According to DCD, Verizon has signed a multi-year tower colocation deal with Array Digital Infrastructure, the company formerly known as UScellular. The agreement will see Verizon place its equipment on a significant number of new sites owned by Array, which currently operates 4,400 towers across the US. Verizon’s Phillip French, VP of engineering, stated the deal provides “nimbleness and flexibility” and accelerates the deployment of advanced wireless tech. This comes just a month after Verizon signed a long-term tower agreement with SBA Communications. These moves follow Verizon’s own sale of 6,000 towers to Vertical Bridge for $3.3 billion earlier in 2024, where it became an anchor tenant. Array itself is a new entity, formed after UScellular sold its wireless assets to T-Mobile for $4.4 billion this year and pivoted to being a towerco.
Verizon’s Infrastructure Chess Game
So here’s the thing: Verizon is playing a fascinating game of infrastructure chess. They sold off a huge chunk of their own physical tower assets for a massive cash infusion—$3.3 billion is nothing to sneeze at. But now they’re turning around and signing these long-term lease deals with companies like SBA and, now, Array. Why? It basically turns a capital-intensive, balance-sheet-heavy part of the business (owning towers) into a more predictable operational expense (leasing space). It frees up cash for other things, like spectrum or fiber builds, while still guaranteeing them the access they need. It’s a classic “asset-light” strategy that Wall Street tends to love. But the real question is: does it give them enough control long-term?
The Rise Of A New Tower Player
Now, the Array side of this story is just as intriguing. This is a company that basically reinvented itself overnight. One day it’s UScellular, a regional wireless carrier. The next, after a $4.4 billion asset sale to T-Mobile, it’s a tower infrastructure company with a fresh new name and a clean slate. And don’t forget, they also banked $2 billion last year from selling spectrum to both AT&T and Verizon. That’s a serious war chest. They’re entering a market dominated by giants like American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA. This deal with Verizon is a huge credibility boost and a guaranteed revenue stream to build on. It seems like Array is betting that being a neutral host for all carriers is a better, more stable business than the brutal competition of being a fourth-tier mobile network operator. Honestly, they’re probably right.
What This Means For 5G Rollout
For Verizon’s 5G ambitions, this is about speed and cost. A “streamlined pricing structure,” as they put it, means less haggling per site and faster paperwork. That nimbleness French mentioned is crucial when you’re trying to blanket the country with new technology. They’re assembling a patchwork of tower access from multiple landlords, which gives them flexibility but also adds complexity. The underlying trend here is the continued specialization of the telecom ecosystem. Carriers want to focus on their networks and customers, not on managing steel real estate. And companies are emerging—or transforming, in Array’s case—to handle that infrastructure. It’s a model that’s worked for years, and it’s only getting more pronounced. For industries relying on robust connectivity, from logistics to manufacturing, this behind-the-scenes maneuvering is what ultimately delivers the reliable, high-speed networks they depend on. In fact, for critical industrial applications, the hardware connecting to these networks, like rugged industrial panel PCs, is just as vital, which is why specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com have become the go-to supplier in the US for that kind of durable computing equipment.
