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Table of Contents

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-Q

 

x  Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2010

 

o Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

for the transition period from               to              

 

Commission File Number 000-21091

 


 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

 

52-1869023

(State or other jurisdiction

 

(I.R.S. Employer

of incorporation or organization)

 

Identification No.)

 

185 Berry Street

Suite 4800

San Francisco, CA 94107

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(415) 659-3500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 


 

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

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files)  Yes  o   No  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer o

 

Accelerated filer x

 

 

 

Non-accelerated filer o

 

Smaller reporting company o

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934)  Yes  o   No  x

 

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date: The registrant had 49,983,705 shares of its common stock outstanding as of October 29, 2010.

 

 

 



Table of Contents

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

 

INDEX

 

 

 

Page

 

 

 

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

 

 

Item 1.

Financial Statements (unaudited)

3

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

3

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

4

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

5

 

 

 

 

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

6

 

 

 

Item 2.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

17

 

 

 

Item 3.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

30

 

 

 

Item 4.

Controls and Procedures

30

 

 

 

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

 

 

 

Item 1.

Legal Proceedings

30

 

 

 

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

30

 

 

 

Item 2.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

31

 

 

 

Item 3.

Defaults Upon Senior Securities

31

 

 

 

Item 4.

(Removed and Reserved)

31

 

 

 

Item 5.

Other Information

31

 

 

 

Item 6.

Exhibits

31

 

 

Signatures

32

 

 

Exhibit Index

33

 

2



Table of Contents

 

ITEM 1.   FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except par value)

 

 

 

September 30, 2010

 

December 31, 2009

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

 

Assets:

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets:

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

31,150

 

$

50,669

 

Restricted cash and investments, current portion

 

4,057

 

3,898

 

Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $43 and $50 at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively

 

7,701

 

6,824

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

2,418

 

2,119

 

Total current assets

 

45,326

 

63,510

 

Restricted cash and investments, net of current portion

 

5,920

 

7,702

 

Property and equipment, net

 

219,591

 

221,417

 

FCC licenses

 

287,495

 

287,495

 

Intangible and other long-term assets, net

 

4,598

 

4,302

 

Total assets

 

$

562,930

 

$

584,426

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity:

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

5,011

 

$

3,209

 

Accrued compensation and related benefits

 

2,074

 

1,769

 

Accrued interest payable

 

2,034

 

465

 

Other accrued liabilities

 

2,299

 

1,138

 

Current portion of accrued restructuring costs

 

1,230

 

1,215

 

Current portion of obligation under capital lease

 

232

 

253

 

Total current liabilities

 

12,880

 

8,049

 

Other liabilities

 

796

 

809

 

Deferred rent

 

7,583

 

7,206

 

Asset retirement obligations

 

5,025

 

4,550

 

Accrued restructuring costs, net of current portion

 

803

 

1,560

 

Obligation under capital lease, net of current portion

 

3,631

 

3,471

 

Long-term debt

 

161,439

 

154,528

 

Deferred tax liability

 

71,904

 

71,904

 

Total liabilities

 

264,061

 

252,077

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity:

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.001 par value; 400,000 shares authorized, 49,984 and 45,701 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively

 

50

 

46

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

961,958

 

958,817

 

Accumulated deficit

 

(663,139

)

(626,514

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

298,869

 

332,349

 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

$

562,930

 

$

584,426

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

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Table of Contents

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

(In thousands, except per share data)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30,

 

September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

Service revenues

 

$

19,443

 

$

16,213

 

$

55,654

 

$

46,511

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of service revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization)

 

15,022

 

14,672

 

44,224

 

42,971

 

Sales and marketing

 

1,035

 

610

 

3,184

 

2,058

 

General and administrative

 

4,130

 

5,728

 

13,837

 

17,088

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

7,436

 

7,013

 

20,845

 

21,040

 

Total operating expenses

 

27,623

 

28,023

 

82,090

 

83,157

 

Loss from operations

 

(8,180

)

(11,810

)

(26,436

)

(36,646

)

Other income (expense):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest income

 

21

 

32

 

75

 

259

 

Interest expense

 

(3,400

)

(10,060

)

(10,248

)

(37,455

)

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

 

 

98,248

 

Miscellaneous income (expense), net

 

16

 

(5

)

207

 

167

 

Total other income (expense), net

 

(3,363

)

(10,033

)

(9,966

)

61,219

 

Income (loss) before income taxes

 

(11,543

)

(21,843

)

(36,402

)

24,573

 

Income tax (provision) benefit

 

(223

)

 

(223

)

1,087

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(11,766

)

$

(21,843

)

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic

 

$

(0.25

)

$

(1.44

)

$

(0.78

)

$

1.70

 

Diluted

 

$

(0.25

)

$

(1.44

)

$

(0.78

)

$

1.68

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic

 

45,708

 

14,731

 

45,654

 

14,709

 

Diluted

 

45,708

 

14,731

 

45,654

 

14,812

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

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Table of Contents

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

(In thousands)

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

Operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used for operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

20,845

 

21,040

 

Impairment of long-lived assets and other charges

 

1,154

 

407

 

Increase in deferred rent

 

377

 

1,007

 

Accretion of asset retirement obligations

 

475

 

375

 

Accretion of accrued restructuring charges

 

187

 

291

 

Accretion of obligation under capital lease

 

139

 

 

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

(98,248

)

Non-cash payment-in-kind of interest

 

1,485

 

18,213

 

Increase in carrying value of Notes due 2016

 

4,256

 

 

Accretion of Notes due 2012

 

1,170

 

12,472

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs

 

108

 

1,018

 

Stock-based compensation

 

3,134

 

3,554

 

Income tax provision (benefit)

 

223

 

(1,087

)

Net changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

(877

)

(703

)

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

(299

)

84

 

Other long-term assets

 

(628

)

(113

)

Accounts payable

 

1,802

 

(890

)

Accrued compensation and related benefits

 

305

 

79

 

Accrued interest payable

 

1,569

 

6,859

 

Other accrued liabilities

 

(4

)

(287

)

Net cash used for operating activities

 

(1,204

)

(10,269

)

Investing activities

 

 

 

 

 

Decrease in restricted cash and investments

 

1,623

 

 

Purchase of property and equipment

 

(19,949

)

(6,951

)

Cash used for investing activities

 

(18,326

)

(6,951

)

Financing activities

 

 

 

 

 

Cash paid for repurchases of Notes due 2012

 

 

(52,180

)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options

 

11

 

 

Cash provided by (used for) financing activities

 

11

 

(52,180

)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 

(19,519

)

(69,400

)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

50,669

 

154,357

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

 

$

31,150

 

$

84,957

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplemental Disclosures

 

 

 

 

 

Cash paid for interest on Notes due 2016

 

$

1,788

 

$

 

Cash paid for interest on Notes due 2012 repurchased

 

$

 

$

1,970

 

 

See accompanying notes.

 

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Table of Contents

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

 

Note 1—Organization and Business

 

Organization and operations — FiberTower Corporation (referred to as FiberTower in these financial statements) was incorporated in 1993 in the State of Delaware to build and operate a shared high-coverage, high-capacity backhaul network for wireless operators and service providers in the United States.

 

We are a leading alternative provider of facilities-based backhaul services to wireless carriers. Facilities-based providers own or lease a substantial portion of the property and equipment necessary to provide backhaul services.  Backhaul is the transport of voice, video and data traffic from a wireless carrier’s mobile base station, or cell site, to its mobile switching center or other exchange point where the traffic is then switched onto a wireline telecommunications network. We provide backhaul services nationally by utilizing our wireless spectrum assets and fiber relationships to construct and operate high-coverage, high-capacity hybrid microwave and fiber networks.  Our services provide wireless carriers a long-term solution for their increasing demand for backhaul capacity while giving them increased availability and reliability.

 

We have incurred operating and net losses and negative cash flows since our inception, and we had an accumulated deficit of $663.1 million as of September 30, 2010. Through September 30, 2010, we have relied primarily on the proceeds from equity and debt financings to fund our operating and investing activities.  Failure to generate sufficient revenue could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.  The recoverability of assets is highly dependent on the ability of management to execute its business plan which is subject to a number of risks including, but not limited to, dependence on key employees, dependence on key customers and suppliers, potential competition from larger, more established companies, the ability to develop and bring new services or products to market (including expansion of our network), the ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel and the ability to obtain adequate financing to support our planned growth.

 

Note 2—Basis of Presentation and Accounting Policies

 

Principles of consolidation and basis of presentation — The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.  Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2010.

 

For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.

 

There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies as of September 30, 2010 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. However, the following explains the valuation techniques and the related assumptions and estimates used in the calculation of stock-based compensation expense with respect to restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions which we first granted during the second quarter of 2010.

 

We record stock-based compensation expense only for those restricted stock awards for which the requisite service period is expected to be rendered.  The cumulative effect of a change in the estimated number of restricted stock awards for which the requisite service is expected to be or has been rendered is recognized in the period of the change in the estimate.  To the extent that the requisite service period is rendered for restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions, compensation expense is recognized regardless of whether or not the market-related vesting condition is achieved.

 

Valuation.  We estimate the fair value of restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions using a Monte Carlo simulation with a three-year period which is equivalent to the contractual term of the award.  Our determination of the fair value of restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions on the date of grant is affected by our stock price as well as inputs of subjective assumptions and variables.  Changes in assumptions could result in materially different stock-based compensation expense which could materially affect our operating expenses, net income (loss) and net income (loss) per share.

 

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Amortization method.  We recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award.

 

Expected volatility.  We estimate the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on the historical volatilities of similar public companies consisting of competitive telecommunications providers that share a common capital intensive network build plan, are free cash flow negative, highly levered and are in an earlier life-cycle stage.

 

Risk-free interest rate.  We base the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term equal to the expected life of the award.

 

Forfeitures.  We use historical data and management’s judgment to estimate the pre-vesting award forfeitures to estimate the number of shares for which the requisite service period will not be rendered.

 

Dividend yield.  We have not and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; therefore a 0% dividend yield was assumed.

 

Reverse stock split — On December 18, 2009, we effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of our common stock.  Accordingly, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for all periods presented have been retroactively restated to reflect the effect of the reverse stock split.

 

Recent accounting pronouncements — There have been no recent accounting pronouncements or changes in accounting pronouncements during the nine months ended September 30, 2010, as compared to the recent accounting pronouncements described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, that are of significance, or potential significance, to us.

 

Note 3—Property and Equipment

 

Property and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

September 30, 2010

 

December 31, 2009

 

Network equipment

 

$

278,705

 

$

259,692

 

Network equipment under capital lease

 

4,224

 

4,224

 

Computer software

 

5,697

 

5,167

 

Office equipment and other

 

2,906

 

2,791

 

 

 

291,532

 

271,874

 

Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization

 

(103,755

)

(83,195

)

Property and equipment in-service, net

 

187,777

 

188,679

 

Construction-in-progress

 

31,814

 

32,738

 

Property and equipment, net

 

$

219,591

 

$

221,417

 

 

Internal labor costs and interest were capitalized and included in construction-in-progress as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Internal labor costs

 

$

432

 

$

106

 

$

1,263

 

$

421

 

Interest

 

200

 

953

 

473

 

3,164

 

Total

 

$

632

 

$

1,059

 

$

1,736

 

$

3,585

 

 

Assets classified as construction-in-progress are not being depreciated as they have not yet been placed in service.

 

See discussion in Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease regarding the network equipment under capital lease.

 

Note 4—Long-term Debt and Capital Lease

 

The carrying value of our indebtedness, excluding our obligation under capital lease, is comprised of the following (in thousands):

 

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September 30, 2010

 

December 31, 2009

 

9.00% Senior secured notes due 2016 (“Notes due 2016”)

 

$

128,661

 

$

124,405

 

9.00% Convertible senior secured notes due 2012 (“Notes due 2012”)

 

32,778

 

30,123

 

 

 

$

161,439

 

$

154,528

 

 

9.00% Senior Secured Notes Due 2016 (“Notes due 2016”)

 

We issued the Notes due 2016 on December 22, 2009, in connection with our exchange offer (“Exchange Offer”) whereby certain of the Notes due 2012 were exchanged for interim notes which were later redeemed for shares of our common stock, cash and the Notes due 2016.

 

The change in Notes due 2016 during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 is summarized as follows (in thousands):

 

Carrying value of Notes due 2016 at December 31, 2009

 

$

124,405

 

Accrual of additional notes for payment-in-kind, net of premium amortization

 

4,256

 

Carrying value of Notes due 2016 at September 30, 2010

 

$

128,661

 

 

As required by the accounting guidance for troubled debt restructurings, we are recognizing interest expense on the Notes due 2016 at the effective interest rate (7.31%) necessary to equate future principal and interest payments to an initial carrying value of $124.4 million. The Notes due 2016 will mature in January 2016. Interest is payable at 9.00% per annum on the principal amount accruing from December 22, 2009, payable semi-annually on January 1 and July 1 of each year beginning July 1, 2010. On each interest payment date, one-third of the interest is payable in cash and two-thirds of the interest is payable in additional Notes due 2016 in a principal amount equal to such portion of the interest amount. The Notes due 2016 are carried at a premium to par.  This premium is amortized over the term of the Notes due 2016.  In addition, we are increasing the carrying value of the Notes due 2016 by accruing interest expense for the future issuance of notes through interest payments-in-kind.  The net impact of these adjustments was a $4.3 million increase of the carrying value of the Notes due 2016 in the nine months ended September 30, 2010.  When we issued the Notes due 2016, we placed into escrow approximately $11.0 million, classified as restricted cash and investments in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, which, together with the earnings thereon, was an amount sufficient to pay the cash portion of the first six interest payments.  The $1.8 million cash portion of the first interest payment was paid on July 1, 2010.

 

The Notes due 2016 are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior secured basis by each of our existing and future domestic restricted subsidiaries. All of our current subsidiaries are restricted subsidiaries governed by the terms of our indentures. The Notes due 2016 and the related guarantees are our senior secured obligations and rank pari passu in right of payment with all of our and the guarantors’ existing and future senior indebtedness, including our Notes due 2012. Because the liens on the collateral securing the Notes due 2016 rank ahead of the liens securing the Notes due 2012, the Notes due 2016 rank effectively senior in right of payment to the Notes due 2012 to the extent of the value of the collateral securing the Notes due 2016. The Notes due 2016 and the related guarantees are secured, to the extent permitted by law, by a first priority pledge (subject to permitted liens) of substantially all of our and our existing and future restricted subsidiaries’ assets (it being understood that the Communications Act of 1934 currently prohibits the grant of a security interest in an FCC license), other than certain excluded assets, and by a first priority pledge (subject to permitted liens) of the equity interests of each of our existing and future domestic restricted subsidiaries and the equity interests of any unrestricted subsidiaries or foreign subsidiaries owned by any such domestic restricted subsidiaries, in each case subject to certain limitations and exceptions. The maximum potential amount of future undiscounted payments the guarantors could be required to make under the guarantees of the Notes due 2016 is $186.4 million. This amount represents total anticipated cash payments, including expected interest payments that are not recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

 

The indenture governing the Notes due 2016 contains covenants that restrict our ability to i) incur or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue certain preferred stock, ii) pay dividends or make other distributions, iii) issue capital stock of our restricted subsidiaries, iv) transfer or sell assets, including the capital stock of our restricted subsidiaries, v) make certain investments or acquisitions, vi) grant liens on our assets, vii) incur dividend or other payment restrictions affecting our restricted subsidiaries, viii) enter into certain transactions with affiliates, and ix) merge, consolidate or transfer all or substantially all of our assets. At September 30, 2010, we are in compliance with all of the covenants.

 

We may redeem the Notes due 2016 prior to January 2012 at 100% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes to be redeemed plus a make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. We may redeem the Notes due 2016 beginning in January 2012 at 104.5% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes to be redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption. The redemption price decreases to 102.25% in January 2014 and to 100% in January 2015. If a fundamental change, which generally includes events relating to certain changes in control of FiberTower occurs prior to maturity, holders may

 

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require us to repurchase all or part of the Notes due 2016 for cash at a repurchase price equal to 101% of their aggregate principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, up to the repurchase date. We evaluated these provisions and determined they do not represent derivatives that are required to be bifurcated from the Notes due 2016.

 

If an event of default on the Notes due 2016 has occurred and is continuing, the aggregate principal amount, plus any accrued and unpaid interest, may be declared immediately due and payable.

 

See Note 5, Fair Value Disclosures for disclosure of the fair value of our Notes due 2016.

 

9.00% Convertible Senior Secured Notes Due 2012 (“Notes due 2012”)

 

The change in Notes due 2012 during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 is summarized as follows (in thousands):

 

Carrying value of Notes due 2012 at December 31, 2009

 

$

30,123

 

Additional Notes due 2012 issued May 15, 2010

 

1,485

 

Accretion of principal premium

 

1,170

 

Carrying value of Notes due 2012 at September 30, 2010

 

$

32,778

 

 

On November 9, 2006, we completed the sale of $402.5 million of the Notes due 2012 that mature on November 15, 2012. The notes are fully guaranteed, jointly and severally, by each of our subsidiaries and bear interest at a rate of 9.00% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year.

 

We elected to pay the May 15, 2009, November 15, 2009 and May 15, 2010 interest payments entirely by the issuance of additional Notes due 2012, as permitted under the related indenture. This resulted in the issuance of an additional $33.5 million in principal amount of Notes due 2012 in 2009 and $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2010.  On October 12, 2010, we elected to pay the November 15, 2010 interest payment entirely by the issuance of additional Notes due 2012, as permitted under the related indenture.  This will result in the issuance of an additional $1.6 million in principal amount of Notes due 2012 on November 15, 2010.  These additional notes are identical to the Notes due 2012, except that interest on such additional notes begins to accrue from the date they are issued. The interest rate applicable to any such interest payments made in additional Notes due 2012 is 11%. Interest payments after November 15, 2010 are payable only in cash.

 

In the second quarter of 2009, we repurchased $70.9 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market.  These repurchases, at a weighted average price of approximately $43 per $100 of par value, were for a total of $30.8 million in cash plus accrued but unpaid interest of $0.1 million.  In the first quarter of 2009, we repurchased $71.3 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market. These repurchases, at a weighted average price of approximately $30 per $100 of par value, were for a total of $21.4 million in cash plus accrued but unpaid interest of $1.9 million. The repurchases resulted in the recognition of a gain on early extinguishment of debt in the second quarter of 2009 of $44.6 million and in the first quarter of 2009 of $53.7 million.

 

The gain on early extinguishment of debt recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was comprised of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30, 2009

 

Repurchases at par value

 

$

142,233

 

Reversal of accretion of principal premium related to repurchases

 

11,611

 

Cash paid for par value

 

(52,180

)

Reversal of unamortized debt issuance costs related to repurchases

 

(3,151

)

Reversal of accretion of Derivative related to repurchases

 

(265

)

 

 

$

98,248

 

 

We will be required to repay any Notes due 2012 that are not redeemed or converted prior to maturity for 125.411% of their principal amount, or $35.7 million. We are accreting the principal premium ratably over the six-year period from inception until the Notes due 2012 mature and are recognizing such accretion as additional interest expense. The effect of this accretion is to increase the effective yield to the holders to 12% per annum based on the par value of the Notes due 2012. The effect of the accretion related to the interest payments made by the issuance of additional notes, is to increase the effective yield to the holders from 12% to approximately 13% per annum.

 

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The Notes due 2012 and related guarantees are secured, to the extent permitted by law, by a second priority pledge of substantially all of our assets (other than certain excluded assets) and by a second priority pledge of the stock of all of our subsidiaries. The Notes due 2012 rank pari passu in right of payment to all of our existing and future senior indebtedness and senior to all of our existing and future subordinated indebtedness. Because the liens on the collateral securing the Notes due 2016 rank ahead of the liens securing the Notes due 2012, the Notes due 2016 rank effectively senior in right of payment to the Notes due 2012 to the extent of the value of the collateral securing the Notes due 2016. The maximum potential amount of future undiscounted payments the guarantors could be required to make under the guarantees of the Notes due 2012 is $43.1 million. This amount represents total anticipated cash payments, including expected interest payments that are not recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

 

The Notes due 2012 are not redeemable by us before November 15, 2010. If our common stock has traded at or above 150% of the $62.20 per share conversion price discussed below for 20 of any 30 consecutive trading days and the daily trading volume for each such trading day, when multiplied by the closing sale price for such trading day, equals at least $8.0 million, we may redeem any of the Notes due 2012, in whole or in part at any time on or after November 15, 2010, at 100% of the aggregate accreted principal amount, together with accrued and unpaid interest.

 

The Notes due 2012 may be converted into shares of our common stock. The conversion price was originally $82.90 per share subject to adjustment under certain circumstances. The conversion price was reduced on November 9, 2008 as described below. Holders who convert their Notes due 2012 in connection with certain designated events related to consolidations and mergers that occur on or prior to November 15, 2010 will receive a make-whole premium on the notes such holders convert.

 

The Notes due 2012 contain certain anti-dilution provisions that caused the conversion price to be reduced because we had not issued or sold common stock for aggregate proceeds of at least $50.0 million by November 9, 2008. The number of common shares that could be issued upon conversion of the Notes due 2012 was increased as a result of the anti-dilution provisions being triggered on November 9, 2008, which increase was capped at a 33% increase in the total number of shares. Therefore, the triggering of the anti-dilution provisions resulted in a reduction to the conversion price to $62.20 per share. This resulted in 2.0 million additional shares which could be potentially issuable upon conversion of all Notes due 2012 outstanding at December 31, 2008 and any additional notes that could be issued as payment for interest on the Notes due 2012. In 2009, the amount of shares which could be potentially issuable if all outstanding Notes due 2012 at December 31, 2009 (and any additional notes that could be issued as payment for interest on the notes) were converted was reduced by i) 2.8 million resulting from the repurchases of Notes due 2012 and ii) 4.8 million resulting from the Exchange Offer.

 

In connection with the Exchange Offer, the indenture governing the Notes due 2012 was amended to eliminate or amend substantially all of the restrictive covenants contained in such indenture. In addition, the holder put option upon the occurrence of certain designated events was eliminated.

 

During the third quarter of 2010, we received a letter from a law firm, i) alleging that the firm represented holders of more than 25% of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Notes due 2012, ii) purporting to give notice, in accordance with Section 7.01(5) of the indenture governing the Notes due 2012, that we had failed to comply with Section 10.02 of the indenture, and iii) purporting to inform us that the 60-day cure period referenced in Section 7.01(5) of the indenture had commenced.  Section 10.02 of the indenture governing the Notes due 2012 prohibits any amendment, supplement or waiver to the indenture from releasing any collateral from the liens of the pledge and security agreements securing the Notes due 2012, except as contemplated by the pledge and security agreements, without the consent of each noteholder affected.  The letter alleges that our Exchange Offer in December 2009 and the transactions effected pursuant thereto violated this covenant.  Under Section 7.01(5), failure to comply with any of the covenants in the indenture for 60 days after notice is given to us by the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the Notes due 2012 then outstanding would constitute an “Event of Default” under the indenture (which could, if properly declared, result in an acceleration of principal and interest payable with respect to the Notes due 2012).

 

We believe the alleged claims set forth in the letter are without merit.  We did not release any collateral from the liens securing the Notes due 2012 in connection with the Exchange Offer and the transactions effected pursuant thereto.  We intend to defend ourselves vigorously against any such claims in the event they are pursued.

 

We concluded that the embedded feature of the Notes due 2012 related to the make-whole premium, designated event make-whole premium and holder put option, qualified as derivatives and should be bundled as a compound embedded derivative (“Derivative”). The carrying value of the Derivative at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009 was zero.

 

See Note 5, Fair Value Disclosures for disclosure of the fair value of our Notes due 2012 and the Derivative.

 

Debt issuance costs incurred in connection with the sale of the Notes due 2012 totaled $14.3 million. Accumulated amortization totaled $13.9 million at September 30, 2010. This included a reduction of $3.2 million in unamortized debt issuance costs

 

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associated with the repurchases of Notes due 2012 in 2009 and $4.6 million in debt issuance costs written off in connection with the Exchange Offer. Accumulated amortization totaled $13.8 million at December 31, 2009.

 

Obligation under Capital Lease

 

In the fourth quarter of 2009, we acquired an indefeasible right of use of dark fiber under a 5-year lease which has been accounted for as a capital lease. The carrying amount of the asset is the present value of the minimum lease payments determined using our incremental borrowing rate. The carrying value of the network equipment under capital lease at September 30, 2010 was $4.2 million as shown in Note 3, Property and Equipment.

 

Note 5—Fair Value Disclosures

 

The following table presents information about our assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques we utilized to determine such fair value (in thousands):

 

 

 

 

Quoted Prices in
Active Markets for
Identical Assets or
Liabilities

 

Significant Other
Observable Inputs

 

Significant
Unobservable Inputs

 

 

 

 

 

Level 1

 

Level 2

 

Level 3

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2010

 

$

31,150

(1)

$

 

$

 

$

31,150

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2009

 

$

50,669

(2)

$

 

$

 

$

50,669

 

 


(1)           Includes $23.5 million of money market mutual funds which invest in U.S. Government securities.

 

(2)           Includes $42.5 million of money market mutual funds which invest in U.S. Government securities.

 

The bonds issued by U.S. Government agencies included in restricted cash and investments in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets are classified as held-to-maturity and are reported at amortized cost which approximates fair value at September 30, 2010.

 

The estimated fair value of our Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 as compared to their carrying value were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

September 30, 2010

 

December 31, 2009

 

 

 

Estimated Fair
Value

 

Carrying Value

 

Estimated Fair
Value

 

Carrying Value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes due 2016

 

$

99,320

 

$

128,661

 

$

94,212

 

$

124,405

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes due 2012

 

$

27,708

 

$

32,778

 

$

23,817

 

$

30,123

 

 

At September 30, 2010, the estimate of fair value for the Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 was determined based on bids from market makers.  At December 31, 2009, there was not sufficient liquidity to establish an active market in the Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012.  Therefore, the estimate of fair value at December 31, 2009 was determined using a discounted cash flow approach as well as based on bids from market makers.

 

The fair value of the Derivative at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009 was zero based on our internal models. We monitor the fair value of the Derivative each reporting period and record changes in fair value through charges or credits to miscellaneous income, net with an offsetting adjustment to the carrying value of the Notes due 2012 on the balance sheet. The value of the Derivative can fluctuate based on changes in several factors including the trading price of our common stock, passage of time and other events affecting the Notes due 2012.

 

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Note 6—Stockholders’ Equity and Stock-Based Compensation

 

Stock Compensation Plans

 

On June 3, 2010 our stockholders approved the adoption of the FiberTower Corporation 2010 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2010 Stock Incentive Plan”).  The 2010 Stock Incentive Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, phantom stock, and other stock or performance-based awards to all employees, non-employee directors and service providers of FiberTower.  The selection of eligible individuals to whom awards will be granted is within the discretion of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors.  The maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan is 6,500,000 shares.

 

Following is a description of the restricted stock and stock option awards and the activity under the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan and the FiberTower Corporation Stock Incentive Plan adopted in 2001 (the “2001 Stock Incentive Plan”) during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009.

 

Restricted Stock Awards

 

Under the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan and the 2001 Stock Incentive Plan, holders of restricted stock awards have voting rights.  Because holders of restricted stock have voting rights, such shares are considered outstanding for financial reporting purposes, but are included in net income (loss) per share computations only to the extent vested.  In addition, certain of our restricted stock awards convey dividend rights to the holder prior to vesting.  These are considered participating securities for purposes of computing net income (loss) per share.  See Note 8, Net Income (Loss) Per Share.

 

A summary of restricted stock activity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 is as follows:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended
September 30,

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

Number of Shares (000s)

 

Balance at beginning of period

 

4,258

 

406

 

119

 

460

 

Granted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To non-employee directors

 

 

 

116

 

105

 

Time-vested awards to employees

 

25

 

 

2,100

(1)

6

 

Performance-based awards to employees:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Market condition price target - $7.00

 

 

 

1,037

(2)

 

Market condition price target - $10.00

 

 

 

1,037

(2)

 

Total granted

 

25

 

 

4,290

 

111

 

Vested

 

(2

)

(25

)

(121

)

(155

)

Cancelled

 

(8

)

 

(15

)

(35

)

Balance at end of period

 

4,273

 

381

 

4,273

 

381

 

 


(1)           The grant date fair value of the time-vested restricted stock awards granted during the three months ended June 30, 2010 was $3.56 per share based on our common stock price at the date of the award.  These awards vest annually over a three-year period from the grant date and were granted out of the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan (1.4 million shares) and the 2001 Stock Incentive Plan (0.7 million shares).  The grant date fair value of the time-vested restricted stock awards granted during the three months ended September 30, 2010 was $4.33 per share based on our common stock price at the date of the award.  These awards vest annually over a three-year period from the grant date and were granted out of the 2001 Stock Incentive Plan.

 

(2)           The grant date fair value of the awards with a market-related vesting condition price target of $7.00 per share was $2.50 per share and the grant date fair value of the awards with a market-related vesting condition price target of $10.00 per share was $1.99 per share.  We refer to awards granted with a market-related vesting condition as the “2010 performance awards”, all of which were granted during the three months ended June 30, 2010.  The 2010 performance awards become eligible for end-of-performance-period cliff vesting 50% upon the price of our common stock remaining at or above $7.00 per share for 20 continuous trading days at any time during the performance period and 50% upon the price of our common stock remaining at or above $10.00 per share for 20 continuous trading days at any time during the performance period.  While the 2010 performance awards will become eligible for vesting upon attaining the applicable threshold, no eligible portion of the award will vest until the end of the three-year vesting period.  The 2010 performance awards were granted out of the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan.

 

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In the first nine months of 2010 we granted 116,000 restricted shares to certain non-employee directors which vested on the day following the date of grant.  In the first nine months of 2009, we granted 105,000 of such restricted share awards.

 

At September 30, 2010, restricted shares outstanding under the 2010 Stock Incentive Plan were 3,418,000 and under the 2001 Stock Incentive Plan were 855,000.

 

See Note 2, Basis of Presentation and Accounting Policies for a description of the valuation techniques and related assumptions and estimates used in the calculation of stock-based compensation expense with respect to restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions.  The fair value estimate for the 2010 performance awards used the following assumptions: i) expected stock price volatility of 75%; ii) risk-free interest rate of 1.31%  and iii) expected dividend yield of 0%.  Stock-based compensation expense for the 2010 performance awards is recognized over the three-year requisite service period.

 

We determine the grant date fair value of each time-based vesting restricted stock award based on our common stock price at the date of the award.

 

At September 30, 2010, there was approximately $10.4 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to restricted stock awards. This compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.6 years.

 

Stock Option Awards

 

A summary of stock option activity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 is as follows:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended
September 30,

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

Number of Options (000s)

 

Balance at beginning of period

 

636

 

701

 

659

 

388

 

Granted to employees

 

 

 

 

353

 

Cancelled

 

 

(47

)

(19

)

(87

)

Exercised

 

(3

)

 

(7

)

 

Balance at end of period

 

633

 

654

 

633

 

654

 

 

The weighted-average grant-date fair value per share of stock options granted was $1.23 during the first nine months of 2009.

 

At September 30, 2010, the number of shares issuable under outstanding stock options was 633,000, of which 542,000 were exercisable.

 

At September 30, 2010, there was approximately $0.4 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options. This compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.4 years.

 

Employee and non-employee stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock and stock option awards was recorded in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of service revenues

 

$

379

 

$

366

 

$

660

 

$

920

 

Sales and marketing

 

188

 

51

 

340

 

50

 

General and administrative

 

785

 

863

 

2,134

 

2,584

 

Total

 

$

1,352

 

$

1,280

 

$

3,134

 

$

3,554

 

 

Warrants — At September 30, 2010, there were 257,400 common stock warrants outstanding at an exercise price of $72.50 per share.  Such warrants expire in December 2014.  During the first quarter of 2009, 31,000 warrants at an exercise price of $18.40 per share expired unexercised.

 

Common Stock Reserved for Future Issuance

 

Shares of common stock reserved for future issuance at September 30, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

 

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Convertible Senior Secured Notes Due 2012 (“Notes due 2012”)

 

483

(1)

Warrants

 

257

 

Stock options and restricted shares

 

4,355

 

Total shares reserved

 

5,095

 

 


(1)            Shares of common stock reserved for future issuance pursuant to the Notes due 2012 were reduced by i) 2.8 million during 2009 as a result of the repurchases of Notes due 2012 described in Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease and ii) 4.8 million as a result of the Exchange Offer and redemption of debt in December 2009.

 

Note 7—Income Taxes

 

In the third quarter of 2010, we determined that we had uncertain tax positions related to certain state income tax filings for the 2009 tax year.  The following table indicates the changes in our unrecognized tax benefits for the nine months ended September 30, 2010:

 

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010

 

Balance at December 31, 2009

 

$

 

Additions based on tax positions taken in a prior year

 

430,983

 

Balance at September 30, 2010

 

$

430,983

 

 

There is no income tax benefit from our net loss during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 as we have recorded a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets.  The $223,129 income tax provision for the third quarter of 2010 is attributable to the finalization of the 2009 state tax returns.

 

As a result of the gain on early extinguishment of debt realized on the repurchases of our Notes due 2012 during the first nine months of 2009 as described in Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease, combined with the suspension of the use of net operating losses in certain states, we recorded a state income tax provision of $0.4 million during the second quarter of 2009. However, for federal tax purposes, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, Section 108(i), allows a taxpayer to elect to defer the recognition of cancellation of indebtedness income (“CODI”) from debt reacquisitions in 2009 and 2010 until 2014, and include the deferred CODI in income ratably over five years beginning in 2014. We intended to make this election for federal tax purposes for 2009 for some, if not all of our CODI, and accordingly, we did not record a current tax provision for the federal taxes incurred on CODI realized for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.  We established a deferred tax liability for this election, which resulted in a corresponding and equal reduction in the valuation allowance recorded against our net deferred tax assets.

 

In the first quarter of 2009 and in connection with the preparation of the 2008 tax filings, management reviewed its current multi-state operations as they relate to the state apportionment percentages.  As a result of this review, we updated our overall blended state tax rate computation.  The impact of such update was a reduction in the overall state blended tax rate and, in turn, the carrying value of our deferred tax liability.  Accordingly, we recorded a discrete, non-cash state income tax benefit of $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2009, with a corresponding decrease to the deferred tax liability.

 

In the third quarter of 2010, we finalized our 2009 federal income tax return and determined that our federal net operating loss carryforward had increased to approximately $1,773 million at December 31, 2009.  In addition, we updated our Section 382 analysis through December 31, 2009 and determined that a change in ownership occurred in December 2009.  Based on the analysis completed in the third quarter of 2010, there will be approximately $1,710 million of net operating losses that will expire unused due to the Section 382 limitation.

 

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Note 8—Net Income (Loss) Per Share

 

As mentioned in Note 2, Basis of Presentation and Accounting Policies, on December 18, 2009, we effected a 1-for-10 reverse split of our common stock.  Accordingly, all share, option, warrant and per share information for all periods presented have been retroactively restated to reflect the effect of the reverse stock split.  Also, in 2009, we adopted guidance which resulted in the retrospective adjustment to prior period net income (loss) per share.  The guidance states that unvested share-based payment awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents are considered participating securities and shall be included in the computation of net income (loss) per share pursuant to the two-class method described in ASC 260-10, Earnings Per Share.  The effect of the adoption of this guidance was not material to our net income (loss) per share.

 

Basic net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss), excluding net income (loss) allocated to participating securities, by the weighted average number of shares outstanding less the weighted average unvested restricted shares outstanding.  Diluted net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss), excluding net income (loss) allocated to participating securities, by the denominator for basic net income (loss) per share and any dilutive effects of stock options, restricted stock, convertible notes and warrants.  Diluted net income (loss) per share was the same as basic net income (loss) per share in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and the three months ended September 30, 2009 because we had a net loss in those periods and inclusion of potentially issuable shares would be anti-dilutive.

 

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per share (in thousands, except per share data):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30,

 

September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

Basic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(11,766

)

$

(21,843

)

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

Less: Net income (loss) allocated to participating securities

 

(536

)

(574

)

(799

)

726

 

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(11,230

)

$

(21,269

)

$

(35,826

)

$

24,934

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding

 

49,964

 

15,129

 

47,577

 

15,137

 

Weighted average unvested restricted shares outstanding

 

(4,256

)

(398

)

(1,923

)

(428

)

Denominator for basic net income (loss) per share

 

45,708

 

14,731

 

45,654

 

14,709

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(0.25

)

$

(1.44

)

$

(0.78

)

$

1.70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(11,766

)

$

(21,843

)

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

Less: Net income (loss) allocated to participating securities

 

(536

)

(574

)

(799

)

721

 

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(11,230

)

$

(21,269

)

$

(35,826

)

$

24,939

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator for basic calculation

 

45,708

 

14,731

 

45,654

 

14,709

 

Weighted average effect of dilutive stock options

 

 

 

 

103

 

Denominator for diluted net income (loss) per share

 

45,708

 

14,731

 

45,654

 

14,812

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(0.25

)

$

(1.44

)

$

(0.78

)

$

1.68

 

 

For each of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, 0.3 million stock options were excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive.  For each of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009, 0.4 million stock options were excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive.

 

At September 30, 2010, 0.5 million shares were potentially issuable if all currently outstanding Notes due 2012 (and any additional notes that could be issued as payment for interest on these notes) were converted.  See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease for additional information.

 

There were also warrants outstanding at September 30, 2010, to acquire 0.3 million common shares.

 

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Note 9—Related Party Transactions

 

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, we leased co-location space from a stockholder that (i) owns approximately 5% of our outstanding common stock at September 30, 2010 and (ii) has an executive officer who serves on our Board of Directors. The aggregate operating expenses included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations pertaining to these lease and service arrangements, were approximately $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 and $2.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010.  Such amounts were approximately $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009 and $2.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

 

Note 10—Guarantees and Other Contingencies

 

Regulatory Matters—We are subject to significant Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, regulation, some of which is in a state of flux due to challenges to existing rules and proposals to create new rules, including the nation’s first National Broadband Plan (NBP), which the FCC released on March 16, 2010. The NBP contains 198 specific recommendations for the FCC, Congress, or other federal, state or local entities to consider implementing in the next 2-to-24 months, including some directly or indirectly related to backhaul.  However, it is not clear whether or not any or all of the recommendations will be implemented.  Such FCC regulations are subject to different interpretations and inconsistent application and have historically given rise to disputes with other carriers and municipalities regarding the classification of traffic, rates, rights-of-way, wireless siting rights and zoning matters. Management believes that resolution of any such disputes will not have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial position.

 

License Renewal—Like most other FCC licenses, the 24 GHz and 38.6-40.0 GHz (39 GHz) wide-area licenses which we hold were granted for an initial ten-year term. All those licenses now possess renewal dates ranging from 2010 to 2020.   Due to extensions granted by the FCC, the substantial majority of those 24 GHz and 39 GHz licenses also now possess a June 1, 2012 date to meet construction requirements, also known as “substantial service” requirements.

 

We hold two types of 39 GHz licenses which cover either rectangular service areas (“RSAs”), or economic areas (“EAs”). On October 1, 2008, the FCC released an Order governing FiberTower-held 39 GHz licenses. Our RSA 39 GHz licenses with 2007 expiration dates received either i) ten-year renewals for licenses deemed constructed or ii) ten-year renewals contingent upon meeting construction requirements which the FCC extended until June 1, 2012. All of our RSA licenses previously scheduled to expire in 2007 that are located in our top 50 markets met the FCC’s construction standard and, consequently, were renewed for ten years along with some licenses in smaller markets that were protected due to spectrum lease or other construction activity. Our remaining 183 RSA licenses, which were scheduled to expire at various times through 2009 - 2010 and all of our 352 EA licenses which expired October 18, 2010, are subject to this precedent and subject to both renewal application filing requirements and substantial service showings.  On October 8, 2008, the FCC also extended the substantial service deadline for the 352 EA licenses to June 1, 2012.  Renewal applications filed on October 15, 2010 for these 352 EA licenses remain pending before the FCC.  Recent applications to renew or extend construction deadlines for 39 GHz licenses expiring in 2009 and 2010 have been granted by the FCC. The licenses subject to the renewals or extensions or both, represent over 1.15 billion spectrum Points of Presence, or PoPs, in total.

 

To obtain renewal of a license, the licensee must demonstrate that, at the time of renewal, it either met a “safe harbor” build-out requirement or that it has provided substantial service as determined by the FCC. What level of service is considered “substantial” will vary depending upon the type of product offering by the licensee. The FCC has provided specific safe harbor guidance only for point-to-point offerings, where it has indicated the licensee should have constructed four links per channel per million persons in the license area. Licensees may show that they have met the substantial service test in other ways, such as providing niche services or offering service to underserved consumers.  On May 25, 2010, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order seeking to establish new uniform license renewal (“Uniform License Renewal” proceeding) rules for many mobile and fixed wireless spectrum bands, including at 24 GHz and 39 GHz.  The proposed rules include refinements or changes to the rules governing 24 GHz and 39 GHz spectrum renewal to largely mirror the renewal rules that govern the 700 MHz Commercial Services Band (located at 698-746, 747-762 and 777-792 MHz). These 700 MHz rules requirements include a suggested requirement for geographic-area licensees to file a “renewal showing” in which they demonstrate that they have and are continuing to provide service.  The existing 24 GHz and 39 GHz renewal and substantial service requirements will govern until the Uniform License Renewal proceeding produces a final Order.  We filed comments in the Uniform License Renewal proceeding on August 6, 2010 and are actively monitoring this proceeding, which remains pending.  It is not clear if the Uniform License Renewal proceeding will take months, 1-to-2 years, or longer to fully conclude.

 

Currently, licensees are required, prior to the expiration date of their licenses, to file renewal applications with an exhibit demonstrating compliance with the substantial service criteria. If an entity is deemed not to have provided substantial service through meeting the safe harbor build-out requirement or through other means with respect to a license for which renewal is sought, the renewal will not be granted and the license will expire.

 

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In October 2010, the FCC extended the buildout requirement deadline for 102 of our 103, 24 GHz licenses, in response to our August 26, 2010 extension request.  We are required, or expect to be required, to demonstrate substantial service by June 1, 2012 for the majority of our 39 GHz licenses, and for the 102 licenses in the 24 GHz band.  We are required to file renewal applications for those 102, 24 GHz licenses .prior to their February 1, 2011expiration date, yet expect their renewal to be conditioned upon meeting the June 1, 2012 buildout requirement.  We do not currently meet the substantial service safe harbor guidance provided by the FCC for the substantial majority of our 24 GHz and 39 GHz licenses, whose renewal applications are contingent upon meeting substantial service showings by June 1, 2012.  We believe that our licenses will be renewed based on our significant network investment, spectrum offerings and expanding geographic coverage. However, since we are required to demonstrate substantial service at the time licenses are renewed, the FCC has little and possibly changing precedent in the 24 GHz and 39 GHz bands, and determination of substantial service is subject to FCC discretion, the FCC could choose to not renew licenses that do not meet the substantial service safe harbor.

 

We continue to meet regularly with the FCC and are committed to present data on our significant network investment and expanding geographic coverage to make the spectrum bands viable and able to provide substantial service at renewal and in the long term. We continue to believe that we will meet the substantial service requirements necessary for renewal at the appropriate deadlines and will continue to engage the FCC on this subject.

 

Other guarantees—From time to time, we enter into certain types of contracts that contingently require us to indemnify various parties against claims from third parties. These contracts primarily relate to: (i) certain real estate leases, under which we may be required to indemnify property owners for environmental and other liabilities and for other claims arising from our use of the applicable premises; (ii) certain agreements with our officers, directors and employees, under which we may be required to indemnify such persons for liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties; (iii) contracts under which we may be required to indemnify customers against third-party claims that a FiberTower product or service infringes a patent, copyright or other intellectual property right; and (iv) procurement or license agreements under which we may be required to indemnify licensors or vendors for certain claims that may be brought against them arising from our acts or omissions with respect to the supplied products or technology.

 

Generally, a maximum obligation under these contracts is not explicitly stated. Because the obligated amounts associated with these types of agreements are not explicitly stated, the overall maximum amount of the obligation cannot be reasonably estimated. Historically, we have not been required to make payments under these obligations, and no liabilities have been recorded for these obligations in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

 

Legal proceedings—We are subject to certain legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate outcome of these matters will not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

 

ITEM 2.   MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (“MD&A”)

 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This report includes “forward-looking” statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 or by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, in its rules, regulations and releases. Forward looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. These include statements regarding, among other things, our future financial performance and results of operations, our financial and business prospects, the deployment of our services, capital requirements, financing prospects, planned capital expenditures, expected cost per site, anticipated customer growth, expansion plans and anticipated cash balances.

 

There are many risks, uncertainties and other factors that can prevent the achievement of goals or cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.  These include, among other things, negative cash flows and operating and net losses, additional liquidity requirements, potential loss of significant customers, downturns in the wireless communication industry, regulatory costs and restrictions, potential loss of FCC licenses, equipment supply disruptions and cost increases, competition from alternative backhaul service providers and technologies, along with those risk factors described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Risk Factors”).

 

Our MD&A is provided in addition to the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and notes to assist readers in understanding our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. Some of the statements in this MD&A are forward-looking statements as described above.  References in the MD&A to note numbers and note titles refer to those Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 1, Financial Statements of this report.

 

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Overview

 

We are a leading alternative provider of facilities-based backhaul services to wireless carriers. Facilities-based providers own or lease a substantial portion of the property and equipment necessary to provide backhaul services. Backhaul is the transport of voice, video and data traffic from a wireless carrier’s mobile base station, or cell site, to its mobile switching center or other exchange point where the traffic is then switched onto a wireline telecommunications network. We provide backhaul services nationally by utilizing our wireless spectrum assets and fiber relationships to construct and operate high-coverage, high-capacity hybrid microwave and fiber networks. Our services provide wireless carriers a long-term solution for their increasing demand for backhaul capacity while giving them increased availability and reliability.

 

We compete with a range of diversified telecommunications services providers. Our competitors include i) Incumbent and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers, or ILECs, including AT&T, Verizon, Embarq and Qwest; ii) Cable Multiple Systems Operators, including Cox, Time Warner Cable, Bright House and Comcast; iii) wireless carriers; iv) Fiber Service Providers, including Level 3 Communications, Time Warner Telecom, Zayo Broadband, DukeNet and FPL FiberNet; and v) other fixed wireless backhaul providers, including Tower Cloud and Telecom Transport Management Inc.

 

As of September 30, 2010, we had 157 employees, of whom 109 were in Engineering, Market/Field Operations, and Network Operations, the payroll- related costs of which are classified as Cost of Service Revenues; 14 were in Sales and Marketing; and 34 were in General and Administrative.

 

As of September 30, 2010:

 

·                  We provide services to 6,238 billing customer locations at 2,824 billing sites in 13 markets throughout the U.S;

 

·                  We have master service agreements with nine U.S. wireless carriers;

 

·                  We have extensive relationships with fiber service providers giving us access to over 1,000 mobile switching centers, or MSCs, and 125,000 fiber-based aggregation points;

 

·                  We own a national spectrum portfolio of 24 GHz and 39 GHz wide-area spectrum licenses, including over 740 MHz in the top 20 U.S. metropolitan areas and, in the aggregate, approximately 1.55 billion channel pops calculated as the number of channels in a given area multiplied by the population, as measured in the 2000 census, covered by these channels. We believe our spectrum portfolio represents one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of millimeter wave spectrum in the U.S. Our licenses extend over substantially all of the continental U.S., covering areas with a total population of approximately 300 million; and

 

·                  We hold separate service agreements with Verizon Business and Qwest Communications as their fixed wireless partner on the General Services Administration Networx contract to provide fixed wireless government-grade primary transport and physically diverse network transport services. The service agreement with Verizon Business also allows us to provide government-grade services for other Verizon Business-managed contracts.

 

As an important part of our business strategy, we seek to:

 

·                  expand within existing markets or add new markets based on identified demand;

 

·                  leverage our existing network and customer relationships by increasing utilization of existing assets;

 

·                  continue to develop additional revenue sources through new solutions that meet the needs of our customers; and

 

·                  allocate capital efficiently by balancing new site and market growth.

 

The growth of our business depends substantially on the condition of the wireless communications industry. The willingness of customers to purchase our services is affected by numerous factors, including:

 

·                  market demand for wireless services;

 

·                  availability of alternative services at better prices;

 

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·                  predictability of our deployment schedules; and

 

·                  quality of our services.

 

In order to provide backhaul services to our customers, we have constructed networks in 13 markets throughout the U.S. As we continue to expand our markets, we incur significant upfront costs for pre-development site evaluation, site leases, cost of new capital equipment and construction costs. These expenses are incurred well in advance of receiving revenues from customers.

 

During the third quarter of 2010, we achieved the following significant financial and operational milestones:

 

·                  Service revenues grew 20% to $19.4 million from $16.2 million in the third quarter of 2009;

 

·                  Average monthly revenue per deployed site grew 17% to $2,029 from $1,733 in the third quarter of 2009; and

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA improved to $0.8 million from a loss of $2.9 million in the third quarter of 2009. See Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures below for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss).

 

As of September 30, 2010, we had deployed 3,170 sites, of which 2,824 had billing customers. A deployed site may not yet be billing for reasons including that we have not yet sold any service at that site.

 

Our business plan depends on our expectation that most, if not all, sites will generate revenue within the useful life of the site sufficient to fully recover our investment in property and equipment. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenues from these sites in the future, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected. Since our inception, our operating expenses have exceeded our revenues. We have incurred operating and net losses and negative cash flows since our inception and we expect that we will continue to incur operating and net losses and negative cash flows for the next few years as we continue to expand our network. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below for additional information.

 

Service Revenues

 

We generate revenue by charging a monthly recurring charge based on the amount of bandwidth traffic carried across our network.  Increasing revenues on a per-deployed site basis is one of our most important objectives. Revenue per deployed site, shown later in the Performance Measures section of this MD&A, is a key operating metric reflecting our ability to scale and leverage our existing network.  The duration of our customer contracts are generally for three or five years.

 

Traffic grows as we construct new sites for customers, sell to new customers at existing sites, or sell incremental bandwidth to existing customers. The average monthly revenue per deployed site increased to $2,029 in the third quarter of 2010 from $1,925 in the second quarter of 2010.  The average monthly revenue per deployed site excludes $0.1 million in the third quarter and $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2010 recognized from customers’ early termination of certain circuits.  We intend to continue our focus on site-level margins, project return on investment, and cost reductions.

 

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, the following customers accounted for a significant portion of our revenues:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30,

 

September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AT&T Mobility

 

45

%

39

%

44

%

38

%

Sprint Nextel

 

19

%

20

%

19

%

20

%

Clearwire

 

11

%

15

%

13

%

15

%

T-Mobile

 

11

%

15

%

12

%

15

%

 

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Accounts receivable from these customers comprised the following percentages of our total accounts receivable balances at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009:

 

 

 

September 30, 2010

 

December 31, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AT&T Mobility

 

52

%

37

%

Sprint Nextel

 

16

%

17

%

Clearwire

 

10

%

17

%

T-Mobile

 

9

%

16

%

 

Costs and Expenses

 

The major components of our cost of service revenues are:

 

·                  Leasing.  We incur charges for site lease expense for space leased at our sites. When lease arrangements have uneven payment schedules, we account for lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

 

·                  Fiber Service Providers.  We pay charges to our fiber service providers for the purchase and lease of fiber.  When the fiber leases have uneven payment schedules, we account for fiber lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

 

·                  Field Technicians.  We incur costs for engineering and maintenance personnel including stock-based compensation expense.

 

·                  Other.  We incur costs for site evaluation and design, site maintenance, power, program and project management, costs related to unsuccessful site acquisitions that are incurred during deployment and personnel costs to monitor the network.

 

We expect cost of service revenues to increase in future periods as we execute our business plan to grow our network operations.

 

Construction of our network is a complex process involving the interaction and assembly of multiple components that result in internal labor, third party and equipment costs. We regularly assess the recoverability of costs accumulated in construction-in-progress as we execute our network build-out plans.

 

Sales and marketing expenses are comprised primarily of compensation and related benefits, including stock-based compensation and travel expenses.

 

General and administrative expenses primarily consist of compensation and related benefits including stock-based compensation, recruiting fees, travel expenses, professional fees and insurance.

 

Depreciation and amortization expenses primarily consist of depreciation related to deployed network sites and the amortization of intangible assets with definite lives. We expect depreciation expense to increase in future periods as a result of deploying and commencing depreciation on additional sites.

 

Interest income and interest expense are primarily the result of interest earned on investment of cash and interest cost incurred on the outstanding balance of our indebtedness. See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease for additional information.

 

As a result of the gain on early extinguishment of debt realized on the repurchases of our Notes due 2012 during the first nine months of 2009 as described in Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease, we recorded a state income tax provision of $0.4 million during the second quarter of 2009.  In the first quarter of 2009, we recorded a $1.5 million income tax benefit and a corresponding decrease to the deferred tax liability. In the third quarter of 2010, we recorded an additional state income tax provision of $0.2 million related to the finalization of the 2009 state tax returns.  See Note 7, Income Taxes for additional information.

 

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Challenges Facing Our Business

 

In addition to the Risk Factors, there are various challenges facing our business. These include acquiring new customers on new and existing sites, retaining existing customers, deploying new sites in a predictable manner, scaling our business and managing growth, the concentrated nature of our customers, the emerging nature of our market and the weakened state of the U.S. economy.

 

Acquiring customers on new and existing sites in a timely fashion and retaining existing customers is critical to our ability to grow revenue and generate an appropriate return on the capital that we invest. Our business, financial condition and results of operations will be negatively affected if we do not obtain sufficient revenues by selling incremental bandwidth to existing customers, selling new customers at existing sites and constructing new sites for customers.

 

Deploying new sites in a predictable manner can be challenging given the difficulties in dealing with numerous landlords in order to lease space on sites, complying with the various zoning and permitting laws of different cities or districts, negotiating fiber arrangements, and managing the contractors involved with construction, program and project management. We have taken steps to reduce deployment unpredictability on larger deployments by engaging with large, well-established, turnkey vendors that are experienced in these activities.

 

We are a growing company, and hiring qualified personnel and developing processes and systems rapidly are necessary in order to grow successfully. If we cannot hire qualified employees, manage our growth and develop these systems and processes successfully, our business could be adversely affected.

 

We are a relatively new entrant into a highly concentrated market with a limited number of potential customers in any particular market. Maintaining and growing our existing relationships with the leading wireless carriers and developing new relationships with other carriers are critical to our success.

 

We operate in an emerging market. Our future success depends on an increased demand for wireless services for voice and other mobile broadband services such as transmissions of photos or videos and internet communication.

 

We have built flexibility into our spending by reducing recurring general and administrative expenses and in prior periods, by reducing capital expenditures and sales and marketing expenses. However, our ability to pay our expenses and make payments due on our Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 depends on our future performance, which will be affected by financial, business, economic, legislative and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Continued uncertainty about the overall weakness in the U.S. economy may inhibit our ability to grow at the level needed to fully service our Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 as scheduled.

 

Results of Operations

 

Presented below are selected statements of operations data for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 that have been derived from our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. You should read this information together with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes that are included elsewhere in this report. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that are expected in future periods.

 

Statements of Operations Data:
(In thousands)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30,

 

September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

Service revenues

 

$

19,443

 

$

16,213

 

$

55,654

 

$

46,511

 

Cost of service revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization)

 

(15,022

)

(14,672

)

(44,224

)

(42,971

)

Sales and marketing

 

(1,035

)

(610

)

(3,184

)

(2,058

)

General and administrative

 

(4,130

)

(5,728

)

(13,837

)

(17,088

)

Depreciation and amortization

 

(7,436

)

(7,013

)

(20,845

)

(21,040

)

Interest income

 

21

 

32

 

75

 

259

 

Interest expense

 

(3,400

)

(10,060

)

(10,248

)

(37,455

)

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

 

 

98,248

 

Miscellaneous income (expense), net

 

16

 

(5

)

207

 

167

 

Income tax (provision) benefit

 

(223

)

 

(223

)

1,087

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(11,766

)

$

(21,843

)

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

 

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The following table presents selected statements of operations data as a percentage of our service revenues for each of the periods indicated:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30,

 

September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

Service revenues

 

100

%

100

%

100

%

100

%

Cost of service revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization)

 

(77

)%

(90

)%

(80

)%

(92

)%

Sales and marketing

 

(6

)%

(4

)%

(6

)%

(4

)%

General and administrative

 

(21

)%

(36

)%

(25

)%

(37

)%

Depreciation and amortization

 

(38

)%

(43

)%

(37

)%

(45

)%

Interest income

 

(0

)%

0

%

(0

)%

1

%

Interest expense

 

(18

)%

(62

)%

(18

)%

(81

)%

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

 

 

211

%

Miscellaneous income (expense), net

 

(0

)%

0

%

(0

)%

0

%

Income tax (provision) benefit

 

(1

)%

 

(0

)%

2

%

Net income (loss)

 

(61

)%

(135

)%

(66

)%

55

%

 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

 

We use the total Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measure, to monitor the financial performance of our operations.  This measurement, together with GAAP measures such as revenue and loss from operations, assists management in its decision-making processes relating to the operation of our business.  Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) from operations before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment and restructuring charges, stock-based compensation, gain on early extinguishment of debt, debt exchange expenses and other income (expense).  Adjusted EBITDA is not a substitute for operating income, net income (loss), or cash flow provided by (used for) operating activities as determined in accordance with GAAP, as a measure of performance or liquidity. In addition, our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.  This non-GAAP financial measure should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, our reported financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP.

 

We believe Adjusted EBITDA provides an additional way to view our operations, and when viewed with both our GAAP results and the reconciliation to net income (loss), we believe it provides a more complete understanding of our business than could otherwise be obtained absent this disclosure. Adjusted EBITDA is an especially important measurement in a capital-intensive industry such as telecommunications. We use Adjusted EBITDA internally as a metric to evaluate and compensate our personnel and management for their performance, and as a benchmark to evaluate our operating performance in comparison to our competitors. Management also uses Adjusted EBITDA to measure, from period-to-period, its ability to fund capital expenditures, fund growth, service debt and determine bonuses. We have provided this information to enable analysts, investors and other interested parties to perform meaningful comparisons of past and current operating performance and as a means to evaluate the results of our ongoing operations.

 

Adjusted EBITDA has significant limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures, or future requirements, for capital investments or contractual commitments;

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not include depreciation and amortization expense. Depreciation and amortization are necessary elements of our costs and our ability to generate profits; and the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future. Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements;

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA excludes the effect of all non-cash equity based compensation. We have excluded these financial measures, because we believe non-cash equity based compensation is not an indicator of the performance of our core operations;

 

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·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not include impairment of long-lived assets and other charges and credits. We excluded the effect of impairment losses because we believe that including them in Adjusted EBITDA is not consistent with reflecting the ongoing performance of our remaining assets;

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not include interest expense. Because we have borrowed money in order to finance our operations, interest expense is a necessary element of our costs and ability to generate profits and cash flows. We excluded interest expense from this measure so that investors may evaluate our operating results without regard to our financing methods;

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect interest income or the cash benefits derived. We excluded interest income because it is not an indicator of our continuing operations;

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not include the gain on early extinguishment of debt. We excluded the effect of gains recorded on the early extinguishment of debt because we believe that including them in Adjusted EBITDA is not consistent with reflecting the performance of our continuing operations; and

 

·                  Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect income tax provision or benefit or the cash requirements necessary to pay for income tax obligations.

 

We compensate for these limitations by using non-GAAP financial measures as only one of several comparative tools, together with GAAP measurements, to assist in the evaluation of our profitability and operating results.

 

The following table shows the calculation of our total Adjusted EBITDA reconciled to net income (loss) (in thousands):

 

 

 

 

Three months ended
September 30,

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

2010

 

2009

 

Net income (loss)

 

$

(11,766

)

$

(21,843

)

$

(36,625

)

$

25,660

 

Adjustments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

7,436

 

7,013

 

20,845

 

21,040

 

Stock-based compensation

 

1,352

 

1,280

 

3,134

 

3,554

 

Exchange Offer and redemption of debt expenses

 

 

254

 

 

254

 

Interest income

 

(21

)

(32

)

(75

)

(259

)

Interest expense

 

3,400

 

10,060

 

10,248

 

37,455

 

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

 

 

(98,248

)

Impairment of long-lived assets and other charges and credits

 

211

 

337

 

1,134

 

531

 

Income tax provision (benefit)

 

223

 

 

223

 

(1,087

)

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

835

 

$

(2,931

)

$

(1,116

)

$

(11,100

)

 

Three months ended September 30, 2010 compared to three months ended September 30, 2009

 

Service revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 increased 20% to $19.4 million from $16.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. This increase was primarily driven by selling additional capacity and Ethernet services to customers at existing sites.  In addition, we recognized $0.1 million in the third quarter of 2010 from customers’ early termination of certain circuits. The average monthly revenue per deployed site increased to $2,029 during the quarter ended September 30, 2010 compared to $1,733 for the same period of 2009. The revenue per deployed site amount for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 excludes the $0.1 million in revenue from early termination of certain circuits described above.

 

Cost of service revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization) increased 2% to $15.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 compared to $14.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.  The increase was primarily due to a $0.4 million increase in the cost of certain non-capitalizable expense items related to site construction activities during the quarter.

 

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Service revenues tend to lag behind cost of service revenues initially for new sites, especially in new markets, because there are certain upfront costs that are generally incurred for a period of time before a site generates revenue. These costs include site evaluation expenses, lease payments that are incurred before the site generates revenues, payments to fiber service providers in order to ensure sufficient capacity is available to carry new traffic, as well as costs related to unsuccessful site acquisitions that are incurred during deployment.

 

Sales and marketing expenses increased 70% to $1.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 compared to $0.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.  The increase reflects higher payroll-related expenses, including stock-based compensation, due to an increase in sales and marketing employee headcount.

 

General and administrative expenses decreased 28% to $4.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 from $5.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Higher legal and consulting fees were incurred during the third quarter of 2009 due to the Exchange Offer activities.  Also contributing to the decrease for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 were lower bonus accruals as compared to the same period of 2009.

 

Depreciation and amortization expense increased 6% to $7.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 from $7.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.   There were $21.6 million in capital additions over the past 12 months driven by upgrading capacity and overlaying Ethernet capability at existing sites and by the addition of 52 new deployed sites.

 

Interest income and interest expense are primarily the result of interest earned on investment of cash and interest cost incurred on the outstanding balance of our indebtedness. See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease for additional information.

 

Interest income was negligible in the quarters ended September 30, 2010 and 2009.

 

Interest expense decreased 66% to $3.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 from $10.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. This decrease reflects i) the effects of the Exchange Offer and redemption of debt in December 2009 and ii) the repurchases of $142.2 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market during the first nine months of 2009, both described at Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease.

 

In the third quarter of 2010, we recorded an additional state income tax provision of $0.2 million related to the finalization of the 2009 state tax returns.  See Note 7, Income Taxes for additional information.

 

Nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to nine months ended September 30, 2009

 

Service revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 increased 20% to $55.7 million from $46.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. This increase was primarily driven by selling additional capacity and Ethernet services to customers at existing sites.  In addition, we recognized $1.0 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 from customers’ early termination of certain circuits.  The average monthly revenue per deployed site increased to $1,932 during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $1,657 for the same period of 2009. The revenue per deployed site amount for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 excludes the $1.0 million in revenue from early termination of certain circuits described above.

 

Cost of service revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization) increased 3% to $44.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $43.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.  The nine months ended September 30, 2010 includes impairment charges of $1.2 million, compared to impairment charges of $0.4 million for the same period of 2009. Site maintenance expenses increased $0.8 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to the same period of 2009 that included a $0.4 million insurance reimbursement relating to hurricane damage.  There were also higher fiber service provider charges, seminar expenses due to Ethernet training and travel due to movement of employees between markets.  Partially offsetting the increase compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2009, was a decrease in other payroll-related expenses reflecting an increase in capitalized labor due to more construction activities.

 

Sales and marketing expenses increased 55% to $3.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $2.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.  The increase reflects higher payroll-related expenses, including stock-based compensation, due to an increase in sales and marketing employee headcount.  The increase in stock-based compensation expense in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to the same period of 2009 reflects i) a $0.4 million reversal of previously recognized compensation cost related to the cancellation of unvested restricted stock during the quarter ended June 30, 2009 and ii) the restricted stock awards granted during the quarter ended June 30, 2010.  This increase was partially offset by lower stock-based compensation expense during the first nine months of 2010 reflecting the acceleration of restricted stock and stock option vesting as a result of the redemption of debt in December 2009.

 

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General and administrative expenses decreased 19% to $13.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 from $17.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Higher legal and consulting fees were incurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 due to the Exchange Offer activities.  Also contributing to the decrease for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 were lower bonus accruals and a decrease in other payroll-related expenses due to a decrease in general and administrative employee headcount as compared to the same period of 2009.  There was also lower stock-based compensation expense reflecting the acceleration of restricted stock and stock option vesting as a result of the redemption of debt in December 2009.  This decrease in stock-based compensation was partially offset by the restricted stock awards granted during the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

 

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased 1% to $20.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 from $21.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.  During the first quarter of 2010, there was a $0.7 million one-time reduction to depreciation expense based on changes in site certification dates and adjustments related to the implementation of a new fixed asset system during the first quarter of 2010.  There were $21.6 million in capital additions over the past 12 months driven by upgrading capacity and overlaying Ethernet capability at existing sites and by the addition of 52 new deployed sites.

 

Interest income was $0.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $0.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The reduction was due to lower investment balances and lower interest rates.

 

Interest expense decreased 73% to $10.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 from $37.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. This decrease reflects i) the effects of the Exchange Offer and redemption of debt in December 2009 and ii) the repurchases of $142.2 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market during the first nine months of 2009, both described at Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease.

 

The repurchases of the Notes due 2012 in the nine months ended September 30, 2009 resulted in the recognition of a gain on early extinguishment of debt of $98.2 million. See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease for additional information regarding this gain.  There was no such extinguishment of debt during the nine months ended September 30, 2010.

 

As a result of the gain on early extinguishment of debt during the first nine months of 2009, we recorded a state income tax provision of $0.4 million during the second quarter of 2009.  In the first quarter of 2009, we recorded a $1.5 million income tax benefit and a corresponding decrease to the deferred tax liability resulting from our update to state apportionment percentages. In the third quarter of 2010, we recorded an additional state income tax provision of $0.2 million related to the finalization of the 2009 state tax returns.  See Note 7, Income Taxes for additional information.

 

Performance Measures

 

In managing our business and assessing our financial performance, we supplement the information provided by financial statement measures with several customer-focused performance metrics to assess the growth and evaluate the performance of our operations. In addition to traditional financial evaluations, including performance against budget, we also consider non-financial measurements, the most important of which are revenue per deployed site, the number of sites deployed and the number of customer locations billing. The number of sites deployed represents sites from which we could deliver our services in a particular market.  Customer locations billing are carrier locations at which we currently provide revenue-producing services. A deployed site could have multiple customer (carrier) locations.

 

Revenue per deployed site is the key operating metric reflecting the capital efficiency of our network as we scale by means of new capital expenditures or by adding additional customers to the current network. Given the fixed cost nature of our network, revenue per deployed site also indicates our ability to leverage our existing asset base to generate higher-margin incremental revenue.  The number of sites deployed reflects the utilization of new capital expenditures required to expand the network and support our sales growth while the number of customer locations billing is an indicator of the productivity of the network.

 

The following table shows quarterly key operating metric information:

 

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Three Months Ended

 

 

 

Sept. 30,
2010

 

June 30,
2010

 

Mar. 31,
2010

 

Dec. 31,
2009

 

Sept. 30,
2009

 

June 30,
2009

 

Mar. 31,
2009

 

Billing Customer Locations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in billing customer locations

 

(6

)

37

 

(110

)

(116

)

101

 

65

 

171

 

Ending billing customer locations

 

6,238

 

6,244

 

6,207

 

6,317

 

6,433

 

6,332

 

6,267

 

Co-location rate

 

2.21

 

2.24

 

2.24

 

2.27

 

2.30

 

2.27

 

2.25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sites Deployed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in FiberTower sites

 

34

 

17

 

2

 

(1

)

 

(3

)

1

 

Ending sites deployed

 

3,170

 

3,136

 

3,119

 

3,117

 

3,118

 

3,118

 

3,121

 

Average monthly revenue per site

 

$

2,029

(1)

$

1,925

(1)

$

1,842

(1)

$

1,789

 

$

1,733

 

$

1,666

 

$

1,572

 

 


(1)                                 The average monthly revenue per deployed site excludes $0.1 million in the third quarter, $0.3 million in the second quarter and $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2010 recognized from customers’ early termination of certain circuits.

 

Average Monthly Revenue per Site is the average monthly revenue per deployed site.

 

Billing Customer Locations are carrier locations at which we currently provide revenue-producing service(s). Our sites could have multiple customer locations.

 

Co-location rate is the number of customer locations per billing site.  Billing sites are installed sites from which we provide revenue-producing service(s) to customer(s).

 

Sites Deployed represents installed sites, net of any decommissioned sites, which are ready for the provision of services. Our sites can be located on cell towers, rooftops, or other points of bandwidth aggregation.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

Our business does not currently generate sufficient cash flow from operations to fund our short-term or long-term liquidity needs. As a result, we have relied primarily on the proceeds from equity and debt financings to fund our operating and investing activities, and we believe that we will be required to raise additional capital for these purposes in the near future.  Based upon our current plans, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents of $31.2 million will be sufficient to cover our estimated liquidity needs for at least the next twelve months.  However, our business is capital intensive, and we believe we will require additional funds to continue to fund capital expenditures and pay operating expenses in the near future.  We may also require additional capital to finance our current growth plans, take advantage of business opportunities or pursue potential acquisitions.  To raise additional capital, we may be required to issue additional equity securities in public or private offerings or to seek additional debt financing.  We may be unable to secure such additional financing when needed, on acceptable terms or at all, which could harm our business.  In addition, any financing we do obtain could be subject to onerous terms.  Additional debt financing could cause us to incur significant interest expense and increase our future financial commitments, and any additional equity financing could be dilutive to our stockholders. If we are unable to secure additional capital when needed, we may be required to change our business plans, and our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

Our primary liquidity needs arise from capital requirements necessary to expand our network and fund operating losses. We anticipate that we will continue to invest significantly in deploying our network over the next several years. The size of our capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including our ability to grow revenues, control costs, and deploy our network on a timely basis according to plan and customer requirements. We will require significant cash expenditures related to capital construction costs and operating losses. We anticipate that we will incur between $10 million and $15 million in capital expenditures during the fourth quarter of 2010 to expand our network. However, if market conditions warrant, we expect to be able to slow the amount of capital expenditures to a level consistent with the business needs at that time.

 

Our long-term economic model is designed to allow replicable, scalable individual market builds so that we can increase or decrease our market deployment schedule based on available cash. As a result, the amount and timing of our long-term capital needs will depend on the extent of our network deployment. As our business is in its early stages, we regularly evaluate our plans and strategy, and these evaluations often result in changes, some of which may be material and significantly modify our cash requirements.

 

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We have built flexibility into our spending by reducing recurring general and administrative expenses and in prior periods, by reducing capital expenditures and sales and marketing expenses. However, our ability to pay our expenses and make payments due on our Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 depends on our future performance, which will be affected by financial, business, economic, legislative and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future, which could result in our being unable to pay interest on or repay indebtedness or to fund other liquidity needs. Continued uncertainty about the overall weakness in the U.S. economy may inhibit our ability to grow at the level needed to fully service our Notes due 2016 and Notes due 2012 as scheduled.

 

We elected to pay the May 2009, November 2009 and May 2010 interest payments on the Notes due 2012 entirely by the issuance of additional Notes due 2012, as permitted under the related indenture. This resulted in the issuance of an additional $33.5 million in principal amount of Notes due 2012 in 2009 and $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2010.  On October 12, 2010, we elected to pay the November 15, 2010 interest payment entirely by the issuance of additional Notes due 2012, as permitted under the related indenture.  This will result in the issuance of an additional $1.6 million in principal amount of Notes due 2012 on November 15, 2010.  The interest rate applicable to any such interest payments made in additional Notes due 2012 is 11%. Interest payments after November 15, 2010 are payable only in cash.

 

As described at Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease, during the fourth quarter of 2009 we offered to exchange, which we refer to as the “Exchange Offer”, any and all of our existing Notes due 2012 for Interim Notes, which were later redeemed for shares of our common stock, cash and Notes due 2016.  The purpose of the Exchange Offer and redemption of debt was to reduce our outstanding debt and cash interest requirements and extend the maturity of our outstanding debt. As a result of the Exchange Offer and redemption of debt, the total carrying value of our outstanding debt was reduced by $171.7 million, the maturity of a substantial portion of our debt was extended from 2012 to 2016 and our annual cash interest payments were reduced by more than $20.0 million to approximately $6.0 million in 2011 and in 2012.  Our cash interest payments due in 2010 were fulfilled on July 1, 2010 with the payment of $1.8 million.

 

In the first and second quarters of 2009, we repurchased a total of $142.2 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market. These repurchases, at a weighted average price of approximately $37 per $100 of par value, were for a total of $52.2 million in cash plus accrued but unpaid interest. These repurchases, together with the exchange of the Notes due 2012 as described above, reduced the carrying value of the outstanding Notes due 2012 to $30.1 million at December 31, 2009. During the first nine months of 2010, there was accretion of principal premium of $1.2 million and we issued $1.5 million aggregate principal amount of additional Notes due 2012 in lieu of cash for the May 2010 interest payment as described above.  See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease for additional information on the Notes due 2012 including their guarantees and conversion features.

 

Under the terms of our Notes due 2016, if certain specified events occur prior to maturity, holders may require us to repurchase all or part of the Notes due 2016 for cash at a repurchase price equal to 101% of their aggregate accreted principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest. We may not have sufficient funds at such time to repurchase any or all of the Notes due 2016.

 

The Notes due 2016 bear interest at 9% accruing from December 22, 2009, payable semi-annually. On each interest payment date, one-third of the interest is payable in cash and two-thirds of the interest is payable in additional Notes due 2016 in a principal amount equal to such portion of the interest amount. When we issued the Notes due 2016, we placed into escrow approximately $11.0 million, which, together with the earnings thereon, was an amount sufficient to pay the cash portion of the first six interest payments.  The $1.8 million cash portion of the first interest payment was paid on July 1, 2010.

 

We may not be able to generate cash flow from operations sufficient to meet our liquidity needs in the future, which would require us to continue to raise funds through external sources. We plan to obtain financing through the issuance of additional equity or debt securities, or both. There can be no assurance that this additional financing will be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds to service our debt, we may need to reduce our operations or delay our expansion. In addition, we may be required to sell assets, issue additional equity securities or incur additional debt, or we may need to refinance or restructure all or a portion of our indebtedness at or before maturity. We may not be able to accomplish any of these alternatives on terms acceptable to us, or at all. In addition, the terms of our debt agreements may restrict us from adopting some of these alternatives.

 

Our business is in its early stages, and as such we have invested heavily in capital requirements to build and expand our network. As a result, we have incurred operating and net losses and negative cash flows since our inception, and we expect that we will continue to incur operating and net losses and negative cash flows for the next few years as we continue to expand our network. We hope that by reducing our cash interest payments and extending the maturity of our debt, as described above, that we will be able to increase our financial and operational flexibility to grow our cash flow from operating activities to a level sufficient to service our debt.

 

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Cash Flow Analysis

 

Our principal liquidity requirements are for working capital purposes and the expansion of our network through our investment in network equipment and site acquisition and construction costs.

 

Operating Activities

 

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010, net cash used for operating activities was $1.2 million, a decrease of $9.1 million compared to cash used for operating activities of $10.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The cash flow from operations in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 is principally comprised of our net loss of $36.6 million, which includes non-cash charges of $33.6 million, and an increase in accounts payable of $1.8 million.

 

The following table shows non-cash charges (credits) included in net cash used for operating activities (in thousands):

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2010

 

2009

 

Non-cash charges (credits):

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

$

20,845

 

$

21,040

 

Impairment of long-lived assets and other charges

 

1,154

 

407

 

Increase in deferred rent

 

377

 

1,007

 

Accretion of asset retirement obligations

 

475

 

375

 

Accretion of accrued restructuring charges

 

187

 

291

 

Accretion of obligation under capital lease

 

139

 

 

Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net

 

 

(98,248

)

Payment-in-kind of interest

 

1,485

 

18,213

 

Increase in carrying value of Notes due 2016

 

4,256

 

 

Accretion of Notes due 2012

 

1,170

 

12,472

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs

 

108

 

1,018

 

Stock-based compensation

 

3,134

 

3,554

 

Income tax provision (benefit)

 

223

 

(1,087

)

Total non-cash charges (credits)

 

$

33,553

 

$

(40,958

)

 

Investing Activities

 

Net cash used for investing activities consisted primarily of our investment in network equipment and site construction costs as well as the back-office systems to support the network.  As of September 30, 2010, we provided services to 3,170 deployed sites in 13 markets throughout the U.S.

 

There were capital additions of $19.9 million in the first nine months of 2010 as compared to $7.0 million in the first nine months of 2009.  During the first nine months of 2010, we added 53 new deployed sites.  Additional capital expenditures were made in order to upgrade capacity and overlay Ethernet capability at existing sites.  In addition, we incurred capital expenditures to support site builds beyond the third quarter of 2010.  We anticipate that we will incur between $10 million and $15 million in capital expenditures during the fourth quarter of 2010 to expand our network. However, if market conditions warrant, we expect to be able to slow the amount of capital expenditures to a level consistent with the business needs at that time.

 

Financing Activities

 

In the first nine months of 2009, we repurchased $142.2 million par value of our Notes due 2012 in the open market. These repurchases, at a weighted average price of approximately $37 per $100 of par value, were for $52.2 million in cash plus accrued but unpaid interest of $2.0 million.  See Note 4, Long-term Debt and Capital Lease, for additional information regarding our indebtedness.

 

There was a negligible amount of cash provided by the exercise of stock options during the nine months ended September 30, 2010.  No cash was provided by the exercise of stock options during the same period of 2009.

 

Restricted Cash and Investments

 

At September 30, 2010, we had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $31.2 million that were held in bank deposits and money market mutual funds.

 

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We had total restricted cash and investments of $10.0 million at September 30, 2010. The balance at September 30, 2010 consisted of i) approximately $9.3 million invested in cash and bonds issued by U.S. Government agencies, which, together with the earnings thereon, was an amount sufficient to pay the cash portion of the next five interest payments for the Notes due 2016 and ii) $0.7 million of certificates of deposit which collateralize letters of credit, the final expiration date of which is September 2011. The $1.8 million cash portion of the first interest payment for the Notes due 2016 was paid from restricted cash on July 1, 2010.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The application of these policies requires us to make estimates that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and notes. We base our accounting estimates on historical experience and other factors which we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. However, actual results may differ materially from those estimates. Management has discussed the development and selection of critical accounting policies and estimates with our Audit Committee.

 

Our critical accounting policies include revenue and expense recognition, useful life assignments and impairment evaluations associated with long-lived assets, including intangible assets, FCC licenses, asset retirement obligations, deferred taxes, leases and stock-based compensation, which are discussed in detail under the caption “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.  There were no significant changes in our critical accounting policies or estimates since December 31, 2009.  However, the following explains the valuation techniques and the related assumptions and estimates used in the calculation of stock-based compensation expense with respect to restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions which we first granted during the second quarter of 2010.

 

We record stock-based compensation expense only for those restricted stock awards for which the requisite service period is expected to be rendered.  The cumulative effect of a change in the estimated number of restricted stock awards for which the requisite service is expected to be or has been rendered is recognized in the period of the change in the estimate.  To the extent that the requisite service period is rendered, stock-based compensation expense is not reversed; rather, it is recognized regardless of whether or not the market-related vesting condition is achieved.

 

Valuation.  We estimate the fair value of restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions using a Monte Carlo simulation with a three-year period which is equivalent to the contractual term of the award.  Our determination of the fair value of restricted stock awards with market-related vesting conditions on the date of grant is affected by our stock price as well as inputs of subjective assumptions and variables.  Changes in assumptions could result in materially different stock-based compensation expense which could materially affect our operating expenses, net income (loss) and net income (loss) per share.

 

Amortization method.  We recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award.

 

Expected volatility.  We estimate the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on the historical volatilities of similar public companies consisting of competitive telecommunications providers that share a common capital intensive network build plan, are free cash flow negative, highly levered and are in an earlier life-cycle stage.

 

Risk-free interest rate.  We base the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term equal to the expected life of the award.

 

Forfeitures.  We use historical data and management’s judgment to estimate the pre-vesting award forfeitures to estimate the number of shares for which the requisite service period will not be rendered.

 

Dividend yield.  We have not and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; therefore a 0% dividend yield was assumed.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

See Note 9, Related Party Transactions for a description of transactions with a stockholder that has an executive officer who serves as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

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ITEM 3.          QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

We believe that there have been no material changes in our market risk exposures for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 from those disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.

 

ITEM 4.          CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

As of September 30, 2010, our management carried out an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).  Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective at the reasonable assurance level to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Form 10-Q, (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and (ii) is accumulated and communicated to FiberTower’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management.

 

(b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

During the nine months ended September 30, 2010, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

 

Item 1.                 Legal Proceedings

 

We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings. From time to time, we could become involved in various legal proceedings arising from the normal course of business activities. Depending on the amount and timing, an unfavorable resolution of a matter could materially affect our future results of operations, cash flows or financial position in a particular period.

 

Item 1A.        Risk Factors

 

Except for the risk factors set forth below, there have been no material changes to the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.

 

We believe we will require significant funds in the future, which may not be available to us, to operate and expand our business.

 

As of September 30, 2010, we had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $31.2 million. However, our business is capital intensive, and we believe we will require additional funds to fund capital expenditures and pay operating expenses in the near future.  We may also require additional capital to finance our current growth plans, take advantage of business opportunities or pursue potential acquisitions.  To raise additional capital, we may be required to issue additional equity securities in public or private offerings or to seek significant additional debt financing.  We may be unable to secure such additional financing when needed, on acceptable terms or at all, for these purposes, which could harm our business.  In addition, any financing we do obtain could be subject to onerous terms.  Any additional debt financing could cause us to incur significant interest expense and increase our future financial commitments, and any additional equity financing could be very dilutive to our stockholders. If we are unable to secure capital when needed, we may be required to change our business plans, and our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

We may from time to time pursue strategic acquisitions, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

 

We may evaluate potential strategic transactions, including acquisitions, in the future.  The process of acquiring and integrating a company, business or technology is risky, may require a disproportionate amount of management or financial resources, and may create unforeseen operating difficulties or expenditures. Future acquisitions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses, or write-offs of goodwill or intangible assets, any of which could harm our financial condition. Acquisitions could also expose our business to unforeseen liabilities or risks associated with

 

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entering new markets or businesses.  Even if we are successful in integrating our acquisitions into our existing operations, we may not derive the benefits, such as operational or administrative synergies, that we expect from such acquisitions, which may result in the commitment of capital resources without the anticipated returns on such capital.  In addition, future acquisitions may require additional equity or debt financing, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.

 

Item 2.                Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

 

None.

 

Item 3.     Defaults Upon Senior Securities

 

None.

 

Item 4.     (Removed and Reserved)

 

Item 5.     Other Information

 

None.

 

Item 6.      Exhibits

 

The exhibits listed in the accompanying exhibit index are filed, furnished or incorporated by reference as part of this Form 10-Q.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

 

FIBERTOWER CORPORATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ KURT J. VAN WAGENEN

November 5, 2010

 

 

Kurt J. Van Wagenen

Date

 

 

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ THOMAS A. SCOTT

November 5, 2010

 

 

Thomas A. Scott

Date

 

 

Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.

 

Exhibit

 

 

 

†31.1

 

Certification of Kurt J. Van Wagenen under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

†31.2

 

Certification of Thomas A. Scott under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

†32.1

 

Certification of Kurt J. Van Wagenen under Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

†32.2

 

Certification of Thomas A. Scott under Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

 


                                          Filed herewith

 

33