investors

HOUSTON, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Castle International Corp. (Nasdaq: TWRS) ("Crown Castle") today announced that its subsidiary, Crown Castle Australia Pty Limited ("Crown Castle Australia"), has signed a definitive agreement to purchase approximately 669 wireless communications towers from Vodafone Australia ("Vodafone") for approximately US$130 million.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2001 and includes an exclusive arrangement whereby Crown Castle Australia will have the option to acquire from Vodafone up to 600 additional towers that Vodafone constructs over the next six years. This transaction increases Crown Castle Australia's position as the largest independent tower operator with almost 1,400 towers in Australia and a strategic presence in all of Australia's licensed regions including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Crown Castle Australia is owned two-thirds by Crown Castle and one-third by Jump Capital, a New Zealand-based investment firm acting on behalf of a group of investors that includes Fay Richwhite. Crown Castle will fund two- thirds of the purchase price of the Vodafone towers and anticipates that Jump Capital will fund the remaining one-third.

"We are pleased to expand our presence in Australia with the acquisition of a nationwide tower portfolio that provides service to more than 1.7 million Australians," stated Ted B. Miller, Jr., Crown Castle Chairman and CEO. "With three newly licensed wireless operators deploying regional networks and three incumbent national carriers expanding their current 900 MHz networks and deploying new 1800 MHz networks, demand for tower sites in Australia continues to be very strong. With the addition of the Vodafone towers, Crown Castle will own the tower assets of two of the three incumbent wireless carriers in Australia, providing the three new carriers with unrivaled co-location opportunities and speed-to-market solutions."

"We're delighted to be working with Crown Castle as they are a valuable partner for us in continuing to develop our network's operational and geographic capability," commented Andrew Bissex, Managing Director of Vodafone Australia. "This transaction allows us to move away from managing civil network infrastructure and to focus on our core expertise of network operation and providing premium quality service to our growing customer base in Australia. This transaction also reflects global trends to place mobile infrastructure in the hands of independent and specialist operators like Crown Castle that are best able to leverage the value of the towers and ensure maximum co-location opportunities, for the benefit of all carriers."

OUTLOOK

The following statements are based on current expectations. These statements are forward looking, and actual results may differ materially. These statements do not include the potential impact of any mergers, acquisitions or other business combinations or divestitures that may be completed after the date of this press release.

Consummation of this agreement reinforces Crown Castle's confidence in its previously announced 2001 revenue estimate of $750 million to $800 million, and its previously announced 2001 EBTIDA estimate of $340 million to $350 million. Crown Castle is currently in the process of budgeting for the year 2001 and expects to provide a more detailed outlook on or before the release of its fourth quarter financial results. Crown Castle does not expect the Vodafone agreement to have any impact on its previously announced forecast for fiscal 2000.

Crown Castle engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced, shared wireless infrastructure. It 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 owns, operates, and manages over 13,000 wireless communication towers internationally. For more information on Crown Castle, visit: www.crowncastle.com.

This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information, including information set forth in the Outlook section, that are based on Crown Castle management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Although Crown Castle 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 the potential factors, which could affect Crown Castle's financial results, is included in the Risk Factors sections of the Crown Castle filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in previous press releases issued by Crown Castle.

Contacts: W. Benjamin Moreland, CFO

               Crown Castle International
               713-570-3000

               Ken Dennard / kdennard@easterly.com
               Lisa Elliott / lisae@easterly.com
               Easterly Investor Relations
               713-529-6600

SOURCE Crown Castle International Corp.

CONTACT: W. Benjamin Moreland, CFO of Crown Castle International Corp., 713-570-3000; or Ken Dennard, kdennard@easterly.com or Lisa Elliott, lisae@easterly.com, both of Easterly Investor Relations, for Crown Castle International Corp., 713-529-6600/