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LARGE CELLULAR DATA TRANSMISSION EQUIPMENT OWNED BY T-MOBILE IS TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY SUBJECT TO REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW 102 (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge DiFiore, determined that certain large cellular data transmission equipment owned by T-Moblle is taxable real property subject to Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) 102 (12) (i):

T-Mobile owns large cellular data transmission equipment that it has installed on the exterior of buildings in Mount Vernon. The installations — which are large enough to require the use of “stealth walls” that shield them from view — consist of multiple pieces of interconnected equipment, including base transceiver stations (essentially cabinets housing wiring and providing battery power); antennas that transmit and receive the signals; and coaxial, T-1, and fiber optic cables running amongst the other components. T-Mobile enters multi-year leases with the owners of the buildings to enable it to occupy the exterior space on the buildings for installation of the equipment. * * *

Under the RPTL, all “real property within the state” is subject to real property taxation unless otherwise exempt by law (see RPTL 300). “Real property” is defined under subdivision (12) of RPTL 102. Under RPTL 102(12)(i), that term includes: “When owned by other than a telephone company as such term is defined in paragraph (d) hereof, all lines, wires, poles, supports and inclosures for electrical conductors upon, above and underground used in connection with the transmission or switching of electromagnetic voice, video and data signals between different entities separated by air, street or other public domain . . . .” … . …

The plain language of paragraph i encompasses each component of T-Mobile’s data transmission equipment, which consists of base transceiver stations; antennas; and coaxial, T-1, and fiber optic cables. The base transceiver stations are essentially cabinets that house cables and other electrical components and provide battery power, so they qualify as “inclosures for electrical conductors.” The large rectangular antennas are part of the base transceiver stations and, thus, also “inclosures for electrical conductors.” The various cables in the installations are “lines” and/or “wires” under the plain text of the statute. Because the primary function of the equipment installations is to transmit cellular data, the components are “used in connection with the transmission or switching of electromagnetic voice, video and data signals between different entities separated by air, street or other public domain,” as required by the statute. Thus, although ambiguities in tax statutes are generally resolved in favor of the taxpayer (… , that doctrine is not implicated here because the plain text of RPTL 102(12)(i) unambiguously indicates that T-Mobile’s equipment installations are taxable real property. Matter of T-Mobile Northeast, LLC v DeBellis, 2018 NY Slip Op 08539, CtApp 12-13-18

CELL PHONE COMPANIES, CELL TOWERS

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