Crown Castle International Corp.

Crown Castle International Corp.
Public
Traded as
Industry Wireless communication services
Founded 1994 (1994) in Texas
Headquarters Houston, Texas, U.S.
Revenue Increase US$4,355.6 million (2017)
Increase US$1,044.0 million (2017)
Increase US$444.6 million (2017)
Total assets Increase US$32,229.6 million (2017)
Total equity Increase US$12,339.1 million (2017)
Number of employees
~4,500 (2018)
Website crowncastle.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

Crown Castle is America’s largest provider of shared communications infrastructure, with more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 60,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market (as of March 2018). The company’s nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure provides cities and communities connectivity to data, technology and wireless service. They work with wireless carriers, businesses, technology companies, governments, and communities to meet the growing demand for data.

A US-based company headquartered in Houston, Texas, and with 100+ offices nationwide, Crown Castle is an S&P 500 company listed on the NYSE with an enterprise value of ~$60B.[4]

In January of 2014, Crown Castle officially became a REIT.[5]

Communities

Demand for wireless connectivity continues to increase. With new technologies like 5G and IoT and a shift towards data-intensive apps (streaming video, social media, gaming, etc.), communications infrastructure provides reliable access to connect and keep communities safe.

To meet the demand, Crown Castle uses technologies like cell towers, small cell solutions (SCS), and fiber to enable proper coverage and capacity.

They have been building small cell solutions for over 15 years in more than 450 municipalities.[6]

Careers

Crown Castle employs more than 4,500 people across the country with offices nationwide. Since 2013, the company has more than doubled, adding more than 1,000 employees in 2018.

In 2017, Crown Castle was ranked in Houston Business Journal's Best Places to Work.[7]

History

On August 31, 2004 Crown Castle completed the sale of its UK subsidiary, Crown Castle UK, to National Grid Transco plc for $2.035 billion in cash[8][9] National Grid Transco plc was renamed as National Grid plc in July 2005, while Crown Castle UK was renamed National Grid Wireless in October 2005.

On January 12, 2007, Crown Castle completed the acquisition of Global Signal Inc., a rival U.S. tower operator which was based in Sarasota, Florida.[10]

On December 11, 2011, Crown Castle announced a definitive agreement to purchase NextG Networks, Inc. for about $1.0 billion. NextG had over 7,000 distributed antenna system nodes on-air at the time of the agreement with another 1,500 nodes under construction as well as rights to more than 4,600 miles of fiber optic cables.[11]

On September 28, 2012, Crown Castle entered a tower leasing agreement with T-Mobile USA. The deal leases 7,200 wireless towers to the company for a term of 28 years in exchange for $2.4 billion. After the deal ends in 2040, Crown Castle may be able to purchase the towers for an additional $2.4 billion.[12]

On October 20, 2013, Crown Castle entered a tower leasing agreement with AT&T Mobility. The deal leases 9,700 wireless towers to the company for a term of 28 years in exchange for $4.85 billion. Crown Castle also gained the right to acquire the towers outright in the future for $4.2 billion. 600 towers will be acquired outright by Crown Castle in the future. AT&T will pay $1,900 a month per site to access the towers with rent rising approximately 2% per year.[13]

In 2015, Crown Castle expanded into small cell technology to boost the capability and widen the scope of their network.[14][15] The acquisition of Quanta Fiber Networks (Sunesys) in 2015 ensured that the company had access to over 10,000 miles of fiber in key metro areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, Silicon Valley and Atlanta, this followed the 2014 acquisition of 24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network with over 800 miles of fiber along the East Coast of the United States.[16]

On July 19, 2017, Crown Castle signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lightower for approximately $7.1 billion in cash. Lightower is a fiber network operator primarily in the northeast United States. This transaction increases Crown castle's fiber network to approximately 60,000 route miles.[17] The buyout[18][19] had a significant impact on second-quarter earnings reported in late July. Revenue increased by 3.3% and small cells increased sales by 42%. Crown Castle also announced a $3.25 billion common stock offering as well as a $1.5 billion sale of convertible preferred shares to help finance the Lightower purchase.[20]

References

  1. "Crown Castle International". Berkshire Partners. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  2. "Crown Castle International Corp". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  3. "Crown Castle International 2017 Annual Report Form (10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 26, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  4. "About Us".
  5. "Investors". Archived from the original on 2013-12-22.
  6. "Community Members".
  7. "Careers".
  8. "National Grid buys TV masts firm". BBC NEWS. 2004-06-28. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  9. "Form 10-K". Crown Castle. 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2016-08-05. On June 28, 2004, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell its UK subsidiary (“CCUK”) to an affiliate of National Grid Transco Plc (“National Grid”). CCUK’s assets, liabilities, results of operations and cash flows are classified as amounts from discontinued operations for all periods presented. On August 31, 2004, the Company completed the sale of CCUK (see note 3).
  10. Crown Castle International Corp. - Crown Castle International Completes Acquisition of Global Signal
  11. Brow, Jay (2011-12-16). "Crown Castle Announces Agreement to Acquire NextG Networks". Crown Castle. Archived from the original on 2017-07-13. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  12. Rusli, Evelyn (2012-09-28). "T-Mobile Sells Rights to Towers for $2.4 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  13. De La Merced, Michael (2013-10-20). "AT&T in $4.85 Billion Tower Deal With Crown Castle". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  14. Daily, Investor's Business (2015-01-23). "Crown Castle Upside Seen In 'Small Cell' Expansion". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  15. "Crown Castle (CCI) Planning to Expand Small-Cell Operations". Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  16. "Crown Castle makes $1B bet on small cells with Quanta Fiber purchase | FierceWireless". www.fiercewireless.com. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  17. http://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/crown-castle-gets-crown-jewel-lightower-for-7-1b
  18. CNBC (2017-07-19). "Tower operator Crown Castle to buy Lightower for $7.1 billion". Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  19. "Tower operator Crown Castle to buy Lightower for $7.1 billion". Reuters. July 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  20. "Crown Castle International Corp. Makes a $7.1 Billion Fiber Deal". Fox Business. 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2017-09-03.


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