investors

OCTOBER 19, 1999 – HOUSTON, TEXAS – Crown Castle International Corp. (NASDAQ: TWRS) today announced that Metricom, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCOM) has signed a ten-year master license agreement (MLA) for up to 500 wireless data sites on Crown Castle’s domestic communications towers.  Metricom is expected to co-locate Wired Access Points (WAPs), which is integral to its high-speed wireless data network, in order to launch their 128 kbps service next summer.  Rental rates will be between $1,500 per month and $2,100 per month depending on the region where a site is located and the configuration of the site.

“This is the first of what we believe will be many large MLAs with wireless service providers who seek to rapidly launch or enhance their network coverage simultaneously in multiple markets,” stated Ted B. Miller, Jr., Crown Castle Chairman and CEO.  “Our success in acquiring and integrating the most attractive tower clusters has led to our unique ability to offer significant population coverage to wireless service providers in 21 of the top 50 US markets.  We are generating significantly larger leasing opportunities than we had initially anticipated, especially from wireless data service providers that were not included in our leasing projections when valuing our transactions over the past year.

“Metricom's decision to utilize our tower clusters validates the acquisition strategy we have pursued over the past two years, both in the US and abroad,” continued Mr. Miller.  “Adding tenants such as Metricom to our existing tower base drives revenue and cashflow faster than any other source of growth in this industry.  Additionally, this agreement is indicative of how Crown Castle’s tower clusters are well positioned to capitalize on burgeoning 3^rd Generation (3G) broadband wireless opportunities globally.”

  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 7,000 wireless communication towers internationally. For more information on Crown Castle International, visit: www.crowncastle.com.

Metricom, Inc. is a leading provider of mobile data networking and technology. The Company's Ricochet service provides mobile professionals with high-performance, cost-effective untethered access to the Internet, private Intranets, local-area networks, e-mail, and other online services. Ricochet is generally available in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, DC metropolitan areas; in select areas of New York City; on select corporate campuses; and at gate areas at major airports throughout the United States. For more information, call 1-800 Go-Wireless.

This press release contains various 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.