Tower Companies Report Continued Increase in Activity
All three tower companies reported steady growth in application activity, with American Tower and SBA noting a clear shift toward colocations. While volumes are rising, much of this activity has not yet translated into organic revenue growth, reflecting the lag between signed applications and revenue commencement. Tower executives also highlighted favorable conditions for carriers to expand network investment, citing the liquidity boost from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax changes and heightened customer churn driving competition.

Direct-to-Device Satellites Draw Increased Attention in Q2 Discussions

Direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service was a common theme across earnings calls. Dish announced a partnership with MDA Space to build a LEO satellite constellation targeting commercial service by 2029. Dish signaled a more aggressive belief that satellites could eventually replace portions of terrestrial networks, while American Tower and SBA characterized satellites as complementary to towers rather than a threat.

Carriers Continue to Focus on Converged Offerings

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all emphasized the convergence of mobile and home internet through fiber and fixed wireless. T-Mobile also announced a new MVNO partnership with cable providers aimed at small and medium businesses, expanding bundled offerings.
In postpaid phone net adds, T-Mobile again led the market with 830,000, compared with 401,000 for AT&T and a 9,000 net loss for Verizon.

Market Watch: Industry Shifts That Could Impact Tower Owners

• US Cellular Rebrands as Tower-Only Company: T-Mobile’s acquisition of US Cellular’s wireless business closed in August. US Cellular has become a pure-play tower company, rebranding as Array Digital Infrastructure.
• Dish Network Faces FCC Scrutiny: Dish disclosed that FCC review of its spectrum licenses has created uncertainty, effectively pausing its network buildout. Analysts continue to question the company’s long-term financial stability.
• Cable Companies Continue Gaining Wireless Market Share: Comcast and Charter added nearly 900,000 mobile lines this quarter. Both also announced a new MVNO partnership with T-Mobile targeting small and mid-sized businesses.

Key Takeaway for Cell Tower Owners
Tower activity is climbing from recent lows, but the revenue impact will take time to materialize. Favorable tax policy and competitive churn are creating conditions for more network investment, yet headwinds remain: Dish’s uncertainty, US Cellular’s industry exit, and the growing relevance of satellite services.

The Bottom Line: Tower assets remain highly valuable — but maximizing their long-term potential requires active lease management and staying ahead of shifting carrier and technology strategies.

EARNINGS CALL SUMMARIES

Crown Castle reported 4.7% organic growth in the first quarter and increased its full year projection to 4.7% organic growth, excluding Sprint churn. The company stated that it was seeing activity distributed across its footprint and there were no notable changes in the mix of amendment vs. colocation activity. Finally, the company noted that the increased churn experienced by the carriers had the potential to drive network investment.

SBA reported a 5.0% gross, 1.0% net domestic organic growth rate year-over-year due to 4.0% churn, of which 2.6% was related to Sprint consolidation. Outsized Sprint churn is expected to continue in 2025 and 2026 before a decrease in 2027. The company stated that it was their sixth sequential quarter of bookings increases domestically, and they continued to see a trend of colocation activity increased relative to amendments. Finally, the company noted that the One Big Beautiful Bill will improve the liquidity of the carriers which could in turn lead to additional network investment.

American Tower reported 3.7% net domestic organic tenant billing growth year-over-year, or over 5% when excluding the impact of Sprint churn. The company stated that it had seen a 200% year-over-year increase in colocation applications, although even with this increase colocations were still around 10% of total application volume. Finally, the company noted that it views satellite as a niche market that is a solution best fit for areas where a terrestrial site would serve less than 100 pops.

Verizon Wireless reported a total postpaid phone subscriber net loss of 9,000 for the quarter, driven by a net loss of 51,000 in the consumer segment and gain of 42,000 in its business segment, as well as a fixed wireless subscriber net gain of 278,000. Capex expectations for 2025 remain around $18 billion, and the company still is ahead of schedule in its goal to upgrade 80-90% of planned sites with C-Band by the end of the year. Finally, the company noted that it is rolling out its MDU fixed wireless solution in the near term and expects it to start contributing meaningfully in 2026.

AT&T reported postpaid wireless subscriber net adds of 401,000 for the quarter as well as 203,000 subscriber additions for AT&T Internet Air, its fixed wireless service. Additionally, the company noted that the regulatory and political environment as they currently stand are ripe for investment and growth.

T-Mobile reported postpaid wireless subscriber net adds of 830,000 for the quarter, their highest second quarter in history, and fixed wireless net adds of 454,000. The company stated that they have added 1,000 new sites so far this year and plan to add 4,000 total by the end of the year, not including the US Cellular transaction, and many of these new sites are in rural areas. The company closed on its acquisition of US Cellular’s wireless operations and a portion of spectrum on August 1. Finally, the company announced that they are partnering with cable companies to provide wireless in a bundled offer for small and medium businesses.

Dish reported that they added 212,000 wireless subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total mobile subscriber count to 7.4 million, with no breakout between postpaid and prepaid. Within the quarter, the FCC initiated a review of the company’s spectrum licenses which has caused them to effectively freeze decisions on their 5G network buildout due to uncertainty. Finally, the company announced a partnership to provide direct-to-device satellite cellular service, expected to be offered commercially by 2029. The company stated in the near term this satellite service will be complementary to terrestrial wireless service, however in the longer term it has the potential to replace hundreds of thousands or millions of cell sites worldwide.

US Cellular closed on its deal with T-Mobile, to sell its wireless operations and a portion of its spectrum, and additional spectrum sales to other carriers are in progress. The remaining company is a pure-play tower company with 4,400 cell towers and is being rebranded as Array Digital Infrastructure.

Comcast and Charter reported that they added 378,000 and 500,000 wireless subscribers, respectively, for the quarter. Both companies announced partnerships with T-Mobile to provide wireless in a bundled offer for small and medium businesses. Finally, Charter referred to themselves as a HMNO (Hybrid Mobile Network Operator) due to their deployment of CBRS alongside their MVNO relationships.