Commitments And Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

20. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Operating Leases and Capital Leases

The Company is obligated under various non-cancelable operating leases for land, office space, equipment and site leases that expire at various times through August 2111. In addition, the Company is obligated under various non-cancelable capital leases for vehicles that expire at various times through December 2015. The amounts applicable to capital leases for vehicles included in property and equipment, net were:

	As of December 31, 2011			As of December 31, 2010
	(in thousands)
Vehicles	$	5,546		$	3,110
Less: accumulated depreciation		(1,932	)		(1,241	)
Vehicles, net	$	3,614		$	1,869

The annual minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating and capital leases in effect as of December 31, 2011 are as follows (in thousands):

For the year ended December 31,	Capital Leases			Operating Leases
2012	$	1,124		$	70,052
2013		989			69,917
2014		808			70,588
2015		440			70,866
2016		—			70,371
Thereafter		—			1,319,419
Total minimum lease payments		3,361		$	1,671,213
Less: amount representing interest		(252	)
Present value of future payments		3,109
Less: current obligations		(994	)
Long-term obligations	$	2,115

Future minimum rental payments under noncancelable ground leases include payments for certain renewal periods at the Company's option because failure to renew could result in a loss of the applicable tower site and related revenue from tenant leases, thereby making it reasonably assured that the Company will renew the lease. The majority of operating leases provide for renewal at varying escalations. Fixed rate escalations have been included in the table disclosed above.

Rent expense for operating leases was $82.8 million, $75.4 million and $72.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. In addition, certain of the Company's leases include contingent rent provisions which provide for the lessor to receive additional rent upon the attainment of certain tower operating results and or lease-up. Contingent rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 was $13.7 million, $12.5 million and $9.9 million, respectively.

Capital Lease Obligations

The Company's capital lease obligations outstanding were $3.1 million as of December 31, 2011 and $1.5 million as of December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2011, these obligations bore interest rates ranging from 0.2% to 3.2% and will mature in periods ranging from approximately one to five years.

Tenant Leases

The annual minimum tower lease income to be received for tower space and antenna rental under non-cancelable operating leases in effect as of December 31, 2011 is as follows:

For the year ended December 31,	(in thousands)
2012	$	601,623
2013		533,969
2014		466,340
2015		379,738
2016		281,718
Thereafter		1,205,482
Total	$	3,468,870

The Company's tenant leases provide for annual escalations and multiple renewal periods, at the tenant's option. The tenant rental payments disclosed in the table above do not assume exercise of tenant renewal options, however, fixed rate escalations have been included.

Litigation

The Company is involved in various claims, lawsuits and proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. While there are uncertainties inherent in the ultimate outcome of such matters and it is impossible to presently determine the ultimate costs that may be incurred, management believes the resolution of such uncertainties and the incurrence of such costs will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Contingent Purchase Obligations

As discussed in Note 7, from time to time, the Company agrees to pay additional consideration (or earnouts) for acquisitions if the towers or businesses that are acquired meet or exceed certain performance targets in the one to three years after they have been acquired. For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, certain earnings targets associated with the acquired towers were achieved, and therefore, the Company paid in cash $4.6 million and $8.7 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2011, the Company's estimate of its potential obligation if the performance targets contained in various acquisition agreements were met was $5.5 million which the Company recorded in accrued expenses. The maximum potential obligation related to the performance targets was $11.0 million as of December 31, 2011.