Wireless tower construction activity in the U.S. continued at a steady pace through the first quarter of 2025. An analysis of the Inside Towers Database shows that there were 337 towers listed as ‘Constructed’. This means that construction was completed in the quarter and the towers were included in the relevant FCC and FAA databases at that time. This tally compares to 355 towers constructed in 1Q24, Inside Towers reported.
The private tower companies were most active, building a total of 184 sites in the period. The group was led by Tillman Infrastructure which completed 41 towers during the quarter. Vertical Bridge through several entities, Harmoni Towers and TowerCo were among the other private tower companies that built more than 10 towers in that timeframe. Another 35 companies each built less than 10 towers for a total of 81 sites. TowerCom, Horvath Communications and Milestone Towers were the most active in this second tier group.
The publicly-traded tower companies erected just 6 towers. Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) constructed four of those, primarily for small cell deployments.
The mobile network operators had 34 towers built and registered mainly through subsidiary entities. Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) accounted for 24 of the total new MNO sites; these towers were handled under Verizon’s ALLTEL Corporation and Cellco Partnership operating entities.
A lot of tower construction activity is taking place among non-telecom users. This group accounted for 113 new towers or about one-third of all new builds in the quarter. Most active were the energy sector that built 43 towers with companies like Great River Energy, local and state government agencies added 25 sites, utilities such as Xcel Energy and Duke Energy constructed 13 towers and various broadband operators erected another 12 towers in small towns and rural markets.
The Inside Towers Database currently tallies 139,078 constructed towers in the U.S. and presents site specific details for each tower. For more information and to subscribe, visit: https://insidetowers.com/database/
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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