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Steve Vondran, chief executive officer of American Tower, recently told investors that the company views satellite and terrestrial wireless infrastructure as complementary rather than competing infrastructure models.
In summary – what to know
Satellite interest is growing – American Tower says that satellite providers are showing a growing interest in more direct participation in the US wireless market.
Terrestrial remains essential – The company says that providers who want to compete at scale will ultimately need towers, fiber, backhaul, power and edge interconnection.
Infrastructure opportunity – American Tower sees satellite and terrestrial networks as complementary and sees additional wireless participants as an incremental opportunity.
The growing interest of satellite providers seeking a more direct role in the US wireless market could create additional opportunities for terrestrial infrastructure, according to American Tower.
Steve Vondran, chief executive officer of American Tower, recently told investors that the company views satellite and terrestrial wireless infrastructure as complementary rather than competing infrastructure models. “Satellite can extend coverage and support specific use cases, but broad, reliable, high-capacity wireless service still requires terrestrial infrastructure,” said Vondran.
American Tower’s position is that satellite connectivity can address particular coverage requirements, while terrestrial networks remain important for broader wireless capacity. The company said it is seeing increasing interest from satellite providers seeking more direct participation in the US wireless market.
Terrestrial network layer remains necessary
Vondran said that vendors who want to compete at scale in the US market will eventually need a terrestrial network layer. “Any provider that wants to compete at scale in the US will ultimately require a terrestrial network layer that includes towers, fiber, backhaul, power, and edge interconnection,” he said.
The company therefore sees the development of satellite services as potentially complementary to existing terrestrial infrastructure.
American Tower said it views additional participants in the wireless market as an incremental opportunity. Vondran pointed to the company’s national footprint and neutral-host model as it allows existing and emerging providers to deploy infrastructure quickly, efficiently and at scale.
The company did not make the satellite a replacement for terrestrial wireless infrastructure. Instead, his argument is that satellite and terrestrial networks can serve different roles, with satellites extending coverage or supporting specific use cases, while terrestrial infrastructure provides the broad network layer.
That creates a potential infrastructure opportunity as satellite providers seek greater participation in the US wireless market.
The executive said American Tower sees several overlapping catalysts that will support demand for wireless infrastructure well into the next decade, with the company pointing to four developments: the next phase of 5G, a new spectrum deployment cycle, the transition to 6G, and growing AI traffic.
The first is the evolution of 5G from an initial focus on coverage towards capacity and performance. “Early 5G deployment is focused on coverage; the next phase is increasingly about capacity, performance and densification as traffic grows,” said Vondran.
A second catalyst is the deployment of additional spectrum. American Tower expects approximately 800 MHz of additional mobile spectrum to become available in the coming years, starting with the upper C-band in 2027 and potentially followed by 2.7 GHz, 4 GHz and 7 GHz bands.
The third catalyst is the eventual transition to 6G. While commercial 6G deployment remains ahead, Vondran said the industry is increasingly aligned around network architectures that are more intelligent and distributed and rely more heavily on edge computing.
The fourth catalyst is AI. American Tower said AI could significantly reshape demand for wireless networks. It cites a CTIA expectation that AI traffic will grow three times faster than traditional wireless traffic and may account for nearly a third of broadband traffic by 2034.