investors

FEBRUARY 22, 2000 – HOUSTON, TEXAS – Crown Castle International Corp. (NASDAQ:TWRS) today reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 1999.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 1999 increased 88 percent to $114.2 million compared to $60.8 million during the fourth quarter of 1998. Tower cash flow for the fourth quarter increased 64 percent to $43.5 million, up from $26.6 million in last year’s fourth quarter. Fourth quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, grew 87 percent to $47.3 million compared to $25.3 million in last year’s fourth quarter. Fourth quarter loss per share before restructuring charges was $0.24 compared to a loss per share of $0.09 in last year’s fourth quarter. The Company added approximately 780 tenants from acquisitions and 950 new tenants in the fourth quarter of 1999 compared to approximately 180 tenants from acquisitions and 260 new tenants added in the fourth quarter of 1998.

Revenues for 1999 increased 206 percent to $345.8 million from $113.1 million during 1998. Tower cash flow for 1999 increased 213 percent to $140.0 million from $44.7 million in 1998. EBITDA for 1999 grew 277 percent to $139.8 million compared to $37.1 million in 1998. Loss per share before restructuring charges for 1999 was $0.91 compared to a loss per share of $1.02 in 1998. The Company added approximately 7,250 tenants from acquisitions and 2,550 new tenants in 1999 compared to approximately 350 tenants from acquisitions and 500 new tenants added in 1998.

"Highlights during the quarter included our announcement of the largest tower transaction to date in the independent wireless infrastructure industry with the announced acquisition of GTE’s towers, as well as the announcement of two large master lease agreements with Metricom and Nextel for over 1700 sites," stated Ted B. Miller, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Crown Castle International.

"During 1999, major wireless carriers in the US and UK such as GTE, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Powertel and One-2-One outsourced their tower networks to Crown Castle," continued Mr. Miller. "The result is that wireless providers now have the opportunity to deploy their networks on towers which only twelve months ago were not readily available to them. With these clustered tower networks integrated into Crown Castle, we now have the ability to more rapidly deploy, expand and in-fill existing carrier networks as well as enable new technologies to deploy with turnkey or substantial coverage in 70 of the top 100 markets in the US and across nearly the entire population base of the UK.

"Co-location availability on these outsourced tower networks not only enables rapid deployment, it also allows more efficient capital allocation for wireless carriers and the need for fewer towers through carrier sharing. The result is more robust coverage and network capacity to support increased subscriber demand and more rapid deployment of new technologies through co-location. Given the operating leverage of this business, adding tenants through master lease agreements to our existing tower base drives cash flow faster than any other source of growth in this industry, as evidenced by our fourth quarter and full year results," concluded Mr. Miller.

Crown Castle International Corp. is a leading provider of communication sites and wireless network services and provides an array of related infrastructure and network support services to the wireless communications and radio and television broadcasting industries in the United States and United Kingdom. Pro forma for all closed and previously announced transactions, Crown Castle International owns, operates and manages over 10,000 wireless communication towers internationally. For more information on Crown Castle International, visit: www.crowncastle.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on management’s belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Although the Company 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. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential factors, which could affect the Company’s financial results, is included in the Risk Factors sections of the Company’s filings with the Securities Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

		Three Months Ended December 31,				Year Ended December 31,
		1999		1998		1999		1998
Net revenues:
Site rental and broadcast transmission		$ 84,759		$ 46,572		$ 267,894		$ 75,028
Network services and other		29,437		14,245		77,865		38,050
Total net revenues		114,196		60,817		345,759		113,078
Costs of operations:
Site rental and broadcast transmission		36,418		17,856		114,436		26,254
Network services and other		15,443		7,330		42,312		21,564
Total costs of operations		51,861		25,186		156,748		47,818
General and administrative		13,747		8,549		43,823		23,571
Corporate development		1,269		1,787		5,403		4,625
Restructuring charges		3,831		—		5,645		—
Non-cash compensation charges		501		1,397		2,173		12,758
Depreciation and amortization		40,737		20,134		130,106		37,239
Operating income (loss)		2,250		3,764		1,861		(12,933)
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate		—		—		—		2,055
Interest and other income (expense)		4,929		1,927		17,731		4,220
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs		(38,560)		(11,508)		(110,908)		(29,089)
Loss before income taxes, minority interests and cumulative effect of change in accounting principle		(31,381)		(5,817)		(91,316)		(35,747)
Provision for income taxes		(7)		(156)		(275)		(374)
Minority interests		(1,569)		(1,326)		(2,756)		(1,654)
Loss before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle		(32,957)		(7,299)		(94,347)		(37,775)
Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle for costs of start-up activities		—		—		(2,414)		—
Net loss		(32,957)		(7,299)		(96,761)		(37,775)
Dividends on preferred stock		(9,035)		(1,063)		(28,881)		(5,411)
Net loss after deduction of dividends on preferred stock		$ (41,992)		$ (8,362)		$ (125,642)		$ (43,186)
Per common share – basic and diluted:
Loss before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle		$ (0.27)		$ (0.09)		$ (0.94)		$ (1.02)
Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle		—		—		(0.02)		—
Net loss		$ (0.27)		$ (0.09)		$ (0.96)		$ (1.02)
Common shares outstanding – basic and diluted		156,662		94,284		131,466		42,518
EBITDA (before restructuring charges):
Site rental and broadcast transmission		$ 43,531		$ 26,621		$ 139,966		$ 44,661
Network services and other		3,788		(1,326)		(181)		(7,597)
Total EBITDA		$ 47,319		$ 25,295		$ 139,785		$ 37,064