CROWN CASTLE INC. (CCI)

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases shared communications infrastructure across the U.S. Its portfolio includes more than 40,000 towers and other structures such as rooftops, about 105,000 small cell nodes either generating revenue or under contract, and about 90,000 route miles of fiber. Its core business is giving tenants access to space or capacity on its towers through long-term contracts (leases, licenses, subleases and service agreements). It aims to add tenants to existing towers at low incremental operating cost. It operates as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and seeks to return a meaningful share of its operating cash flow to stockholders through dividends and share repurchases.

The company historically reported two segments, Towers and Fiber (small cells and fiber solutions). In March 2025 it agreed to sell the Fiber segment for about $8.5 billion in aggregate, with Zayo acquiring the fiber solutions business and EQT's Active Core Infrastructure fund acquiring the small cell business. Closing is expected in the first half of 2026, subject to conditions and regulatory approvals. Fiber is presented as discontinued operations, leaving one reportable segment, towers. Site rental revenues were 95% of 2025 net revenues. The remainder comes mainly from ancillary site development services (site acquisition, architectural and engineering, zoning and permitting), which are typically non-recurring and billed at a fixed fee. The company discontinued tenant equipment installation services as a product offering under its 2023 restructuring plan.

Customers are primarily wireless carriers operating national networks. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless together accounted for about 90% of 2025 site rental revenues. Virtually all tower operations are in the U.S., with some in Puerto Rico. About 56% and 71% of towers are in the 50 and 100 largest U.S. basic trading areas, respectively. Tenant contracts generally have initial terms of five to 15 years, multiple five-year renewal periods at the tenant's option, limited termination rights and contractual rent escalators. Annual retention is generally 98% to 99%. Average tenancy was about 2.4 tenants per tower, and remaining contract life was about six years, representing $23.7 billion of expected future cash inflows excluding amounts owed by DISH, which received a notice of default and termination. Demand is driven by growth in mobile data consumption, 5G deployment, FCC spectrum availability and broadband expansion initiatives.

Most towers were acquired directly or indirectly from major U.S. carriers since 1999, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless predecessors. About 40% of towers Adjusted Site Rental Gross Margin comes from towers on owned land, including fee interests and perpetual easements, and about 60% from leased, subleased, managed or licensed land. About 75% of site rental operating costs are ground lease expenses. Sustaining capital expenditures are typically about 1% of net revenues. Competitors include American Tower and SBA Communications, other tower and small cell owners, and carriers that own their own towers. Competitors for services include site acquisition and zoning consultants, construction firms and equipment vendors. The company is regulated by the FCC and FAA and by state and local zoning authorities. It had about 4,000 employees as of January 31, 2026, about 2,500 of them in discontinued operations, all U.S.-based and with no collective bargaining agreements. A 2026 restructuring plan began in February 2026 to improve the efficiency of the tower business.