Crown Castle, a leading wireless tower operator, has reported 2 percent drop in revenue to $1.588 billion during the first quarter of 2024.
The telecom tower company revealed that capital expenditures during the quarter were $320 million. It spent $259 million in Fiber and $33 million for Towers.
Crown Castle’s 2024 outlook for discretionary capital expenditures and prepaid rent additions remains unchanged. It is targeting discretionary capital expenditure of $1.5 billion — $1.6 billion, including $1.4 billion in the Fiber segment and $180 million in the Towers segment. Prepaid rent additions are expected to be $430 million in 2024, including $350 million from Fiber and $80 million from Towers.
Crown Castle, which competes with telecom tower industry companies such as American Tower and SBA Communications, has reaffirmed its 2024 forecast of $6.37 billion in revenue. The expected 2 percent drop in sales is despite Sprint cancellations.
The deployment of 5G services by major wireless carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile US, and Verizon Communications has fueled demand for communication infrastructure, including wireless towers, essential for supporting high-speed data transmission.
Last week, Crown Castle welcomed Steven Moskowitz as its new CEO, succeeding interim chief Anthony Melone. In a strategic move, co-founder Ted Miller suggested in February that Crown Castle could potentially realize up to $15 billion by divesting its fiber assets to fund upgrades to its tower assets.