Crown Castle
Annual Report 2000

Plain-text annual report

CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL A NN UA L REPO RT 2000 C O R P O R A T E P R O F I L E Crown Castle International Corp. engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced shared wireless infrastructure, including extensive networks of towers and rooftops as well as analog and digital audio and television broadcast transmission systems. In an industry that is experiencing both rapid growth and consolidation, we are a network catalyst, linking together the various parts. Our towers provide the vital wireless pathways to the leased fiber ring, which provides the vast capacity required to backhaul tomorrow’s network traffic. With more than 75 years of experience in engineering and operating broadcast transmission networks, and more than 20 years of experience in the ownership, leasing, design and deployment of wireless communications sites and systems, Crown Castle is recognized as the technology leader in our sector. Crown Castle is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with operating companies in the United States, U.K. and Australia. S H A R E D W I R E L E S S I N F R A S T R U C T U R E I S s h a p i n g t h e w i r e l e s s w o r l d S M PDA Cellular Tower Tall Tower Cellular Tower Cellular Tower Mobile Phone Mobile Switching Center Office Building F I B E R R I N G Television Studio Central Office Cellular Tower Mobile Phone Internet PSTN Television Tall Tower Cellular Tower Located at Central Office Mobile Phone F I N A N C I A L H I G H L I G H T S (millions of dollars) Net Revenues: Years Ended December 31, 1998 1999 2000 Site rental and broadcast transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ Network services and other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.0 38.1 $ 113.1 EBITDA: Site rental and broadcast transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ Network services and other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 44.7 (7.6) 37.1 $ $ $ $ 267.9 77.9 345.8 140.0 (0.2) 139.8 $ $ $ $ 446.1 203.1 649.2 221.2 25.9 247.1 Total sites owned and managed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,608 7,488 12,918 Capital expenditures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 138.8 $ 293.8 $ 636.5 Total assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,523.2 Total debt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Redeemable preferred stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total stockholders’ equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429.7 201.1 737.6 3,836.7 1,542.3 422.9 1,617.7 6,439.8 2,602.7 842.7 2,420.9 Acquisition History (number of sites) Market Capitalization (millions of dollars) Net Worth History (millions of dollars) EBITDA (millions of dollars) 12,918 6,545 6,498 3,264 247.1 7,488 2,041 1,608 453 214 12.96 12.97 12.98 12.99 12.00 404 32 12.96 12.97 8.98 IPO 3,050 1,675 139.8 37.1 3.5 1.9 939 203 15 12.98 12.99 12.00 12.96 12.97 12.98 12.99 12.00 12.96 12.97 12.98 12.99 12.00 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 1 D E A R S H A R E H O L D E R S : 2000 encompassed exciting developments on many fronts amid a difficult stock market environment. I am pleased to report that Crown Castle acquired a number of strategic assets during the year, integrated them successfully, and achieved our financial targets. Crown Castle once again met aggressive internal economic and project goals: (i) achieving our revenue and EBITDA targets, (ii) inte- grating our acquired tower portfolio, and (iii) continuing to expand our business into new products and geographies. Fueled by our vision for success, Crown Castle has maintained the momentum required to remain on the leading edge of our rapidly evolving industry. K E Y G L O B A L M A R K E T S Since Crown Castle’s inception in 1994, our mission has been to design, deploy, own and operate the world’s most technologically advanced, shared communications infrastructure. Since our early days with only a few hundred wireless communications towers in the United States, we have expanded rapidly in size, geographic scope and technological lead- ership. Today, the Company’s unparalleled coverage footprint includes: ° near-universal broadcast coverage and more than 95% wireless com- munications coverage in the United Kingdom, ° a significant wireless communications presence in 68 of the 100 top markets in the United States, ° wireless communications coverage of more than 92% of the Australian population. S I G N I F I C A N T M I L E S T O N E S Crown Castle continued to experience tremendous momentum in 2000, achieving a number of significant milestones in scale, scope and technology. ° Scale. We maintained our leadership position as the largest inde- pendent shared communications infrastructure owner in the world, closing the year with 12,918 towers. Broken down by country, this translated to 9,872 towers in the United States, 2,330 towers in the United Kingdom and 716 in Australia. During 2000, we integrated more than 5,400 sites into our organization, strengthening Crown Castle’s reputation as the acknowledged leader in site integration. Without ques- tion, effective site integration is one of the most complex issues facing Ted Miller Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Crown Castle International Towers Integrated Crown Castle integrated 5,430 towers into its networks in 2000. 5,880 5,430 1,155 239 97 98 99 00 2 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR Towers Constructed New towers built increased 30% in 2000. 1,178 909 194 32 97 98 99 00 Wireless Telecom Global demand for wireless serv- ices continues to grow unabated, with world subscribers projected to reach 1.22 billion by 2005. In the United States, wireless is expected to increase from 264 billion to 1 trillion Minutes of Use (MOU) by 2005, whereas in the same period, wireline use will decline from current levels of 2.16 trillion to 1.42 trillion MOU. CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 3 Digital Broadcast Revenues (millions of dollars) Digital broadcast revenue continues to increase as a per- centage of U.K. total revenues. 43.8 38.2 10.5 98 99 00 Digital Broadcast With more than 75 years of broadcast experience, Crown Castle is internationally acclaimed for launching the world’s first commercial Digital Terrestrial Television and Digital Audio Broadcast transmission networks in the United Kingdom in 1998. Industrial countries around the globe are trending toward similar digital television platforms, and Crown Castle is at the forefront of design, devel- opment and implementation of this trend through technological leadership, superior availability and performance, and turnkey engineering, deployment and network management. 4 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR our industry, and leading information technology (IT) O P E R A T I O N S R E V I E W systems are instrumental in our ability to successfully absorb rapid site Crown Castle’s operations during 2000 growth while also efficiently maintaining and operating, constructing and were characterized by several noteworthy marketing our ever-expanding portfolio. developments in the United Kingdom, ° Scope. Crown Castle’s service offerings have been increased signifi- United States and Australia as we: cantly as we have continued to expand our turnkey design/deploy/ ° expanded our unparalleled coverage foot- own/operate model from the broadcast arena to the telecom world, as print to an even more enviable level, reflected in the recent completion of our first fully outsourced ° achieved a number of significant milestones wireless network in Northern Ireland. ° Technology. Third generation (3G) wireless mobile multimedia in size, scale, scope and technology, ° became more operationally robust in (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Services, or UMTS) — the con- our systems, vergence of voice, high-speed data and video — is one of the most ° fine-tuned our efficiency and expediency exciting technologies in the marketplace. Five licenses for 3G wireless in integrating towers, and services were auctioned in the United Kingdom during 2000, selling for ° expanded our business into new products an astounding $35 billion. The auction was largely and strategic geographies. responsible for some of the sell-off in the market for telecom stocks with investors concerned whether carriers can build the networks quickly, generate revenues and deliver returns on their huge capital investments. Crown Castle is uniquely positioned as an ideal partner to participate in the implementation of this revolutionary technology with rapid deployment, and we have already secured contracts with two of the license holders. K E Y D E V E L O P M E N T S A N D A C H I E V E M E N T S The accompanying highlights provide an overview of our 2000 endeavors focused on increasing shareholder value while enhancing the services we offer customers. ° Office of the Chairman. In April 2000, we formed an Office of the Chairman with a core objective of establishing a global strategic focus for our business ventures. As Chairman, I work closely with five key executives that comprise the Office of the Chairman to ensure that every decision we make is looked at from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. Chuck Green, our Executive Vice President of Global Finance, is dedicated to raising capital, and George Reese, Executive Vice President – International, is dedicated to identifying merger and acqui- sition transactions. John Kelly, President & COO of our global organiza- tion, exhibits extraordinary leadership in strategically assimilating our interests worldwide. Alan Rees, our Executive Vice President – Technology, focuses on the issues of technology, particularly important CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 5 as the telecommunications industry becomes more integrated. Blake Hawk, our Executive Vice President and General Counsel, facilitates the integration of our global transactions. ° Strategic Acquisitions. At the onset of 2000, Crown Castle’s clustered footprints encompassed 7,488 towers. By year-end, strategic acquisi- tions enabled us to increase that count 73% to 12,918 towers, positioning us as the industry’s largest independent owner, operator and consolidator. A time line of our acquisition highlights included: January 2000 In connection with our joint venture with GTE Wireless (an indirect subsidiary of Verizon Communications) announced in November 1999 — the world’s largest tower transaction encompassing 2,300 towers — we closed the first tranche of 637 towers on January 31, 2000. By December we had closed the remaining 1,663 towers from the original GTE Wireless transaction and an additional 500 sites from GTE Wireless’s acquisition of Ameritech, representing almost one-third of our U.S. assets and approximately 52% of our new assets as we moved into 2001. March 2000 Crown Castle entered the Australian market through an agreement with Cable & Wireless Optus (Optus) to purchase 716 wireless communications towers reaching more than 90% of the population, includ- ing an exclusive right to develop all future tower sites for Optus over the next six years. As a result, Crown Castle became the largest independent tower operator in Australia, with a strategic presence in each of Australia’s major cities — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. June 2000 Crown Castle was awarded the contract by Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Telecommunications (BT), for the network rollout of Europe's first planned 3G network on the Isle of Man, Revenues (millions of dollars) Revenues increased more than 85% in 2000. 649 encompassing turnkey project management, installation and commis- sioning of the 3G radio access network, including site planning, design and build. June 2000 The design, build and installation of a new digital radio multiplex for Switchdigital was completed by Crown Castle in a record two months, with Crown Castle providing Switchdigital with complete visibility of the monitoring, diagnostic and control features of the multiplex equipment and transmission network. July 2000 We acquired Terracom, a preeminent U.K. site acquisition firm that identifies sites for our customers and handles issues relating to building, certification and construction. 346 113 31 97 98 99 00 6 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR Site Rental Revenues (millions of dollars) Site rental revenue increased more than 120% in 2000. 320 143 35 11 97 98 99 00 Third Generation Technology Crown Castle is strategically positioned to revolutionize “Internet-on-the-go” third genera- tion technology. Also known as 3G, the convergence of voice, high-speed data and video is one of the most exciting tech- nologies in the rapidly advancing marketplace. Building on a track record of excellence in telecom and broadcast, Crown Castle is uniquely positioned to offer rapid deployment, turnkey design and build out, extensive engineered coverage and total outsourcing for new entrants to the market. CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 7 U N I T E D S T A T E S Superior Technology. Our Network Operations Center in Pittsburgh, Additional Tower Sites. Building on our relationship with GTE, which Pennsylvania, which was completed in 1999, reinforces Crown Castle’s began as a joint venture announced in November 1999 for the world’s technological leadership. This state-of-the-art facility provides 24-hour, largest tower transaction of 2,300 towers, Crown Castle acquired 2,800 seven-day-a-week central monitoring of the various alarm points at our additional portfolio assets during 2000. We consider this transaction, as sites (i.e., tower lights required by FAA on specific towers, electrical well as every acquisition during 2000 and prior, to be a significant vote of power and temperature alarms, and monitors the electronics for digital confidence in our Company’s ability to translate an outstanding historical microwave and broadcast). track record into continued excellence in meeting carriers’ needs. Crown Castle’s proprietary “Towers that Talk” program enables our Strategically Clustered Footprints. Crown Castle has led the industry towers to communicate wirelessly through our Network Operations in strategically clustering our footprints, solving the capacity and Center to highly knowledgeable field service personnel. These diagnos- expansion requirements for carriers and ranking our Company as the ticians utilize sophisticated pocket devices to identify problems and industry’s leader. wirelessly initiate a preprogrammed series of corrective actions. As a ° At year-end, 9,872 of our 12,918 towers were located in the result, Crown Castle avoids disruptions in service to our carriers and United States. their customers... often without going to the actual tower site. ° Representing a significant presence in the United States, Crown The Company’s ability to utilize technology has enabled Crown Castle was strategically positioned in 68 of the top 100 wireless Castle to increase revenues at our tower sites through expanded communications markets at the close of 2000. monitoring capabilities, superior maintenance and enhanced network operations services to our customers. 8 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR November 2000 We entered a new phase of our relationship with BT Number of New Tenants Added with an agreement to lease space on as many as 4,000 BT exchange sites throughout the United Kingdom for the deployment of 2G and Increasing revenue and Crown Castle shareholder 3G wireless services. This agreement gave Crown Castle access to value by adding new tenants BT’s fiber network, providing wireless operators with immediate, high- capacity connectivity. 5,464 October 2000 Crown Castle acquired SiteSafe, a leader in electromagnetic emissions certification, adding a valuable environmental and revenue- generating service to our model. December 2000 Increasing our position as the largest independent tower operator in Australia, Crown Castle agreed to purchase approximately 669 wireless communications towers from Vodafone Australia, with the option to acquire up to 600 additional towers over the next six years. While slightly outside the reporting period, we are also excited to share important news regarding recent transactions: February 2001 We agreed to lease space through a take-or-pay con- tract to Hutchison 3G UK Limited (Hutchison) on a minimum of 4,000 Crown Castle sites (1,000 sites per year for four years) throughout the United Kingdom for the deployment of Hutchison’s 3G wireless network. February 2001 During the same period, we also agreed to lease space through a take-or-pay contract with BT Cellnet on a minimum of 1,500 Crown Castle sites (500 sites per year for three years) throughout the United Kingdom for BT Cellnet’s 3G network rollout. April 2001 We completed our first fully outsourced wireless network with the launch of One 2 One’s network in Northern Ireland, represent- ing both a watershed event and the first time a global transaction of this type has been accomplished by a wireless service provider. The project encompassed the design and build out of more than 200 sites. ° Tower Integration. With eleven major acquisitions under our belt, Crown Castle has polished an effective integration formula that is easily transferable across national boundaries and cultures. Our integration processes and procedures have been executed on four continents, enabling Crown Castle to (i) offer carriers access to those towers with- in record time frames and (ii) assist in carrier expansions, which (iii) has grown the revenue on those towers by leasing up quickly to new tenants. ° Aggressive Leasing. Return on existing assets remained our number one objective as we focused on leasing up our strategic clusters of towers. This initiative was driven in the United Kingdom by a consistent sales effort and the addition of the One 2 One towers to the market. In 2,630 587 98 99 00 John Kelly President and Chief Operating Officer CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 9 Network Services Revenues (millions of dollars) Network services revenues more than doubled in 2000 as volume and penetration rates increased. the United States, we added regional offices in Chicago and San Francisco as a result of our acquisition of the GTE Wireless assets. With 19 U.S. regional offices, our sales and service teams are located in close proximity to our assets and customers to provide superior service and maximize tenant leasing opportunities. ° Capital-Raising Endeavors. To fund the continued growth of our 203 shared communications infrastructure, Crown Castle commenced an 78 38 20 offering in July of eleven million shares of common stock and $350 million of convertible preferred stock, generating oversubscribed gross proceeds of $759 million. P O I S E D F O R G R O W T H Crown Castle is at the forefront of many consumer and industry trends that have us poised for future growth. Consumer demands are requiring a robust wireless network that offers high speeds and comprehensive coverage with vast capabilities. High penetration rates, increased demand and the need for carriers to add capacity and services are all components of our business model; uniquely placing Crown Castle in 97 98 99 00 the right place at the right time with key high-demand services. Community resistance against adding towers in certain areas, coupled with historic preservation and environmental issues, are further prompt- ing carriers to co-locate on existing towers. Following the 3G spectrum auctions in Europe and Australasia, Crown Castle is pursuing opportunities to support the rollout of new networks that will bring high-speed Internet services to wireless users. While in the United States, the 3G spectrum is yet to be defined. The re-auction of the PCS “C” band spectrum is helping to facilitate new networks. A S O U N D S T R A T E G Y This year we hosted our first Crown Castle Global Leaders Forum to develop the key strategies and global initiatives that will guide us as we move forward. The meeting included key members of our global and regional management teams with the goals of fostering corporate teamwork and corporate growth. From that forum, we developed the five Crown Castle Global Initiatives that will promote individual and corporate excellence: Globalization Speed Maximizing Shareholder Values World-class Turn-key Services Best Practices 10 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR With a substantial tower portfolio and superior IT systems for rapid information integration, Crown Castle offers rapid deployment of complete carrier solutions. U N I T E D K I N G D O M Crown Castle enjoys a significant presence in the vigorous U.K. market, achieving wireless communications coverage of more than 95%, near-universal broadcast coverage and a strategic footprint to compete for emerging 3G business. Wireless Telecommunications. The year 2000 largely focused on executing the worlds first completely outsourced 200-tower turnkey network for One 2 One in Northern Ireland, and we successfully launched the network on schedule in April 2001 while continuing to integrate other towers from One 2 One’s greenfield build program. Our relationship with British Telecomm (BT) has expanded through a milestone relationship that leverages our investment in 3G through the lease of 4,000 telephone exchange sites that Crown Castle will rent to customers for tower co-location. These 4,000 sites, when aggregated will give Crown Castle an impressive footprint of 6,330 sites in the United Kingdom, placing us in great stead to compete for 3G customers in 2001. Broadcasting. The Company has a key broadcast advantage in the United Kingdom. We hold a leadership position in DTT and in 1997 completed the roll-out of the first comprehensive national digital transmission network. Our role takes the signal from the studio to the home, and digital technology opens up more channels offering a broader selection to viewers. We believe that virtually every industrial country will convert from analog to digital television over the next several years, and Crown Castle is at the forefront of design, development and implementation of this trend. Third Generation Technology. The year 2000 saw us involved in pre-auction activities focused on assembling our 3G team and developing our processes and strategy, while post-auction activities centered around product preparation. Five 3G licenses were awarded, which have created enormous demand for new sites. The BT agreement has increased and augmented Crown Castle’s existing portfolio and uniquely prepared us to meet that demand. We are now in a position to capitalize on our expanded footprint for rolling out networks in 2001 and beyond. Importantly, all five of the 3G license holders are Crown Castle customers and two have made large-scale 3G volume commitments to us. CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 11 A U S T R A L I A additional towers over a six-year period. The Vodafone transaction Crown Castle’s entry into Australia in March 2000, through an agreement includes the maintenance and property management for all non-acquired to purchase 716 wireless communications towers from Cable & Wireless Vodafone sites. This transaction significantly increases Crown Castle’s Optus (Optus), is a global validation of our strategic outsourcing model. position as the largest independent tower operator — a significant mile- This transaction: stone achieved in less than one year of operation in the Australia market. ° gives Crown Castle wireless communications coverage of more than There were principally three owners of towers in Australia, and 92% of the Australian population, Crown Castle has now acquired the towers of two of these carriers, ° ranks us as the largest independent tower operator in Australia, and representing about one-half of the total towers in Australia. ° provides our Company with a clustered footprint in each of Australia’s Reflecting Crown Castle’s excellence in penetrating a new market, licensed regions, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and building technology systems, developing new processes and integrating Adelaide. towers effectively and efficiently, we achieved and exceeded our P&L In addition to our transaction with Optus, Crown Castle concluded and tower acquisition targets for the year. an agreement with Vodafone in April 2001 to acquire 669 wireless communications towers and the option to acquire as many as 600 12 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR These global initiatives embody the spirit of Crown Castle’s philosophies, L O O K I N G F O R W A R D goals and culture, and we encourage our global team to be conscious of Our business model is now more compelling than ever. We have always these initiatives and incorporate their intent into strategic thinking. Unlike believed it is more efficient for wireless carriers to outsource their infra- many companies that change their objectives from year to year, Crown structure to companies such as Crown Castle that can operate and lease Castle remains committed to key objectives that position us to offer the assets to other parties. As we move into 2001, our management unmatched broadcast, telecom and third generation services around team is very optimistic that there are more opportunities than ever to the globe: execute Crown Castle’s business plan, take advantage of carriers’ ° to maximize tower capacity utilization through significantly expanded, capital issues and demonstrate the tremendous benefits associated customer-focused sales and marketing programs; with infrastructure outsourcing. ° to acquire additional tower portfolios globally, working in partnership On behalf of the Board of Directors, I offer our most sincere appre- with wireless communications carriers to assume ownership of their ciation to Crown Castle’s dedicated employees, loyal customers and existing towers; supportive shareholders. I look forward to reporting future developments ° to leverage transmission experience in order to acquire existing and exciting achievements in coming periods. national broadcast transmission networks; and ° to maintain technology leadership with expertise in the design and Respectfully, deployment of existing and emerging technologies. Ted B. Miller, Jr. Chairman of the Board K E Y S T A T I S T I C S A S O F 1 2 / 3 1 / 0 0 Number of Towers Effectively Owned* Number of Employees Revenues EBITDA Number of Towers Integrated During Year Number of Team Bases / Regional Offices Market Capitalization * Owned, operated and managed 12,918 2,100 $649.2 Million $247.1 Million 5,430 45 $6.5 Billion CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 13 C O N D E N S E D C O N S O L I D A T E D S T A T E M E N T O F O P E R A T I O N S * (In thousands of dollars, except per share amounts) Net revenues: Site rental and broadcast transmission Network services and other Total net revenues Costs of operations: Site rental and broadcast transmission Network services and other Total costs of operations General and administrative Corporate development Restructuring charges Non-cash general and administrative compensation charges Depreciation and amortization Operating income (loss) Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate Interest and other income (expense) Years Ended December 31, 1998 1999 2000 $ 75,028 $ 267,894 $ 446,039 38,050 77,865 203,126 113,078 345,759 649,165 26,254 21,564 47,818 23,571 4,625 — 12,758 37,239 (12,933) 2,055 4,220 114,436 42,312 194,424 120,176 156,748 314,600 43,823 5,403 5,645 2,173 76,944 10,489 — 3,127 130,106 238,796 1,861 — 17,731 5,209 — 33,761 Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs (29,089) (110,908) (241,294) Loss before income taxes, minority interests, extraordinary item and cumulative effect of change in accounting principle Provision for income taxes Minority interests (35,747) (91,316) (202,324) (374) (1,654) (275) (2,756) (246) (721) Loss before extraordinary item and cumulative effect of change in accounting principle (37,775) (94,347) (203,291) Extraordinary item – loss on early extinguishment of debt Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle for costs of start-up activities Net loss Dividends on preferred stock — — (37,775) (5,411) — (1,495) (2,414) (96,761) (28,881) — (204,786) (59,469) Net loss after deduction of dividends on preferred stock $ (43,186) $ (125,642) $ (264,255) Per common share – basic and diluted: Loss before extraordinary item and cumulative effect of change in accounting principle $ (1.02) $ (0.94) $ Extraordinary item Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle — — — (0.02) (1.47) (0.01) — Net loss $ (1.02) $ (0.96) $ (1.48) Common shares outstanding – basic and diluted (in thousands) 42,518 131,466 178,588 *The results of operations for the years ended December 31, 1998, 1999 and 2000 are not comparable as a result of business and asset acquisitions. Results of operations of these acquired businesses and assets are included in our consolidated financial statements for the periods after the respective dates of acquisition. This information should be read in conjunction with "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. **EBITDA is defined as operating income (loss) plus depreciation and amortization, non-cash general and administrative compensation charges and restructuring charges. EBITDA is presented as additional information because management believes it to be a useful indicator of our ability to meet debt service and capital expenditure requirements. It is not, however, intended as an alternative measure of operating results or cash flow from operations (as determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles). Furthermore, our measure of EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. 14 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR C O N D E N S E D C O N S O L I D A T E D B A L A N C E S H E E T (In thousands of dollars) Assets: Cash and cash equivalents Short-term investments Other current assets Property and equipment, net Escrow deposit for acquisition Investments Goodwill and other intangible assets, net Other assets Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity: Current liabilities Long-term debt Other liabilities Minority interests Redeemable preferred stock Stockholders’ equity O T H E R C O N S O L I D A T E D D A T A (In thousands of dollars) EBITDA** Summary cash flow information: Net cash provided by operating activities Net cash used for investing activities Net cash provided by financing activities December 31, 1998 1999 2000 $ 296,450 $ 549,328 $ 453,833 — 45,666 592,594 — — 569,740 18,780 — 112,717 38,000 280,301 2,468,101 4,303,037 50,000 — — 137,000 596,147 1,112,876 60,357 114,794 $ 1,523,230 $ 3,836,650 $ 6,439,841 $ 92,887 $ 131,281 $ 324,876 429,710 1,542,343 2,602,687 22,823 39,185 201,063 737,562 67,064 55,292 422,923 93,354 155,344 842,718 1,617,747 2,420,862 $ 1,523,230 $ 3,836,650 $ 6,439,841 Years Ended December 31, 1998 1999 2000 $ 37,064 $ 139,785 $ 247,132 44,976 92,608 165,495 (149,248) (1,509,146) (1,957,687) 345,248 1,670,402 1,707,091 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR 15 O F F I C E R S A N D D I R E C T O R S Board of Directors Ted B. Miller, Jr. Office of the Chairman Ted B. Miller, Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John P. Kelly President and Chief Operating Officer Charles C. Green III Executive Vice President-Global Finance E. Blake Hawk Executive Vice President and General Counsel Alan Rees Executive Vice President-Technology George E. Reese Executive Vice President-International Senior Officers Peter G. Abery Managing Director Crown Castle Australia Limited Kelli H. Cole Senior Vice President of Human Resources Wesley D. Cunningham Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller Robert E. Giles President and Chief Operating Officer Crown Castle UK Limited W. Benjamin Moreland Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Randall Rainey Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Steven Schmitt Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Michael Schueppert Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Edward W. Wallander President and Chief Operating Officer Crown Castle USA Inc. David L. Ivy Individual Investor Carl Ferenbach Managing Director Berkshire Partners LLC Randall A. Hack Senior Managing Member Nassau Capital LLC Edward C. Hutcheson, Jr. Individual Investor and Consultant John P. Kelly President and Chief Operating Officer J. Landis Martin President and Chief Executive Officer NL Industries, Inc. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Titanium Metals Corporation Robert F. McKenzie Chief Operating Officer OneComm, Inc., Retired William D. Strittmatter Vice President GE Capital Corporation and Managing Director-Telecommunications for the Structured Finance Group of GE Capital Corporation Lee W. Hogan President and Chief Executive Officer SFM Limited 16 CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL 2000 AR C O R P O R A T E I N F O R M A T I O N The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the Corporate Headquarters 510 Bering, Suite 500 Houston, Texas 77057 713.570.3000 Agents and Trustees Mellon Investor Services LLC 600 North Pearl Street Suite 1010 Dallas, Texas 75201 214.922.4420 Securities and Exchange Commission is available, without charge, on written request. In addition, a copy of any exhibit to the Form 10-K is available upon payment of a specified fee, which fee shall be limited to the Company’s expenses in furnishing such exhibit(s). All requests should be directed to: Crown Castle International Corp. Corporate Secretary 510 Bering, Suite 500 Houston, Texas 77057 Annual Meeting Transfer Agent for Common Stock, Stockholders are invited to attend the 2001 Crown Castle International 12 3/4% Senior Exchangeable Preferred Stock, Corp. Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be held Wednesday, 6.25% Convertible Preferred Stock June 5, 2001, at 9:00 a.m. at the Houstonian Hotel, 111 North Post Oak Lane, Houston, Texas 77024. Formal notice of the meeting, along with the proxy statement and materials, will be mailed or otherwise available on or about May 9, 2001, to stockholders of record as of May 2, 2001. Web Site www.crowncastle.com Common Stock Information Crown Castle International Corp.’s common stock is traded on NYSE (stock symbol: CCI). Statements made by Crown Castle International Corp. in this annual report that are not historical facts, including those regarding future per- formance, are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from expectations. United States Trust Company of New York 114 West 47th Street, 25th Floor New York, New York 10036 212.852.1649 Trustee for the Company’s Debt Securities The Law Debenture Trust Corporation p.l.c. Princes House, 95 Gresham Street London EC2V 7LY 44.(0)20.7696.5206 Trustee for Crown Castle Finance PLC (f/k/a Castle Transmission (Finance) PLC) £125 million 9% Guaranteed Bonds due 2007 Independent Auditors KPMG LLP 700 Louisiana Houston, Texas 77002 713.319.2000 General Investor Inquiries and Correspondence Investors with general questions about the company are invited to call Carmen Thompson at 713.570.3000. Investor correspondence should be directed to: Carmen Thompson Vice President of Finance Crown Castle International Corp. 510 Bering, Suite 500 Houston, Texas 77057 shaping the wireless world SM N E W L O G O H E R E w w w . c r o w n c a s t l e . c o m 

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