investors

HOUSTON, March 16, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) today announced it has filed a Form 12b-25 with the SEC for a fifteen-day extension of the March 16, 2005 filing deadline for its 2004 Form 10-K. Crown Castle has filed an extension in order to finalize corrections in the accounting treatment relating to certain lease accounting matters and to complete the preparation and review of its filing following its completion of a review of its lease accounting practices. Crown Castle expects to file its 2004 Form 10-K on or before March 31, 2005.

Due solely to the previously announced restatement related to its lease accounting practices, Crown Castle expects to report in its 2004 Form 10-K a material weakness in internal controls.

Crown Castle International Corp. engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced shared wireless infrastructure, including extensive networks of towers. Crown Castle offers significant wireless communications coverage to 68 of the top 100 United States markets and to substantially all of the Australian population. Crown Castle owns, operates and manages over 10,600 and over 1,300 wireless communication sites in the U.S. and Australia, respectively. For more information on Crown Castle visit: http://www.crowncastle.com .

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management's current expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, plans, projections and estimates regarding (i) the timing of the completion and filing of our Form 10-K, (ii) the results and effect of the review of lease accounting and (iii) the results of the review of our internal controls. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including prevailing market conditions and other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential risk factors which could affect our results is included in our filings with the SEC.

Contacts:  W. Benjamin Moreland, CFO
                Jay Brown, Treasurer
                Crown Castle International Corp.
                713-570-3000

SOURCE Crown Castle International Corp.

W. Benjamin Moreland, CFO, or Jay Brown, Treasurer, both of Crown Castle
International Corp., +1-713-570-3000

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