The companies listed below represent the largest independent national and regional tower companies in the United States. Also included below are the nation’s major wireless carriers and their tower portfolios.
American Tower scored the top spot as the nation’s No. 1 tower company, counting more than 23,000 towers across the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. Coming in second, just behind American Tower, is Crown Castle, followed by Global Tower Partners with around 10,000 towers.
As for the nation’s major wireless carriers, AT&T Mobility came out on top with more than 9,000 towers. Coming in second is T-Mobile USA Inc. with around 5,400 towers, and Alltel Communications L.L.C. rounds out the top three with 3,700 towers.
During the first quarter, SBA agreed to acquire up to 430 towers from TowerCo L.L.C. for up to $193.5 million. In January, DukeNet Communications agreed to acquire 115 tower sites from Vangard Wireless.
The RCR Wireless News “By-the-Numbers” list is the property of RCR Wireless News and should not be construed as an endorsement of the companies listed below. Ranking information from this feature cannot be reprinted without written permission.
|
Tower Companies
|
# of Towers
|
Markets
|
Carrier partners
|
| American Tower |
23,066
|
United States, Mexico, Brazil
|
unavailable
|
| Crown Castle |
23,000
|
United States, Australia
|
unavailable
|
| Global Tower Partners |
10,154
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| SBA Communications |
6,325
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| Subcarrier Communications |
969
|
United States
|
Verizon, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, AT&T, Clearwire, MetroPCS, USA Mobility
|
| Message Center Management |
893
|
United States
|
Cingular, Cricket, Dobson, MetroPCS, Clearwire, SkyTel, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless
|
| Clear Channel Communications |
700**
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| Optasite |
527
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| TowerCo |
497
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| Vangard Wireless |
402
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| Tower Ventures |
363
|
United States
|
Nextel, Cellular South, Verizon, Cricket, Cingular, Clearwire, T-Mobile
|
| Lightower |
350
|
United States
|
unavailable
|
| Diamond Communications |
270
|
United States with Southeast focus
|
unavailable
|
| DukeNet Communications |
140
|
Midwest, Southeast
|
unavailable
|
| Performance Development Group |
83
|
Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota
|
unavailable
|
| Industrial Communications |
71
|
United States–Northeast and Florida
|
unavailable
|
| Horvath Communications |
67
|
Midwest, Pennsylvania, Texas
|
Cingular, Centennial, MetroPCS, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, Cricket, T-Mobile, Revol, U.S. Cellular
|
| New Horizon Towers |
53
|
Texas, Louisiana, Iowa
|
unavailable
|
| Collier Enterprises II L.L.C. |
15
|
Florida
|
unavailable
|
| Foresite |
2
|
Southeast United States
|
unavailable
|
|
Carrier Tower Holdings
|
# of Towers
|
Markets
|
Carrier partners
|
| AT&T Towers |
9,185
|
United States
|
n/a
|
| T-Mobile USA |
5486
|
United States
|
n/a
|
| Alltel |
3,700
|
United States
|
n/a
|
| Sprint Nextel |
5,000*
|
United States
|
n/a
|
| Verizon Wireless |
3,000 – 4,000*
|
United States
|
n/a
|
| Source: Company Web sites | |||
| Notes: During the first quarter, SBA agreed to acquire up to 430 towers from TowerCo L.L.C. for up to $193.5 million. In January, DukeNet Communications agreed to acquire 115 tower sites from Vangard Wireless. | |||
| *As of March 3, 2008 | |||
| **The number of towers used to rank Clear Channel Communications includes its broadcast towers only. The company claims it has more than 60,000 sites available for co-location when its billboard properties are also taken into account. | |||
