investors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2000--Crown Castle International Corp. (Nasdaq:TWRS) today announced that its subsidiary, Crown Castle UK Limited, has reached an agreement with British Telecommunications plc (BT) to lease space on as many as 4,000 BT exchange sites throughout the United Kingdom. Crown Castle expects to invest approximately $325 million over the next two years developing the BT site portfolio for the deployment of third generation (3G) wireless services. A key term of the agreement is Crown Castle's ability to access BT Wholesale's fiber network, providing wireless operators with immediate, high capacity connectivity.

The new sites, including key urban and rooftop locations throughout the UK, will be integrated into Crown Castle's existing portfolio of more than 2,300 sites in the UK to provide a network that will offer operators such as BT Cellnet, One2One, Vodafone, Orange and Hutchison 3G immediate coverage of large population areas. Crown Castle and BT will also make available their world-class technical expertise to help operators plan, construct, operate and maintain their wireless networks.

"We are delighted to be entering into this new phase of our relationship with BT," stated Ted B. Miller, Jr., chairman and CEO of Crown Castle International. "Our premier portfolio of independent tower sites, when coupled with BT's unsurpassed fiber network, creates an unrivaled infrastructure that will serve the UK's demand for 3G wireless services. Once again, Crown Castle has the first mover advantage with regard to successful deployment of 3G services."

"This new venture will harness the unique strengths of both BT and Crown Castle and will result in a service from which everyone will benefit," stated Paul Reynolds, CEO of BT Wholesale. "Speed to market will be essential for all of the 3G operators, and we will now be ideally positioned to offer our customers a fully integrated, cost effective solution, including the very best in network connectivity."

Crown Castle has scheduled a conference call for Nov. 16, 2000 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss this release. To participate in the call, dial: 1-913/981-4912 at least ten minutes before the conference call begins and ask for the Crown Castle conference call. Investors, analysts and the general public will also have the opportunity to listen to a live audio simulcast of this call with an accompanying slide presentation available on the Company's Web site at www.crowncastle.com. Please visit the Crown Castle Web site at least fifteen minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the live broadcast ends and will be available until Nov. 23, 2000. To access the replay, dial: 1-719/457-0820, enter the pass code 407939 and follow the given instructions.

Crown Castle International Corp. engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced, shared wireless infrastructure. The Company offers near-universal broadcast coverage in the United Kingdom and significant wireless communications coverage to 68 of the top 100 US markets, more than 95 percent of the UK population and more than 92 percent of the Australian population. Pro forma for all closed and previously announced transactions, Crown Castle International owns, operates and manages over 12,000 wireless communication towers internationally. For more information on Crown Castle International, visit: www.crowncastle.com.

British Telecommunications plc is one of the world's leading providers of telecommunications services and one of the largest private sector companies in Europe. Its principal activities include local, long distance and international telecommunications services, mobile communications, Internet services and IT solutions. In the UK, BT serves 28 million exchange lines and more than seven million mobile customers. International direct-dialed telephone service is available to more than 200 countries and other overseas territories, covering 99 percent of the world's 800 million telephones.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the belief of, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to, management of Crown Castle International Corp. ("CCIC"). Although CCIC believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including risk and uncertainties relating to (a) revenues from and timing of deployment by 3G operators and other wireless carriers on the BT sites, (b) costs and expenses associated with development and operation of the BT sites including amounts paid to BT by CCIC and (c) demand for the BT sites and high capacity fiber connectivity at the sites. Should one or more of the risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential factors, which could affect CCIC's financial results, is included in the Risk Factors sections of CCIC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in previous press releases issued by CCIC.