Rayfield to build new tower, office building

Rayfield Communications is set to build a 300-foot-tall tower in southwest Springfield, the largest tower to be built in the city for quite some time.

John Rayfield Jr., president of Rayfield Communications, a local provider of two-way radio systems, said the tower site, at 2018 W. Woodland, will also be home to Rayfield Communications' new office building. Rayfield will occupy 4,000 square feet of the 10,000-square-foot office building going up at its tower's base.

The building will be owned by Paul Cox, who will lease space to Rayfield and other tenants. While the tower should be complete by the beginning of May, the office building will be complete in July, Rayfield said.

The tower will be capable of accommodating 60 antennae from both Rayfield and various telecommunications companies who will collocate on the tower. Rayfield is collocated now on television station KDEB's tower, but that lease expires in August, and the company was seeking a new site for its antennae.

"This idea came about when we learned that we weren't going to be collocating on the KDEB tower anymore. The idea of having our own large tower was appealing to us," Rayfield said.

Rayfield provides two-way radio systems to companies such as American Disposal and Yellow Freight companies that use their systems for their dispatching units, Rayfield said. Rayfield Communications' service territory includes all of southwest Missouri and part of northwest Arkansas, Rayfield said.

The new tower will be one of many the company already owns. Rayfield now owns towers in Branson, Monett and Mountain Grove, though those towers are all less than 200 feet tall. Rayfield said his company will use up to seven antennae on the tower, while the remainder will belong to companies who are leasing space on the tower.

"We're in the vertical real estate business," Rayfield said.

Sprint and Nextel have already approached Rayfield about collocating on its tower, he added.

"The tower will be a whole new revenue stream for us," Rayfield said.

Many telecommunications companies need space because other towers are full or nearing capacity.

"The space is needed now, and this is a unique situation in the area because many towers are built for the use of one entity, but we're building this one in order to find people to fill it up. We're building it beyond what we will use," Rayfield said.

Rayfield's main source of revenue will continue to be its two-way radio service, The company also researches and develops software for the radio systems it provides, Rayfield said. Everyone from Korean car maker Hyundai to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have purchased software for two-way radio systems that Rayfield has developed.

"We started out writing our own software, to work with our system, but then we started thinking that, if we had a need for it, surely someone else would, too," Rayfield said.

The company then tapped IDA Corp. in Fargo, N.D., to start marketing the software products to other providers of two-way radio service. The company began developing software in 1989. Up to 30 percent of its revenues come from the software it sells, Rayfield said.

"Two-way radio dealers know who we are. Our software packages are literally all over the world," Rayfield said.

In the case of the Mounties, the police force used Rayfield's products to merge two incompatible radio systems, he added.

For now, the company is concerned with getting its tower off the ground. The self-supporting tower is manufactured by PiRod, an Indiana company that Rayfield said is well-known among tower manufacturers. Though many companies prefer guyed towers, Rayfield said this construction would actually be more sturdy.

In addition to potential collocators Sprint and Nextel, the National Weather Service will have equipment on the tower.

Rayfield Communications is 22 years old and is directed by Rayfield and his father, John Rayfield Sr., who serves as the company's vice president.