(1)Prior year amounts have been adjusted to reflect the merger of AT&T Wireless and Leap Wireless (Cricket Wireless).

During

In addition to the past two years,Big 4 wireless carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless), we  have also provided services or leased space to a number of customers including:



Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing goals are to:

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 our corporate office. We also rely on our vice presidents, general managers, and other operations personnel to sell our services and cultivate customers. Our strategy is to delegate sales efforts by geographic region or 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 wireless service 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 wireless service provider representatives at the regional and local levels and at the national level when appropriate. Our sales staff’s compensation is heavily weighted to incentive-based goals and measurements.

Competition

Domestic Site Leasing – In the U.S., our primary competitors for our site leasing activities are (1) the national independent tower companies including American Tower Corporation and Crown Castle International, (2) a large number of regional independent tower owners, (3) 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, and (4) alternative facilities such as rooftops, outdoor and indoor distributed antenna system (“DAS”) networks, billboards, utility poles, and electric transmission towers. American Tower and Crown Castle have significantly more towers than we do, which could provide them a competitive advantage in negotiating with wireless service providers. Furthermore, these entities generally have greater financial resources than we do which may provide them with a competitive advantage in connection with the acquisition of material tower portfolios. However, we believe that tower location and capacity have been and will continue to be the most significant competitive factors affecting the site leasing business. Other competitive factors are quality of service to our tenants and price.

International Site Leasing – Our competition consists of wireless service providers that own and operate their own tower networks, as well as large national and regional independent tower companies.companies, and alternative facilities such as rooftop, outdoor and indoor DAS networks, billboards, utility poles, and electric transmission towers.

Site Development – The site development business is extremely competitive and price sensitive. We believe that the majority of our competitors in the U.S. site development business operate within local market areas exclusively, while some firms offer their services nationally. 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 company experience, price, track record, local reputation, geographic reach, and time for completion of a project.

Employees

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

As of December 31, 2015,2016, we had 1,3101,241 employees of which 230253 were based outside of the U.S. and its territories. We consider our employee relations to be good.

Regulatory and Environmental Matters

Federal Regulations. In the U.S., which accounted for 83.5%82.8% of our total site leasing revenue for the year ended December 31, 2015,2016, both the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”) regulate towers. Many FAA requirements are implemented in FCC regulations. These regulations, which were amended in 2014, govern the construction, lighting, and painting or other marking of towers, as well as the maintenance, inspection, and record keeping related to towers, and may, depending on the characteristics of particular towers, require prior approval and registration of towers before they may be constructed, altered or used. Wireless communications equipment and radio or television stations operating on towers are separately regulated and may require independent customer licensing depending upon the particular frequency or frequency band used. In addition, any applicant for an FCC tower structure registration (through the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration System) must certify that, consistent with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, neither the applicant nor its principals are subject to a denial of Federalfederal benefits because of a conviction for the possession or distribution of a controlled substance. New tower construction also requires approval from the state or local governing

authority for the proposed site: compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”); compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”); compliance with the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”); and may require notification to the FAA.

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 towers. These standards mandate that the FCC and the FAA consider the height of the proposed tower, the relationship of the tower to existing natural or man-made obstructions, and the proximity of the tower to runways and airports. Proposals to construct or to modify existing towers 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. Towers that meet certain height and location criteria must also be registered with the FCC. A tower 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 towers may have an obligation to maintain painting and lighting or other marking in conformance with FAA and FCC regulations. Tower owners and licensees that operate on those towers also bear the responsibility of monitoring any lighting systems and notifying the FAA of any lighting outage or malfunction.

Owners and operators of towers may be subject to, and therefore must comply with, environmental laws, including NEPA, NHPA and ESA. Any licensed radio facility on a tower is subject to environmental review pursuant to the NEPA, 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 NEPA. 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 a tower and prior to commencing certain operations of wireless communications or radio or television stations from the tower. 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.

We generally indemnify our customers against any failure to comply with applicable regulatory standards relating to the construction, modification, or placement of towers. 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 discriminate among different providers of personal wireless services or 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.

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 injury or property damage. We are also subject to certain environmental laws that govern tower placement and may require pre-construction environmental studies. Operators of towers 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 tower 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 owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations, or certain other entities prior to tower construction and establish regulations regarding maintenance and removal of towers. In addition, many local zoning authorities require tower owners to post bonds or cash collateral to secure their removal obligations. Local zoning authorities generally have been unreceptive to construction of new towers in their communities because of the height and visibility of the towers, and have, in some instances, instituted moratoria.

International. Regulatory regimes outside of the U.S. and its territories vary by country and locality; however, these regulations typically require tower owners and/or licensees to obtain approval from local officials or government agencies prior to tower construction or modification or the addition of a new antenna to an existing tower. Additionally, some regulations include ongoing obligations regarding painting, lighting, and maintenance. Our international operations may also be subject to limitations on foreign ownership of land in certain areas. Based on our experience to date, these regimes have been similar to, but not more rigorous, burdensome or comprehensive than, those in the U.S. Non-compliance with such regulations may lead to monetary penalties or deconstruction orders. Our international operations are also subject to various regulations and guidelines regarding employee relations and other occupational health and safety matters. As we expand our operations into additional international geographic areas, we will be subject to regulations in these jurisdictions.

Backlog

Backlog related to our site leasing business consists of lease agreements and amendments, which have been signed, but have not yet commenced. As of December 31, 2015,2016, we had 697955 new leases and amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases and amendments will contractually provide for approximately $6.6$8.7 million of annual revenue. By comparison, as of December 31, 2014,2015, we had 264697 new leases and amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases and amendments contractually provided for approximately $3.8$6.6 million of annual revenue.

Our backlog for site development services consists of the value of work that has not yet been completed under executed contracts. As of December 31, 2015,2016, we had approximately $30.7$26.0 million of contractually committed revenue as compared to approximately $66.2$30.7 million as of December 31, 2014.2015.  

Availability of Reports and Other Information

SBA Communications Corporation was incorporated in the State of Florida in March 1997. 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, as amended, on our website under “Investor Relations – Reports and Results – 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”).

 ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business

If our wireless service provider customers combine their operations to a significant degree, our future operating results, and our ability to service our indebtedness, and stock price could be adversely affected.

Significant consolidation among our wireless service provider customers may result in our customers failing to renew existing leases for tower space or reducing future capital expenditures in the aggregate because their existing networks and expansion plans may overlap or be very similar, or acquired technologies may be discontinued. In connection with the combinations of Verizon Wireless and ALLTEL (to form Verizon Wireless), Cingular and AT&T Wireless (to form AT&T Mobility) and Sprint PCS and Nextel (to form Sprint), the combined companies have rationalized and may continue to rationalize duplicative parts of their networks, and, in the case of Sprint, the Nextel iDeniDEN network was discontinued, which has led and may continue to lead to the non-renewal of certain leases on our towers. During 2013, Sprint acquired Clearwire Communications and T-Mobile acquired MetroPCS, and in 2014, AT&T acquired Leap Wireless (Cricket Wireless). This consolidationThese consolidations have led and may also lead to additional non-renewal of certain of our tower leases. If our wireless service provider customers continue to consolidate as a result of, among other factors, limited wireless spectrum for commercial use in the U.S., this consolidationthese consolidations could significantly impact the number of tower leases that are not renewed or the number of new leases that our wireless service provider customers require to expand their networks, which could materially and adversely affect our future operating results.results and our ability to service our indebtedness. These risks could be exacerbated due to changes in governmental policy that may favor industry consolidation.  

our Class A common stock may be affected by the economic and market perception of the announcement or consummation of wireless service provider customer consolidations and their impact on our future operating results.

We have a substantial level of indebtedness which may have an adverse effect on our business or limit our ability to take advantage of business, strategic or financing opportunities.

As indicated below, we have and will continue to have a significant amount of indebtedness relative to our deficit. The following table sets forth our total principal amount of debt and shareholders’ deficit as of December 31, 20152016 and 2014.2015.  



Our substantial level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay the principal, interest, or other amounts due on our indebtedness. Subject to certain restrictions under our existing indebtedness, we and our subsidiaries may also incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, some of which may be secured debt. This may have the effect of increasing our total leverage. For example, on June 10, 2015, SBA Senior Finance II secured a new $500.0 million senior secured Term Loan, and on October 14, 2015,July 7, 2016, we, through a New York common law trust, issued $500.0$700.0 million aggregate principal amount of Secured Tower Revenue Securities.Securities, and on August 15, 2016, we issued $1.1 billion of unsecured senior notes.

As a consequence of our indebtedness, (1) demands on our cash resources may increase, (2) we are subject to restrictive covenants that further limit our financial and operating flexibility and (3) we may choose to institute self-imposed limits on our indebtedness based on certain considerations including market interest rates, our relative leverage and our strategic plans. For example, as a result of our substantial level of indebtedness and the uncertainties arising in the credit markets and the U.S. economy:

•we may be more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

•we may have to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing or on our variable rate indebtedness if interest rates rise, thereby reducing our cash flows;

•we may find it more difficult to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements that would be in our best long-term interests;

•we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, reducing the available cash flow to fund other investments, including share repurchases, tower acquisition and new build capital expenditures;expenditures, or to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements;  

•we may have limited flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or in the industry;

•we may have a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies in our industry that are less leveraged; and

•we may be required to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, in order to meet payment obligations.

These restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, new tower development, mergers and acquisitions, share repurchases, or other opportunities.opportunities and to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements.  

In addition, fluctuations in market interest rates or changes in central bank monetary policy may increase interest expense relating to our floating rate indebtedness, which we expect to incur underpursuant to our Revolving Credit Facility and Term Loans, and may make it difficult to refinance our existing indebtedness at a commercially reasonable rate or at all. There is no guarantee that the future refinancing of our indebtedness will have fixed interest rates or that interest rates on such indebtedness will be equal to or lower than the rates on our current indebtedness.

We depend on a relatively small number of customers for most of our revenue, and the loss, consolidation or financial instability of any of our significant customers may materially decrease our revenues.revenue and adversely affect our financial condition.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from a small number of customers. Consequently, a reduction in demand for site leasing, reduced future capital expenditures on the networks, or the loss, as a result of bankruptcy, merger with other customers of ours or otherwise, of any of our largest customers could materially decrease our revenue and have an adverse effect on our growth.

On June 20, 2016, Oi, S.A. (“Oi”), our largest customer in Brazil, filed a petition for judicial reorganization in Brazil. For the year ended December 31, 2016, Oi comprised approximately 7.5% of our total site leasing revenue. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the recoverability of amounts owed by Oi prior to the date of Oi’s petition, we recorded a $16.5 million bad debt provision during the second quarter of 2016 relating to amounts owed or potentially owed by Oi as of the petition date. While we continue to do business with Oi under our contracts in the ordinary course and Oi has stated its intentions to continue normal operations during its judicial reorganization, we cannot assure you that Oi will continue to be willing or able to continue to make payments to us in accordance with the terms of our contracts. Judicial reorganization in Brazil requires the agreement of certain creditors, for which there can be no assurance. If Oi is unable to successfully reorganize, it may be forced to liquidate. If Oi is unable or unwilling to reorganize in a manner that continues to provide us anticipated payments in accordance with our contracts, it could materially decrease our revenues and adversely affect our financial condition.

The following is a list of significant customers (representing at least 10% of revenue in any of the last three years) and the percentage of our total revenues for the specified time periods derived from these customers:



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











(1)Prior year amounts have been adjusted to reflect the merger of AT&T Wireless and Leap Wireless (Cricket Wireless).

We derive revenue through numerous site leasing contracts and site development contracts. Each site leasing contract relates to the lease of space at an individual tower and is generally for an initial term of five to ten years in the U.S. and Canada, and renewable for five 5-year periods at the option of the tenant. Site leasing contracts in our Central American and South American markets typically have an initial term of ten years with multiple five year renewal periods. However, if any of our significant site leasing customers were to experience financial difficulty, substantially reduce their capital expenditures or reduce their dependence on leased tower space and fail to renew their leases with us, our revenues, future revenue growth and results of operations would be adversely affected.

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.

Currency fluctuations may negatively affect our results of operations.

We have business operations in Canada, Central America, and South America.  Our operations in Central America and Ecuador are primarily denominated in United States Dollars,dollars, while our operations in Canada and Brazilthe remainder of South America are denominated in local currencies.  Our foreign currency denominated revenues and expenses are translated into United States dollars at applicable exchange rates for inclusion in our consolidated financial statements. 

For the year ended December 31, 2015,2016, approximately 15%16.3% of our total cash site leasing revenue was generated by our Internationalinternational operations, of which 11.2%11.6% was generated in non-USnon-U.S. dollar currencies, including 10.5%10.8% which was generateddenominated in Brazilian Reais.Real. The exchange rates between our foreign currencies and the United States Dollar have fluctuated significantly recently and may continue to do so in the future.  For example, the Brazilian Real has historically been subject to substantial volatility and devalued 49.2%weakened 5.5% when comparing the spotaverage  rate on January 1, 2015 andfor the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.  This trend has adversely affected, and may in the future continue to adversely affect, our reported results of operations.

Changes in exchange rates between these local currencies and the United States Dollardollar will affect the recorded levels of site leasing revenue, segment operating profit, assets and/or liabilities. Volatility in foreign currency exchange rates can also affect our ability to plan, forecast and budget for our international operations and expansion efforts. 

Furthermore, we have an intercompany loan agreement which permits one of our Brazilian entities to borrow amounts up to $750.0 million. As of December 31, 2015,2016, the outstanding balance under this agreement was $455.8$433.3 million. In accordance with ASC 830, we remeasure foreign denominated intercompany loans with the corresponding change in the balance being recorded in Other income (expense), net in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.Operations as settlement is anticipated or planned in the foreseeable future. Consequently, if the U.S. Dollar continues to strengthenstrengthens against the Brazilian Real, our results of operations would be adversely affected. For the years ended December 31, 20152016 and 2014,2015, we recorded  a $90.0 million gain and a $178.9 million and $23.0 million,loss, respectively, of foreign exchange losses on the remeasurement of the intercompany loans.loan due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

If we are unable to protect our rights to the land under our towers, it could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our real property interests relating to the land under our tower structures consist primarily of leasehold and sub-leasehold interests, fee interests, easements, licenses, rights-of-way, and other similar interests. From time to time, we experience disputes with landowners regarding the terms of the agreements for the land under our tower structures, which can affect our ability to access and operate such towers. Further, landowners may not want to renew their agreements with us, they may lose their rights to the land, or they may transfer their land interests to third parties, including ground lease aggregators and our competitors, which could affect our ability to renew agreements on commercially viable terms or at all. In addition, the land underlying the 2,113 towers we acquired in 2013 from Oi, S.A., one of Brazil’s largest telecommunications providers, is subject to a concession from the Federal Republic of Brazil that expires in 2025.  At the end of the term, the Brazilian government will have the right to (i) renew the concession upon newly negotiated terms or (ii) terminate the concession and take possession of the land and the tower on such land.  Although Oi S.A. has entered into a non-terminable lease with us for 35 years, if the concession is not renewed, our site leasing revenue from co-located tenants would terminate prior to the end of such lease. For the year ended December 31, 2015,2016, we generated 13.0%12.0% of our total international site leasing revenue from these 2,113 towers of which 10.2%7.4% related to Oi S.A. and 2.8%4.6% represented revenue from co-located tenants.

As of December 31, 2015,2016, the average remaining life under our ground leases, including renewal options under our control, was approximately 33 years, and approximately 5.8%6.2% of our tower structures have ground leases maturing in the next 10 years.  Failure to protect our rights to the land under our towers may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

New technologies or network architecture or changes in a customer’s business model may reduce demand for our wireless infrastructure or negatively impact our revenues.

Improvements or changes in the efficiency, architecture, and design of wireless networks or changes in a wireless service provider customer’s business model may reduce the demand for our wireless infrastructure. In addition, as customers deploy increased capital to the development and implementation of new technologies, they may allocate less of their budgets to lease space on our towers. For example, new technologies that may promote network sharing, joint development, or resale agreements by our wireless service provider customers, such as signal combining technologies or network functions virtualization, may reduce the need for our wireless infrastructure. In addition, other technologies and architectures, such as WiFi, DAS, femtocells, other small cells, or satellite (such as low earth orbiting) and mesh transmission systems may, in the future, serve as substitutes for, or alternatives to, the traditional macro site cellular architecture that is the basis of substantially all of our site leasing business. In addition, new technologies that enhance the range, efficiency, and capacity of wireless equipment could reduce demand for our wireless infrastructure. Further, a customer may decide to no longer outsource wireless infrastructure or otherwise change its business model. Any significant reduction in demand for our wireless infrastructure resulting from new technologies or new architectures or changes in a customer’s business model may negatively impact our revenues or otherwise have a material adverse effect on us. 

Increasing competition may negatively impact our ability to grow our communication site portfolio long term.

We intend to continue growing our tower portfolio, domestically and internationally, through acquisitions and new builds. Our ability to meet our growth targets significantly depends on our ability to build or acquire existing towers that meet our investment requirements. Traditionally, our acquisition strategy has focused on acquiring towers from smaller tower companies, independent tower developers and wireless service providers. However, as a result of consolidation in the tower industry there are fewer of these mid-sized tower transactions available in the U.S. and there is more competition to acquire existing towers. Increased competition for acquisitions may result in fewer acquisition opportunities for us, higher acquisition prices, and increased difficulty in negotiating and consummating agreements to acquire such towers. For example, in 2015,2016, we passed on more U.S. acquisitions than we did in 20142015 due to asset quality, price, or lease terms. Furthermore, to the extent that the tower acquisition opportunities are for significant tower portfolios, many of our competitors are significantly larger and have greater financial resources than we do.  Finally, competition regulations, domestically and internationally, may limit our ability to acquire certain portfolios or apply to us differently than they apply to our competitors.  As a result of these risks, the cost of acquiring these towers may be higher than we expect or we may not be

able to meet our annual and long-term tower portfolio growth targets. If we are not able to successfully address these challenges, we may not be able to materially increase our tower portfolio in the long-term. 

We currently intend to build 590 to 610 new towers, domestically and internationally, during 2016. However, ourOur 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. Local regulations, including municipal or local ordinances, zoning restrictions and restrictive covenants imposed by community developers, vary greatly, but typically require antenna tower and structure owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations prior to tower or structure construction or modification.  With respect to our international new builds, our tower construction may be delayed or halted as a result of local zoning restrictions, inconsistencies between laws or other barriers to construction in international markets. Due to these risks, it may take longer to complete our new tower builds, domestically and internationally, than anticipated, the costs of constructing these towers may be higher than we expect or we may not be able to add as many towers as we had planned in 2016.2017. If we are not able to increase our tower portfolio as anticipated, it could negatively impact our ability to achieve our financial goals.

Our international operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position.

Our current business operations in Canada, Central America, and South America, and our expansion into any other international markets in the future, could result in adverse financial consequences and operational problems not typically experienced in the United States. The consolidated revenues generated by our international operations were 14.9%approximately 16.2% during the year ended December 31, 2015,2016, and we anticipate that our revenues from our international operations will continue to grow in the future. Accordingly, our business is and will in the future be subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including:

•changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions;

•laws and regulations that tax or otherwise restrict repatriation of earnings or other funds or otherwise limit distributions of capital;

•laws and regulations that dictate how we operate our towers and conduct business, including zoning, maintenance and environmental matters, and laws related to ownership of real property;

•laws and regulations governing our employee relations, including occupational health and safety matters;

•changes to existing or new domestic or international tax laws or fees directed specifically at the ownership and operation of towers, which may be applied and enforced retroactively;

•expropriation and governmental regulation restricting foreign ownership;

•laws effecting telecommunications infrastructure including the sharing of such infrastructure;

•restriction or revocation of spectrum licenses;

•our ability to comply with, and the costs of compliance with, anti-bribery laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar local anti-bribery laws;

•our ability to compete with owners and operators of wireless towers that have been in the international market for a longer period of time than we have;

•uncertainties regarding legal or judicial systems, including inconsistencies between and within laws, regulations and decrees, and judicial application thereof, and delays in the judicial process;

•health or similar issues, such as a pandemic or epidemic;

•difficulty in recruiting and retaining trained personnel; and

•language and cultural differences.

A slowdown in demand for wireless communications services or for tower space could materially and adversely affect our future growth and revenues, and we cannot control that demand.

Additional revenue growth on our towers other than through contractual escalators comes directly from additional investment by our wireless service provider customers in their networks. If wireless service subscribersconsumers significantly reduce their minutes of use or data usage, or fail to widely adopt and use wireless data applications, our wireless service provider customers wouldcould experience a decrease in demand for their services. Regardless of consumer demand, each wireless service provider customer must have substantial capital resources and capabilities to build out their wireless networks, including licenses for spectrum. In addition, our wireless service customers have engaged in increased use of network sharing, roaming or resale arrangements. As a result of all of the above, wireless carriersservice providers may scale back their business plans or otherwise reduce their spending, which could materially and adversely affect demand for our tower space and our wireless communications services business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may not be able to fully recognize the anticipated benefits of towers that we acquire.

A key element of our growth strategy is to increase our tower portfolio through acquisitions.  We rely on our due diligence of the towers and the representations and financial records of the sellers and other third parties to establish the anticipated revenues and expenses and whether the acquired towers will meet our internal guidelines for current and future potential returns. In addition, we may not always have the ability to analyze and verify all information regarding title, access and other issues regarding the land underlying acquired towers.  This is particularly true in our international acquisitions of towers from wireless service providers. To the extent that these towers were acquired in individually material transactions, we may be required to place enhanced reliance on the financial and operational representations and warranties of the sellers. If (i) these records are not complete or accurate, (ii) we do not have complete access to, or use of, the land underlying the acquired towers or (iii) the towers do not achieve the financial results anticipated, it could adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

In addition, acquisitions which would be material in the aggregate may exacerbate the risks inherent with our growth strategy, such as (i) an adverse impact on our overall profitability if the acquired towers do not achieve the projected financial results, projected in our valuation models, (ii) unanticipated costs associated with the acquisitions that may impact our results of operations for a period, (iii) increased demands on our cash resources that may, among other things, impact our ability to explore other opportunities, (iv) undisclosed and assumed liabilities that we may be unable to recover, (v) increased vulnerability to general economic conditions, (vi) an adverse impact on our existing customer relationships, (vii) additional expenses and exposure to new regulatory, political and economic risks if such acquisitions were in new jurisdictions and (viii) diversion of managerial attention.

We may not successfully integrate acquired towers into our operations.

As part of our growth strategy, we have made and expect to continue to make acquisitions. The process of integrating any acquired towers into our operations may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and large expenditures and may absorb significant management attention that would otherwise be available for the ongoing development of our business. It may also result in the loss of key customers and/or personnel and expose us to unanticipated liabilities. These risks may be exacerbated in those circumstances in which we acquire a material number of towers. Further, we may not be able to retain the key employees that may be necessary to operate the business we acquire, and we may not be able to timely attract new skilled employees and management to replace them.

There can be no assurance that we will be successful in integrating acquisitions into our existing business. This is particularly true in our international acquisitions of towers from wireless service providers.

 Delays or changes in the deployment or adoption of new technologies or slowing consumer adoption rates may have a material adverse effect on our growth rate.

There can be no assurances that 3G, 4G, including long-term evolution (“LTE”), advanced wireless service in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands (the “AWS-3” bands), or other new wireless technologies such as 5G 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 in the United States experienced delays from the original projected timelines of the wireless and broadcast industries, and continued deployment of 4G could experience delays. Additionally, the demand by consumers and the adoption rate of consumers for these new technologies once deployed may be lower or slower than anticipated, particularly in certain of our international markets. 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.

Increasing competition in the tower industry may create pricing pressures that may materially and adversely affect us.

Our industry is highly competitive, and our wireless service provider customers sometimes have alternatives for leasing antenna space. Some of our competitors, such as (1) U.S. and international wireless carriers that allow co-location on their towers and (2) large independent tower companies, have been, and based on recent consolidations continue to be, substantially larger and have greater

financial resources than we do. This could provide them with advantages with respect to establishing favorable leasing terms with wireless service providers or in their ability to acquire available towers.

In 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;

•national and regional tower companies; and

•alternative facilities such as rooftops, outdoor and indoor DAS networks, billboards and electric transmission towers.

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. However, competitive pricing pressures for tenants on towers from these competitors could materially and adversely affect our lease rates. In addition, we may not be able to renew existing customer leases or enter into new customer leases, resulting in a material adverse impact on our results of operations and growth rate. Increasing competition could also make the acquisition of high quality tower assets more costly, or limit the acquisition opportunities altogether. Any of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

The site development segment of our industry is also extremely competitive. There are numerous large and small companies that offer one or more of the services offered by our site development business. As a result of this competition, margins in this segment may come under pressure. 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 decrease, our consolidated revenues and our site development segment operating profit could be adversely affected.

The documents governing our indebtedness contain restrictive covenants that could adversely affect our business by limiting our flexibility.

The indentures governing the 5.75% Notes, the 5.625%2014 Senior Notes and the 4.875%2016 Senior Notes, the Senior Credit Agreement, and the Securedmortgage loan underlying the Tower Revenue Securities contain restrictive covenants imposing significant operational and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions that may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interests. Among other things, the covenants under each indentureinstrument limit our ability to:

•merge, consolidate or sell assets;

•make restricted payments, including pay dividends or make other distributions;

•enter into transactions with affiliates;

•enter into sale and leaseback transactions; and

•issue guarantees of indebtedness.

We are required to maintain certain financial ratios under the Senior Credit Agreement. The Senior Credit Agreement, as amended, requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Total Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Total Debt and Net Hedge Exposure (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any fiscal quarter.

Additionally, the mortgage loan relating to our Tower Securities contains financial covenants that require that the mortgage loan borrowers maintain, on a consolidated basis, a minimum debt service coverage ratio. To the extent that the debt service coverage ratio, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30 times or lower, then 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, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers.

borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowersborrowers 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 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 until such time that the debt service coverage ratio exceeds 1.15 times for a calendar quarter. 

These covenants could place us at a disadvantage compared to some of our competitors which may have fewer restrictive covenants and may not be required to operate under these restrictions. Further, these covenants could have an adverse effect on our business by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, new tower development, merger and acquisitions or other opportunities. If we fail to comply with these covenants, it could result in an event of default under our debt instruments. If any default occurs, all amounts outstanding under our outstanding notes and the Senior Credit Agreement may become immediately due and payable.

Our variable rate indebtedness and refinancing obligations subject us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Fluctuations in market interest rates may increase interest expense relating to our floating rate indebtedness, which we expect to incur under the Revolving Credit Facility and Term Loans or upon refinancing our fixed rate debt. As a result, we are exposed to interest rate risk. If interest rates were to increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease. There is no guarantee that any future refinancing of our indebtedness will have fixed interest rates or that interest rates on such indebtedness will be equal to or lower than the rates on our current indebtedness. In the future, we may enter into interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed rate interest payments in order to reduce interest rate volatility. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to all of our variable rate indebtedness, and any swaps we enter into may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk. We currently have no interest rate swaps.

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 assets are, and are expected to be, the outstanding capital stock and membership interests of our subsidiaries. We conduct, and expect to continue conducting, all of our business operations through our subsidiaries. Accordingly, our ability to pay our obligations is dependent upon dividends and other distributions from our subsidiaries to us. Most of our indebtedness is owed directly by our subsidiaries, including the mortgage loan underlying the Tower Securities, the 5.75% Notes, the Term Loans and any amounts that we may borrow under the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the first use of any cash flow from operations generated by such subsidiaries will be payments of interest and principal, if any, under their respective indebtedness. Other than the cash required to repay amounts due under our 5.625%2014 Senior Notes and 4.875%2016 Senior Notes and funds to be utilized for stock repurchases, we currently expect that substantially all the earnings and cash flow of our subsidiaries will be retained and used by them in their operations, including servicing their respective debt obligations. The ability of our operating subsidiaries to pay dividends or transfer assets to us is restricted by applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including the terms of their outstanding debt instruments.

Our quarterly operating results for our site development services fluctuate and therefore we may not be able to adjust our cost structure on a timely basis with regard to such fluctuations.

The demand for our site development services fluctuates from quarter to quarter and should not be considered 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 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;

•delays relating to a project or tenant installation of equipment;

•seasonal factors, such as weather, holidays and 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 on a timely basis to respond to the fluctuations in demand for our site development services.

We have not traditionally been profitable and may incur losses in the future.

Historically,In 2016, we havewere profitable; however, in 2015 and 2014, we were not been profitable. The following chart shows the net lossesincome (losses) we incurred for the periods indicated:





OurDuring 2015 and 2014, our losses arewere principally due to depreciation, amortization, and accretion expenses, interest expense (including non-cash interest expense and amortization of deferred financing fees), and losses from the extinguishment of debtdebt. In addition, in the periods presented above, and in 2015, our loss included remeasurement losses related to a foreign currency denominated intercompany loan.

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 Executive Vice President and President—International, Thomas P. Hunt, our Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, and Brendan T. Cavanagh, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. 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. 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.

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, both in the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S., both the FAA and the FCC regulate the construction, modification, and maintenance of towers and structures that support antennas used for wireless communications and radio and television broadcasts. In addition, the FCC separately licenses and regulates wireless communications equipment and television and radio stations operating from such towers. FAA and FCC regulations govern construction, lighting, painting, and marking of towers and may, depending on the characteristics of the tower, require registration of the tower. Certain proposals to construct new towers or to modify existing towers are reviewed by the FAA to ensure that the tower will not present a hazard to air navigation.

Tower owners may have an obligation to mark or paint such towers or install lighting to conform to FAA and FCC regulations and to maintain such marking, painting and lighting. Tower 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 towers are also reviewed by the FCC to ensure compliance with environmental impact requirements established in federal statutes, including NEPA, NHPA and ESA. 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 tower owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations prior to tower construction or modification. Local regulations can delay, prevent, or increase the cost of new construction, co-locations, or site upgrades, 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. Furthermore, with respect to our international new builds, our tower construction may be delayed or halted as a result of local zoning restrictions, inconsistencies between laws or other barriers to construction in international markets. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our future growth and operations.

Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer.

A part of our day-to-day operations, we rely on information technology and other computer resources and infrastructure to carry out important business activities and to maintain our business records. Our computer systems could fail on their own accord and are subject to interruption or damage from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches (including through cyber-attack and data theft), errors, catastrophic events such as natural disasters and other events beyond our control. If our computer systems and our backup systems are compromised, degraded, damaged, or breached, or otherwise cease to function properly, we could suffer interruptions in our operations or unintentionally allow misappropriation of proprietary or confidential information (including information about our tenants or landlords). This could damage our reputation and disrupt our operations and the services we provide to customers, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our towers are subject to damage from natural disasters.disasters and other unforeseen events.  

Our towers are subject to risks associated with natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes.earthquakes or may collapse for any number of reasons, including structural deficiencies. 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 loss limits and 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 incur significant expenditures and may have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial condition.condition and may harm our reputation.  

To the extent that we are not able to meet our contractual obligations to our customers, due to a natural disaster or other catastrophic circumstances, our customers may not be obligated or willing to pay their lease expenses; however, we wouldmay be required to continue paying our fixed expenses related to the affected tower, including ground lease expenses. If we are unable to meet our contractual obligations to our customers for a material portion of our towers, our operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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 structures, 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.

We could suffer adverse tax and other financial consequences if taxing authorities do not agree with our tax positions, or we are unable to utilize our net operating losses.positions.

We are periodically subject to a number of tax examinations by taxing authorities in the states and countries where we do business. We also have significant deferred tax assets related to our net operating losses (“NOLs”) in U.S. federal and state taxing jurisdictions. Generally, for U.S. federal and state tax purposes, NOLs can be carried forward and used for up to twenty years, and all of our tax years will remain subject to examination until three years after our NOLs are used or expire. We expect that we will continue to be subject to tax examinations in the future. In addition, U.S. federal, state and local, as well as international, tax laws and regulations are extremely complex and subject to varying interpretations. We recognize tax benefits of uncertain tax positions when we believe the positions are more likely than not of being sustained upon a challenge by the relevant tax authority. We believeIf our judgments in this area are reasonable and correct, but there is no guarantee that we will be successful if challenged by a tax authority. If there are tax benefits, including from our use of NOLs or other tax attributes, that are challenged successfully by a taxing authority, we may be required to pay additional taxes or we may seek to enter into settlements with the taxing authorities,penalties, or make additional distributions, which could require significant payments or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, we may be limited in our ability to utilize our NOLs to offset future taxable income and thereby reduce our otherwise payable income taxes. We have substantial federal and state NOLs, including significant portions obtained through acquisitions and dispositions, as well as those generated through our historic business operations. In addition, we have disposed

Our issuance of equity securities and other associated transactions may trigger a future ownership change which may negatively impact our ability to utilize NOLs in the future.

The issuance of equity securities and other associated transactions may increase the chance that we will have a future ownership change under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. We may also have a future ownership change, outside of our control, caused by future equity transactions by our current shareholders. Depending on our market value at the time of such future ownership change, an ownership change under Section 382 could negatively impact our ability to utilize our NOLs and could result in the event we generate future taxable income. Currently, we have recorded a full valuation allowance against our NOLs because we have concluded that our loss history indicates that it is not “more likely than not” that such deferred tax assets will be realized.

Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market or the issuance of other equity may cause dilution or adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock and our abilityus having to raise funds in new equity or equity-related offerings.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock or other equity-related securities in the public market, including sales by any selling shareholder, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale ofmake additional equity securities.cash distributions.

Our costs could increase and our revenues could decrease due to perceived health risks from RF energy.

The U.S. government imposes requirements and other guidelines relating to exposure 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 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. Our current policies provide no coverage for claims based on RF energy exposure. If we were subject to claims relating to exposure to RF energy, even if such claims were not ultimately found to have merit, our financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT

Complying with the REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate assets or hinder our ability to pursue otherwise attractive asset acquisition opportunities.

To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the nature and diversification of our assets, the sources of our income and the amounts we distribute to our shareholders. For example, to qualify as a REIT, we must ensure that, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and “real estate assets” (as defined in the Code), including towers and certain mortgage loans and securities. The remainder of our investments (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our total assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 25% (for taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2017) or 20% (for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017) of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate assets.

In addition to the asset tests set forth above, to qualify and be subject to tax as a REIT, we will generally be required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income after the utilization of any available NOLs (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding net capital gain) each year to our shareholders. Our determination as to the timing or amount of future dividends will be based on a number of factors, including investment opportunities around our core business and the availability of our existing NOLs. To the extent that we satisfy the 90% distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income (after the application of available NOLs, if any), we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our shareholders for a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under the Code. These distribution requirements could hinder our ability to pursue otherwise attractive asset acquisition opportunities. Furthermore, our ability to compete for acquisition opportunities in domestic and international markets may be adversely affected if we need, or require, the target company to comply with certain REIT requirements. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income, amounts available for distribution to our shareholders and amounts available for making payments on our indebtedness.

Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code. If we fail to qualify as a REIT or fail to remain qualified as a REIT, to the extent we have REIT taxable income and have utilized our NOLs, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular corporation and could face a substantial tax liability, which would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders.

Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis.

Our Board of Directors has authorized us to take all necessary steps for SBAC to be subject to tax as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with our taxable year ending December 31, 2016. We received an opinion of our special REIT tax counsel with respect to our qualification as a REIT. Investors should be aware, however, that opinions of counsel are not binding on the IRS or any court. The opinion represents only the view of such counsel based on its review and analysis of existing law and on certain representations as to factual matters and covenants made by us, including representations relating to the values of our assets and the sources of our income. The opinion is expressed as of the date issued. Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends upon our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, to the extent we have REIT taxable income and have utilized our NOLs, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and dividends paid to our shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any resulting corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of our common stock. Unless we were entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Code, we also would be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify as a REIT. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may need to borrow additional funds or liquidate assets to pay any additional tax liability. Accordingly, funds available for investment and making payments on our indebtedness would be reduced.

We may be required to borrow funds, sell assets, or raise equity to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements.

From time to time, we may generate REIT taxable income greater than our cash flow as a result of differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash or the effect of nondeductible capital expenditures, the creation of reserves or required debt or amortization payments. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we may need to borrow funds, sell assets or raise equity, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings, sales or offerings, to enable us to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid U.S. federal corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs and our leverage, decrease our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share or require us to distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions or stock repurchases.

Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock. Furthermore, compliance with the REIT distribution requirements may increase the financing we need to fund capital expenditures, future growth, or expansion initiatives, which would increase our total leverage. 

Covenants specified in our current and future debt instruments may limit our ability to make required REIT distributions.

The Senior Credit Agreement, the mortgage loan agreement related to our securitization transactions and the indentures governing our 2014 Senior Notes and 2016 Senior Notes contain certain covenants that could limit our ability to make distributions to our shareholders. Under the Senior Credit Agreement, our subsidiaries may make distributions to us to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements and additional amounts to distribute up to 100% of our REIT taxable income, so long as SBA Senior Finance II’s ratio of Consolidated Total Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA does not exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter. In addition, under the mortgage loan agreement related to our securitization transactions, or Securitization, a failure to comply with the Debt Service Coverage Ratio in that agreement could prevent our borrower subsidiaries from distributing any excess cash from the operation of their towers to us. Finally, while the indentures governing the 2014 Senior Notes and the 2016 Senior Notes permit us to make distributions to our shareholders to the extent such distributions are necessary to maintain our status as a REIT or to avoid entity level taxation, this authority is subject to the conditions that no default or event of default exists or would result therefrom and that the obligations under the 2014 Senior Notes or the 2016 Senior Notes, as applicable, have not otherwise been accelerated.

If these limits prevent us from satisfying our REIT distribution requirements, we could fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT. If these limits do not jeopardize our qualification for taxation as a REIT but do nevertheless prevent us from distributing 100% of our

REIT taxable income, we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax, and potentially the nondeductible 4% excise tax, on the retained amounts.

Our payment of cash distributions in the future is not guaranteed and the amount of any future cash distributions may fluctuate, which could adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock.

REITs are required to distribute annually at least 90% of their REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gain). As of December 31, 2016,  $1.1 billion of the federal NOLs are attributes of the REIT. We may use these NOLs to offset our REIT taxable income, and thus any required distributions to shareholders may be reduced or eliminated until such time as the NOLs have been fully utilized. The Internal Revenue Code places limitations upon the future availability of NOLs based upon changes in our equity. If these occur, our ability to offset future income with existing NOLs may be limited. We currently expect that we will utilize available NOLs to reduce all or a portion of our REIT taxable income and therefore we may not initially make any distributions, which may adversely affect the market value of our Class A common stock.

The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by the Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases, when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual timing and amount of distributions will be as determined and declared by the Board of Directors and will depend on, among other factors, our NOLs, our financial condition, earnings, debt covenants and other possible uses of such funds. Consequently, our future distribution levels may fluctuate.

Certain of our business activities may be subject to corporate level income tax and foreign taxes, which would reduce our cash flows, and would have potential deferred and contingent tax liabilities.

We may be subject to certain federal, state, local and foreign taxes on our income and assets, including alternative minimum taxes, taxes on any undistributed income and state, local or foreign income, franchise, property and transfer taxes. In addition, we could, in certain circumstances, be required to pay an excise or penalty tax, which could be significant in amount, in order to utilize one or more relief provisions under the Code to maintain qualification for taxation as a REIT. In addition, we may incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with a TRS if they are not conducted on an arm’s length basis. Any of these taxes would decrease our earnings and our available cash.

Our TRS assets and operations also will continue to be subject, as applicable, to federal and state corporate income taxes and to foreign taxes in the jurisdictions in which those assets and operations are located. Any of these taxes would decrease our earnings and our available cash. We will also be subject to a federal corporate level tax at the highest regular corporate rate (currently 35%) on the gain recognized from a sale of assets occurring during our first five years as a REIT, up to the amount of the built-in gain that existed on January 1, 2016, which is based on the fair market value of those assets in excess of our tax basis in those assets as of January 1, 2016. Gain from a sale of an asset occurring after the specified period ends will not be subject to this corporate level tax. We currently do not expect to sell any asset if the sale would result in the imposition of a material tax liability. We cannot, however, assure you that we will not change our plans in this regard.

Our use of TRSs may cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT.

The net income of our TRSs is not required to be distributed to us, and such undistributed TRS income is generally not subject to our REIT distribution requirements. However, if the accumulation of cash or reinvestment of significant earnings in our TRSs causes the fair market value of our securities in those entities, taken together with other non-qualifying assets, to represent more than 25% of the fair market value of our assets, or causes the fair market value of our TRS securities alone to represent more than 25% (for taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2017) or 20% (for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017) of the value of our total assets, in each case, as determined for REIT asset testing purposes, we would, absent timely responsive action, fail to qualify as a REIT.

Legislative or other actions affecting REITs could have a negative effect on us.

The rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the Treasury. Changes to the tax laws or interpretations thereof, with or without retroactive application, could materially and adversely affect our investors or us. We cannot predict how changes in the tax laws might affect our investors or us. New legislation, U.S. Treasury Regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify as a REIT or the U.S. federal income tax consequences to our investors and us of such qualification.

Our Board’s ability to revoke our REIT qualification, without shareholder approval, may cause adverse consequences to our shareholders.

Our articles of incorporation provide that our Board of Directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our shareholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interests to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to be a REIT, we will not be allowed a deduction for dividends paid to shareholders, if any, in computing our taxable income, and to the extent we have taxable income and have utilized our NOLs, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates and state and local taxes, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our shareholders.

We do not have any experience operating as a REIT, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, per share trading price of our common stock and ability to satisfy debt service obligations.

While we believe that we are currently operating in a manner that complies with the REIT rules, we have not actually operated as a REIT previously. Our pre-REIT operating experience may not be sufficient to enable us to operate successfully as a REIT. In addition, we will be required to implement substantial control systems and procedures in order to maintain our status as a REIT. As a result, we may incur additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we have not previously incurred, which could be significant, and our management and other personnel may need to devote additional time to comply with these rules and regulations and controls required for continued compliance with the Code. These costs and time commitments could be substantially more than we currently expect. Therefore, our historical combined consolidated financial statements may not be indicative of our future costs and performance as a REIT. If our performance is adversely affected, it could affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations.

The historical market price of our Class A common stock may not be indicative of the market price of our Class A common stock following the REIT conversion.

The historical market price of our Class A common stock may not be indicative of how the market values our Class A common stock following our REIT conversion because of the change in our organization from a taxable C corporation to a REIT. Although we do not currently anticipate commencing distributions until a future date, the stock price of REIT securities have historically been affected by changes in market interest rates as investors evaluate the annual yield from distributions on the entity’s common stock as compared to yields on other financial instruments. In addition, the market price of our Class A common stock may be affected by the economic and market perception of REIT securities as well as general market conditions.  

As a REIT, we are no longer eligible to be included in the NASDAQ 100 Index. Therefore, those index funds that invest in the equity of NASDAQ 100 companies will be required to sell our shares and not purchase them in the future, which could have an adverse effect on the volatility and market price of our Class A common stock.

One of the eligibility criteria for the NASDAQ 100 Index is that the company is not a financial company.  As a REIT, we are considered a financial company, even though our business model has not changed in connection with the REIT conversion; and therefore, we are no longer eligible to be included in the NASDAQ 100 Index.  As a result, those index funds that invest in NASDAQ 100 companies will be required to sell shares of our Class A common stock and not purchase them in the future.  In addition, other non-index funds that use inclusion on the NASDAQ 100 Index as a component of their investment criteria may be required to sell and no longer invest in our Class A common stock.  We do not know how many shares of our Class A common stock are held by these index and non-index funds.  The sales of significant amounts of shares of our Class A common stock or the perception in the market that this will occur could have an adverse effect on the volatility and market price of our Class A common stock.

Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to income from “qualified dividends” payable to U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is currently 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates applicable to qualified dividends. Although these rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including our common stock.

Risks Related to Ownership of our Class A Common Stock

The REIT-related ownership and transfer restrictions may restrict or prevent you from engaging in certain transfers of our common stock.

In order for us to satisfy the requirements for REIT qualification, no more than 50% in value of all classes or series of our outstanding shares of stock may be owned, beneficially or constructively, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year (other than the first year for which an election to be subject to tax as a REIT has been made). In addition, our capital stock must be beneficially owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year (other than the first year for which an election to be taxed as a REIT has been made). Our articles of incorporation contain REIT-related ownership and transfer restrictions that generally restrict shareholders from owning more than 9.8%, by value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock, or 9.8% in aggregate value of the outstanding shares of all classes and series of our capital stock. Under applicable constructive ownership rules, any shares of stock owned by certain affiliated owners generally would be added together for purposes of the ownership limits. These ownership and transfer restrictions could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our capital stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our shareholders.

Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market or the issuance of other equity may cause dilution or adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock and our ability to raise funds in new equity or equity-related offerings.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock or other equity-related securities in the public market, including sales by any selling shareholder, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities.

Our articles of incorporation, our bylaws and Florida law provide for anti-takeover provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us.

Provisions of our articles of incorporation, our bylaws and Florida law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders. These provisions, alone or in combination with each other, may discourage transactions involving actual or potential changes of control, including transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices to holders of our Class A common stock, or could limit the ability of our shareholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

On November 1, 2013, we purchased a newWe own our headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida where we currently ownhave approximately 160,000 square feet of office space.  We have entered into long-term leases for international and regional locations convenient for the management and operation of our site leasing activities, and in 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. We believe our existing facilities are adequate for our current and planned levels of operations and that additional office space suited for our needs is reasonably available in the markets within which we operate.

Our interests in towers and the land beneath them are comprised of a variety of fee interests, leasehold interests created by long-term lease agreements, perpetual easements, easements, licenses, rights-of-way, and other similar interests. As of December 31, 2015,2016, approximately 73%72% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land that have an interest that extends beyond 20 years. The average remaining life under our ground leases, including renewal options under our control, has been extended tois 33 years. In rural areas, support for our towers, equipment shelters, and related equipment requires a tract of land typically up to 10,000 square feet. Less than 2,500 square feet is required for a monopole or self-supporting tower of the kind typically used in metropolitan areas for wireless communications towers. Ground leases are generally for an initial term of five years or more with five or more additional automatic renewal periods of five years, for a total of thirty years or more.

Most of our towers have significant capacity available for additional antennas. We measure the available capacity of our existing facilities to support additional tenants and generate additional lease revenue by assessing several factors, including tower height, tower type, wind loading, environmental conditions, existing equipment on the tower and zoning and permitting regulations in effect in the jurisdiction where the tower is located. As of December 31, 2016, we had an average of 1.8 tenants per tower structure.

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. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

Not Applicable.

 PART II

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

Market for our Class A Common Stock

Our Class A common stock commenced trading under the symbol “SBAC” on The NASDAQ National Market System on June 16, 1999. We now trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, a segment of the NASDAQ Global Market, formally known as the NASDAQ National Market System.

The following table presents the high and low sales price for our Class A common stock for the periods indicated:



As of February 19, 2016,21, 2017, there were 9289 record holders of our Class A common stock.

Dividends

We have never paid a dividend on any class of common stock and anticipate thatstock.  As a REIT, we will retain future earnings, if any,are required to fund the development and growthdistribute annually at least 90% of our business. Consequently, we do not anticipate paying cashREIT taxable income after the utilization of any available NOLs (determined before the deduction for dividends onpaid and excluding any net capital gain). As of December 31, 2016, $1.1 billion of the federal NOLs  are attributes of the REIT. We may use these NOLs to offset our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition,REIT taxable income, and thus any required distributions to shareholders may be reduced or eliminated until such time as our abilityNOLs have been fully utilized. The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to pay dividends is limitedtime, by the termsboard of directors to balance our debt instruments.goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual amount, timing and frequency of future dividends, will be at the sole discretion of the board of directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.



Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table presents information related to our repurchases of Class A common stock during the fourth quarter of 2015:2016:



Equity Compensation PlanSite Development Services

Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development services revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end to end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.

For financial information about our operating segments, please see Note 18 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-K.

(1)This plan has been terminated,Industry Developments

We believe that growing wireless traffic (particularly data and we are no longer eligiblevideo), the deployment of additional spectrum, and technology advancements will require wireless service providers to issue shares pursuant to the plan.

(2)Includedimprove their network infrastructure and increase their network capacity resulting in an increase in the number of securitiestowers that they utilize and additions or changes to the equipment they deploy at existing towers. We expect that the wireless communications industry will continue to experience growth as a result of the following trends:

We believe that the world-wide wireless industry will continue to grow and is reasonably well-capitalized, highly competitive and focused on quality and advanced services. Therefore, we expect that we will see a multi-year trend of additional demand for tower space from our customers, which we believe will translate into steady leasing growth for us.

Business Strategy

Our primary strategy is to continue to focus on expanding our site leasing business due to its attractive characteristics such as long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to when a customer does not renew its lease, or, in column (a)very limited circumstances, such as in a customer bankruptcy, cancels its lease prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessation of a particular technology (e.g. iDEN). The long-term and repetitive nature of the revenue stream of our site leasing business makes it less volatile than our site development business, which is 277,153 restricted stock units, whichmore cyclical. 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. Key elements of our strategy include:

Maximizing Use of Tower Capacity. We generally have no exercise price. The weighted average exercise priceconstructed or acquired towers that accommodate multiple tenants and a majority of outstanding options, warrants,our towers are high capacity tower structures. Most of our towers have significant capacity available for additional antennas, and rights (excluding restricted stock units) is $90.15.  we believe that increased use of our towers can be achieved at a low incremental cost. We measure the available

capacity of our existing facilities to support additional tenants and generate additional lease revenue by assessing several factors, including tower height, tower type, wind loading, environmental conditions, existing equipment on the tower and zoning and permitting regulations in effect in the jurisdiction where the tower is located. We actively market space on our towers through our internal sales force. As of December 31, 2016, we had an average of 1.8 tenants per tower structure.

ITEM 6. Disciplined Growth of our Tower PortfolioSELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.We believe that our tower operations are highly scalable. Consequently, we believe that we are able to materially increase our tower portfolio without proportionately increasing selling, general, and administrative expenses. We intend to continue to grow our tower portfolio, domestically and internationally, through tower acquisitions and the construction of new tower structures. In connection with our international expansion, we have targeted select international markets that we believe have relatively stable political environments and a growing wireless communications industry. We intend to use our available cash 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 in the short and long term and which allow us to maintain our long-term target leverage ratios.

Capitalizing on our Scale and Management Experience. We are a large owner, operator and developer of towers, with substantial capital, human, and operating resources. We have been developing towers for wireless service providers in the U.S. since 1989 and owned and operated towers for ourselves since 1997. We believe our size, experience, capabilities, and resources make us a preferred partner for wireless service providers both in the U.S. and internationally. Our management team has extensive experience in site leasing and site development, with some of the longest tenures in the tower and site development industries. We believe that our industry expertise and strong relationships with wireless service providers will allow us to expand our position as a leading provider of site leasing and site development services.

Controlling our Underlying Land Positions. We have purchased and/or entered into perpetual easements or long-term leases for the land that underlies our tower structures and intend to continue to do so, to the extent available at commercially reasonable prices. We believe that these purchases, perpetual easements, and/or long-term leases will increase our margins, improve our cash flow from operations, and minimize our exposure to increases in ground lease rents in the future. As of December 31, 2016, approximately 72% of our tower structures were located on land that we own or control for more than 20 years and the average remaining life under our ground leases, including renewal options under our control, was 33 years. As of December 31, 2016, approximately 6.2% of our tower structures had ground leases maturing in the next 10 years.

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 done best 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. We are seeking to replicate this operating model internationally. 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.

Customers

Since commencing operations, we have performed site leasing and site development services for all of the large U.S. wireless service providers. In both our site leasing and site development businesses, we work with large national providers and smaller regional, local, or private operators. Internationally, we service all the major service providers in Canada, Central America, and South America.

We depend on a relatively small number of customers for our site leasing and site development revenues. The following table sets forth selected historical financial data ascustomers represented at least 10% of and for each ofour total revenues during the five years in the period ended December 31, 2015. The financial data for the fiscal years ended 2015,  2014,  2013,  2012, and 2011 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. 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.last three years:







(1)Prior year amounts have been adjusted to reflect the merger of AT&T Wireless and Leap Wireless (Cricket Wireless).

In addition to the Big 4 wireless carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless), we  have also provided services or leased space to a number of customers including:

Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing goals are to:

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 our corporate office. We also rely on our vice presidents, general managers, and other operations personnel to sell our services and cultivate customers. Our strategy is to delegate sales efforts by geographic region or 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 wireless service 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 wireless service provider representatives at the regional and local levels and at the national level when appropriate. Our sales staff’s compensation is heavily weighted to incentive-based goals and measurements.

Competition

Domestic Site Leasing – In the U.S., our primary competitors for our site leasing activities are (1) the national independent tower companies including American Tower Corporation and Crown Castle International, (2) a large number of regional independent tower owners, (3) 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, and (4) alternative facilities such as rooftops, outdoor and indoor distributed antenna system (“DAS”) networks, billboards, utility poles, and electric transmission towers. American Tower and Crown Castle have significantly more towers than we do, which could provide them a competitive advantage in negotiating with wireless service providers. Furthermore, these entities generally have greater financial resources than we do which may provide them with a competitive advantage in connection with the acquisition of material tower portfolios. However, we believe that tower location and capacity have been and will continue to be the most significant competitive factors affecting the site leasing business. Other competitive factors are quality of service to our tenants and price.

International Site Leasing – Our competition consists of wireless service providers that own and operate their own tower networks, large national and regional independent tower companies, and alternative facilities such as rooftop, outdoor and indoor DAS networks, billboards, utility poles, and electric transmission towers.

Site Development – The site development business is extremely competitive and price sensitive. We believe that the majority of our competitors in the U.S. site development business operate within local market areas exclusively, while some firms offer their services nationally. 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 company experience, price, track record, local reputation, geographic reach, and time for completion of a project.

Employees

Our corporate offices are located in our headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. We also have employees located in our international, regional, and local offices. As of December 31, 2016, we had 1,241 employees of which 253 were based outside of the U.S. and its territories. We consider our employee relations to be good.

Regulatory and Environmental Matters

Federal Regulations. In the U.S., which accounted for 82.8% of our total site leasing revenue for the year ended December 31, 2016, both the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”) regulate towers. Many FAA requirements are implemented in FCC regulations. These regulations, which were amended in 2014, govern the construction, lighting, and painting or other marking of towers, as well as the maintenance, inspection, and record keeping related to towers, and may, depending on the characteristics of particular towers, require prior approval and registration of towers before they may be constructed, altered or used. Wireless communications equipment and radio or television stations operating on towers are separately regulated and may require independent customer licensing depending upon the particular frequency or frequency band used. In addition, any applicant for an FCC tower structure registration (through the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration System) 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. New tower construction also requires approval from the state or local governing authority for the proposed site: compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”); compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”); compliance with the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”); and may require notification to the FAA.

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 towers. These standards mandate that the FCC and the FAA consider the height of the proposed tower, the relationship of the tower to existing natural or man-made obstructions, and the proximity of the tower to runways and airports. Proposals to construct or to modify existing towers 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. Towers that meet certain height and location criteria must also be registered with the FCC. A tower 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 towers may have an obligation to maintain painting and lighting or other marking in conformance with FAA and FCC regulations. Tower owners and licensees that operate on those towers also bear the responsibility of monitoring any lighting systems and notifying the FAA of any lighting outage or malfunction.

Owners and operators of towers may be subject to, and therefore must comply with, environmental laws, including NEPA, NHPA and ESA. Any licensed radio facility on a tower is subject to environmental review pursuant to the NEPA, 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 NEPA. 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 a tower and prior to commencing certain operations of wireless communications or radio or television stations from the tower. 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.

We generally indemnify our customers against any failure to comply with applicable regulatory standards relating to the construction, modification, or placement of towers. 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 discriminate among different providers of personal wireless services or 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.

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 injury or property damage. We are also subject to certain environmental laws that govern tower placement and may require pre-construction environmental studies. Operators of towers 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 tower 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 owners to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations, or certain other entities prior to tower construction and establish regulations regarding maintenance and removal of towers. In addition, many local zoning authorities require tower owners to post bonds or cash collateral to secure their removal obligations. Local zoning authorities generally have been unreceptive to construction of new towers in their communities because of the height and visibility of the towers, and have, in some instances, instituted moratoria.

International. Regulatory regimes outside of the U.S. and its territories vary by country and locality; however, these regulations typically require tower owners and/or licensees to obtain approval from local officials or government agencies prior to tower construction or modification or the addition of a new antenna to an existing tower. Additionally, some regulations include ongoing obligations regarding painting, lighting, and maintenance. Our international operations may also be subject to limitations on foreign ownership of land in certain areas. Based on our experience to date, these regimes have been similar to, but not more rigorous, burdensome or comprehensive than, those in the U.S. Non-compliance with such regulations may lead to monetary penalties or deconstruction orders. Our international operations are also subject to various regulations and guidelines regarding employee relations and other occupational health and safety matters. As we expand our operations into additional international geographic areas, we will be subject to regulations in these jurisdictions.

Backlog

Backlog related to our site leasing business consists of lease agreements and amendments, which have been signed, but have not yet commenced. As of December 31, 2016, we had 955 new leases and amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases and amendments will contractually provide for approximately $8.7 million of annual revenue. By comparison, as of December 31, 2015, we had 697 new leases and amendments which had been executed with customers but which had not begun generating revenue. These leases and amendments contractually provided for approximately $6.6 million of annual revenue.

Our backlog for site development services consists of the value of work that has not yet been completed under executed contracts. As of December 31, 2016, we had approximately $26.0 million of contractually committed revenue as compared to approximately $30.7 million as of December 31, 2015.  

Availability of Reports and Other Information

SBA Communications Corporation was incorporated in the State of Florida in March 1997. 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, as amended, on our website under “Investor Relations – Reports and Results – 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”).

 ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business

If our wireless service provider customers combine their operations to a significant degree, our future operating results, ability to service our indebtedness, and stock price could be adversely affected.

Significant consolidation among our wireless service provider customers may result in our customers failing to renew existing leases for tower space or reducing future capital expenditures in the aggregate because their existing networks and expansion plans may overlap or be very similar, or acquired technologies may be discontinued. In connection with the combinations of Verizon Wireless and ALLTEL (to form Verizon Wireless), Cingular and AT&T Wireless (to form AT&T Mobility) and Sprint PCS and Nextel (to form Sprint), the combined companies have rationalized duplicative parts of their networks, and, in the case of Sprint, the Nextel iDEN network was discontinued, which has led and may continue to lead to the non-renewal of certain leases on our towers. During 2013, Sprint acquired Clearwire Communications and T-Mobile acquired MetroPCS, and in 2014, AT&T acquired Leap Wireless (Cricket Wireless). These consolidations have led and may also lead to additional non-renewal of certain of our tower leases. If our wireless service provider customers continue to consolidate as a result of, among other factors, limited wireless spectrum for commercial use in the U.S., these consolidations could significantly impact the number of tower leases that are not renewed or the number of new leases that our wireless service provider customers require to expand their networks, which could materially and adversely affect our future operating results and our ability to service our indebtedness. These risks could be exacerbated due to changes in governmental policy that may favor industry consolidation.  

In addition, the market price of our Class A common stock may be affected by the economic and market perception of the announcement or consummation of wireless service provider customer consolidations and their impact on our future operating results.

We have a substantial level of indebtedness which may have an adverse effect on our business or limit our ability to take advantage of business, strategic or financing opportunities.

As indicated below, we have and will continue to have a significant amount of indebtedness relative to our deficit. The following table sets forth our total principal amount of debt and shareholders’ deficit as of December 31, 2016 and 2015.  



Our substantial level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay the principal, interest, or other amounts due on our indebtedness. Subject to certain restrictions under our existing indebtedness, we and our subsidiaries may also incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, some of which may be secured debt. This may have the effect of increasing our total leverage. For example, on July 7, 2016, we, through a New York common law trust, issued $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of Tower Securities, and on August 15, 2016, we issued $1.1 billion of unsecured senior notes.

As a consequence of our indebtedness, (1) demands on our cash resources may increase, (2) we are subject to restrictive covenants that further limit our financial and operating flexibility and (3) we may choose to institute self-imposed limits on our indebtedness based on certain considerations including market interest rates, our relative leverage and our strategic plans. For example, as a result of our substantial level of indebtedness and the uncertainties arising in the credit markets and the U.S. economy:

•we may be more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

•we may have to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing or on our variable rate indebtedness if interest rates rise, thereby reducing our cash flows;

•we may find it more difficult to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements that would be in our best long-term interests;

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

The following discussionwe may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our financial conditioncash flow from operations to the payment of principal and results of operations should be readinterest on our debt, reducing the available cash flow to fund other investments, including share repurchases, tower acquisition and new build capital expenditures, or to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements;  

•we may have limited flexibility in conjunction with the information containedplanning for, or reacting to, changes in our consolidated financial statementsbusiness or in the industry;

•we may have a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies in our industry that are less leveraged; and

•we may be required to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, in order to meet payment obligations.

These restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, new tower development, mergers and acquisitions, share repurchases, or other opportunities and to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements.  

In addition, fluctuations in market interest rates or changes in central bank monetary policy may increase interest expense relating to our floating rate indebtedness, which we expect to incur pursuant to our Revolving Credit Facility and Term Loans, and may make it difficult to refinance our existing indebtedness at a commercially reasonable rate or at all. There is no guarantee that the future refinancing of our indebtedness will have fixed interest rates or that interest rates on such indebtedness will be equal to or lower than the rates on our current indebtedness.

We depend on a relatively small number of customers for most of our revenue, and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risksloss, consolidation or financial instability of any of our significant customers may materially decrease our revenue and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.adversely affect our financial condition.

We arederive a leading independent owner and operatorsignificant portion of wireless communications tower structures, rooftops and other structures that support antennas usedour revenue from a small number of customers. Consequently, a reduction in demand for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, and Canada. Our primary business line is our site leasing, business, which contributed 96.8%reduced future capital expenditures on the networks, or the loss, as a result of bankruptcy, merger with other customers of ours or otherwise, of any of our total segment operating profitlargest customers could materially decrease our revenue and have an adverse effect on our growth.

On June 20, 2016, Oi, S.A. (“Oi”), our largest customer in Brazil, filed a petition for judicial reorganization in Brazil. For the year ended December 31, 2015. In2016, Oi comprised approximately 7.5% of our total site leasing business,revenue. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the recoverability of amounts owed by Oi prior to the date of Oi’s petition, we (1) lease antenna spacerecorded a $16.5 million bad debt provision during the second quarter of 2016 relating to wireless service providers on towers that we ownamounts owed or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2015, we owned 25,465 towers, a substantial portion of which have been builtpotentially owed by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. We also managed or leased approximately 5,500 actual or potential towers, approximately 500 of which were revenue producingOi as of December 31, 2015. Our otherthe petition date. While we continue to do business line iswith Oi under our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.

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 in the United States, Canada, Central America,ordinary course and South America. Site leasingOi has stated its intentions to continue normal operations during its judicial reorganization, we cannot assure you that Oi will continue to be willing or able to continue to make payments to us in accordance with the terms of our contracts. Judicial reorganization in Brazil requires the agreement of certain creditors, for which there can be no assurance. If Oi is unable to successfully reorganize, it may be forced to liquidate. If Oi is unable or unwilling to reorganize in a manner that continues to provide us anticipated payments in accordance with our contracts, it could materially decrease our revenues are received primarilyand adversely affect our financial condition.

The following is a list of significant customers (representing at least 10% of revenue in any of the last three years) and the percentage of our total revenues for the specified time periods derived from wireless service provider tenants, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Oi S.A., Telefonica, Claro, and Digicel. Wireless service providers enter into tenant leasesthese customers:

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