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Crown Castle Terminates Agreement With DISH on Payment Default
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Key Takeaways
CCI ends its DISH Wireless agreement after default and expects to recover over $3.5B in remaining payments.
DISH claimed that FCC actions and EchoStar's network exit eliminated its obligation to pay the remaining dues.
The DISH exit may pressure CCI's near-term revenues but does not weaken its long-term growth outlook.
Crown Castle Inc. (CCI - Free Report) recently announced that it has terminated its agreement with DISH Wireless as the latter has defaulted on its payment obligations. With the exercise of its right to termination to safeguard its shareholders’ interests, CCI stands to recover more than $3.5 billion in remaining payments owed.
The dispute stems from strategic changes at DISH’s parent company, EchoStar. Last summer, Echostar announced that it was discontinuing its network business through the sale of its public spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX. DISH further emphasized that, as a result of the actions taken by the Federal Communications Commission, the company is no longer obligated to honor remaining contractual payments.
While the above event is likely to impact the near-term revenues of CCI emerging from non-payment of contractual obligations, the same may not have a material impact on its long-term outlook. With DISH exiting the wireless network buildout business, the termination removes a tenant whose long-term viability had become increasingly uncertain. This frees up capacity on CCI’s towers for more creditworthy carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which continue to invest in 5G networks.
CCI in a Snapshot
The exponential growth in mobile data usage, higher availability of spectrum and the deployment of 5G networks at scale are driving significant network investments by carriers who aim to improve and densify their cell sites. Given Crown Castle’s unmatched portfolio of approximately 40,000 towers in each of the top 100 basic trading areas of the United States (as of the third quarter of 2025), it remains well-positioned to capitalize on this upbeat trend.
Although the DISH termination may pressure near-term revenues, it does not undermine Crown Castle’s long-term outlook, given the solid demand prospects. However, Crown Castle’s top-line growth is likely to be affected by the consolidation in the wireless industry. High customer concentration and the evolution of new technologies are other key concerns.
Over the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) tower REIT have lost 11.5% compared with the industry’s fall of 1.6%.
However, analysts seem bullish on this stock, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 FFO per share having been revised northward by 2.1% to $4.30 over the past three months. Estimates for 2026 have been moved up by 2.3% to $4.96 over the same period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLD’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pinned at $5.80 and $6.08, respectively. This calls for year-over-year growth of 4.3% for 2025 and 4.7% for 2026.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HST’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $2.05 and $2.04, respectively. This implies year-over-year growth of 4.1% for 2025 and a marginal fall for 2026.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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Crown Castle Terminates Agreement With DISH on Payment Default
Key Takeaways
Crown Castle Inc. (CCI - Free Report) recently announced that it has terminated its agreement with DISH Wireless as the latter has defaulted on its payment obligations. With the exercise of its right to termination to safeguard its shareholders’ interests, CCI stands to recover more than $3.5 billion in remaining payments owed.
The dispute stems from strategic changes at DISH’s parent company, EchoStar. Last summer, Echostar announced that it was discontinuing its network business through the sale of its public spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX. DISH further emphasized that, as a result of the actions taken by the Federal Communications Commission, the company is no longer obligated to honor remaining contractual payments.
While the above event is likely to impact the near-term revenues of CCI emerging from non-payment of contractual obligations, the same may not have a material impact on its long-term outlook. With DISH exiting the wireless network buildout business, the termination removes a tenant whose long-term viability had become increasingly uncertain. This frees up capacity on CCI’s towers for more creditworthy carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which continue to invest in 5G networks.
CCI in a Snapshot
The exponential growth in mobile data usage, higher availability of spectrum and the deployment of 5G networks at scale are driving significant network investments by carriers who aim to improve and densify their cell sites. Given Crown Castle’s unmatched portfolio of approximately 40,000 towers in each of the top 100 basic trading areas of the United States (as of the third quarter of 2025), it remains well-positioned to capitalize on this upbeat trend.
Although the DISH termination may pressure near-term revenues, it does not undermine Crown Castle’s long-term outlook, given the solid demand prospects. However, Crown Castle’s top-line growth is likely to be affected by the consolidation in the wireless industry. High customer concentration and the evolution of new technologies are other key concerns.
Over the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) tower REIT have lost 11.5% compared with the industry’s fall of 1.6%.
However, analysts seem bullish on this stock, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 FFO per share having been revised northward by 2.1% to $4.30 over the past three months. Estimates for 2026 have been moved up by 2.3% to $4.96 over the same period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Prologis Inc. (PLD - Free Report) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLD’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pinned at $5.80 and $6.08, respectively. This calls for year-over-year growth of 4.3% for 2025 and 4.7% for 2026.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HST’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $2.05 and $2.04, respectively. This implies year-over-year growth of 4.1% for 2025 and a marginal fall for 2026.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.