13,596

2007

   10,477

2008

   7,930

Thereafter

   46,620
   

Total

  $124,980
   

For the year ended
December 31,

  (in thousands)

2006

  $28,281

2007

   27,443

2008

   28,197

2009

   27,827

2010

   27,487

Thereafter

   486,939
   ��

Total

  $626,174
    

Principally, all of the leases provide for renewal at varying escalations. Fixed rate escalations have been included in the table disclosed above.

Rent expense for operating leases was $29.5$32.6 million, $29.3$33.0 million and $23.3$34.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively. The rent expense of $29.5These amounts exclude $0.05 million, $0.5 million and $29.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively, excludes $0.8 million and $2.4$0.7 million, respectively, which is included in restructuring and other charges. In addition, certain of the Company’s leases include contingent rent provisions which provide for the lessor to receive additional rent upon the attainment of certain tower operating results and/or lease-up. Contingent rent expense for the yearsyear ended December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003 2002 and 2001 was, $1.4$2.2 million, $1.6$2.0 million and $0.8$1.4 million, respectively.

 

b.Tenant Leases

b.Tenant Leases

The annual minimum tower lease income to be received for tower space and antenna rental under non-cancelable operating leases in effect as of December 31, 20032005 are as follows:

 

   (in thousands)

2004

  $129,114

2005

   108,744

2006

   79,291

2007

   50,669

2008

   30,840

Thereafter

   44,850
   

Total

  $443,508
   

For the year ended
December 31,

  (in thousands)

2006

  $155,492

2007

   131,777

2008

   113,869

2009

   88,538

2010

   44,548

Thereafter

   33,894
    

Total

  $568,118
    

Principally, all of the leases provide for renewal, generally at the tenant’s option, at varying escalations. Fixed rate escalations have been included in the table disclosed above.

c.Employment Agreements

The Company has employment agreements with certain officers of the Company that grant these employees the right to receive their base salary and continuation of certain benefits, for a defined period of time, in the event of a termination, as defined by the agreement of such employees. In connection with one of these agreements, the Company was obligated to pay an amount equal to the difference between $1.0 million and the value of all vested options and restricted stock belonging to a particular officer on September 19, 2003. The Company had the option of settling the obligation in cash or shares of Class A common stock. This obligation was settled in September 2003 in cash for $0.9 million. This amount had been expensed over the three year period of the original agreement which ended in September 2003 as non cash compensation expense.

d.Litigation

c.Litigation

The Company is involved in various claims, lawsuits and proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. While there are uncertainties inherent in the ultimate outcome of such matters and it is impossible to presently determine the ultimate costs that may be incurred, management believes the resolution of such uncertainties and the incurrence of such costs will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

 

d.Contingent Purchase Obligations

e.Contingent Purchase Obligations

TheFrom time to time, the Company sometimes agrees to pay additional acquisition purchase price consideration for acquisitions if the towers or businesses that are acquired meet or exceed certain earnings or new towerperformance targets in the 1-3 years after they have been acquired. As of December 31, 2003,2005, the Company hadhas an obligation to pay up to an additional $1.4$2.2 million in consideration if the earnings targets contained in various acquisition agreements are met. This obligation wasThese obligations are associated with acquisitions within the Company’s site leasing segment. AtOn certain acquisitions, at the Company’s option, a majority of the additional consideration may be paid in cash or shares of Class A common stock. The Company records such obligations as additional consideration when it becomes probable that the earnings targets will be met. As ofFor the year ended December 31, 2002,2005, 2004 and 2003 certain earnings targets associated with an acquisition within the site development construction segmentacquired towers were achieved, and therefore, the Company accrued approximately $2.0 million, within other current liabilities on the December 31, 2002 Consolidated Balance Sheet. This amount was paid in cash in February 2003.$0.2 million, $0.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively. In addition, approximately $1.1 million in cash was paid duringfor the year ended December 31, 2003 associated with2005, the Company issued approximately 24,000 shares of Class A common stock in settlement of contingent price amounts payable as a result of acquired towers meeting or exceeding new tower targets during 2003.certain performance targets.

 

22. DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN

20.DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN

The Company has a defined contribution profit sharing plan under Section 401 (k)401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code that provides for voluntary employee contributions of 1% to 14% of compensation. Employees have the opportunity to participate following completion of three months of employment and must be 21 years of age. Employer matching begins after completion of one year of service. For the years ended December 31, 20032005, 2004 and 2002,2003, the Company made a discretionary matching contribution of 50% of an employee’s contributions up to a maximum of $3,000. For the year ended December 31, 2001, the Company made a discretionary matching contribution of 50% of an employee’s contributions up to a maximum of $1,000. Company matching contributions were approximately $0.4$0.5 million, $0.8$0.5 million and $0.6$0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2003, 20022005, 2004 and 2001,2003, respectively.

23. SEGMENT DATA

21.SEGMENT DATA

The Company operates principally in three business segments: site leasing, site development consulting, and site development construction, and site leasing.construction. The Company’s reportable segments are strategic business units that offer different services. They are managed separately based on the fundamental differences in their operations. Revenues, gross profit,cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation, accretion and amortization), capital expenditures (including assets acquired through the issuance of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock) and identifiable assets pertaining to the segments in which the Company continues to operate are presented below:

 

   Site
Leasing


  Site
Development
Consulting


  Site
Development
Construction


  Assets Not
Identified
by Segment


  Total

For the year ended

December 31, 2003


               

Revenues

  $127,842  $18,092  $66,126  $—    $212,060

Cost of revenues

   42,021   16,723   61,087   —     119,831

Gross profit

   85,821   1,369   5,039   —     92,229

Capital expenditures

   15,105   124   2,458   575   18,262

For the year ended

December 31, 2002


               

Revenues

  $115,081  $27,204  $97,837  $—    $240,122

Cost of revenues

   40,650   20,594   81,879   —     143,123

Gross profit

   74,431   6,610   15,958   —     96,999

Capital expenditures

   93,999   430   21,487   1,565   117,481

For the year ended

December 31, 2001


               

Revenues

  $85,487  $24,251  $115,484  $—    $225,222

Cost of revenues

   30,657   17,097   91,435   —     139,189

Gross profit

   54,830   7,154   24,049   —     86,033

Capital expenditures

   536,151   1,794   34,125   4,430   576,500

Assets


               

As of December 31, 2003

  $897,880  $9,511  $46,807  $28,784  $982,982

As of December 31, 2002

   958,684   13,294   54,755   276,632   1,303,365
   Site
Leasing
  Site
Development
Consulting
  Site
Development
Construction
  Not
Identified by
Segment(1)
  Total 
   (in thousands) 

For the year ended

December 31, 2005

                

Revenues

  $161,277  $13,549  $85,165  $—    $259,991 

Cost of revenues

  $47,259  $12,004  $80,689  $—    $139,952 

Operating income (loss) from continuing operations

  $14,349  $544  $(2,360) $(8,338) $4,195 

Capital expenditures(2)

  $100,879  $57  $361  $804  $102,101 

For the year ended

December 31, 2004

                

Revenues

  $144,004  $14,456  $73,022  $—    $231,482 

Cost of revenues

  $47,283  $12,768  $68,630  $—    $128,681 

Operating (loss) income from continuing operations

  $(11,706) $431  $(3,127) $(9,479) $(23,881)

Capital expenditures(2)

  $7,706  $63  $317  $919  $9,005 

For the year ended

December 31, 2003

                

Revenues

  $127,852  $12,337  $51,920  $—    $192,109 

Cost of revenues

  $47,793  $11,350  $47,333  $—    $106,476 

Operating loss from continuing operations

  $(39,395) $(668) $(4,976) $(8,786) $(53,825)

Capital expenditures(2)

  $15,105  $124  $2,458  $575  $18,262 

Assets

                

As of December 31, 2005

  $834,923  $4,005  $51,381  $62,227  $952,536 

As of December 31, 2004(3)

  $784,571  $4,183  $42,170  $86,320  $917,244 

 

Assets not identified by segment consist primarily of assets held for sale and general corporate assets.

(1)Assets not identified by segment consist primarily of general corporate assets

 

The Company has client concentrations with respect to revenues in each of its financial reporting segments as follows:

(2)Includes acquisitions and related earn-outs

 

   Percentage of Site
Leasing Revenue
for the years ended
December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

AT&T Wireless

  16.9% 15.5%

Cingular Wireless

  11.1% 10.8%
(3)Amounts in 2004 have been reclassified to conform to 2005 presentation.

22.QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (unaudited)

 

   Percentage of Site
Development
Consulting
Revenue for the
years ended
December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Bechtel Corporation

  30.5% 34.2%

Cingular Wireless

  24.0% 29.6%

Verizon Wireless

  14.5% 3.9%

   Percentage of Site
Development
Construction
Revenue for
the years ended
December 31,


 
   2003

  2002

 

Bechtel Corporation

  37.7% 28.1%

Sprint PCS

  12.9% 3.0%

24. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

During January 2004, SBA Senior Finance closed on a new senior credit facility in the amount of $400.0 million. This facility consists of a $275.0 million term loan which was funded at closing, a $50.0 million delayed draw term loan which the Company has until November 15, 2004 to draw and a $75.0 million revolving line of credit. The revolving line of credit may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn. Amortization of the term loans commence September 2004 at an annual rate of 1% in each of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. All remaining amounts under the term loan are due in 2008. There is no amortization of the revolving loans and all amounts outstanding are due on August 31, 2008. This facility will require amortization payments of approximately $1.6 million in 2004, as compared to $11.5 million which would have been required under the facility which was in existence at December 31, 2003. Amounts borrowed under this facility accrue interest at either the base rate, as defined in the agreement, plus 250 basis points or the Euro dollar rate plus 350 basis points. This facility may be prepaid at any time with no prepayment penalty. Amounts borrowed under this facility are secured by a first lien on substantially all of SBA Senior Finance’s assets. In addition, each of SBA Senior Finance’s domestic subsidiaries has guaranteed the obligations of SBA Senior Finance under the senior credit facility and has pledged substantially all of their respective assets to secure such guarantee, and the Company and Telecommunications have pledged substantially all of their assets to secure SBA Senior Finance’s obligations under this senior credit facility.

This new credit facility requires SBA Senior Finance to maintain specified financial ratios, including ratios regarding its debt to annualized operating cash flow, debt service, cash interest expense and fixed charges for each quarter. This new senior credit facility contains affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restricts its ability to incur debt and liens, sell assets, commit to capital expenditures, enter into affiliate transactions or sale-leaseback transactions, and/or build towers without anchor tenants. SBA Senior Finance’s ability in the future to comply with the covenants and access the available funds under the senior credit facility will depend on its future financial performance.

On January 30, 2004, SBA Senior Finance used the proceeds from the funding of the $275.0 million term loan under the new senior credit facility to repay the old credit facility in full, consisting of $144.2 million outstanding. In addition to the amounts outstanding, the Company was required to pay $8.0 million associated with the assignment to the new lenders of the old facility. As a result of this prepayment, SBA Senior Finance has written off deferred financing fees associated with the old facility of $5.4 million in addition to the $8.0 million fee paid to facilitate the assignment during the first quarter of 2004. Additionally, SBA Senior Finance has recorded additional deferred financing fees of approximately $5.4 million associated with this new facility.

Subsequent to December 31, 2003, the Company repurchased $19.3 million of its 12% senior discount notes in open market transactions. The Company paid $20.9 million plus accrued interest in cash and recognized a loss of $1.6 million related to these debt repurchases and write-off $0.4 million of deferred financing fees. Additionally, on March 1, 2004, the Company, pursuant to the indentures for the 12% senior discount notes, called and retired all remaining outstanding 12% notes. These notes were callable at a price of 107.5% of the principal balances outstanding. In accordance with this transaction, the Company recorded a loss of $3.5 million associated with the premium paid and wrote off $1.0 million of deferred financing fees associated with this debt issue.

Subsequent to December 31, 2003, the Company repurchased $51.1 million of it’s 10¼% senior notes in open market transactions. The Company paid $51.9 million plus accrued interest in cash and issued 1.0 million shares of its Class A Common Stock. The Company recognized a loss of $0.8 million related to these repurchases and wrote off $1.0 million of deferred financing fees associated with this debt retirement.

25. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (unaudited)

   Quarters Ended

 
   December 31,
2003


  September 30,
2003


  

June 30,

2003


  

March 31,

2003


 
   (in thousands, except per share amounts) 

Revenues

  $57,588  $52,386  $50,390  $51,696 

Gross profit

   24,507   22,566   22,879   22,277 

Restructuring and other charges

   (68)  (1,065)  (396)  (976)

Asset impairment charges

   (6,199)  (50)  (10,265)  (451)

Write-off of deferred financing fees and loss on extinguishment of debt

   (18,968)  (409)  (4,842)  —   

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (53,149)  (32,584)  (45,448)  (32,755)

Loss from discontinued operations

   1,981   12,918   (22,134)  (455)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   —     —     —     (545)
   


 


 


 


Net loss

  $(51,168) $(19,666) $(67,582) $(33,755)
   


 


 


 


Per common share – basic and diluted:

                 

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

  $(0.98) $(0.62) $(0.89) $(0.64)

Loss from discontinued operations

   0.03   0.24   (0.43)  (0.01)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   —     —     —     (0.01)
   


 


 


 


Net loss

  $(0.95) $(0.38) $(1.32) $(0.66)
   


 


 


 


   Quarters Ended

 
   December 31,
2002


  September 30,
2002


  

June 30,

2002


  

March 31,

2002


 
   (in thousands, except per share amounts) 

Revenues

  $57,425  $60,811  $63,627  $58,259 

Gross profit

   23,216   23,892   25,556   24,335 

Restructuring and other charges

   (1,132)  (1,225)  (7,667)  (37,738)

Asset impairment charges

   —     —     (9,165)  (16,380)

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   (29,354)  (30,526)  (42,257)  (82,468)

Loss from discontinued operations

   (983)  (1,147)  (826)  (761)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   —     —     —     (60,674)
   


 


 


 


Net loss

  $(30,337) $(31,673) $(43,083) $(143,903)
   


 


 


 


Per common share – basic and diluted:

                 

Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

  $(0.57) $(0.60) $(0.84) $(1.66)

Loss from discontinued operations

   (0.02)  (0.02)  (0.01)  (0.01)

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting principle

   —     —     —     (1.22)
   


 


 


 


Net loss

  $(0.59) $(0.62) $(0.85) $(2.89)
   


 


 


 


The reported amounts for 2002 and the quarter ended March 31, 2003 above have been restated to reflect the Company’s discontinued operations discussed in Note 3.

   Quarter Ended 
   December 31,
2005
  September 30,
2005
  June 30,
2005
  March 31,
2005
 
   (in thousands, except per share amounts) 

Revenues

  $72,418  $66,021  $63,248  $58,304 

Operating income (loss) from continuing operations

   3,885   2,603   (229)  (2,064)

Depreciation, accretion, and amortization

   (22,258)  (21,673)  (21,644)  (21,643)

Asset impairment charges

   (160)  16   (40)  (214)

Loss from writeoff of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (19,541)  —     (8,244)  (1,486)

Loss from continuing operations

   (32,282)  (14,447)  (26,376)  (21,543)

(Loss) gain from discontinued operations

   (15)  3   121   (170)

Net loss

  $(32,297) $(14,444) $(26,255) $(21,713)

Per common share - basic and diluted:

     

Loss from continuing operations

  $(0.38) $(0.19) $(0.38) $(0.33)

Loss from discontinued operations

   —     —     —     —   
                 

Net loss per share

  $(0.38) $(0.19) $(0.38) $(0.33)
                 
   Quarter Ended 
   December 31,
2004
  September 30,
2004
  June 30,
2004
  March 31,
2004
 
   (in thousands, except per share amounts) 

Revenues

  $65,533  $58,743  $56,347  $50,859 

Operating loss from continuing operations

   (6,937)  (3,403)  (6,210)  (7,331)

Depreciation, accretion, and amortization

   (22,351)  (22,641)  (22,646)  (22,815)

Asset impairment charges

   (5,472)  (88)  (1,515)  (17)

Loss from writeoff of deferred financing fees and extinguishment of debt

   (16,433)  (2,093)  (454)  (22,217)

Loss from continuing operations

   (41,516)  (24,830)  (26,177)  (51,500)

Loss from discontinued operations

   (320)  (2,542)  (470)  75 

Net loss

  $(41,836) $(27,372) $(26,647) $(51,425)

Per common share - basic and diluted:

     

Loss from continuing operations

  $(0.65) $(0.43) $(0.46) $(0.92)

Loss from discontinued operations

   (0.01)  (0.04)  (0.01)  —   
                 

Net loss per share

  $(0.66) $(0.47) $(0.47) $(0.92)
                 

Because loss per share amounts are calculated using the weighted average number of common and dilutive common shares outstanding during each quarter, the sum of the per share amounts for the four quarters may not equal the total loss per share amounts for the year.

23.SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Subsequent to December 31, 2005, the Company closed on the acquisition of 66 towers for an aggregate purchase price of $18.9 million, which was paid in cash.

On February 22, 2006, SBA Senior Finance II entered into three forward-starting interest rate swap agreements, at an aggregate notional principal amount of $200 million, to hedge the variability of future interest rates in anticipation of the issuance of debt, which is expected to be issued on or before December 21, 2007 by an affiliate of SBA Communications Corporation. Under the

SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIESswap agreements, Senior Finance II has agreed to pay a fixed monthly interest rate of 5.024% on a total notional amount of $200 million, beginning on or before December 21, 2007 through December 21, 2012, in exchange for receiving floating payments based on three-month LIBOR on the same notional amount for the same five-year period. The swap agreements will be settled in cash, in accordance with their terms, on or before December 21, 2007. At the inception date of the swaps, the Company has determined the swaps to be an effective cash flow hedge.

 

SCHEDULE II

VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS

   Balance at
Beginning
of Period


  Additions
Charged to
Costs and
Expenses (1)


  Deduction
From
Reserves(3)


  Balance at
End of
Period


   (in thousands)

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts For the Years Ended:

                

December 31, 2003

  $5,572  $3,554  $7,726  $1,400

December 31, 2002

  $5,921  $3,371  $3,720  $5,572

December 31, 2001

  $2,117  $3,941(2) $137  $5,921

Tax Valuation Account For the Years Ended:

                

December 31, 2003

  $118,549  $65,395  $—    $183,944

December 31, 2002

  $54,422  $64,127  $—    $118,549

December 31, 2001

  $35,202  $19,219  $—    $54,422


(1)For tax valuation account, amounts include adjustments for stock option compensation.
(2)Includes additions of $1,300 to allowance for doubtful accounts from acquired companies.
(3)Represents accounts written off.

F-35F-33