AMERICAN TOWER CORP MA

Property Operations

Our property operations accounted for 98%, 99% and 98% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our revenue is primarily generated from tenant leases. Within our tower leasing operations, our tenants lease space on our communications real estate, where they install and maintain their equipment. Rental payments vary considerably depending upon numerous factors, including, but not limited to, amount, type and position of tenant equipment on the tower, remaining tower capacity and tower location. Our costs typically include ground rent (which is primarily fixed under long-term lease agreements with annual cost escalations) and power and fuel costs, some or all of which may be passed through to our tenants, as well as property taxes and repair and maintenance expenses. Our property operations have generated consistent growth in revenue and typically have low cash flow volatility due to the following characteristics:

•Long-term tenant leases with contractual rent escalations. In general, our tenant leases for our communications sites with wireless carriers have initial non-cancellable terms of five to ten years with multiple renewal terms, with provisions that periodically increase the rent due under the lease, typically annually, based on a fixed escalation percentage (averaging approximately 3% in the United States) or an inflationary index in most of our international markets, or a combination of both. Based upon foreign currency exchange rates and the tenant leases in place as of December 31, 2024, we expect to generate nearly $54 billion of non-cancellable tenant lease revenue over future periods, before the impact of straight-line lease accounting.

•Consistent demand for our sites. As a result of rapidly growing usage of mobile data and other wireless services and the corresponding wireless industry capital spending trends in the markets we serve, we anticipate consistent demand for our communications sites. We believe that our global asset base positions us well to benefit from the increasing proliferation of advanced wireless devices and the increasing usage of high bandwidth applications on those devices. We have the ability to add new tenants and new equipment for existing tenants on our sites, which typically results in incremental revenue and modest incremental costs. Our site portfolio and our established tenant base provide us with a solid platform for new business opportunities, which has historically resulted in consistent and predictable organic revenue growth.

•High lease renewal rates. Our tenants tend to renew leases because suitable alternative sites may not exist or be available and repositioning a site in their network may be expensive and may adversely affect network quality. We define churn as tenant billings lost when a tenant cancels or does not renew its lease or, in limited circumstances, when the lease rates on existing leases are reduced. We derive our churn rate for a given year by dividing our tenant billings lost on this basis by our prior-year tenant billings. During the year ended December 31, 2024, churn was approximately 2% of our tenant billings, primarily driven by churn in our U.S. & Canada property segment. We expect that our churn rate in our U.S. & Canada property segment will continue to be elevated through 2025 due to contractual lease cancellations and non-renewals by T-Mobile US, Inc. (“T-Mobile”), including legacy Sprint Corporation leases, pursuant to the terms of our master lease agreement with T-Mobile (the “T-Mobile MLA”) entered into in September 2020.

•High operating margins. Incremental operating costs associated with adding new tenants or equipment to an existing communications site are typically relatively minimal. Therefore, as tenants or equipment are added, the substantial majority of incremental revenue flows through to gross margin and operating profit. In addition, in many of our international markets, certain expenses, such as ground rent or power and fuel costs, are reimbursed or shared by our tenant base.

•Low maintenance capital expenditures. On average, we require relatively low amounts of annual capital expenditures to maintain our communications sites.

Our property business includes the operation of communications sites and managed networks, the leasing of property interests and, in select markets, the operation of fiber, the operation of data centers and the provision of backup power through shared generators. Our presence in a number of markets at different relative stages of wireless development provides us with significant diversification and long-term growth potential. Our property segments accounted for the following percentage of consolidated total revenue for the years ended December 31,:

Communications Sites. Approximately 87%, 88% and 87% of revenue in our property segments was attributable to our communications sites, excluding DAS networks and fiber, for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

We lease space on our communications sites to tenants providing a diverse range of communications services, including cellular voice and data, broadcasting, mobile video and a number of other applications. In addition, in many of our international markets, we receive pass-through revenue from our tenants to cover certain costs, including power and fuel costs and ground rent. Our top tenants by revenue for each property segment are as follows for the year ended December 31, 2024:

•U.S. & Canada: AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”); T-Mobile; and Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon Wireless”) accounted for an aggregate of 86% of U.S. & Canada property segment revenue.

•Africa & APAC: Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”); and MTN Group Limited (“MTN”) accounted for an aggregate of 81% of Africa & APAC property segment revenue.

•Europe: Telefónica S.A. (“Telefónica”) accounted for an aggregate of 70% of Europe property segment revenue.

•Latin America: América Móvil; AT&T; Telefónica; and TIM S.p.A. accounted for an aggregate of 74% of Latin America property segment revenue.

Accordingly, we are subject to certain risks, as set forth in Item 1A of this Annual Report under the caption “Risk Factors—A substantial portion of our current and projected future revenue is derived from a small number of customers, and we are sensitive to adverse changes in the creditworthiness and financial strength of our customers.” In addition, we are subject to risks related to our international operations, as set forth under the caption “Risk Factors—Our foreign operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position, including risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.”

Managed Networks, Data Centers and Related Assets, Other Telecommunications Assets, Property Interests and Shared Generators. In addition to our communications sites, we also own and operate several types of managed network solutions, provide communications site management services to third parties, manage and lease property interests under carrier or other third-party communications sites, operate data center facilities and related assets, operate other telecommunications assets and provide back-up power sources to tenants at our sites. The balance of our property segment revenue not attributable to our communications sites was attributable to these items.

•Managed Networks. We own and operate DAS networks in the United States and certain international markets. We obtain rights from property owners to install and operate in-building DAS networks, and we grant rights to wireless service providers to attach their equipment to our installations. We also offer a small portfolio of outdoor DAS networks as a complementary shared infrastructure solution for our tenants in the United States and in certain international markets. Typically, we have designed, built and operated our outdoor DAS networks in areas in which zoning restrictions or other barriers may prevent or delay deployment of more traditional wireless communications sites, such as macro tower sites. We also hold lease rights and easement interests on rooftops capable of hosting communications equipment in locations where towers are generally not a viable solution based on area characteristics. In addition, we provide management services to property owners in the United States who elect to retain full rights to their property while simultaneously marketing the rooftop for wireless communications equipment installation. As the demand for advanced wireless services in urban markets evolves, we continue to evaluate a variety of infrastructure solutions, including small cells and other network architectures that may support our tenants’ networks in these areas.

•Data Centers and Related Assets. We own and operate data center facilities and related assets in the United States, which consist of specialized and secure buildings that house networking, storage and communications technology infrastructure, including servers, storage devices, switches, routers and fiber optic transmission equipment. These buildings are designed to provide the power, cooling and network connectivity necessary to efficiently operate this equipment. Data centers located at points where many communications networks converge can also function as interconnection hubs where customers are able to connect to multiple networks, cloud companies and other service providers to exchange traffic and interoperate with each other.

•Other Telecommunications Assets. We own and operate other telecommunications assets, including fiber and related assets, in certain international markets. We currently provide the right to use such fiber and related assets to communications and internet service providers and third-party operators to support their telecommunications infrastructure.

•Property Interests. We own portfolios of property interests in Canada and the United States, including land under carrier or other third-party communications sites, which provide recurring cash flow under complementary leasing arrangements.

•Shared Generators. We have contracts with certain of our tenants in the United States pursuant to which we provide access to shared backup power generators.

Services Operations

We offer tower-related services in the United States, including site application, zoning and permitting, structural and mount analyses, and construction management services. Our services operations primarily support our site leasing business, including through the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites. This segment accounted for 2%, 1% and 2% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Site Application, Zoning and Permitting. We engage in site application services on our own behalf in connection with our tower development projects, as well as on behalf of our tenants. We typically work with our tenants’ engineers to determine the geographic areas where new communications sites will best address the tenants’ needs and meet their coverage objectives. Once a new site is identified, we acquire the rights to the land or structure on which the site will be constructed, and we manage the permitting process to ensure all necessary approvals are obtained to construct and operate the communications site.

Structural and Mount Analyses. We offer structural and mount analyses services to wireless carriers in connection with the installation of their communications equipment on our towers. Our team of engineers can evaluate whether a tower structure can support the additional burden of the new equipment or if an upgrade is needed, and whether the proposed mount configurations will be capable of supporting the required loads in accordance with applicable standards. This enables our tenants to better assess potential sites before making an installation decision. Our structural and mount analyses capabilities enable us to provide higher quality service to our existing tenants by, among other things, reducing the time required to achieve on-air readiness, while also providing opportunities to offer structural and mount analyses services to third parties.

Construction Management. We offer construction management services to wireless carriers in connection with the deployment of their networks on our tower sites. Our construction management team oversees construction activities such as contractor sourcing, contractor selection and management, materials management, on-site quality control and closeout documentation for new installations or modifications. Our construction management capabilities enable us to provide efficient deployment to the carriers while ensuring that the construction work meets our quality control standards.