American Tower Sees Growth Ahead
At the Nareit REITweek 2026 Investor Conference held in New York this week, Steve Vondran, American Tower (NYSE: AMT) President, CEO & Director, in a ranging discussion, shared a positive outlook on the company’s tower and data center businesses from several perspectives.
Vondran says that American Tower is on firmer footing after reducing portfolio risk, including exiting India and shifting capital toward developed markets. Churn is declining globally and, in the U.S., where growth remains supported by the three major carriers despite some DISH and Sprint-related lease terminations. Long term, the company sees strong growth drivers. CTIA estimates U.S. mobile data usage rose about 35 percent last year and is on track to require network capacity to double by decade’s end.
On the encroachment of satellites, Vondran says, “We see nothing in satellite that threatens our business model or our carrier customers; it is a complementary technology. Our early investment in AST SpaceMobile, where we still hold a board seat, gives us an informed perspective.”
He says satellites will supplement networks and create benefits for both American Tower’s customers and towers. Concerns that satellite could replace towers ignore the underlying physics: satellite networks lack the bandwidth to substitute for towers, even in lightly populated areas. They will be most useful in places without towers, or in very remote locations where any existing tower is unlikely to be a top-performing asset.
Vondran considers the downside risk to American Tower, in any scenario involving satellites, to be minimal. The upside, however, could be significant, especially for its MNO customers, by enabling more ubiquitous coverage than has previously been possible.
On edge infrastructure, Vondran said the company was early in betting on edge at the start of 5G, when mobile edge computing first became possible, but misjudged the timing. He says interest is now growing among carriers and chipmakers, though the definition of Edge is still evolving.
American Tower views the Edge as the convergence of wireless networks and computing to enable low latency and reduce the burden of backhauling massive amounts of data across wireless and wireline networks. To learn more, the company deployed a data center at a tower site in Raleigh, NC, where demand for compute has been stronger than expected. While the broader edge ecosystem and its use cases remain undefined, he added development is gaining momentum.
Vondran said network capacity will need to double by the end of the decade as baseline mobile data demand grows. He expects about half of that demand to be met through new spectrum and 5G efficiency gains, with the rest requiring densification through more sites and equipment.
More spectrum is consistently positive for towers. Spectrum expected to be auctioned next year should eventually drive additional traffic and equipment needs, even if some is first deployed through software upgrades.
Vondran is especially encouraged by efforts to identify 6G spectrum in the 6–8 GHz range. Because those higher frequencies propagate less effectively, they will require more towers and sites, creating opportunities for additional colocations and new builds.
Vondran explained that its CoreSite subsidiary is more than a data center business; it is “an interconnection-rich hub” that enables networks, enterprises, and cloud providers to exchange data directly. Unlike hyperscale facilities, CoreSite’s value lies in connecting customers and clouds within a dense ecosystem, not in providing low-cost, single-use capacity.
Owning both the edge infrastructure and the interconnection environment, Vondran said, positions American Tower well as the edge market develops. In the meantime, CoreSite is performing strongly, attracting significant new business, drawing more capital investment, and generating double-digit growth with mid-teens or better stabilized returns.
Vondran points out that the wireless business has remained resilient through multiple cycles and has largely been recession-proof. Investment follows the technology cycle, so he does not expect interest rates to materially affect demand.
He added that projected growth from the three national carriers is roughly in line with average new business levels seen when the industry had more carriers. As a result, Vondran says American Tower continues to see healthy leasing demand, driven primarily by mobile data growth.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
