In 2012, we conveyed to Crown Castle International Corp. (“CCI”) the exclusive right to manage and operate approximately 6,200 tower sites (“CCI Lease Sites”) via a master prepaid lease with site lease terms ranging from 23 to 37 years. CCI has fixed-price purchase options for the CCI Lease Sites totaling approximately $2.0 billion, exercisable annually on a per-tranche basis at the end of the lease term during the period from December 31, 2035, through December 31, 2049. If CCI exercises its purchase option for any tranche, it must purchase all the towers in the tranche. We lease back a portion of the space at certain tower sites.

Assets and liabilities associated with the operation of the tower sites were transferred to special purpose entities (“SPEs”). Assets included ground lease agreements or deeds for the land on which the towers are situated, the towers themselves and existing subleasing agreements with other mobile network operator tenants that lease space at the tower sites. Liabilities included the obligation to pay ground lease rentals, property taxes and other executory costs.

We determined the SPEs containing the CCI Lease Sites (“Lease Site SPEs”) are VIEs as they lack sufficient equity to finance their activities. We have a variable interest in the Lease Site SPEs but are not the primary beneficiary as we lack the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the Lease Site SPEs’ economic performance. These activities include managing tenants and underlying ground leases, performing repair and maintenance on the towers, the obligation to absorb expected losses and the right to receive the expected future residual returns from the purchase option to acquire the CCI Lease Sites. As we determined that we are not the primary beneficiary and do not have a controlling financial interest in the Lease Site SPEs, the Lease Site SPEs are not included on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

However, we also considered if this arrangement resulted in the sale of the CCI Lease Sites for which we would derecognize the tower assets. By assessing whether control had transferred, we concluded that transfer of control criteria, as discussed in the revenue standard, were not met. Accordingly, we recorded this arrangement as a financing whereby we recorded debt, a financial obligation, and the CCI Lease Sites tower assets remained on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We recorded long-term financial obligations in the amount of the net proceeds received and recognize interest on the tower obligations. The tower obligations are increased by interest expense and amortized through contractual leaseback payments made by us to CCI and through net cash flows generated and retained by CCI from the operation of the tower sites.

Prior to our merger (the “Sprint Merger”) with Sprint Corporation (“Sprint”), Sprint entered into a lease-out and leaseback arrangement with Global Signal Inc., a third party that was subsequently acquired by CCI, that conveyed to CCI the exclusive right to manage and operate approximately 6,400 tower sites (“Master Lease Sites”) via a master prepaid lease. These agreements were assumed upon the close of the Sprint Merger, at which point the remaining term of the lease-out was approximately 17 years with no renewal options. CCI has a fixed price purchase option for all (but not less than all) of the leased or subleased sites for approximately $2.3 billion, exercisable one year prior to the expiration of the agreement and ending 120 days prior to the expiration of the agreement. We lease back a portion of the space at certain tower sites.

We considered if this arrangement resulted in the sale of the Master Lease Sites for which we would derecognize the tower assets. By assessing whether control had transferred, we concluded that transfer of control criteria, as discussed in the revenue standard, were not met. Accordingly, we recorded this arrangement as a financing whereby we recorded debt, a financial obligation, and the Master Lease Sites tower assets remained on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

We recognize interest expense on the tower obligations. The tower obligations are increased by the interest expense and amortized through contractual leaseback payments made by us to CCI. The tower assets are reported in Property and equipment, net on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are depreciated to their estimated residual values over the expected useful life of the towers, which is 20 years.

On January 3, 2022, we entered into an agreement (the “Crown Agreement”) with CCI. The Crown Agreement extends the current term of the leasebacks by up to 12 years and modifies the leaseback payments for both the Existing CCI Tower Lease Arrangements and the Acquired CCI Tower Lease Arrangements. As a result of the Crown Agreement, there was an increase in our financing obligation as of the effective date of the Crown Agreement of approximately $1.2 billion, with a corresponding decrease to Other long-term liabilities associated with unfavorable contract terms. The modification resulted in a revised interest rate under the effective interest method for the tower obligations: 11.6% for the Existing CCI Tower Lease Arrangements and 5.3% for the Acquired CCI Tower Lease Arrangements. There were no changes made to either of our master prepaid leases with CCI.

The following table summarizes the balances associated with both of the tower arrangements on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets:


(in millions)	June 30, 2025		December 31, 2024
Property and equipment, net	$	1,995	$	2,069
Tower obligations	3,603		3,664
Other long-term liabilities	554		554

Future minimum payments related to the tower obligations are approximately $384 million for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2026, $798 million in total for both of the 12-month periods ending June 30, 2027 and 2028, $848 million in total for both of the 12-month periods ending June 30, 2029 and 2030, and $3.5 billion in total thereafter.

We are contingently liable for future ground lease payments through the remaining term of the CCI Lease Sites and the Master Lease Sites. These contingent obligations are not included in Operating lease liabilities, as any amount due is contractually owed by CCI based on the subleasing arrangement. Under the arrangement, we remain primarily liable for ground lease payments on approximately 900 sites and have included lease liabilities of $247 million in our Operating lease liabilities as of June 30, 2025.