A lot of people know Verizon, as it’s one of the largest wireless providers in America, but have you been wondering: does Verizon own its own towers?
If so, continue reading to find out what I’ve discovered about Verizon, and whether the company owns its towers, and other useful information!
Does Verizon Own Its Towers In 2024?
Verizon does not own its own towers, but it independently operates more than 2,000 towers in 2024. Verizon also operates over 4,000 rooftop locations within all 50 states. The company also has leased more than 11,000 towers to American Tower. However, Verizon also uses tower companies that are hosting its equipment, such as Crown Castle and SBA.
Do you want to know more about the towers that Verizon has, and whether or not other companies use the Verizon towers? Well, read on to learn all of the interesting facts!
What Tower Company Does Verizon Use?
Verizon doesn’t have its own towers, but uses mostly SBA Communications and Crown Castle for its towers, which the company has been using for years for its towers and infrastructure.
However, Verizon agreed to lease over 11,000 of its towers to American Tower for over $5 billion in cash.
Verizon still independently operates more than 2,000 cell phone towers across the United States, along with more than 4,200 rooftop locations.
AT&T and Verizon sometimes share towers, and you may see this most often when you’re in a Verizon extended network location.
Furthermore, you might be on an AT&T cell tower or other company cell tower when you’re outside of the Verizon coverage zone.
Also, a local provider is responsible for providing the fiber cables that run from the cell phone tower to the switch and through the ground.
The provider could be Verizon, or it could be Centurylink or even AT&T, among other local providers for that area.
Who Builds Cell Towers for Verizon?
AT&T and Verizon have both partnered up with Tillman Infrastructure to build cell towers, which is a smaller company that is based out of New York.
Who Builds 5G Towers for Verizon?
Crown Castle is one of the main companies that build 5G towers for Verizon, and Crown Castle recently agreed to build around 15,000 towers for the wireless carrier.
Furthermore, Crown Castle owns more than 41,000 cell towers in the United States, and also has a fiber network that runs 80,000 route miles long.
Additionally, the company also uses SBA Communications to help build its 5G towers, and both of these companies are two out of the three biggest cell tower companies in the United States.
Did AT&T Buy Verizon Towers?
AT&T did not buy Verizon towers, although the company did enter into a partnership with Verizon to build cell towers together.
However, in the past, AT&T did purchase some Verizon Wireless properties, such as network assets and licenses, which affected 1.6 million subscribers throughout 18 states.
Does T-Mobile Use Verizon Towers?
T-Mobile does not use Verizon towers, since Verizon operates under a CDMA network, while T-Mobile is a GSM network.
Does AT&T Use Verizon Towers?
AT&T does not use Verizon towers, since AT&T is GSM and Verizon is CDMA. However, if the phone is roaming, it could pick up the Verizon tower and get service in some situations.
Does Xfinity Use Verizon Towers?
Xfinity does use Verizon towers, since Xfinity is an MVNO, which means it doesn’t have its own network, but instead relies on another carrier to provide service, which is Verizon.
Does Cricket Use Verizon Towers?
Cricket does not use Verizon towers since Cricket is owned by AT&T, which is Verizon’s biggest rival, and there is no deal between Cricket and Verizon to share cell phone towers.
What Cell Towers Does Google Fi Use?
Google Fi uses the cell towers of T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Sprint, but since both Sprint and T-Mobile merged, Google Fi primarily uses T-Mobile as the main tower.
Unfortunately, Google Fi doesn’t use Verizon cell towers at all, which means there might be dead spots in your coverage if your area is primarily covered by Verizon.
What Company Has the Most Phone Towers?
American Tower has the most phone towers out of any other company in the United States with more than 41,000 towers across the country.
Furthermore, Crown Castle comes in a close second, nearing 40,000 cell towers, and SBA Communications comes in third with around 17,000 cell towers.
Additionally, Vertical Bridge owns over 5,000 cell towers, and United States Cellular Company finishes out the top five with more than 4,200 cell towers.
However, if we are talking about phone towers on a worldwide level, China Tower beats every other company with more than 1.95 million tower sites.
If you are looking to learn more, you can also read our posts on whether or not AT&T owns Verizon, T-Mobile vs Verizon coverage, and if Verizon owns Sprint.
Conclusion
Verizon doesn’t own its own towers, but it operates more than 2,000 towers across the United States, along with more than 4,200 rooftop locations.
Furthermore, Verizon has had long-term partnerships with SBA Communications and Crown Castle for cell phone towers and infrastructure across the United States.