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Wireless carriers pay SBA Communications for space to place antennas on towers and other sites that support their networks. Site leasing supplies most of its revenue, with the United States contributing the largest share; it also operates in Latin America and Africa. A smaller site-development business provides network construction, consulting and maintenance services to carriers.
Carriers sign multiyear leases that commonly include annual rent increases. SBA generally builds or buys towers that can accommodate several tenants, so adding antennas to available space can bring more rent at little additional operating cost. Revenue is heavily concentrated in T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, with T-Mobile the largest customer. The business depends on carriers renewing leases and funding network expansion.
Adding or upgrading sites requires zoning and permit approvals, while U.S. towers must meet aviation-safety and environmental requirements. SBA also operates under real estate investment trust (REIT) tax rules, which require distributions of most taxable income after available loss offsets and limit non-real-estate activities and investments.
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Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Watch Telefonica, Claro and TIM: SBA depends on these tower tenants for 52% of its international site leasing revenue in 2025.
American Tower and SBA both collect rent from wireless carriers for communications-site space, competing for tenants and tower purchases in the United States and internationally. Watch American Tower's carrier leasing business rather than its data centers for a read on the demand SBA also faces.
Crown Castle competes with SBA for U.S. wireless carriers that pay for tower space under long-term contracts. Its rent increases when tenants add equipment are worth watching alongside SBA's revenue from changes to existing leases.
SBA depends most heavily on T-Mobile US, which sells wireless and broadband services and contributed 31.1% of SBA's total revenue and 77.9% of its site development revenue in 2025. Watch T-Mobile's network investment for coverage, capacity and 5G fixed wireless broadband for clues to demand for SBA's sites and development work.
AT&T's wireless business pays SBA to rent tower space and supplied 20.3% of SBA's total revenue in 2025. AT&T earns money from wireless service and equipment customers; its spending on the mobile network matters to SBA's leasing demand, rather than the performance of AT&T's entire business.
Verizon pays SBA for tower space and site development services, contributing 15.1% of SBA's total revenue in 2025. Its wireless network serves consumers and businesses, and its purchases accounted for 18.2% of SBA's site development revenue that year—a separate exposure beyond tower rent.
Array Digital Infrastructure competes with SBA for U.S. wireless carriers that pay to install equipment on towers; it owned 4,450 towers across 19 states at the end of 2025. Its available space for additional tenants makes new equipment placements a useful sign of the leasing demand both companies pursue.
Millicom's Tigo pays SBA for tower space supporting its Latin American connectivity services, including more than 7,000 towers sold to SBA with a 15-year agreement to rent them back and an agreement to build additional sites. Those purchases lifted Tigo's share of SBA's international site leasing revenue to 11.3% in 2025.
EchoStar's abandoned wireless network has left SBA with unpaid tower rent: it defaulted in December 2025, and SBA expects approximately $56 million of lost cash site leasing revenue in 2026. Watch payment and contract-enforcement developments, rather than EchoStar's TV subscription sales, for the direct effect on SBA.
Telephone and Data Systems competes with SBA through its 82%-owned Array subsidiary, which collects rent from U.S. wireless carriers installing equipment on its towers. Array's tower leasing results are the relevant comparison for SBA, not TDS Telecom's broadband, video and voice services.
Crown Castle Inc. earningsCCI
Crown Castle’s report will show whether U.S. carriers are adding equipment and renting more tower space, a demand that Crown Castle and SBA compete to serve.
Look at rent growth from tenants adding equipment to existing Crown Castle leases alongside the strength of its tower-leasing business. Equipment-led rent growth with steady leasing would suggest carriers are adding tower capacity, supporting SBA’s prospects for winning tenants and expanding leases. Weak equipment-related growth and softer leasing would point to less network-driven demand for the space SBA rents.
T-Mobile US, Inc. earningsTMUS
T-Mobile’s report will show whether its network investment supports demand for SBA’s tower sites and development work; it is SBA’s largest customer and its biggest site-development customer.
Read T-Mobile’s signals on spending for coverage, capacity and fixed wireless broadband alongside SBA’s site-development and leasing revenue. More investment with active development work would show that SBA’s largest customer is turning network plans into projects; slower investment and weaker development revenue would mean less project work and potentially less demand for new or expanded leases.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
SBA Communications leases tower space to wireless carriers and provides them network-development services, so the Fed’s decision on short-term borrowing costs can affect SBA’s interest expense on variable-rate debt and how much carriers spend on its towers and services.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If rates rise more than expected, interest expense on SBA’s variable-rate debt may increase, while carriers facing costlier borrowing may spend less on network expansion, weakening demand for SBA’s tower leases and development services.
If it comes in below expectations
If rates fall more than expected, interest expense on SBA’s variable-rate debt may ease, and lower carrier borrowing costs may support network spending and demand for SBA’s tower leases and development services.
SBA Communications Corp earningsThis company
Tower leasing supplies almost all of SBA Communications’ segment operating profit, and this report will show whether carrier lease changes and project work offset non-renewals.
Read domestic and international site-leasing revenue alongside site-development revenue. Growth in leasing with continued development work would show carriers are still using SBA’s towers and commissioning network projects. Flat leasing or a pullback in development would mean lease increases are not making up for non-renewals and project work is not filling the gap, leaving revenue reliant on tower rent.
EchoStar Corporation earningsECHO
EchoStar’s report may show whether its overdue tower rent is being paid or pursued, directly affecting the cash leasing revenue SBA expects to lose.
Watch for payment or contract-enforcement developments on EchoStar’s overdue rent, not its TV subscriptions. Payment or recovery would reduce the cash tower rent SBA stands to lose; continued nonpayment with no recovery would leave SBA’s expected loss of approximately $56 million of cash site-leasing revenue in 2026 as the measure of the exposure.
