Crown Castle and BT join forces to speed 3G network rollout

Crown Castle UK Limited, a subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp. (NASDAQ: TWRS) and BT have agreed to join forces to create an extensive network to service Britain's demand for new third generation (3G) mobile services.

The key features of the deal are:

• Immediate agreement for Crown Castle to lease an initial 4,000 radio rooftop and tower locations at BT exchange sites.
• All existing and planned sites will be linked directly into the BT Wholesale fibre network to provide mobile operators with immediate, high capacity connectivity. Operators will be able to connect into BT's extensive network services and Crown Castle will provide complimentary point to point radio transmission solutions, offering unrivalled connectivity and speed to market.
• Through a complete range of services and solutions, Crown Castle and BT will make available their world-class technical expertise to help operators plan, construct, operate and maintain their wireless networks.

The new sites, including key urban and rooftop locations throughout the UK, will be integrated into Crown Castle's existing portfolio of more than 2,300 sites to provide a network that will offer operators, including BT Wireless, One 2 One, Vodafone, Orange and new entrant Hutchison 3G, immediate coverage of large population areas.

A key environmental benefit of Crown Castle's plan will be to co-locate multiple operators on a single site, helping to minimise the total number of radio sites needed to serve the UK population and to reduce, substantially, the environmental impact of 3G.

Crown Castle intends to invest about £200m (around $300m) over the next three years in developing the BT site portfolio for 3G. In addition, Crown Castle is adding over 100 new employees with specialist skills in site acquisition, planning, and site development to cater for the substantial demand for 3G network facilities.

Bob Giles, President & Chief Operating Officer of Crown Castle UK Limited said: "We are delighted to be working with BT Wholesale. Crown Castle currently has the UK's premier portfolio of independent radio sites and BT has the best fibre network in the UK. The addition of the BT exchange locations means that together, we are creating an unmatched facility for operators that should satisfy their demand for sites and speed of rollout for new wireless services."

Paul Reynolds, CEO of BT Wholesale, said: "This is a truly exciting start for BT Wholesale. The deal with Crown Castle will harness the unique strengths of both organisations and result in a service from which everyone will benefit. Speed to market will be essential for all of the 3G operators and we will now be ideally placed to offer our wholesale customers a fully integrated, cost effective solution including the very best in network connectivity."

Joint preparatory work on the new delivery capability has already begun, and BT and Crown Castle are now in contract discussions with a number of potential operators. It is expected that the proposal, using shared infrastructure, will deliver substantial cost savings for all the mobile operators, in the roll-out of their 3G networks.

- ends -

Note to Editors

Contact Crown Castle - Bob Giles - President & COO Tel: 01926 416006

BT Group Newsroom (24 hours) Tel: 020 7356 5369

Crown Castle International Corp. engineers, deploys, owns and operates technologically advanced, shared wireless infrastructure. The Company 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 International owns, operates, and manages over 12,000 wireless communication towers internationally. For more information on Crown Castle International, visit: www.crowncastle.com.

In the UK Crown Castle currently owns more than 2,300 sites and works with all the major mobile operators, including BT Cellnet, One 2 One, Vodafone and Orange, amongst others. Broadcast customers include the BBC and ONdigital. British Telecommunications plc is one of the world's leading providers of telecommunications services and one of the largest private sector companies in Europe. Its principal activities include local, long distance and international telecommunications services, mobile communications, Internet services and IT solutions. In the UK BT serves 28 million exchange lines and more than seven million mobile customers. International direct-dialled telephone service is available to more than 200 countries and other overseas territories - covering 99 per cent of the world's 800 million telephones. www.bt.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the belief of, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to, management of Crown Castle International Corp. ("CCIC"). Although CCIC 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 including risk and uncertainties relating to (a) revenues from and timing of deployment by 3G operators and other wireless carriers on the BT sites, (b) costs and expenses associated with development and operation of the BT sites including amounts paid to BT by CCIC and (c) demand for the BT sites and high capacity fiber connectivity at the sites. Should one or more of the risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential factors, which could affect CCIC's financial results, is included in the Risk Factors sections of CCIC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in previous press releases issued by CCIC.