Crown Castle buys fiber assets
Crown Castle has acquired roughly 800 miles of fiber in Maryland, northern Virginia and Delaware through the purchase of 24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network. Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo notes that the tower giant has previously expressed interest in operating its distributed antenna system (DAS)/small cell assets as a real estate investment trust (REIT), and this could be a step in that direction. Crown Castle’s tower portfolio is already classified as a REIT, and Fritzsche thinks the company may want to add its fiber assets to the REIT.
Network operators have renewed their interest in fiber as LTE has created fresh demand for fiber backhaul. Crown Castle has been investing in fiber for some time; its biggest move in this area was its $1 billion purchase of DAS provider NextG Networks, which included rights to more than 4,600 miles of fiber.
Vertical Bridge secures half a billion to invest in towers
Vertical Bridge Holdings, the tower company founded by veterans of Global Tower Partners, has raised an additional $500 million to invest in wireless infrastructure.
“Vertical Bridge has secured significant additional capital to fund our M&A, new tower development and operational needs. We have invested over $100 million already and will continue our rapid growth,” said Alex Gellman, the company’s CEO and co-founder. Investors include The Jordan Company and The Edgewater Funds, as well as Digital Bridge, a company founded by former GTP CEO Marc Ganzi to invest in communications infrastructure.
Separately, Vertical Bridge has acquired 269 wireless leases From PT Access Networks, an affiliate of Duke Energy. Vertical Bridge said that all of the locations have “investment-grade carrier tenants.” PT Access Networks will continue to manage the sites and will provide maintenance and other site services for Vertical Bridge and its carrier customers.
WesTower’s AT&T contract
AT&T turf vendor WesTower said the carrier has renewed its contract for another three years, starting this month. “We have invested considerable time and capital into our ability to perform under this contract and we are excited to continue to deliver our services to this important customer.” said Mike Pyle, CEO of WesTower’s Canadian parent Exchange Income Corporation.
WesTower contracts for AT&T in the northwestern United States. It is one of more than a dozen “turf vendors” that manage wireless infrastructure construction and maintenance for AT&T. AT&T is in the process of renewing contracts with its vendors, as many of its “Turf 2.0” contracts are thought to expire this year.
CenturyLink said to eye Rackspace acquisition
The future of cloud storage and service provider Rackspace has been an open question since the company hired Morgan Stanley last spring to explore strategic options. HP has been a rumored suitor, but this week Bloomberg reported that interest is coming from a different direction. Fixed line operator CenturyLink is now said to be interested in buying Rackspace, but some analysts question CenturyLink’s ability to digest Rackspace, currently valued at about $5 billion.
