Edgar Filing: AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/

FORM 10-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One):

x	Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012

¨	Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number: 001-14195

American Tower Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

65-0723837

(State or other jurisdiction of

Incorporation or Organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

116 Huntington Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

(Address of principal executive offices)

Telephone Number (617) 375-7500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each Class		Name of exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value		New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act: Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act: Yes ¨ No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days: Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One):


Large accelerated filer x		Accelerated filer ¨		Non-accelerated filer ¨		Smaller reporting company ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act): Yes ¨ No x

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2012 was approximately $27.6 billion, based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter.

As of February 11, 2013, there were 395,103,065 shares of common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the definitive proxy statement (the “Definitive Proxy Statement”) to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission relative to the Company’s 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report.

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012


		Page
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements			ii
PART I
ITEM 1.	Business		1
	Overview		1
	Products and Services		2
	Strategy		4
	Growth and Expansion		6
	Regulatory Matters		7
	Competition		8
	Customer Demand		9
	Employees		10
	Available Information		10
ITEM 1A.	Risk Factors		11
ITEM 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		21
ITEM 2.	Properties		21
ITEM 3.	Legal Proceedings		23
ITEM 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		23
PART II
ITEM 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		24
	Dividends		24
	Performance Graph		25
	Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		26
ITEM 6.	Selected Financial Data		27
ITEM 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		29
	Executive Overview		29
	Results of Operations: Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011		34
	Results of Operations: Years Ended December 31, 2011 and 2010		38
	Liquidity and Capital Resources		43
	Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates		55
ITEM 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk		60
ITEM 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		62
ITEM 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		62

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS—(Continued)

FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012


		Page
ITEM 9A.	Controls and Procedures		62
	Disclosure Controls and Procedures		62
	Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting		62
	Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		63
	Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting		64
PART III
ITEM 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance		65
ITEM 11.	Executive Compensation		67
ITEM 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters		67
ITEM 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence		67
ITEM 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services		67
PART IV
ITEM 15.	Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules		68
Signatures			69
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements			F-1
Index to Exhibits			EX-1

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report contains statements about future events and expectations, or forward-looking statements, all of which are inherently uncertain. We have based those forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future results. When we use words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects” or similar expressions, we do so to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements we make regarding future prospects of growth in the communications site leasing industry, the level of future expenditures by companies in this industry and other trends in this industry, the effects of consolidation among companies in our industry and among our tenants and other competitive pressures, our ability to maintain or increase our market share, our future operating results, our ability to qualify or to remain qualified for taxation as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), our substantial leverage and debt service obligations, economic, political and other events, particularly those relating to our international operations, changes in environmental, tax and other laws, our ability to protect our rights to the land under our towers, natural disasters and similar events, the amount and timing of any future distributions including those we are required to make as a REIT, our future purchases under our stock repurchase program, our future capital expenditure levels, our future financing transactions and our plans to fund our future liquidity needs. These statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions, which in turn are based on currently available information. These assumptions could prove inaccurate. These forward-looking statements may be found under the captions “Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as in this Annual Report generally.

You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement we make in this Annual Report or elsewhere speaks only as of the date on which we make it. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us. In any event, these and other important factors, including those set forth in Item 1A of this Annual Report under the caption “Risk Factors,” may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by our forward-looking statements. We have no duty to, and do not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements we make in this Annual Report, except as may be required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties, you should keep in mind that the future events or circumstances described in any forward-looking statement we make in this Annual Report or elsewhere might not occur. References in this Annual Report to “we,” “our” and “the Company” refer to American Tower Corporation and its predecessor, as applicable, individually and collectively with its subsidiaries as the context requires.

iii

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

We are a leading independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate. Our primary business is leasing antenna space on multi-tenant communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcast companies, wireless data providers, government agencies and municipalities and tenants in a number of other industries. We refer to this business as our rental and management operations, which accounted for approximately 97% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012. We also offer tower-related services domestically, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support our site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites. Effective January 1, 2012, we reorganized to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes (the “REIT Conversion”).

Our communications real estate portfolio of 54,604 sites, as of December 31, 2012, includes wireless and broadcast communications towers and distributed antenna system (“DAS”) networks, which provide seamless coverage solutions in certain in-building and outdoor wireless environments. Our portfolio primarily consists of towers that we own and towers that we operate pursuant to long-term lease arrangements, including, as of December 31, 2012, 22,534 towers domestically and 31,789 towers internationally. In addition, our portfolio also includes 281 DAS networks that we operate primarily in malls and casinos, and select outdoor environments. We also manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements, as well as hold property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators.

American Tower Corporation was originally created as a subsidiary of American Radio Systems Corporation in 1995 and was spun off into a free-standing public company in 1998. Since inception, we have grown our communications real estate portfolio through acquisitions, long-term lease arrangements and site development.

We are a holding company and conduct our operations through our directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. Our principal domestic operating subsidiaries are American Towers LLC and SpectraSite Communications, LLC. We conduct our international operations through our subsidiary, American Tower International, Inc., which in turn conducts operations through its various international operating subsidiaries and joint ventures. Our international operations consist of our operations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda.

Our continuing operations are reported in three segments: domestic rental and management, international rental and management and network development services. For more information about our business segments, as well as financial information about the geographic areas in which we operate, see Item 7 of this Annual Report under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and note 20 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

We hold and operate certain of our assets through one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”). A TRS is a subsidiary of a REIT that is subject to applicable corporate income tax. Our use of TRSs enables us to continue to engage in certain businesses while complying with REIT qualification requirements and also allows us to retain income generated by these businesses for reinvestment without the requirement of distributing those earnings. The non-REIT qualified businesses that we hold through TRSs include our network development services segment. In addition, we have included our international operations and managed networks business within our TRSs. We are currently considering changing the election of one or more of our previously designated TRSs, which hold certain of our international operations, to be treated as qualified REIT subsidiaries or other disregarded entities (“QRSs”), and may reorganize and transfer certain assets or operations from our TRSs to other subsidiaries, including QRSs.

As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income taxes on our income and gains that we distribute to our stockholders, including the income derived from leasing towers. However, even as a REIT, we will remain obligated to pay income taxes on earnings from our TRS assets. In addition, our international assets and operations continue to be subject to taxation in the foreign jurisdictions where those assets are held or those operations are conducted.

Annually, as a REIT, we are required to distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). Our REIT taxable income typically will not include income earned by our TRSs except to the extent the TRSs pay dividends. In 2012, we paid regular cash distributions of an aggregate of approximately $355.6 million to our stockholders. We intend to continue paying regular distributions in 2013. The amount, timing and frequency of future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, a number of which may be beyond our control, including our financial condition and operating cash flows, the amount required to maintain REIT status and reduce any income and excise taxes that we otherwise would be required to pay, limitations on distributions in our existing and future debt instruments, our ability to utilize net operating losses (“NOLs”) to offset, in whole or in part, our distribution requirements, limitations on our ability to fund distributions using cash generated through our TRSs and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

Products and Services

Rental and Management Operations

Our rental and management operations accounted for approximately 97%, 98% and 98% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Our tenants lease space on our communications site infrastructure, where they install and maintain their individual communications network equipment. Our revenue is primarily generated from tenant leases. The annual rental payments vary considerably depending upon numerous factors, including, but not limited to, tower location, amount and type of tenant equipment on the tower, ground space required by the tenant and remaining tower capacity. Our tenant leases are typically non-cancellable and have annual rent escalations. Our primary costs typically include ground rent (which is primarily fixed, with annual cost escalations), property taxes and repairs and maintenance. In most of our international markets, a portion of our operating costs is passed through to our tenants, such as ground rent or fuel costs. Our rental and management operations have generated consistent incremental growth in revenue and have low cash flow volatility due to the following characteristics:

•

Consistent demand for our sites. As a result of wireless industry capital spending trends in the markets we serve, we anticipate consistent demand for our communications sites due to their attractive locations. Additionally, we have the ability to add new tenants and new equipment for existing tenants on our sites. Our legacy site portfolio and our established tenant base provide us with a solid platform for new business opportunities, which has historically resulted in consistent and predictable organic revenue growth.

•

Long-term tenant leases with contractual rent escalations. In general, a tenant lease has an initial non-cancellable term of five to ten years with multiple five-year renewal terms thereafter, and lease payments that typically increase based on a fixed escalation (approximately 3.5% per year in the United States) or inflationary index. As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $20 billion of non-cancellable tenant lease revenue over future periods, absent the impact of straight-line lease accounting.

•

High lease renewal rates. Our tenants tend to renew leases because suitable alternative sites may not exist or be available and repositioning a site in their network may be expensive and may adversely affect the quality of their network. Historical churn has been approximately 1%-2% of total rental and management revenue per year. We define churn as revenue lost when a tenant cancels or does not renew its lease, and in very limited circumstances, such as a tenant bankruptcy, reductions in lease rates on existing leases. We derive our historical churn rate for a given year by dividing our revenue lost on this basis by our rental and management segment revenue.

•

High operating leverage. Incremental operating costs associated with adding new tenants to an existing communications site are relatively minimal. Therefore, as additional tenants are added, the substantial majority of incremental revenue flows through to operating profit. In addition, in our international markets certain expenses, such as ground rent or fuel costs, are passed through to our tenants.

•

Low maintenance capital expenditures. On average, we require relatively low amounts of annual capital expenditures to maintain our communications sites.

Our domestic rental and management segment is comprised of our nationwide network of communications sites that enables us to address the needs of national, regional, local and emerging communications service providers in the United States, as well as customers in a number of other industries. Our domestic rental and management segment also includes property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators. Our domestic rental and management segment accounted for approximately 67%, 72% and 79% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Our international rental and management segment, which is comprised of communications sites in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda, provides a source of diversification and growth. Our international rental and management segment accounted for approximately 30%, 26% and 19% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Our rental and management operations include the operation of wireless and broadcast communications towers and managed networks, rooftop management, the leasing of property interests and the installation of shared generators domestically.

Communications Towers. We own and operate communications towers in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda. Approximately 96%, 98% and 98% of revenue in our rental and management segments was attributable to our communications towers for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

We lease real estate on our communications towers to tenants providing a diverse range of communications services, including personal communications services, cellular, broadcasting, enhanced specialized mobile radio, WiMAX, paging and fixed microwave. Our top domestic and international tenants by revenue are as follows:

•

Domestic: AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA accounted for an aggregate of approximately 74% of domestic rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012.

•

International: Telefónica (in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru), MTN Group Limited (in Ghana, South Africa and Uganda), Grupo Iusacell, S.A. de C.V. (in Mexico), Nextel International (in Brazil, Chile and Mexico) and Vodafone (in India, Germany, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda), accounted for an aggregate of approximately 55% of international rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Accordingly, we are subject to certain risks, as set forth in Item 1A of this Annual Report under the caption “Risk Factors—A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from a small number of tenants, and we are sensitive to changes in the creditworthiness and financial strength of our tenants.” In addition, we are subject to risks related to our international operations, as set forth under the caption “Risk Factors—Our foreign operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position, including risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.”

Managed Networks, Rooftop Management, Property Interests and Shared Generators. In addition to our communications sites, we also own and operate several types of managed network solutions, provide

communications site management services to third parties, manage and/or lease property interests under carrier or other third-party communications sites and provide back-up power sources to tenants at our sites.

•

Managed Networks. We own and operate 281 DAS networks primarily in malls and casinos in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Ghana and India. We obtain rights from property owners to install and operate in-building DAS networks, and we grant rights to wireless service providers to attach their equipment to our installations. We also offer outdoor DAS networks as a complementary shared infrastructure solution for our tenants, and currently operate such networks in the United States. Typically, we design, build and operate our DAS networks in areas in which zoning restrictions or other barriers may prevent or delay deployment of more traditional wireless communications sites. We are also currently evaluating other complementary network strategies, such as small cell deployments.

•

Rooftop Management. We provide management services to property owners in the United States who own rooftops capable of hosting wireless communications equipment. We obtain rights to manage a rooftop by entering into contracts with property owners pursuant to which we receive a percentage of occupancy or license fees paid by the wireless carriers and other tenants. As urban markets continue to evolve, we continue to evaluate infrastructure that may support additional services to meet the growing needs of our tenants’ networks.

•

Property Interests. We own a portfolio of property interests in the United States under carrier or other third-party communications sites, which provides recurring cash flow under complementary leasing arrangements.

•

Shared Generators. We install shared backup power generators at a number of our sites in the United States, which we lease to our tenants to help reinforce their networks.

Network Development Services

Through our network development services segment, we offer tower-related services domestically, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support our site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites. This segment accounted for approximately 3%, 2% and 2% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Site Acquisition, Zoning and Permitting. We engage in site acquisition services on our own behalf in connection with our tower development projects, as well as on behalf of our tenants. We typically work with our tenants’ engineers to determine the geographic areas where new tower sites will best address the tenants’ needs and meet their coverage objectives. Once a new site is identified, we acquire the rights to the land or structure on which the site will be constructed, and we manage the permitting process to ensure all necessary approvals are obtained to construct and operate the communications site.

Structural Analysis. We offer structural analysis services to wireless carriers in connection with the installation of their communications equipment on our towers. Our team of engineers can evaluate whether a tower structure can support the additional burden of the new equipment or if an upgrade is needed, which enables our tenants to better assess potential sites before making an installation decision. Our structural analysis capabilities enable us to provide higher quality service to our existing tenants by, among other things, reducing the time required to achieve operational readiness, while also providing opportunities to offer structural analysis services to third parties.

Strategy

Operational Strategy

Our operational strategy is to capitalize on the growth in the use of wireless communications services and the evolution of advanced wireless handsets, tablets and other mobile devices, as well as the expanding

infrastructure required to deploy current and future generations of wireless communications technologies. To

achieve this, our primary focus is to increase the leasing of our existing communications real estate portfolio, invest in and selectively grow our communications real estate portfolio, further improve upon our operational performance and maintain a strong balance sheet. We believe these efforts will further support and enhance our ability to capitalize on the growth in demand for wireless infrastructure.

•

Increase the leasing of our existing communications real estate portfolio. We believe that our highest returns will be achieved by leasing additional space on our existing communications sites. As a result of wireless industry capital spending trends in the markets we serve, we anticipate consistent demand for our communications sites because they are attractively located for wireless service providers and have capacity available for additional tenants. As of December 31, 2012, we had a global average of approximately 2.0 tenants per tower. We believe that, of our towers that are currently at or near full structural capacity, the vast majority can be upgraded or augmented to meet future tenant demand with relatively modest capital investment. Therefore, we will continue to target our sales and marketing activities to increase the utilization and return on investment of our existing communications sites.

•

Invest in and selectively grow our communications real estate portfolio. We seek opportunities to invest in and grow our operations through our capital programs and acquisitions. We believe we can achieve attractive risk adjusted returns by pursuing such investments. This includes pursuing opportunities to invest through new site construction and acquisitions in our domestic market and in select international markets which we believe have a competitive wireless industry, where wireless carriers are deploying next generation technologies, and are attractive from a macroeconomic standpoint. In addition, we seek to secure property interests under our communications sites to improve operating margins as we reduce our cash operating expense related to ground leases.

•

Further improve on our operational performance. We will continue to seek opportunities to improve our operational performance throughout the organization. This includes investing in our systems and people as we strive to improve our efficiencies and provide superior service to our customers. To achieve this, we intend to continue to focus on customer service, such as reducing cycle times for key functions, including lease processing and tower structural analysis.

•

Maintain a strong balance sheet. We will continue to maintain our disciplined approach to managing our balance sheet. This includes maintaining our net financial leverage ratio within a target range and ensuring ample liquidity is available to pursue our strategy. As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $1.1 billion of available liquidity. We believe that our investment grade ratings and our current level of net leverage provide us with consistent access to the capital markets and the ability to actively invest in our portfolio and pursue acquisition opportunities.

Capital Allocation Strategy

As a REIT, we must annually distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain), which is our first priority within our capital allocation strategy. After our REIT distributions, we expect to continue to deploy our discretionary capital through our annual discretionary capital expenditure program, including land purchases and new site construction, and through acquisitions. The objective of our allocation of our discretionary capital is to simultaneously increase recurring free cash flow and our return on invested capital. In addition, we intend to return our remaining excess discretionary capital, if any, to stockholders through continuing our stock repurchase program or declaring special distributions from time to time. During 2012, we generated $1,414.4 million of cash from operating activities, which along with incremental debt, was used to fund nearly $2,984.3 million of investments, including $568.0 million of capital expenditures, $1,998.0 million of acquisitions and $62.7 million of stock repurchases, including commissions and fees. During 2012, we paid regular cash distributions in the aggregate of approximately $355.6 million to our stockholders.

•

Discretionary capital expenditure program. We will continue to invest in and expand our existing communications real estate portfolio through our annual discretionary capital expenditure program.

This includes capital expenditures associated with maintenance, increasing the capacity of our existing sites, and projects such as new site construction, land interest acquisitions and shared generator installations.

•

Acquisitions. We will seek to pursue acquisitions of communications sites in our existing or new markets where we can meet our risk adjusted return on investment criteria. Our risk adjusted hurdle rates consider additional risks such as country risk, counter-party risk and product line risk.

•

Return excess discretionary capital to stockholders. If we have sufficient capital available to (i) satisfy our REIT distribution requirements, (ii) fund our discretionary capital expenditures and acquisition opportunities, and (iii) fund anticipated future investment while remaining within our target leverage range, we will seek to return any excess discretionary capital to stockholders. We currently utilize a stock repurchase program to facilitate this return.

International Growth Strategy

We believe that, in certain international markets, we can create substantial value by establishing an independent wireless infrastructure leasing business. Therefore, we expect we will continue to seek international growth opportunities, where we believe our risk adjusted return objectives can be achieved. In addition, we strive to maintain a diversified approach to our international growth strategy by complementing our presence in emerging markets with operations in more developed and established markets. Our international growth strategy includes a disciplined, individualized market evaluation, in which we conduct the following analyses:

•

Country analysis. Prior to entering a new geographic area, we review the country’s political stability, historical and projected macroeconomic fundamentals and the general business and legal environment, including property rights and regulatory environment.

•

Wireless industry analysis. To ensure sufficient demand for an independent tower company, we analyze the competitiveness of the country’s wireless industry and the stage of its wireless network deployment. Characteristics that result in an attractive investment opportunity include a country that has multiple competitive wireless service providers who are actively seeking to invest in deploying voice and data networks, as well as participating in spectrum auctions that have or are anticipated to occur.

•

Opportunity and counterparty analysis. Once an investment opportunity is identified within a geographic area with a competitive wireless industry, we conduct a multifaceted opportunity and counterparty analysis. This includes evaluating the type of transaction, its ability to meet our risk adjusted return criteria given the country and the counterparties involved, as well as how the transaction fits within our long-term strategic objectives, including future potential investment and expansion within the region.

Growth and Expansion

In 2012, we continued to focus on growing our operations using selective criteria for acquisitions, including expansion into new international markets, and new site development, consistent with our international growth strategy. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we grew our communications real estate portfolio through the acquisition and construction of approximately 8,790 towers, the installation of approximately 20 in-building and outdoor DAS networks and the installation of approximately 600 shared generators on our sites in the United States. In addition, we continue to evaluate complementary services to supplement our tower site growth and expansion strategy, as well as opportunities to acquire larger communications real estate portfolios that we believe we can effectively integrate into our existing business.

United States. We continued to build on our established foundation in the United States, growing our domestic communications sites portfolio by 6% during the year ended December 31, 2012 primarily through the acquisition and construction of communications sites in select locations throughout the country. Our expansion in

the United States during 2012 included the acquisition and construction of approximately 945 towers, the installation of approximately 15 in-building and outdoor DAS networks and the installation of approximately 600 shared generators on our sites.

International. During 2012, we took additional steps to position ourselves for expansion into new international markets. After announcing the launch of operations in Uganda at the end of 2011, we acquired approximately 960 towers through our joint venture during the first half of 2012. In addition, in November 2012, we announced that we had launched operations in Germany and subsequently completed the purchase of approximately 2,030 towers in the fourth quarter of 2012, thereby expanding our international footprint to ten countries as of December 31, 2012. Our international expansion efforts during 2012 also included the acquisition and construction in the aggregate of approximately 4,855 towers and the installation of five in-building DAS networks in our existing markets.

Regulatory Matters

Towers and Antennas. Our domestic and international tower business is subject to national, state and local regulatory requirements with respect to the registration, siting, construction, lighting, marking and maintenance of our towers. In the United States, which accounted for approximately 69% of our total rental and management revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012, the construction of new towers or modifications to existing towers may require pre-approval by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), depending on factors such as tower height and proximity to public airfields. Towers requiring pre-approval must be registered with the FCC and painted, lighted and maintained in accordance with FAA standards. Similar requirements regarding pre-approval of the construction and modification of towers are imposed by regulators in other countries. Non-compliance with applicable tower-related requirements may lead to monetary penalties or site deconstruction orders.

Furthermore, in India, each of our subsidiaries holds an Infrastructure Provider Category-I license (“IP-I”) issued by the Indian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which permits us to provide tower space to companies licensed as telecommunications service providers under the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885. While we are required to provide tower space on a non-discriminatory basis, we may negotiate mutually agreeable terms and conditions with such service providers. As a condition to the IP-I, the Indian government has the right to take over telecommunications infrastructure in the case of emergency or war. In Ghana, our subsidiary holds a Communications Infrastructure License, issued by the National Communications Authority (“NCA”), which permits us to establish and maintain passive telecommunications infrastructure services and DAS networks for communications service providers licensed by the NCA. While we are required to provide tower space on a non-discriminatory basis, we may negotiate mutually agreeable terms and conditions with such service providers.

Our international business operations may be subject to increased licensing fees or ownership restrictions. For example, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended to the Department of Telecommunications changes in annual licensing fees for tower companies based on revenues generated, as well as the potential implementation of certain limitations on foreign ownership. In South Africa, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (“the BBBEE Act”) has established a legislative framework for the promotion of economic empowerment of South African citizens disadvantaged by Apartheid, and accordingly, the BBBEE Act and related codes measure BBBEE Act compliance and good corporate practice by the inclusion of certain ownership, management control, employment equity and other metrics for companies that do business there. Certain municipalities in Brazil and India have sought to impose certain permit fees based upon structural or operational requirements of towers. In addition, our foreign operations may be affected if a country’s regulatory authority restricts or revokes spectrum licenses of certain wireless service providers.

In all countries where we operate, we are subject to zoning restrictions and restrictive covenants imposed by local authorities or community organizations. These regulations vary, but typically require tower owners and/or our tenants to obtain approval from local authorities or community standards organizations prior to tower

construction or the addition of a new antenna to an existing tower. Local zoning authorities and community residents often oppose construction in their communities, which can delay or prevent new tower construction, new antenna installation or site upgrade projects, thereby limiting our ability to respond to customer demand. In addition, zoning regulations can increase costs associated with new tower construction, tower modifications, and additions of new antennas to a site or site upgrades. Existing regulatory policies may adversely affect the associated timing or cost of such projects and additional regulations may be adopted that cause delays or result in additional costs to us. These factors could materially and adversely affect our construction activities and operations. In the United States, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits any action by state and local authorities that would discriminate between different providers of wireless services or ban altogether the construction, modification or placement of communications sites. It also prohibits state or local restrictions based on the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent the facilities comply with FCC regulations. Further, in February 2012, the United States government adopted new regulations requiring that local and state governments approve modifications or collocations that qualify as eligible facilities under the regulations. In June 2012, the Chilean government passed a new law that imposes certain zoning restrictions retroactively on telecommunications towers located throughout Chile and may require us to modify or remove certain of our existing towers.

Portions of our business are subject to additional regulations, for example, in a number of states throughout the United States, certain of our subsidiaries hold Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) status, or other similar status, in connection with the operation of our outdoor DAS networks business. In addition, we or our tenants, both domestic and international, may be subject to new regulatory policies in certain jurisdictions from time to time that may materially and adversely affect our business or the demand for our communications sites.

Environmental Matters. Our domestic and international operations, like those of other companies engaged in similar businesses, are subject to various national, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to the management, use, storage, disposal, emission and remediation of, and exposure to, hazardous and non-hazardous substances, materials and wastes, and the siting of our towers. As an owner, lessee and/or operator of real property and facilities, we may have liability under environmental laws for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated by hazardous substances or waste. Certain of these laws impose cleanup responsibility and liability without regard to whether we, as the owner, lessee or operator, knew of, or were responsible for, the contamination, and whether or not we have discontinued operations or sold the property. We also may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from off-site migration of contamination. We may be required to obtain permits, pay additional property taxes, comply with regulatory requirements, and make certain informational filings related to hazardous substances or devices used to provide power such as batteries, generators and fuel at our sites. Violations of these types of regulations could subject us to fines or criminal sanctions.

Additionally, in the United States and many other international markets where we do business, before constructing a new tower or adding a new antenna to an existing site, we must review and evaluate the impact of the action to determine whether it may significantly affect the environment and we must disclose any significant impacts in an environmental assessment. If a tower or new antenna might have a material adverse impact on the environment, FCC or other governmental approval of the tower or antenna could be significantly delayed.

Health and Safety. In the United States and in other countries where we operate, we are subject to various national, state and local laws regarding employee health and safety, including protection from radio frequency exposure.

Competition

Our rental and management segments compete, both for new business and for the acquisition of assets, with other public tower companies, such as Crown Castle International Corp., SBA Communications Corporation and GTL Infrastructure, wireless carrier tower consortiums such as Indus Towers, and private tower companies,

independent wireless carriers, tower owners, broadcasters and owners of non-communications sites, including rooftops, utility towers, water towers and other alternative structures. We believe that site location and capacity, network density, price, quality and speed of service have been and will continue to be significant competitive factors affecting owners, operators and managers of communications sites.

Our network development services segment competes with a variety of companies offering individual, or combinations of, competing services. The field of competitors includes site acquisition consultants, zoning consultants, real estate firms, right-of-way consultants, structural engineering firms, tower owners/managers, telecommunications equipment vendors who can provide turnkey site development services through multiple subcontractors and our tenants’ internal staffs. We believe that our tenants base their decisions for network development services on various criteria, including a company’s experience, local reputation, price and time for completion of a project.

Customer Demand

Our strategy is predicated on our belief that wireless service providers will continue to invest in their networks in both our domestic and international markets, driving demand for our communications sites.

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Domestic wireless network investments. According to industry data, aggregate annual wireless capital spending in the United States has historically been approximately $25 to $30 billion resulting in consistent demand for our sites. Demand for our domestic communications sites is driven by:

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Wireless service provider focus on network quality and resulting investments in coverage and capacity of their network;

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Subscriber adoption of advanced wireless data applications such as email and internet and the corresponding deployments of advanced wireless networks by wireless service providers to satisfy this incremental demand for high-bandwidth wireless data;

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Deployment of newly acquired spectrum; and

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Deployment of wireless and backhaul networks by new market entrants.

As these factors continue to grow as a competitive necessity in the United States on a widespread basis, wireless service providers may be compelled to deploy new technology and equipment, further increase the cell density of their existing networks and expand their network coverage.

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International wireless network investments. The wireless networks in the international markets we serve are typically less advanced than those in our domestic market with respect to the density of voice networks and the current technologies generally deployed for wireless services. Accordingly, demand for our international communications sites is primarily driven by:

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Incumbent wireless service providers investing in existing voice networks to improve or expand their coverage and increase capacity;

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In certain of our international markets, subscriber adoption of wireless data applications, such as email, internet and video; and

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Spectrum auctions, which result in new market entrants, as well as initial data network deployments.

We believe demand for our communications sites will continue as wireless service providers seek to increase the quality, coverage area and capacity of their existing networks, while also investing in next generation data networks. To meet these network objectives, we believe wireless carriers will continue to outsource their communications site infrastructure needs as a means to accelerate access to their markets and more efficiently use their capital, rather than construct and operate their own communications sites and maintain

their own communications site operation and development capabilities. In addition, because our network development services are complementary to our rental and management business, we believe demand for our network development services will continue, consistent with industry trends.

Our customer demand could be adversely affected by the emergence and growth of new technologies, which could make it possible for wireless carriers to increase the capacity and efficiency of their existing networks. The increased use of spectrally efficient technologies and/or the availability of significant incremental spectrum in the marketplace could potentially relieve a portion of our tenants’ network capacity problems, and as a result, could reduce the demand for tower-based antenna space. Additionally, certain complementary network technologies, such as small cell deployments, could shift a portion of our tenants’ network investment away from the traditional tower-based networks, which may reduce the need for carriers to add more equipment at certain communications sites.

In addition, any increase in the use of network sharing, roaming or resale arrangements by wireless service providers could adversely affect customer demand for tower space. These arrangements enable a provider to serve its customers outside its license area, to give licensed providers the right to enter into arrangements to serve overlapping license areas, and to permit non-licensed providers to enter the wireless marketplace. Consolidation among wireless carriers could similarly impact customer demand for our communications sites because the existing networks of wireless carriers often overlap. In addition, if wireless carriers share their sites or permit equipment location swapping on their sites with other carriers to a significant degree, it could reduce demand for our communications sites. Further, our tenants may be subject to new regulatory policies from time to time that may materially and adversely affect the demand for our communications sites.

Employees

As of December 31, 2012, we employed 2,432 full-time individuals and consider our employee relations to be satisfactory.

Available Information

Our Internet website address is www.americantower.com. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report, and you should not consider information contained on our website as part of this Annual Report. You may access, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, plus amendments to such reports as filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), through the “Investors” portion of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

We have adopted a written Code of Ethics and Business Conduct Policy (“Code of Conduct”) that applies to all of our employees and directors, including, but not limited to, our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions. The Code of Conduct, our corporate governance guidelines and the charters of the audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees of our Board of Directors are available at the “Investors” portion of our website. In the event we amend the provisions of our Code of Conduct, or provide any waivers under the Code of Conduct for our directors or executive officers, we intend to disclose these events on our website as required by the regulations of the New York Stock Exchange and applicable law.

In addition, paper copies of these documents may be obtained free of charge by writing us at the following address: 116 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02116, Attention: Investor Relations; or by calling us at (617) 375-7500.

ITEM 1A.

RISK FACTORS

Decrease in demand for our communications sites would materially and adversely affect our operating results and we cannot control that demand.

Factors affecting the demand for our communications sites and, to a lesser extent, our network development services, could materially and adversely affect our operating results. Those factors include:

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technological changes;

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delays or changes in the deployment of next generation wireless technologies;

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governmental licensing of spectrum or restricting or revoking spectrum licenses;

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mergers or consolidations among wireless service providers;

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increased use of network sharing, roaming or resale arrangements by wireless service providers;

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a decrease in consumer demand for wireless services due to general economic conditions or other factors;

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the financial condition of wireless service providers;

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the ability and willingness of wireless service providers to maintain or increase capital expenditures on network infrastructure; and

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zoning, environmental, health or other government regulations or changes in the application and enforcement thereof.

Any downturn in the economy or disruption in the financial and credit markets could impact consumer demand for wireless services. If wireless service subscribers significantly reduce their minutes of use, or fail to widely adopt and use wireless data applications, our wireless service provider tenants could experience a decrease in demand for their services. As a result, they may scale back their capital expenditure plans, which could materially and adversely affect leasing demand for our communications sites and our network development services business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Furthermore, the demand for broadcast space in the United States and Mexico depends on the needs of television and radio broadcasters. Among other things, technological advances, including the development of satellite-delivered radio and video services, may reduce the need for tower-based broadcast transmission. In addition, any significant increase in attrition rate or decrease in overall demand for broadcast space could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

New technologies or changes in a tenant’s business model could make our tower leasing business less desirable and result in decreasing revenues.

The development and implementation of new technologies designed to enhance the efficiency of wireless networks or changes in a tenant’s business model could reduce the need for tower-based wireless services, decrease demand for tower space or reduce obtainable lease rates. In addition, tenants may have less of their budget allocated to lease space on our towers, as the industry is trending towards deploying increased capital to the development and implementation of new technologies. Examples of these technologies include spectrally efficient technologies which could relieve a portion of our tenants’ network capacity needs and as a result, could reduce the demand for tower-based antenna space. Additionally, certain small cell complementary network technologies could shift a portion of our tenants’ network investment away from the traditional tower-based networks, which may reduce the need for carriers to add more equipment at certain communications sites. Moreover, the emergence of alternative technologies could reduce the need for tower-based broadcast services transmission and reception. For example, the growth in delivery of wireless communications, radio and video services by direct broadcast satellites could materially and adversely affect demand for our tower space. Further,

a tenant may decide to no longer outsource tower infrastructure or otherwise change its business model which would result in a decrease in our revenue. The development and implementation of any of these and similar technologies to any significant degree or changes in a tenant’s business model could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our business is subject to government regulations and changes in current or future laws or regulations could restrict our ability to operate our business as we currently do.

Our business and that of our tenants are subject to federal, state, local and foreign regulations. In certain jurisdictions, these regulations could be applied or enforced retroactively. Local zoning authorities and community organizations are often opposed to construction of communications sites in their communities and these regulations can delay, prevent or increase the cost of new tower construction, modifications, additions of new antennas to a site or site upgrades, thereby limiting our ability to respond to tenant demands and requirements. In addition, in certain foreign jurisdictions, we are required to pay annual license fees, and these fees may be subject to substantial increases by the government. Foreign jurisdictions in which we operate and currently are not required to pay license fees may enact license fees, which may apply retroactively. In certain foreign jurisdictions, there may be changes to zoning regulations or construction laws based on site location which may result in increased costs to modify certain of our existing towers or decreased revenue due to the removal of certain towers to ensure compliance with such changes. Existing regulatory policies may materially and adversely affect the associated timing or cost of such projects and additional regulations may be adopted that increase delays or result in additional costs to us, or that prevent such projects in certain locations. Furthermore, the tax laws, regulations and interpretations governing REITs may change at any time. These factors could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

If our tenants consolidate, merge or share site infrastructure with each other to a significant degree, our growth, revenue and ability to generate positive cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Significant consolidation among our tenants may result in the decommissioning of certain existing communications sites, because certain portions of these tenants’ networks may be redundant. For example, in the United States, recently combined companies have either rationalized or announced plans to rationalize duplicative parts of their networks, which may result in the decommissioning of certain equipment on our communications sites. We would expect a similar outcome in certain other countries where we do business if consolidation of certain tenants occurs. In addition, certain combined companies have undergone or are currently undergoing a modernization of their networks, and these and other tenants could determine not to renew leases with us as a result. Our ongoing contractual revenues and our future results may be negatively impacted if a significant number of these leases are not renewed. Similar consequences might occur if wireless service providers engage in extensive sharing of site infrastructure, roaming or resale arrangements as an alternative to leasing our communications sites.

We could suffer adverse tax or other financial consequences if taxing authorities do not agree with our tax positions.

We periodically are subject to examinations by taxing authorities in the states and countries where we do business, and we expect that we will continue to be subject to tax examinations in the future. Moreover, the Internal Revenue Service and any state or local tax authority may successfully assert liabilities against us for corporate income taxes for taxable years prior to the time we qualified as a REIT, or with respect to our TRSs, in which case either we will owe these taxes plus applicable interest and penalties, if any, or we will offset additional income as determined by a tax authority with our NOLs. If we offset such additional income with our NOLs, our required distributions to maintain our qualification and taxation as a REIT will increase and we may be required to pay deficiency dividends and an associated interest charge if our prior REIT distributions were insufficient in light of the reduced available NOLs.

In addition, domestic and international tax laws and regulations are extremely complex and subject to varying interpretations. We recognize tax benefits of uncertain tax positions when we believe the positions are more likely than not to be sustained upon a challenge by the relevant tax authority. We believe our judgments in this area are reasonable and correct, but there is no guarantee that our tax positions will not be challenged by relevant tax authorities or that we would be successful in any such challenge. If there are tax benefits that are challenged successfully by a taxing authority, we may be required to pay additional taxes or use our NOLs or we may seek to enter into settlements with the taxing authorities, all of which could require significant payments or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from a small number of tenants, and we are sensitive to changes in the creditworthiness and financial strength of our tenants.

A substantial portion of our total operating revenues is derived from a small number of tenants. For the year ended December 31, 2012, four tenants accounted for approximately 74% of our domestic rental and management segment revenue; and five tenants accounted for approximately 55% of our international rental and management segment revenue. If any of these tenants are unwilling or unable to perform their obligations under our agreements with them, our revenues, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected. In the ordinary course of our business, we do occasionally experience disputes with our tenants, generally regarding the interpretation of terms in our leases. We have historically resolved these disputes in a manner that did not have a material adverse effect on us or our tenant relationships. However, it is possible that such disputes could lead to a termination of our leases with tenants or a material modification of the terms of those leases, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. If we are forced to resolve any of these disputes through litigation, our relationship with the applicable tenant could be terminated or damaged, which could lead to decreased revenues or increased costs, resulting in a corresponding adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Additionally, due to the long-term nature of our tenant leases, we depend on the continued financial strength of our tenants. Many wireless service providers operate with substantial leverage. Some of our tenants may experience financial difficulty or may file for bankruptcy. In addition, many of our tenants and potential tenants rely on capital raising activities to fund their operations and capital expenditures. Downturns in the economy and disruptions in the financial and credit markets have periodically made it more difficult and more expensive to raise capital. If our tenants or potential tenants are unable to raise adequate capital to fund their business plans, they may reduce their spending, which could materially and adversely affect demand for our communications sites and our network development services business. If, as a result of a prolonged economic downturn or otherwise, one or more of our significant tenants experienced financial difficulties or filed for bankruptcy, it could result in uncollectible accounts receivable and an impairment of our deferred rent asset, tower asset, network location intangible asset or customer-related intangible asset. The loss of significant tenants, or the loss of all or a portion of our anticipated lease revenues from certain tenants, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our foreign operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position, including risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Our international business operations and our expansion into new markets in the future could result in adverse financial consequences and operational problems not typically experienced in the United States. For the year ended December 31, 2012, approximately 30% of our consolidated revenue was generated by our international operations, compared to 26% for the year ended December 31, 2011. We anticipate that our revenues from our international operations will continue to grow. Accordingly, our business is subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including:

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changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions, including inflation;

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laws or regulations that tax or otherwise restrict repatriation of earnings or other funds or otherwise limit distributions of capital;

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changes to existing or new tax laws or fees directed specifically at the ownership and operation of communications sites or our international acquisitions, which may be applied or enforced retroactively;

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changes to zoning regulations or construction laws, which could retroactively be applied to our existing communications sites;

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expropriation or governmental regulation restricting foreign ownership or requiring divestiture;

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actions restricting or revoking spectrum licenses or suspending business under prior licenses;

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material site security issues;

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significant license surcharges;

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increases in the cost of labor (as a result of unionization or otherwise);

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potential failure to comply with anti-bribery laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or similar local anti-bribery laws, or Office of Foreign Assets Control requirements; and

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uncertain rulings or results from legal or judicial systems, including inconsistencies between and within laws, regulations and decrees, and judicial application thereof, which may be enforced retroactively, and delays in the judicial process.

In our international operations, many of our tenants are subsidiaries of global telecommunications companies. These subsidiaries may not have the explicit or implied financial support of their parent entities.

In addition, as we continue to invest in joint venture opportunities internationally, our partners may have business or economic goals that are inconsistent with ours, be in positions to take action contrary to our interests, policies or objectives, have competing interests in our markets that could create conflict of interest issues, withhold consents contrary to our requests or become unable or unwilling to fulfill their commitments, which could expose us to additional liabilities or costs, including requiring us to assume and fulfill the obligations of that joint venture.

We also face risks associated with changes in foreign currency exchange rates, including those arising from our operations, investments and financing transactions related to our international business. Volatility in foreign currency exchange rates can also affect our ability to plan, forecast and budget for our international operations and expansion efforts. Our revenues earned from our international operations are primarily denominated in their respective local currencies. We have not historically engaged in significant currency hedging activities relating to our non-U.S. Dollar operations, and a weakening of these foreign currencies against the U.S. Dollar would have a negative impact on our reported revenues, operating profits and income.

Our expansion initiatives involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our operating results, disrupt our operations or expose us to additional risk if we are not able to successfully integrate operations, assets and personnel.

As we continue to acquire communications sites in our existing markets and expand into new markets, we are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including not meeting our return on investment criteria and financial objectives, increased costs, assumed liabilities and the diversion of managerial attention due to acquisitions. Achieving the benefits of acquisitions depends in part on integrating operations, communications tower portfolios and personnel in a timely and efficient manner. Integration may be difficult and unpredictable for many reasons, including, among other things, differing systems and processes, potential cultural differences, customary business practices and conflicting policies, procedures and operations. In addition, the integration of businesses may significantly burden management and internal resources, including the potential loss or unavailability of key personnel.

Furthermore, our international expansion initiatives are subject to additional risks such as complex laws, regulations and business practices that may require additional resources and personnel, and the other risks

described above in “—Our foreign operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position, including risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.” As a result, our foreign operations and expansion initiatives may not succeed and may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

If we are unable to protect our rights to the land under our towers, it could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our real property interests relating to our towers consist primarily of leasehold and sub-leasehold interests, fee interests, easements, licenses and rights-of-way. A loss of these interests at a particular tower site may interfere with our ability to operate a tower and generate revenues. For various reasons, we may not always have the ability to access, analyze and verify all information regarding titles and other issues prior to completing an acquisition of communications sites, which can affect our rights to access and operate a site. From time to time we also experience disputes with landowners regarding the terms of ground agreements for land under a tower, which can affect our ability to access and operate a tower site. Further, for various reasons, landowners may not want to renew their ground agreements with us, they may lose their rights to the land, or they may transfer their land interests to third parties, including ground lease aggregators, which could affect our ability to renew ground agreements on commercially viable terms. Approximately 88% of the communications sites in our portfolio as of December 31, 2012 are located on land we lease pursuant to operating leases. Approximately 78% of the ground leases for these sites have a final expiration date of 2022 and beyond. Further, for various reasons, title to property interests in some of the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate may not be as certain as title to our property interests in the United States. Our inability to protect our rights to the land under our towers may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Increasing competition in the tower industry may create pricing pressures that may materially and adversely affect us.

Our industry is highly competitive and our tenants have numerous alternatives in leasing antenna space. Some of our competitors, such as wireless carriers that allow collocation on their towers, are larger and may have greater financial resources than we do, while other competitors may have lower return on investment criteria than we do.

Competitive pricing for tenants on towers from these competitors could materially and adversely affect our lease rates and services income, as well as require us to pay significantly more to acquire assets. In addition, we may not be able to renew existing tenant leases or enter into new tenant leases, resulting in a material adverse impact on our results of operations and growth rate. Increasing competition could also make the acquisition of high quality tower assets more costly. Any of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

If we are unable or choose not to exercise our rights to purchase towers that are subject to lease and sublease agreements at the end of the applicable period, our cash flows derived from such towers would be eliminated.

Our communications real estate portfolio includes towers that we operate pursuant to lease and sublease agreements that include a purchase option at the end of each lease period. We may not have the required available capital to exercise our right to purchase leased or subleased towers at the end of the applicable period. Even if we do have available capital, we may choose not to exercise our right to purchase such towers for business or other reasons. In the event that we do not exercise these purchase rights or are otherwise unable to acquire an interest that would allow us to continue to operate these towers after the applicable period, we would lose the cash flows derived from such towers. In the event that we decide to exercise these purchase rights, the benefits of the acquisitions of a significant number of towers may not exceed the associated acquisition, compliance and integration costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT or fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we would be subject to tax at corporate income tax rates, which would substantially reduce funds otherwise available.

We began operating as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, effective for the taxable year beginning January 1, 2012. If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we will be taxed at corporate income tax rates unless certain relief provisions apply. We believe that we are organized and will qualify as a REIT upon timely filing our federal income tax return for 2012, and we intend to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT. However, we cannot guarantee that we will qualify or remain so qualified, including if our Board of Directors determines it is no longer in our interests to be a REIT.

Qualification as a REIT requires application of certain highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which provisions may change from time to time, to our operations as well as various factual determinations concerning matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. There are limited judicial or administrative interpretations of the Code provisions.

For instance, the net income of our TRSs is not required to be distributed to us, and such undistributed TRS income is generally not subject to our REIT distribution requirements. However, if the accumulation of cash or reinvestment of significant earnings in our TRSs causes the fair market value of our securities in those entities, taken together with other non-qualifying assets, to exceed 25% of the fair market value of our assets, in each case as determined for REIT asset testing purposes, we would, absent timely responsive action, fail to qualify as a REIT.

If, in any taxable year, we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT, and are not entitled to relief under the Code:

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we will not be allowed a deduction for distributions to stockholders in computing our taxable income;

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we will be subject to federal and state income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate tax rates; and

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we would be disqualified from REIT tax treatment for the four taxable years following the year during which we were so disqualified.

Any corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for other purposes. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may need to borrow additional funds or liquidate some investments to pay any additional tax liability. Accordingly, funds available for investment and operations would be reduced.

We may be limited in our ability to fund required distributions using cash generated through our TRSs.

As a REIT, we must distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of the REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). Timing differences between the receipt of income and the recognition of income for federal income tax purposes, as well as the effect of non-deductible expenditures, may impair our ability to fund required distributions. If our cash available for distribution falls short of our estimates, we may be unable to maintain distributions that approximate our REIT taxable income, and as a result, may fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT. To the extent that we satisfy the 90% distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we distribute to our stockholders for a calendar year is less than the minimum amount specified under the Code.

Our ability to receive distributions from our TRSs is limited by the rules with which we must comply to maintain our status as a REIT. In particular, at least 75% of our gross income for each taxable year as a REIT must be derived from real estate, which principally includes gross income from the leasing of our communications sites and rental-related services. Consequently, no more than 25% of our gross income may consist of dividend income from our TRSs and other non-qualifying types of income. Thus, our ability to receive

distributions from our TRSs may be limited, and may impact our ability to fund distributions to our stockholders. Specifically, if our TRSs become highly profitable, we might become limited in our ability to receive net income from our TRSs in an amount required to fund distributions to our stockholders commensurate with that profitability.

In addition, the majority of our income and cash flows from our TRSs are generated from our international operations. In many cases, there are local withholding taxes and currency controls that may impact our ability or willingness to repatriate funds to the United States to help satisfy REIT distribution requirements.

Complying with REIT requirements may limit our flexibility or cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.

To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the concentration of ownership of our stock. Compliance with these tests will require us to refrain from certain activities and may hinder our ability to make certain attractive investments, including the purchase of non-qualifying assets, the expansion of non-real estate activities, and investments in the businesses to be conducted by our TRSs, and to that extent limit our opportunities and our flexibility to change our business strategy. We could also be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments, and could be limited in our ability to hedge liabilities and risks. Furthermore, acquisition opportunities in domestic and international markets may be adversely affected if we need or require the target company to comply with some REIT requirements prior to closing. In addition, we may receive pressure from investors not to pursue growth opportunities that are not immediately accretive.

Under the Code, no more than 25% of the value of the assets of a REIT may be represented by securities of one or more TRSs and other non-qualifying assets. This limitation may affect our ability to make additional investments in our managed networks business or network development services segment as currently structured and operated, in other non-REIT qualifying operations or assets, or in international operations conducted through TRSs that we do not elect to bring into the REIT structure. To meet our annual distribution requirements, we may be required to distribute amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations, including amounts that may otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, capital expenditures or repayment of debt, and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds, sell assets or raise equity to fund these distributions, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings, sales or offerings.

Certain of our business activities may be subject to corporate level income tax and foreign taxes, which reduce our cash flows, and may have deferred and contingent tax liabilities.

We are subject to certain federal, state, local and foreign taxes on our income and assets, including alternative minimum taxes, taxes on any undistributed income and state, local or foreign income, franchise, property and transfer taxes. In addition, we could, in certain circumstances, be required to pay an excise or penalty tax, which could be significant in amount, in order to utilize one or more relief provisions under the Code to maintain qualification for taxation as a REIT. Any of these taxes would decrease our earnings and our available cash.

Our TRS assets and operations will continue to be subject, as applicable, to federal and state corporate income taxes and to foreign taxes in the jurisdictions in which those assets and operations are located.

We will also be subject to a federal corporate level tax at the highest regular corporate rate (currently 35%) on the gain recognized from a sale of assets occurring within a specified period (generally, ten years) after the REIT Conversion, up to the amount of the built-in gain that existed on January 1, 2012, which is based on the fair market value of those assets in excess of our tax basis as of January 1, 2012. Gain from a sale of an asset occurring after the specified period ends will not be subject to this corporate level tax. We currently do not

expect to sell any asset if the sale would result in the imposition of a material tax liability, but our plans may change in the future.

We may need additional financing to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives and to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements.

To fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives and to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements, we may need to raise additional capital through financing activities, sell assets or raise equity. We believe our cash provided by operations for the year ending December 31, 2013 will sufficiently fund our cash needs for operations, capital expenditures, required REIT distribution payments and cash debt service (interest and principal repayments) obligations through 2013. However, we anticipate that we may need to obtain additional sources of capital in the future to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives and satisfy our REIT distribution requirements. Depending on market conditions, we may seek to raise capital through credit facilities or debt or equity offerings. Additionally, a downgrade of our credit rating below investment grade could negatively impact our ability to access credit markets or preclude us from obtaining funds on investment grade terms and conditions. Further, certain of our current debt instruments limit the amount of indebtedness we and our subsidiaries may incur. Additional financing, therefore, may be unavailable, more expensive or restricted by the terms of our outstanding indebtedness. If we are unable to raise capital when our needs arise, we may not be able to fund our capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives or satisfy our REIT distribution requirements.

Our leverage and debt service obligations may materially and adversely affect us.

In order to meet the REIT distribution requirements and maintain our qualification and taxation as a REIT, we may need to borrow funds, sell assets or raise equity, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings, sales or offerings. Any insufficiency of our cash flows to cover our REIT distribution requirements could adversely impact our ability to raise short- and long-term debt, to sell assets or to offer equity securities. Furthermore, the REIT distribution requirements may increase the financing we need to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives. This would increase our total leverage.

As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $8.8 billion of consolidated debt and the ability to borrow additional amounts of approximately $0.7 billion under our credit facilities. Our leverage could render us unable to generate cash sufficient to pay when due the principal of, interest on, or other amounts due with respect to our indebtedness. We are also permitted, subject to certain restrictions under our existing indebtedness, to draw down on our credit facilities and obtain additional long-term debt and working capital lines of credit to meet future financing needs.

Our leverage could have significant negative consequences on our business, results of operations or financial condition, including:

•

impairing our ability to meet one or more of the financial ratio covenants contained in our debt agreements or to generate cash sufficient to pay interest or principal due under those agreements, which could result in an acceleration of some or all of our outstanding debt and the loss of towers subject to our securitization transaction if an uncured default occurs;

•

increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

•

limiting our ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing;

•

increasing our borrowing costs if our current investment grade debt ratings decline;

•

requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service our debt, thereby reducing the amount of our cash flow available for other purposes, including capital expenditures or REIT distributions;

•

requiring us to sell debt or equity securities or to sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, to meet payment obligations;

•

limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the markets in which we compete;

•

limiting our ability to repurchase our common stock or make distributions to our stockholders; and

•

placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage to less leveraged competitors and competitors that may have better access to capital resources.

Restrictive covenants in the loan agreements related to our securitization transaction, the loan agreements for our credit facilities and the indentures governing our debt securities could materially and adversely affect our business by limiting flexibility.

The loan agreement related to our securitization transaction includes operating covenants and other restrictions customary for loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the borrowers under the loan agreement for the securitization transaction are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets. A failure to comply with the covenants in the loan agreement could prevent the borrowers from taking certain actions with respect to the towers subject to the securitization transaction and could prevent the borrowers from distributing any excess cash from the operation of such towers to us. If the borrowers were to default on the loan, the servicer on the loan could seek to foreclose upon or otherwise convert the ownership of the towers subject to the securitization transaction, in which case we could lose such towers and the excess cash flow associated with such towers.

The loan agreements for our credit facilities contain restrictive covenants, as well as requirements to comply with certain leverage and other financial maintenance tests, and could thus limit our ability to take various actions, including incurring additional debt, guaranteeing indebtedness or making distributions to stockholders, and engaging in various types of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and sales of assets. Additionally, our indentures restrict our and our subsidiaries’ ability to incur liens securing our or their indebtedness. These covenants could have an adverse effect on our business by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, new tower development, mergers and acquisitions or other opportunities. Further, if these limits prevent us from satisfying our REIT distribution requirements, we could fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT. If these limits do not jeopardize our qualification for taxation as a REIT but nevertheless prevent us from distributing 100% of our REIT taxable income, we would be subject to federal corporate income tax, and potentially a nondeductible excise tax, on the retained amounts.

In addition, reporting and information covenants in our loan agreements and indentures require that we provide financial and operating information within certain time periods. If we are unable to timely provide the required information, we would be in breach of these covenants. For more information regarding the covenants and requirements discussed above, please see Item 7 of this Annual Report under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Factors Affecting Sources of Liquidity” and note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

We may incur goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges which could result in a significant reduction to our earnings.

We review goodwill and intangible assets annually to determine if it is impaired or more frequently in the event of circumstances indicating potential impairment. These circumstances could include a decline in our actual or expected future cash flows or income, a significant adverse change in the business climate, a decline in market capitalization, or slower growth rates in our industry, among others. If the testing performed indicates that impairment has occurred, we are required to record a non-cash impairment charge for the difference between the carrying value of the goodwill or other intangible assets and the implied fair value of the goodwill or other intangible assets in the period the determination is made.

While we did not record any impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2012, it is possible that in the future, we may be required to record impairment charges for our goodwill or for other intangible assets. These charges could be significant, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We have limited experience operating as a REIT, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and ability to satisfy debt service obligations.

We have only been operating as a REIT since January 1, 2012. Accordingly, the experience of our senior management operating a REIT is limited and may adversely affect our ability to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT. Failure to maintain REIT status could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and ability to satisfy debt service obligations.

We could have liability under environmental and occupational safety and health laws.

Our operations, like those of other companies engaged in similar businesses, are subject to the requirements of various federal, state, local and foreign environmental and occupational safety and health laws and regulations, including those relating to the management, use, storage, disposal, emission and remediation of, and exposure to, hazardous and non-hazardous substances, materials and wastes. As the owner, lessee or operator of real property and facilities, we may be liable for substantial costs of investigation, removal or remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated by hazardous materials, without regard to whether we, as the owner, lessee or operator, knew of, or were responsible for, the contamination. We may also be liable for certain costs of remediating contamination at third-party sites to which we sent waste for disposal, even if the original disposal may have complied with all legal requirements at the time. Many of these laws and regulations contain information reporting and record keeping requirements. We cannot assure you that we are at all times in complete compliance with all environmental requirements. We may be subject to potentially significant fines or penalties if we fail to comply with any of these requirements. The requirements of these laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and could become more stringent in the future. In certain jurisdictions these laws and regulations could be applied or enforced retroactively. It is possible that these requirements will change or that liabilities will arise in the future in a manner that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our towers or data centers may be affected by natural disasters and other unforeseen events for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage.

Our towers are subject to risks associated with natural disasters, such as ice and wind storms, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, as well as other unforeseen events. Any damage or destruction to our towers or data centers, or certain unforeseen events, may impact our ability to provide services to our tenants. While we maintain insurance coverage for natural disasters, we may not have adequate insurance to cover the associated costs of repair or reconstruction for a major future event. Further, we carry business interruption insurance, but our insurance may not adequately cover all of our lost revenues, including potential revenues from new tenants that could have been added to our towers but for the event. If we are unable to provide services to our tenants, it could lead to tenant loss, resulting in a corresponding material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our costs could increase and our revenues could decrease due to perceived health risks from radio emissions, especially if these perceived risks are substantiated.

Public perception of possible health risks associated with cellular and other wireless communications technology could slow the growth of wireless companies, which could in turn slow our growth. In particular, negative public perception of, and regulations regarding, these perceived health risks could undermine the market acceptance of wireless communications services and increase opposition to the development and expansion of

tower sites. The potential connection between radio frequency emissions and certain negative health or environmental effects has been the subject of substantial study by the scientific community in recent years and numerous health-related lawsuits have been filed against wireless carriers and wireless device manufacturers. If a scientific study or court decision resulted in a finding that radio frequency emissions pose health risks to consumers, it could negatively impact our tenants and the market for wireless services, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. We do not maintain any significant insurance with respect to these matters.

ITEM 1B.

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2.

PROPERTIES

Details of each of our principal offices as of December 31, 2012 are provided below:


Country	Function	Size (approximate square feet)		Property Interest
*United States Offices*
Boston, MA	Corporate Headquarters and American Tower International Headquarters		28,000	Leased
Southborough, MA	Information Technology Data Center		24,300	Leased

Woburn, MA	US Tower Division Headquarters, Lease Administration, Site Leasing Management and Broadcast Division Headquarters		91,600	Owned(1)
Atlanta, GA	US Tower Division, Accounting Services, New Site Development and Site Operations Headquarters		21,400	Leased
Cary, NC	US Tower Division, Managed Networks and Structural Engineering Services Headquarters		63,500	Leased and Owned(2)

*Latin America Offices*
Bogota, Colombia	Colombia Headquarters		13,800	Leased(3)
Lima, Peru	Peru Headquarters		3,700	Leased(4)
Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico Headquarters		41,200	Leased(5)
Santiago, Chile	Chile Headquarters		9,200	Leased(6)
Sao Paulo, Brazil	Brazil Headquarters		19,200	Leased

*Asia Offices*
Delhi, India	India Headquarters		7,200	Leased
Mumbai, India	India Operations Center		13,600	Leased(7)

*EMEA Offices*
Accra, Ghana	Ghana Headquarters		27,400	Leased
Johannesburg, South Africa	South Africa Headquarters		16,100	Leased
Kampala, Uganda	Uganda Headquarters		8,800	Leased
Düsseldorf, Germany	Germany Headquarters		500	Leased(8)

(1)	The Woburn facility is approximately 163,000 square feet. Currently, our offices occupy approximately 91,600 square feet. We lease the remaining space to unaffiliated tenants.

(2)	We own a 50,000 square foot facility and lease 20,500 square feet of office space. We lease 7,000 square feet in the owned facility to an unaffiliated tenant.

(3)	We lease two office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 13,800 square feet.

(4)	We lease two office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 3,700 square feet.

(5)	We lease four office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 41,200 square feet.

(6)	We lease two office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 9,200 square feet.

(7)	We lease two office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 13,600 square feet.

(8)	We lease two office spaces that together occupy an aggregate of approximately 500 square feet.

In addition to the principal offices set forth above, we maintain offices in the geographic areas we serve through which we operate our tower leasing and services businesses, as well as maintain offices to pursue international business development initiatives. We believe that our owned and leased facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our anticipated needs.

As of December 31, 2012, we own and operate a portfolio of 54,604 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda. See the table in Item 7 of this Annual Report, under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Executive Overview” for more detailed information on the geographic locations of our communications sites. In addition, we own property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators in the United States, which are included in our domestic rental and management segment.

Domestic Rental and Management Segment. Our interests in our domestic communications sites are comprised of a variety of ownership interests, including leases created by long-term ground lease agreements, easements, licenses or rights-of-way granted by government entities. Pursuant to the loan agreement for our securitization transaction, the 5,278 tower sites in the United States subject to our securitization transaction as of December 31, 2012, are subject to mortgages, deeds of trust and deeds to secure the loan. In addition, 1,471 property interests in the United States are subject to mortgages and deeds of trust to secure notes assumed in connection with the acquisition of certain legal entities from Unison Holdings LLC and Unison Site Management II, L.L.C. (the “Unison Acquisition”).

A typical domestic tower site consists of a compound enclosing the tower site, a tower structure, and one or more equipment shelters that house a variety of transmitting, receiving and switching equipment. The principal types of our domestic towers are guyed, self-supporting lattice and monopole.

•

A guyed tower includes a series of cables attaching separate levels of the tower to anchor foundations in the ground. A guyed tower can reach heights of up to 2,000 feet. A guyed tower site for a typical broadcast tower can consist of a tract of land of up to 20 acres.

•

A lattice tower typically tapers from the bottom up and usually has three or four legs. A lattice tower can reach heights of up to 1,000 feet. Depending on the height of the tower, a lattice tower site for a typical wireless communications tower can consist of a tract of land of 10,000 square feet for a rural site or fewer than 2,500 square feet for a metropolitan site.

•

A monopole tower is a tubular structure that is used primarily to address space constraints or aesthetic concerns. Monopoles typically have heights ranging from 50 to 200 feet. A monopole tower site used in metropolitan areas for a typical wireless communications tower can consist of a tract of land of fewer than 2,500 square feet.

International Rental and Management Segment. Our interests in our international communications sites are comprised of a variety of ownership interests, including leases created by long-term ground lease agreements, easements, licenses or rights-of-way granted by private or government entities.

A typical international tower site consists of a compound enclosing the tower site, a tower structure, backup or auxiliary power generators and batteries, and one or more equipment shelters that house a variety of transmitting, receiving and switching equipment. The four principal types of our international towers are guyed, self-supporting lattice, monopole and rooftop. Guyed, self-supporting lattice and monopole structures are similar to those in our domestic segment. Rooftop towers are primarily used in metropolitan areas, where locations for traditional tower structures are unavailable. Rooftop towers typically have heights ranging from 10 to 100 feet.

Of the 54,604 communications sites in our portfolio as of December 31, 2012, approximately 88% are located on land we lease. Domestically, ground leases for land underlying our towers generally have a term of

approximately twenty to twenty-five years, which is comprised of an initial term of approximately five years with three or four automatic five-year renewal periods. Internationally, ground leases, or similar agreements that grant use rights for land underlying our towers, typically also have a term of approximately twenty to twenty-five years, which is comprised of an initial term ranging from five to ten years with one or more automatic or exercisable renewal periods. As a result, approximately 78% of the ground agreements for our sites have a final expiration date of 2022 and beyond.

Tenants. Our tenants are primarily wireless service providers, broadcasters and other communications service providers. As of December 31, 2012, our four top tenants by revenue were AT&T Mobility (18%), Sprint Nextel (14%), Verizon Wireless (11%) and T-Mobile USA (8%). In general, our tenant leases have an initial non-cancellable term of five to ten years, with multiple five-year renewal terms thereafter. As a result, approximately 79% of our current tenant leases have a renewal date of 2018 or beyond.

ITEM 3.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

On June 2, 2011, we received a subpoena from the SEC requesting certain documents from 2007 through the date of the subpoena, including in particular documents related to our tax accounting and reporting. On November 6, 2012, the SEC notified us that its investigation has been completed. The SEC indicated that it does not intend to recommend any enforcement action against us.

One of our subsidiaries, SpectraSite Communications, Inc. (“SCI”), a predecessor in interest by conversion to SpectraSite Communications, LLC, was involved in a lawsuit brought in Mexico against a former Mexican subsidiary of SCI (the subsidiary of SCI was sold in 2002, prior to our acquisition of SCI in 2005). The lawsuit concerns a terminated tower construction contract and related agreements with a wireless carrier in Mexico. The primary issue for us is whether SCI itself can be found liable to the Mexican carrier. The trial and lower appellate courts initially found that SCI had no such liability in part because Mexican courts did not have the necessary jurisdiction over SCI. In September 2010, following several decisions by Mexican appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Mexico, and related appeals by both parties, an intermediate appellate court issued a new decision that would have, if enforceable, re-imposed liability on SCI if the primary defendant in the case were unable to satisfy the judgment. In its decision, the intermediate appellate court identified potential damages, in the form of potential statutory interest, of approximately $6.7 million as of that date. On October 14, 2010, we filed a new constitutional appeal to again dispute the decision, which was rejected on January 24, 2012. The case was returned to the trial court to determine whether any actual damages should be awarded to the Mexican carrier. On August 2, 2012, the trial court entered judgment against the primary defendant and SCI in the amount of approximately $6.5 million. Each party appealed the trial court’s determination and on October 17, 2012, the appellate court entered judgment against the primary defendant in the amount of approximately $7.9 million with SCI responsible for any amount not recoverable from the primary defendant. On November 9, 2012, SCI filed a constitutional appeal of the appellate court ruling. In connection with our acquisition of a portfolio of communications sites from the Mexican carrier on January 31, 2013, the Mexican carrier released all of its claims against SCI, including any obligation of SCI to pay any damages.

We periodically become involved in various claims and lawsuits that are incidental to our business. In the opinion of management, after consultation with counsel, there are no matters currently pending that would, in the event of an adverse outcome, have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

ITEM 4.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

N/A.

PART II

ITEM 5.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

The following table presents reported quarterly high and low per share sale prices of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) for the years 2012 and 2011.


2012	High		Low
Quarter ended March 31	$	64.38	$	58.81
Quarter ended June 30		69.91		61.62
Quarter ended September 30		73.07		69.14
Quarter ended December 31		77.27		71.07

2011	High		Low
Quarter ended March 31	$	56.73	$	46.61
Quarter ended June 30		55.48		49.52
Quarter ended September 30		55.21		46.35
Quarter ended December 31		60.70		52.86

On February 11, 2013, the closing price of our common stock was $76.38 per share as reported on the NYSE. As of February 11, 2013, we had 395,103,065 outstanding shares of common stock and 144 registered holders.

Dividends

As a REIT, we must annually distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). Generally, we expect to distribute all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income so as to not be subject to income tax or excise tax on undistributed REIT taxable income. The amount, timing and frequency of future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, a number of which may be beyond our control, including our financial condition and operating cash flows, the amount required to maintain REIT status and reduce any income and excise taxes that we otherwise would be required to pay, limitations on distributions in our existing and future debt instruments, our ability to utilize NOLs to offset our distribution requirements, limitations on our ability to fund distributions using cash generated through our TRSs and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, a pre-REIT year, there were no cash distributions declared. Prior to our REIT Conversion, during the year ended December 31, 2011, we paid a one-time special cash distribution to our stockholders of approximately $137.8 million, or $0.35 per share of common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we declared and paid the following regular cash distributions to our stockholders:


Declaration Date	Payment Date		Record Date		Distribution per share		Aggregate Payment Amount (in millions)
March 22, 2012		April 25, 2012		April 11, 2012	$	0.21	$	82.9
June 20, 2012		July 18, 2012		July 2, 2012	$	0.22	$	86.9
September 19, 2012		October 15, 2012		October 1, 2012	$	0.23	$	90.9
December 6, 2012		December 31, 2012		December 17, 2012	$	0.24	$	94.8

Performance Graph

This performance graph is furnished and shall not be deemed ‘‘filed’’ with the SEC or subject to Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Telecommunications Equipment Index. The performance graph assumes that on December 31, 2007, $100 was invested in each of our common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Telecommunications Equipment Index. The cumulative return shown in the graph assumes reinvestment of all dividends. The performance of our common stock reflected below is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

LOGO


	Cumulative Total Returns
	12/07		12/08		12/09		12/10		12/11		12/12
American Tower Corporation	$	100.00	$	68.83	$	101.43	$	121.22	$	141.72	$	184.85
S&P 500 Index		100.00		63.00		79.67		91.67		93.61		108.59
Dow Jones U.S. Telecommunications Equipment Index		100.00		59.44		89.65		92.61		85.30		93.62

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

During the three months ended December 31, 2012, we repurchased 619,314 shares of our common stock for an aggregate of approximately $46.0 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to our publicly announced stock repurchase program, as follows:


Period	Total Number of Shares Purchased(1)		Average Price Paid per Share(2)		Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs		Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
							(in millions)
October 2012		27,524	$	72.62		27,524	$	1,300.1
November 2012		489,390	$	74.22		489,390	$	1,263.7
December 2012		102,400	$	74.83		102,400	$	1,256.1

Total Fourth Quarter		619,314	$	74.25		619,314	$	1,256.1

(1)

Repurchases made pursuant to the $1.5 billion stock repurchase program approved by our Board of Directors in March 2011 (the “2011 Buyback”). Under this program, our management is authorized to purchase shares from time to time through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions at prevailing prices as permitted by securities laws and other legal requirements, and subject to market conditions and other factors. To facilitate repurchases, we make purchases pursuant to trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, which allows us to repurchase shares during periods when we otherwise might be prevented from doing so under insider trading laws or because of self-imposed trading blackout periods. This program may be discontinued at any time.

(2)	Average price per share is calculated using the aggregate price, excluding commissions and fees.

We continued to repurchase shares of our common stock pursuant to our 2011 Buyback subsequent to December 31, 2012. Between January 1, 2013 and January 21, 2013, we repurchased an additional 15,790 shares of our common stock for an aggregate of $1.2 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to the 2011 Buyback. As a result, as of January 21, 2013, we had repurchased a total of approximately 4.3 million shares of our common stock under the 2011 Buyback for an aggregate of $245.2 million, including commissions and fees. We expect to continue to manage the pacing of the remaining $1.3 billion under the 2011 Buyback in response to general market conditions and other relevant factors.

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The selected financial data should be read in conjunction with our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes to those consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), the consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented in this “Selected Financial Data” have been adjusted to reflect certain businesses as discontinued operations.

Year-over-year comparisons are significantly affected by our acquisitions, dispositions and, to a lesser extent, construction of towers.


	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010			2009			2008
	(In thousands, except per share data)
Statements of Operations Data:
Revenues:
Rental and management	$	2,803,490		$	2,386,185		$	1,936,373		$	1,668,420		$	1,547,035
Network development services		72,470			57,347			48,962			55,694			46,469

Total operating revenues		2,875,960			2,443,532			1,985,335			1,724,114			1,593,504

Operating expenses:
Cost of operations (exclusive of items shown separately below)
Rental and management(1)	$	686,681		$	590,272		$	447,629		$	383,990		$	363,024
Network development services(2)		35,798			30,684			26,957			32,385			26,831
Depreciation, amortization and accretion(3)		644,276			555,517			460,726			414,619			405,332
Selling, general, administrative and development expense(4)		327,301			288,824			229,769			201,694			180,374
Other operating expenses		62,185			58,103			35,876			19,168			11,189

Total operating expenses		1,756,241			1,523,400			1,200,957			1,051,856			986,750

Operating income		1,119,719			920,132			784,378			672,258			606,754
Interest income, TV Azteca, net		14,258			14,214			14,212			14,210			14,253
Interest income		7,680			7,378			5,024			1,722			3,413
Interest expense		(401,665	)		(311,854	)		(246,018	)		(249,803	)		(253,584	)
Loss on retirement of long-term obligations		(398	)		—			(1,886	)		(18,194	)		(4,904	)
Other (expense) income		(38,300	)		(122,975	)		315			1,294			5,988

Income from continuing operations before income taxes and income on equity method investments		701,294			506,895			556,025			421,487			371,920
Income tax provision		(107,304	)		(125,080	)		(182,489	)		(182,565	)		(135,509	)
Income on equity method investments		35			25			40			26			22

Income from continuing operations		594,025			381,840			373,576			238,948			236,433
Income from discontinued operations, net(5)		—			—			30			8,179			110,982

Net income		594,025			381,840			373,606			247,127			347,415
Net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interest		43,258			14,622			(670	)		(532	)		(169	)

Net income attributable to American Tower Corporation	$	637,283		$	396,462		$	372,936		$	246,595		$	347,246

Basic income per common share from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation(6)	$	1.61		$	1.00		$	0.93		$	0.60		$	0.60
Diluted income per common share from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation(6)	$	1.60		$	0.99		$	0.92		$	0.59		$	0.58

Weight average common shares outstanding(6)
Basic		394,772			395,711			401,152			398,375			395,947

Diluted		399,287			400,195			404,072			406,948			418,357

Distribution declared per share	$	0.90		$	0.35			—			—			—

Other Operating Data:
Ratio of earnings to fixed charges(7)		2.32x			2.19x			2.65x			2.27x			2.12x


	As of December 31,
	2012		2011		2010		2009		2008
	(In thousands)
Balance Sheet Data:(8)
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)(9)	$	437,934	$	372,406	$	959,935	$	295,129	$	194,943
Property and equipment, net		5,789,995		4,981,722		3,683,474		3,169,623		3,022,636
Total assets		14,089,129		12,242,395		10,370,084		8,519,931		8,211,665
Long-term obligations, including current portion		8,753,376		7,236,308		5,587,388		4,211,581		4,333,146
Total American Tower Corporation equity		3,573,101		3,287,220		3,501,444		3,315,082		2,991,322

(1)	For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, amount includes approximately $0.8 million and $1.1 million, respectively, in stock-based compensation expense. For the years ended December 31, 2008 through 2010, there was no stock-based compensation expense included.

(2)	For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, amount includes approximately $1.0 million and $1.2 million, respectively, in stock-based compensation expense. For the years ended December 31, 2008 through 2010, there was no stock-based compensation expense included.

(3)

In 2008, we completed a review of the estimated useful lives of our tower assets. Based upon this review, we revised the estimated useful lives of our towers and certain related intangible assets, primarily our network location intangible assets, from our historical estimate of 15 years to a revised estimate of 20 years. We accounted for this change as a change in estimate, which was accounted for prospectively, effective January 1, 2008. For the year ended December 31, 2008, the change resulted in a reduction in depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $121.2 million and an increase in net income of approximately $74.4 million.

(4)	For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008 amount includes approximately $50.2 million, $45.1 million, $52.6 million, $60.7 million and $54.8 million, respectively, in stock-based compensation expense.

(5)

We ceased to consolidate Verestar, Inc’s (“Verestar”) financial results beginning in December 2003 and reported the results as discontinued operations. Income from discontinued operations for 2008 includes an income tax benefit of $110.1 million related to losses associated with our investment in Verestar.

(6)

Basic income from continuing operations per common share represents income from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted income from continuing operations per common share represents income from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period and any dilutive common share equivalents, including unvested restricted stock, shares issuable upon exercise of stock options and warrants as determined under the treasury stock method and upon conversion of our convertible notes, as determined under the if-converted method. Dilutive common share equivalents also include the dilutive impact of the Verizon transaction (see note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

(7)

For the purpose of this calculation, “earnings” consists of income from continuing operations before income taxes, income on equity method investments and fixed charges (excluding interest capitalized and amortization of interest capitalized). “Fixed charges” consists of interest expense, including amounts capitalized, amortization of debt discounts and premiums and related issuance costs and the component of rental expense associated with operating leases believed by management to be representative of the interest factor thereon.

(8)	Balances have been revised to reflect purchase accounting measurement period adjustments.

(9)	As of December 31, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008, includes approximately $69.3 million, $42.2 million, $76.0 million, $47.8 million and $51.9 million, respectively, in restricted funds pledged as collateral to secure obligations and cash that is otherwise limited by contractual provisions.

ITEM 7.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations that follow are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. This discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements herein and the accompanying notes thereto, and the information set forth under the caption “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” below.

Our continuing operations are reported in three segments, domestic rental and management, international rental and management and network and development services. Among other factors, management uses segment gross margin and segment operating profit in its assessment of operating performance in each business segment. We define segment gross margin as segment revenue less segment operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation recorded in costs of operations; depreciation, amortization and accretion; selling, general, administrative and development expense; and other operating expense. We define segment operating profit as segment gross margin less selling, general, administrative and development expense attributable to the segment, excluding stock-based compensation expense and corporate expenses. Segment gross margin and segment operating profit for the international rental and management segment also include interest income, TV Azteca, net (see note 20 to our consolidated financial statements included herein). These measures of segment gross margin and segment operating profit are also before interest income, interest expense, loss on retirement of long-term obligations, other income (expense), net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, income (loss) on equity method investments, income taxes and discontinued operations.

Executive Overview

Our primary business is leasing antenna space on multi-tenant communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcast companies, wireless data providers, government agencies and municipalities and tenants in a number of other industries. In addition to the communications sites in our portfolio, we manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. We also hold property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators. We refer to this business as our rental and management operations, which accounted for approximately 97% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012 and includes our domestic rental and management segment and our international rental and management segment. Through our network development services segment, we offer tower-related services domestically, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support our site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites. We began operating as a REIT for federal income tax purposes effective January 1, 2012.

The following table details the number of communications sites we own or operate in the countries in which we operate as of December 31, 2012:


Country	Number of Owned Sites		Number of Operated Sites(1)
United States		16,378		6,421
International:
Brazil		4,193		155
Chile		1,181		—
Colombia		2,298		706
Germany		2,031		—
Ghana		1,931		—
India		10,383		—
Mexico		5,581		199
Peru		500		—
South Africa		1,604		—
Uganda		1,043		—

(1)	All of the sites we operate are held pursuant to long-term capital leases, including those subject to purchase options.

The majority of our tenant leases with wireless carriers are typically for an initial non-cancellable term of five to ten years, with multiple five-year renewal terms thereafter. Accordingly, nearly all of the revenue generated by our rental and management operations during the year ended December 31, 2012 is recurring revenue that we should continue to receive in future periods. Based upon foreign currency exchange rates and the tenant leases in place as of December 31, 2012, we expect to generate approximately $20 billion of non-cancellable tenant lease revenue over future periods, excluding the impact of straight-line lease accounting. In addition, most of our tenant leases have provisions that periodically increase the rent due under the lease, typically annually based on a fixed percentage (on average approximately 3.5% in the United States), inflation, or inflation with a fixed minimum or maximum escalation for the year. Revenue generated by rent increases based on fixed escalation clauses is recognized on a straight line basis over the non-cancellable term of the applicable agreement. We also routinely seek to extend our leases with our tenants, which increases the non-cancellable term of the lease and creates incremental growth in our revenues.

The revenues generated by our rental and management operations may also be affected by cancellations of existing tenant leases. As discussed above, most of our tenant leases with wireless carriers and broadcasters are multi-year contracts, which typically are non-cancellable; however in some instances, a lease may be cancelled upon the payment of a termination fee.

Revenue lost from either cancellations of leases at the end of their terms or rent negotiations historically have not had a material adverse effect on the revenues generated by our rental and management operations. During the year ended December 31, 2012, loss of annual revenue from tenant lease cancellations or renegotiations represented less than 1.3% of our rental and management operations revenues.

Rental and Management Operations Revenue Growth. The primary factors affecting the revenue growth for our domestic and international rental and management segments are:

•

Recurring revenues from tenant leases generated from sites which existed in our portfolio as of the beginning of the prior year period (“legacy sites”);

•

Contractual rent escalations on existing tenant leases, net of cancellations;

•

New revenue generated from leasing additional space on our legacy sites; and

•

New revenue generated from new sites acquired or constructed since the beginning of the prior year period (“new sites”).

We continue to believe that our site leasing revenue is likely to increase due to the growing use of wireless communications services and our ability to meet that demand by adding new tenants and new equipment for existing tenants on our legacy sites, which increases the utilization and profitability of our sites. In addition, we believe the majority of our site leasing activity will continue to come from wireless service providers. Our legacy site portfolio and our established tenant base provide us with new business opportunities, which have historically resulted in consistent and predictable organic revenue growth as wireless carriers seek to increase the coverage and capacity of their networks as well as roll out next generation wireless technologies. In addition, we intend to continue to supplement the organic growth on our legacy sites by selectively developing or acquiring new sites in our existing and new markets where we can achieve our risk adjusted return on investment criteria.

Rental and Management Operations Organic Revenue Growth. Consistent with our strategy to increase the utilization and return on investment of our legacy sites, our objective is to add new tenants and new equipment for existing tenants through collocation. Our ability to lease additional space on our sites is primarily a function of the rate at which wireless carriers deploy capital to improve and expand their wireless networks. This rate, in turn, is influenced by the growth of wireless communications services and related infrastructure needs, the financial performance of our tenants and their access to capital, and general economic conditions. The following key trends within each market that we serve provide opportunities for organic revenue growth:

•

Domestic. As a result of the rapid subscriber adoption of wireless data applications, wireless service providers in the United States continue to invest in their wireless networks by adding new cell sites as well as additional equipment to their existing cell sites. This level of wireless communications services growth has driven wireless providers in the United States to deploy consistent levels of annual wireless capital investment and as a result, we have experienced strong demand for our communications sites.

We expect the following key industry trends will result in incremental revenue opportunities for us:

•

The deployment of advanced wireless technology across existing wireless networks will provide higher speed data services and enable fixed broadband substitution. As a result, our tenants continue to deploy additional equipment across their existing networks.

•

Wireless service providers compete based on the overall capacity and coverage of their existing wireless networks. To maintain or improve their network performance as overall network usage increases, our tenants continue to deploy additional equipment across their existing sites as well as add new cell sites.

•

Wireless service providers are also investing in reinforcing their networks through incremental backhaul and the utilization of on-site generators, which results in additional equipment leased at the tower site.

•

Wireless service providers continue to acquire additional spectrum, and as a result are expected to add additional equipment to their network as they seek to optimize their network configuration.

We signed holistic master lease agreements with three of our four major tenants in the United States, which provide for consistent, long-term revenue growth and a reduction in the potential impact of churn. Typically, these agreements include built-in annual escalators, fixed annual charges which permit our tenants to place a pre-determined amount of equipment on our sites and provisions for incremental lease payments if the equipment levels are exceeded. Our holistic master lease agreements build and foster strong strategic partnerships with our tenants and have significantly reduced collocation cycle times, thereby providing our tenants with the ability to rapidly deploy technology on our sites.

•

International. Most of our international markets are less advanced with respect to the current technologies deployed for wireless services. As a result, demand for our communications sites is predominantly driven by continued voice network investments, new market entrants and initial third generation (“3G”) data network deployments. For example, in India, nationwide voice networks

continue to be deployed as wireless service providers are beginning their investments in 3G data networks. Similarly, in Ghana and Uganda, wireless service providers continue to build out their voice and data networks in order to satisfy increasing demand for wireless services. In South Africa, where voice networks are in a more advanced stage of development, carriers are beginning to deploy 3G data networks across spectrum acquired in recent spectrum auctions. In Mexico and Brazil, where nationwide voice networks have also been deployed, some incumbent wireless service providers continue to invest in their 3G data networks, and recent spectrum auctions have enabled other incumbent wireless service providers to begin their initial investments in 3G data networks. In markets such as Chile, Peru and Colombia, recent or anticipated spectrum auctions are expected to drive investment in nationwide voice and 3G data networks. In Germany, our most mature international wireless market, demand is currently being driven by a government-mandated rural fourth generation network build-out, as well as other tenant initiatives to deploy next generation wireless services. We believe incremental demand for our tower sites will continue in our international markets as wireless service providers seek to remain competitive by increasing the coverage of their networks while also investing in next generation data networks.

Rental and Management Operations New Site Revenue Growth. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we grew our portfolio of communications real estate through acquisitions and construction activities, including the acquisition and construction of approximately 8,810 sites. In a majority of our international markets, the acquisition or construction of new sites results in increased pass-through revenues and expenses. We continue to evaluate opportunities to acquire larger communications real estate portfolios, both domestically and internationally, to determine whether they meet our risk adjusted hurdle rates and whether we believe we can effectively integrate them into our existing portfolio.


New Sites (Acquired or Constructed)	2012		2011		2010
Domestic		960		470		950
International(1)		7,850		10,000		6,870

(1)	The majority of sites acquired or constructed in 2012 were in Brazil, Germany, India and Uganda; in 2011 were in Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, India, Mexico and South Africa; and in 2010 were in Chile, Colombia, India and Peru.

Network Development Services Segment Revenue Growth. As we continue to focus on growing our rental and management operations, we anticipate that our network development services revenue will continue to represent a relatively small percentage of our total revenues. Through our network development services segment, we offer tower-related services, including site acquisition, zoning and permitting services and structural analysis services, which primarily support our site leasing business and the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites, including in connection with provider network upgrades.

Rental and Management Operations Expenses. Direct operating expenses incurred by our domestic and international rental and management segments include direct site level expenses and consist primarily of ground rent, property taxes, repairs and maintenance, security and power and fuel costs, some of which may be passed through to our tenants. These segment direct operating expenses exclude all segment and corporate selling, general, administrative and development expenses, which are aggregated into one line item entitled selling, general, administrative and development expense in our consolidated statements of operations. In general, our domestic and international rental and management segments selling, general, administrative and development expenses do not significantly increase as a result of adding incremental tenants to our legacy sites and typically increase only modestly year-over-year. As a result, leasing additional space to new tenants on our legacy sites provides significant incremental cash flow. We may incur additional segment selling, general, administrative and development expenses as we increase our presence in geographic areas where we have recently launched operations or are focused on expanding our portfolio. Our profit margin growth is therefore positively impacted by the addition of new tenants to our legacy sites and can be temporarily diluted by our development activities.

REIT Conversion. We began operating as a REIT effective January 1, 2012. The REIT tax rules require that we derive most of our income, other than income generated by a TRS, from investments in real estate, which for us primarily consists of income from the leasing of our communications sites. Under the Code, maintaining REIT status generally requires that no more than 25% of the value of the REIT’s assets be represented by securities of one or more TRSs and other non-qualifying assets.

A REIT must annually distribute to its stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). During the year ended December 31, 2012, we paid an aggregate of approximately $355.6 million in regular cash distributions to our stockholders. We intend to continue paying regular distributions in 2013. The amount, timing and frequency of future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, a number of which may be beyond our control, including our financial condition and operating cash flows, the amount required to maintain REIT status and reduce any income and excise taxes that we otherwise would be required to pay, limitations on distributions in our existing and future debt instruments, our ability to utilize NOLs to offset, in whole or in part, our distribution requirements, limitations on our ability to fund distributions using cash generated through our TRSs and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

For more information on the requirements to qualify as a REIT, see Item 1 of this Annual Report under the caption “Business—Overview,” and Item 1A of this Annual Report under the caption “Risk Factors—If we fail to qualify as a REIT or fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we would be subject to tax at corporate income tax rates, which would substantially reduce funds otherwise available” and “—Certain of our business activities may be subject to corporate level income tax and foreign taxes, which reduce our cash flows, and may have deferred and contingent tax liabilities.”

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Included in our analysis of our results of operations are discussions regarding earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and accretion, as adjusted (“Adjusted EBITDA”). We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income before: income (loss) on discontinued operations, net; income (loss) from equity method investments; income tax provision (benefit); other income (expense); loss on retirement of long-term obligations; interest expense; interest income; other operating expenses; depreciation, amortization and accretion; and stock-based compensation expense.

Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to replace net income or any other performance measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Rather, Adjusted EBITDA is presented as we believe it is a useful indicator of our current operating performance. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance because (1) it is a key measure used by our management team for purposes of decision making and for evaluating the performance of our operating segments; (2) it is a component of the calculation used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain debt covenants; (3) it is widely used in the tower industry to measure operating performance as depreciation, amortization and accretion may vary significantly among companies depending upon accounting methods and useful lives, particularly where acquisitions and non-operating factors are involved; (4) it provides investors with a meaningful measure for evaluating our period to period operating performance by eliminating items which are not operational in nature; and (5) it provides investors with a measure for comparing our results of operations to those of different companies by excluding the impact of long-term strategic decisions which can differ significantly from company to company, such as decisions with respect to capital structure, capital investments and the tax jurisdictions in which companies operate.

Our measurement of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, has been included below.

Results of Operations

Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011

(in thousands, except percentages)

Revenue


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,940,689	$	1,744,260	$	196,429		11	%
International		862,801		641,925		220,876		34

Total rental and management		2,803,490		2,386,185		417,305		17
Network development services		72,470		57,347		15,123		26

Total revenues	$	2,875,960	$	2,443,532	$	432,428		18	%

Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 18% to $2,876.0 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in both of our rental and management segments, including organic revenue growth attributable to our legacy sites and revenue growth attributable to the approximately 19,280 new sites that we have constructed or acquired since January 1, 2011.

Domestic rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 11% to $1,940.7 million. This growth was comprised of:

•

Revenue growth from legacy sites of approximately 8%, which includes approximately 2% attributable to contractual rent escalations, net of tenant lease cancellations, and approximately 6% due to incremental revenue primarily generated from new tenant leases and amendments to existing tenant leases on our legacy sites, which includes the positive impact of approximately 1% due to customer settlements during the first quarter of 2012;

•

Revenue growth from new sites of approximately 2%, resulting from the construction or acquisition of approximately 1,430 new sites, as well as land interests under third-party sites since January 1, 2011; and

•

An increase of over 1% from the impact of straight-line lease accounting.

International rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 34% to $862.8 million. This growth was comprised of:

•

Revenue growth from new sites of approximately 38%, resulting from the construction or acquisition of approximately 17,850 new sites since January 1, 2011;

•

Revenue growth from legacy sites of approximately 10%, which includes approximately 7% due to incremental revenue primarily generated from new tenant leases and amendments to existing tenant leases on our legacy sites, approximately 2% attributable to contractual rent escalations, net of tenant lease cancellations, and approximately 1% for the reversal of revenue reserves; and

•

A decline of over 14% attributable to the negative impact from foreign currency translation.

Network development services segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 26% to $72.5 million. The growth was comprised of:

•

Revenue growth of 32% primarily attributable to an increase in structural engineering services as a result of an increase in customer lease applications which are primarily associated with our tenants’ next generation technology network upgrades during the year ended December 31, 2012; and

•

A decline of 6% resulting from a favorable one-time item recognized in connection with the reversal of amounts previously reserved during the year ended December 31, 2011.

Gross Margin


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,583,134	$	1,390,802	$	192,332		14	%
International		548,726		420,430		128,296		31

Total rental and management		2,131,860		1,811,232		320,628		18
Network development services		37,640		27,887		9,753		35

Domestic rental and management segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 14% to $1,583.1 million, which was comprised of:

•

Gross margin growth from legacy sites of approximately 11%, primarily associated with the increase in revenue, as described above, which was partially offset by an increase in direct operating costs primarily from increased straight-line rent expense and an increase in repairs and maintenance activity; and

•

Gross margin growth from new sites of approximately 3%, resulting from the construction or acquisition of approximately 1,430 new sites, as well as land interests under third-party sites since January 1, 2011.

International rental and management segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 31% to $548.7 million, which was comprised of:

•

Gross margin growth from new sites of approximately 37%, resulting from the construction or acquisition of approximately 17,850 new sites since January 1, 2011;

•

Gross margin growth from legacy sites of approximately 8%, primarily associated with the increase in revenue, as described above; and

•

A decline of approximately 14% attributable to the negative impact from foreign currency translation.

Network development services segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 35% to $37.6 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the increase in revenue described above.

Selling, General, Administrative and Development Expense


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	85,663	$	77,041	$	8,622			11	%
International		95,579		82,106		13,473			16

Total rental and management		181,242		159,147		22,095			14
Network development services		6,744		7,864		(1,120	)		(14	)
Other		139,315		121,813		17,502			14

Total selling, general, administrative and development expense	$	327,301	$	288,824	$	38,477			13	%

Total selling, general, administrative and development expense (“SG&A”) for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 13% to $327.3 million. The increase was attributable to an increase in both of our rental and management segments, as well as an increase in our Other SG&A.

Domestic rental and management segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 11% to $85.7 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the impact of initiatives that we launched during 2011, designed to drive growth and to support a growing portfolio, including increased staffing in field operations, sales and finance and other functions supporting the expansion of our business.

International rental and management segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 16% to $95.6 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the launch of operations in our new markets as well as our continued investments in international expansion initiatives in foreign operations, partially offset by the reversal of approximately $3.8 million of bad debt expense in Mexico for amounts previously reserved.

Network development services segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2012 decreased 14% to $6.7 million. The decrease was primarily attributable to the reversal of bad debt expense upon the receipt of a customer payment for amounts previously reserved, partially offset by higher personnel related costs.

Other SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 14% to $139.3 million. The increase was primarily due to a $12.4 million increase in corporate expenses and a $5.1 million increase in SG&A related stock-based compensation expense. The increase in corporate expenses was primarily attributable to incremental employee costs of approximately $8.7 million associated with supporting a growing global organization and a $3.7 million non-recurring state tax expense.

Operating Profit


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,497,471	$	1,313,761	$	183,710		14	%
International		453,147		338,324		114,823		34

Total rental and management		1,950,618		1,652,085		298,533		18
Network development services		30,896		20,023		10,873		54

Domestic rental and management segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 14% to $1,497.5 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our domestic rental and management segment gross margin (14%) as described above, and was partially offset by increases in our domestic rental and management segment SG&A (11%), as described above.

International rental and management segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 34% to $453.1 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our international rental and management segment gross margin (31%) as described above, and was partially offset by increases in our international rental and management segment SG&A (16%), as described above.

Network development services segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 54% to $30.9 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in network development services segment gross margin and the decrease in SG&A, as described above.

Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	$	644,276	$	555,517	$	88,759		16	%

Depreciation, amortization and accretion for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 16% to $644.3 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the depreciation, amortization and accretion associated with the acquisition or construction of approximately 19,280 sites since January 1, 2011, which resulted in an increase in property and equipment.

Other Operating Expenses


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Other operating expenses	$	62,185	$	58,103	$	4,082		7	%

Other operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 7% to $62.2 million. This change was primarily attributable to an increase of approximately $17.0 million in impairment charges and loss on disposal of assets, which included an impairment charge of $10.8 million of one of our outdoor DAS networks, upon the termination of a tenant lease during the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase was partially offset by a decrease of approximately $12.9 million in acquisition related costs and non-recurring consulting and legal costs incurred in 2011 associated with our REIT Conversion.

Interest Expense


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Interest expense	$	401,665	$	311,854	$	89,811		29	%

Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 29% to $401.7 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in our average debt outstanding of approximately $1,617.3 million, which was primarily used to fund our recent acquisitions, and an increase in our annualized weighted average cost of borrowing from 5.32% to 5.37%.

Other Expense


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012		2011		Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Other expense	$	38,300	$	122,975	$	(84,675	)		(69	)%

Other expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 decreased 69% to $38.3 million. The decrease was primarily a result of a decline in unrealized currency losses of $96.8 million. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded unrealized foreign currency losses of approximately $34.3 million resulting primarily from fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange rates associated with our intercompany notes and similar unaffiliated balances denominated in a currency other than the subsidiaries’ functional currencies and other expenses of approximately $4.0 million. During the year ended December 31, 2011, we recorded unrealized foreign currency losses of approximately $131.1 million and other miscellaneous income of $8.1 million.

Income Tax Provision


	Year Ended December 31,						Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012			2011			Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Income tax provision	$	107,304		$	125,080		$	(17,776	)		(14	)%
Effective tax rate		15.3	%		24.7	%

The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2012 decreased 14% to $107.3 million. The effective tax rate (“ETR”) for the year ended December 31, 2012 decreased to 15.3% from 24.7%. This decrease was primarily attributable to our dividend paid deduction and decreased state taxes during the year ended December 31, 2012, partially offset by an increase in foreign taxes and valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets. The deferred tax assets arose primarily as a result of purchase accounting and existing NOLs, which were generated partly from interest on intercompany debt.

As a REIT, we may deduct earnings distributed to stockholders against the income generated in our QRSs and, in addition, we are able to offset income in both our TRSs and QRSs by utilizing our NOLs, subject to specified limitations.

The ETR on income from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 differs from the federal statutory rate primarily due to our expected qualification for taxation as a REIT effective as of January 1, 2012 and to adjustments for foreign items.

Net Income/Adjusted EBITDA


	Year Ended December 31,						Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2012			2011			Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Net income	$	594,025		$	381,840		$	212,185			56	%
Income on equity method investments		(35	)		(25	)		10			40
Income tax provision		107,304			125,080			(17,776	)		(14	)
Other expense		38,300			122,975			(84,675	)		(69	)
Loss on retirement of long-term obligations		398			—			398			N/A
Interest expense		401,665			311,854			89,811			29
Interest income		(7,680	)		(7,378	)		302			4
Other operating expenses		62,185			58,103			4,082			7
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		644,276			555,517			88,759			16
Stock-based compensation expense		51,983			47,437			4,546			10

Adjusted EBITDA	$	1,892,421		$	1,595,403		$	297,018			19	%

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 56% to $594.0 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in our rental and management segments operating profit, as described above, as well as decreases in unrealized foreign currency losses and income tax provision, partially offset by increases in depreciation, amortization and accretion and interest expense.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2012 increased 19% to $1,892.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our rental and management segments gross margin, and was partially offset by an increase in SG&A.

Years Ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 (in thousands, except percentages)

Revenue


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,744,260	$	1,565,474	$	178,786		11	%
International		641,925		370,899		271,026		73

Total rental and management		2,386,185		1,936,373		449,812		23
Network development services		57,347		48,962		8,385		17

Total revenues	$	2,443,532	$	1,985,335	$	458,197		23	%

Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 23% to $2,443.5 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in both of our rental and management segments, including organic revenue growth attributable to our legacy sites and revenue growth attributable to the approximately 18,290 new communications sites, and property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators under approximately 1,810 communications sites, acquired since January 1, 2010.

Domestic rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 11% to $1,744.3 million. This growth was comprised of:

•

Approximately 9% from organic revenue growth, which was due to the incremental revenue generated from adding new tenants to legacy sites, existing tenants adding more equipment to legacy sites, contractual rent escalations, and a positive impact from straight-line lease accounting due to extending thousands of leases with one of our major tenants, partially offset by tenant lease cancellations; and

•

Revenue growth of approximately 2%, which was a result of the construction or acquisition of approximately 1,420 new domestic communications sites and the acquisition of property interests that we lease to communications service providers and third-party tower operators under approximately 1,810 communications sites since January 1, 2010.

International rental and management segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 73% to $641.9 million. This growth was comprised of:

•

Approximately 9% from organic revenue growth, which was due to the incremental revenue generated from adding new tenants to legacy sites, existing tenants adding more equipment to legacy sites, contractual rent escalations, a decrease in revenue reserves, the positive impact of foreign currency translation and the positive impact from straight-line lease accounting, and was partially offset by tenant lease cancellations; and

•

Revenue growth from new sites of approximately 64%, which was a result of the construction or acquisition of approximately 16,870 new international sites since January 1, 2010.

Network development services segment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 17% to $57.3 million. The increase was primarily attributable to a number of favorable one-time items.

Gross Margin


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,390,802	$	1,240,114	$	150,688		12	%
International		420,430		262,842		157,588		60

Total rental and management		1,811,232		1,502,956		308,276		21
Network development services		27,887		22,005		5,882		27

Domestic rental and management segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 12% to $1,390.8 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in revenue as described above, and was partially offset by a 9% increase in direct operating costs, of which 6% was attributable to expense increases on our legacy domestic sites and 3% was attributable to the incremental direct operating costs associated with the addition of approximately 1,420 new domestic sites since January 1, 2010.

International rental and management segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 60% to $420.4 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in revenue as described above, and was partially offset by a 93% increase in direct operating costs, including pass-through expenses, of which 9% was attributable to expense increases on our legacy international sites and changes in foreign currency exchange

rates, and 84% was attributable to the incremental direct operating costs associated with the addition of approximately 16,870 new international sites since January 1, 2010.

Network development services segment gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 27% to $27.9 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the increase in nonrecurring revenue described above.

Selling, General, Administrative and Development Expense


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	77,041	$	62,295	$	14,746		24	%
International		82,106		45,877		36,229		79

Total rental and management		159,147		108,172		50,975		47
Network development services		7,864		6,312		1,552		25
Other		121,813		115,285		6,528		6

Total selling, general, administrative and development expense	$	288,824	$	229,769	$	59,055		26	%

Total SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 26% to $288.8 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in both of our rental and management segments.

Domestic rental and management segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 24% to $77.0 million. The increase was primarily attributable to initiatives designed to drive growth and to support a growing portfolio, including increased staffing in field operations, sales and finance, and other functions supporting the expansion of our business.

International rental and management segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 79% to $82.1 million. The increase was primarily attributable to our increased international expansion initiatives in our foreign operations.

Network development services segment SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 25% to $7.9 million. The increase was primarily attributable to costs incurred to support our new tower development and our site acquisition, zoning and permitting services.

Other SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 6% to $121.8 million. The increase was primarily due to a $14.0 million increase in corporate expenses, which was partially offset by a $7.4 million decrease in SG&A related stock-based compensation expense. The increase in corporate expenses was primarily attributable to incremental employee and increased information technology costs associated with supporting a growing global organization. The decrease in stock-based compensation expense was primarily attributable to the capitalization of approximately $3.1 million, which is now included in property and equipment as part of our cost to construct tower assets, and the recognition of approximately $2.3 million in costs of operations during the year ended December 31, 2011.

Operating Profit


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Rental and management
Domestic	$	1,313,761	$	1,177,819	$	135,942		12	%
International		338,324		216,965		121,359		56

Total rental and management		1,652,085		1,394,784		257,301		18
Network development services		20,023		15,693		4,330		28

Domestic rental and management segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 12% to $1,313.8 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our domestic rental and management segment gross margin (12%) as described above, and was partially offset by increases in our domestic rental and management segment SG&A (24%), as described above.

International rental and management segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 56% to $338.3 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our international rental and management segment gross margin (60%) as described above, and was partially offset by increases in our international rental and management segment SG&A (79%), as described above.

Network development services segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 28% to $20.0 million. The growth was primarily attributable to the increase in gross margin as described above.

Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	$	555,517	$	460,726	$	94,791		21	%

Depreciation, amortization and accretion for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 21% to $555.5 million. The increase was primarily attributable to the depreciation, amortization and accretion associated with the acquisition or construction of approximately 18,290 sites since January 1, 2010, which resulted in an increase in property and equipment.

Other Operating Expenses


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Other operating expenses	$	58,103	$	35,876	$	22,227		62	%

Other operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 62% to $58.1 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase of approximately $21.5 million in acquisition related costs, including contingent consideration, and consulting and legal costs associated with our REIT Conversion that are non-recurring in nature.

Interest Expense


	Year Ended December 31,				Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011		2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)		Percent Increase (Decrease)
Interest expense	$	311,854	$	246,018	$	65,836		27	%

Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 27% to $311.9 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in average debt outstanding of approximately $1.4 billion, primarily attributable to our recent acquisitions, partially offset by a reduction in our annualized weighted average cost of borrowing from 5.52% to 5.32%.

Other (Expense) Income


	Year Ended December 31,					Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011			2010		Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Other (expense) income	$	(122,975	)	$	315	$	(123,290	)		N/A

During the year ended December 31, 2011, we recorded unrealized foreign currency losses resulting primarily from fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange rates associated with our intercompany notes and similar unaffiliated balances denominated in a currency other than the subsidiaries’ functional currencies of approximately $131.1 million and other miscellaneous income of $8.1 million. During the year ended December 31, 2010, we recorded unrealized foreign currency gains of approximately $4.8 million and other miscellaneous expense of $4.5 million.

Income Tax Provision


	Year Ended December 31,						Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011			2010			Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Income tax provision	$	125,080		$	182,489		$	(57,409	)		(31	)%
Effective tax rate		24.7	%		32.8	%

The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2011 decreased 31% to $125.1 million. The ETR for the year ended December 31, 2011 decreased to 24.7% from 32.8%. The decrease in ETR during the year ended December 31, 2011 is primarily attributable to the impact of our reversal of deferred tax assets and liabilities for assets and liabilities no longer subject to income taxes at the REIT level of $121 million, which was partially offset by an increase in the income tax provision from continuing operations.

The ETRs on income from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 differ from the federal statutory rate primarily attributable to adjustments for foreign items, non-deductible stock-based compensation expense, tax reserves and state taxes.

Net Income/Adjusted EBITDA


	Year Ended December 31,						Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
	2011			2010			Amount of Increase (Decrease)			Percent Increase (Decrease)
Net income	$	381,840		$	373,606		$	8,234			2	%
Income from discontinued operations, net		—			(30	)		(30	)		(100	)

Income from continuing operations		381,840			373,576			8,264			2
Income on equity method investments		(25	)		(40	)		(15	)		(38	)
Income tax provision		125,080			182,489			(57,409	)		(31	)
Other expense (income)		122,975			(315	)		(123,290	)		N/A
Loss on retirement of long-term obligations		—			1,886			(1,886	)		(100	)
Interest expense		311,854			246,018			65,836			27
Interest income		(7,378	)		(5,024	)		2,354			47
Other operating expenses		58,103			35,876			22,227			62
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		555,517			460,726			94,791			21
Stock-based compensation expense		47,437			52,555			(5,118	)		(10	)

Adjusted EBITDA	$	1,595,403		$	1,347,747		$	247,656			18	%

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 2% to $381.8 million. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in our rental and management and network development services segment operating profit, as described above, partially offset by an increase in other expense (income), depreciation, amortization and accretion and interest expense.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 18% to $1,595.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA growth was primarily attributable to the increase in our rental and management segments gross margin and network development services segment gross margin, and was partially offset by an increase in selling, general, administrative and development expenses, excluding stock-based compensation expense.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

As a holding company, our cash flows are derived primarily from the operations of, and distributions from, our operating subsidiaries or funds raised through borrowings under our credit facilities and debt offerings. As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $1,103.2 million of total liquidity, comprised of $368.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and the ability to borrow up to $734.6 million, net of any outstanding letters of credit, under our $1.0 billion unsecured credit facility entered into in April 2011 (the “2011 Credit Facility”) and our $1.0 billion unsecured credit facility entered into in January 2012 (the “2012 Credit Facility”). In January 2013, we completed a registered public offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.50% senior unsecured notes due 2023 (“3.50% Notes”) and used the net proceeds to partially repay amounts outstanding under the 2011 Credit Facility and 2012 Credit Facility, which increased our total liquidity by $1.0 billion. Summary cash flow information for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 is set forth below (in thousands).


	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Net cash provided by (used for):
Operating activities	$	1,414,391		$	1,165,942		$	1,020,977
Investing activities		(2,558,385	)		(2,790,812	)		(1,300,902	)
Financing activities		1,170,366			1,086,095			910,330
Net effect of changes in exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents		12,055			(14,997	)		6,265

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	$	38,427		$	(553,772	)	$	636,670

We use our cash flows to fund our operations and investments in our business, including tower maintenance and improvements, communications site construction and managed network installations, and tower and land acquisitions. Additionally, we use our cash flows to make distributions of our REIT taxable income in order to maintain our REIT qualification under the Code and fund our stock repurchase program. Our significant financing transactions in 2012 included the following:

•

We increased our borrowing capacity by entering into the 2012 Credit Facility and a $750.0 million unsecured term loan (the “2012 Term Loan”).

•

We completed a registered public offering of $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.70% senior notes due 2022 (the “4.70% Notes”).

•

We repurchased 872,005 shares of our common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $62.7 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to our stock repurchase program.

As of December 31, 2012, we had total outstanding indebtedness of approximately $8.8 billion. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we generated sufficient cash flow from operations to fund our capital expenditures and debt service obligations, as well as our required REIT distributions in 2012. We believe cash generated by our operations for the year ending December 31, 2013 will also be sufficient to fund our capital expenditures, our debt service (interest and principal repayments) obligations and REIT distribution requirements for 2013. If our pending acquisitions, capital expenditures or debt repayments exceed the cash generated by operations, we believe we have sufficient borrowing capacity under our credit facilities to fund our activities. As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $156.8 million of cash and cash equivalents held by our foreign subsidiaries, of which $63.6 million was held by our joint ventures. Historically, it has not been our practice to repatriate cash from our foreign subsidiaries primarily due to our ongoing expansion efforts and related capital needs. However, in the event that we do repatriate any funds, we may be required to accrue and pay taxes.

As a REIT, we are subject to a number of organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that we annually distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). Generally, we expect to distribute all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income so as not to be subject to the income or excise tax on undistributed REIT taxable income. In 2012, we declared aggregate distributions of $0.90 per share and made total distributions of $355.6 million to our stockholders. We intend to continue paying regular distributions in 2013. The amount, timing and frequency of distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be based upon various factors. See Item 5 of this Annual Report under the caption “Dividends” for a discussion of those factors considered.

For more information regarding our financing transactions in 2012, see “—Cash Flows from Financing Activities” below.

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

For the year ended December 31, 2012, cash provided by operating activities was $1,414.4 million, an increase of $248.4 million as compared to the year ended December 31, 2011. This increase was primarily due to an increase in the operating profit of our rental and management segments and an increase in cash provided by working capital. This increase was partially offset by an increase in cash paid for interest and income taxes during the year ended December 31, 2012.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, cash provided by operating activities was $1,165.9 million, an increase of $145.0 million as compared to the year ended December 31, 2010. This increase was primarily comprised of an increase in the operating profit of our rental and management segments and our network development services segment, partially offset by an increase in cash paid for interest and income taxes.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

For the year ended December 31, 2012, cash used for investing activities was $2,558.4 million, a decrease of approximately $232.4 million, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2011. This decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in acquisition-related activity during the year ended December 31, 2012.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, payments for purchases of property and equipment and construction activities totaled $568.0 million, including $279.0 million of capital expenditures for discretionary capital projects, such as completion of the construction of approximately 2,360 communications sites and the installation of approximately 600 shared generators domestically, $82.3 million spent to acquire land under our towers that was subject to ground agreements (including leases), $120.0 million of capital expenditures related to capital improvements and corporate capital expenditures primarily attributable to information technology improvements and $86.7 million for the redevelopment of existing sites to accommodate new tenant equipment. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2012, we spent $1,998.0 million to acquire approximately 6,450 communications sites in our served markets, approximately 24 property interests under third-party communications sites in the United States and for the payment of amounts previously recognized in accounts payable or accrued expenses in the consolidated balance sheets for communications sites we acquired in Chile, Colombia, Ghana and South Africa during the year ended December 31, 2011.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, cash used for investing activities was $2,790.8 million, an increase of approximately $1,489.9 million, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2010. This increase was primarily comprised of increased spending for acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2011.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, payments for purchases of property and equipment and construction activities totaled $523.0 million, including $296.9 million of capital expenditures for discretionary capital projects, such as completion of the construction of approximately 1,850 communications sites, $91.3 million spent to acquire land under our towers that was subject to ground agreements (including leases), $79.5 million of capital expenditures related to capital improvements and corporate capital expenditures primarily attributable to information technology improvements and $55.3 million for the redevelopment of existing sites to accommodate new tenant equipment. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2011, we spent $2,320.7 million to acquire approximately 8,620 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Mexico and South Africa and approximately 2,150 property interests under communications sites in the United States.

We plan to continue to allocate our available capital after our REIT distribution requirements among investment alternatives that meet our return on investment criteria. Accordingly, we expect to continue to deploy our discretionary capital through our annual discretionary capital expenditure program, including land purchases and new site construction and through acquisitions. We expect that our 2013 total capital expenditures will be between approximately $550 million and $650 million, including between $130 million and $140 million for capital improvements and corporate capital expenditures, between $95 and $105 million for the redevelopment of existing communications sites, between $85 million and $105 million for ground lease purchases and between $240 million and $300 million for other discretionary capital projects including the construction of approximately 2,250 to 2,750 new communications sites.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

For the year ended December 31, 2012, cash provided by financing activities was $1,170.4 million, as compared to $1,086.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2011.

Cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2012 was primarily due to (i) borrowings under the 2011 Credit Facility of $890.0 million, (ii) borrowings under the 2012 Credit Facility of $1,692.0 million, (iii) net proceeds from our 2012 Term Loan of $746.4 million, (iv) net proceeds from our registered offering of 4.70% Notes of $693.0 million, (v) proceeds from other long-term borrowings of $177.3 million, (vi) proceeds of $55.4 million from the exercise of stock options and (vii) net contributions from non-controlling interest holders of $52.8 million.

These borrowings were partially offset by repayment of (i) $1.0 billion under our $1.25 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”), (ii) $700.0 million under the 2012 Credit Facility, (iii) $625.0 million under the 2011 Credit Facility (iv) $325.0 million of term loan commitments (the “2008 Term Loan”), and (v) net short-term borrowings of $55.3 million. In addition, we made distributions to our stockholders in the aggregate of $355.6 million and we paid $62.7 million for the repurchase of our common stock under our stock repurchase program.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, cash provided by financing activities was $1,086.1 million, as compared to cash provided by financing activities of approximately $910.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The $1,086.1 million of cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2011 partially relates to borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility of $925.0 million, net proceeds from our registered offering of the 5.90% senior notes due 2021 (the “5.90% Notes”) of $495.2 million, proceeds from other long-term borrowings of $212.8 million, proceeds from short-term borrowings of $128.1 million, proceeds from stock options, warrants and stock purchase plans of $85.6 million and borrowings under our other credit facilities of $80.0 million. These borrowings were partially offset by payments for the repurchase of our common stock of $437.4 million, which consisted of $426.1 million of stock repurchases under our stock repurchase programs ($423.9 million, including commissions and fees, and a decrease in accrued treasury stock of $2.2 million) and $11.2 million of amounts surrendered for the satisfaction of employee tax obligations in connection with the vesting of restricted stock units, repayment of notes payable, amounts outstanding under our credit facilities and capital leases of $395.4 million and distributions to stockholders of $137.8 million in connection with the one-time special cash distribution to our stockholders in December 2011.

Revolving Credit Facility and 2008 Term Loan. On January 31, 2012, we repaid and terminated the Revolving Credit Facility and repaid the 2008 Term Loan with proceeds from borrowings under the 2011 Credit Facility and the 2012 Credit Facility.

2011 Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2012, we had $265.0 million outstanding under the 2011 Credit Facility and had approximately $5.7 million of undrawn letters of credit. On January 8, 2013, we repaid the amount outstanding with net proceeds received from the offering of the 3.50% Notes. We continue to maintain the ability to draw down and repay amounts under the 2011 Credit Facility in the ordinary course.

The 2011 Credit Facility has a term of five years and matures on April 8, 2016. The current margin over London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) that we would incur on borrowings is 1.850% and the current commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the 2011 Credit Facility is 0.350%.

As of February 11, 2013, there were no amounts outstanding under the 2011 Credit Facility.

2012 Credit Facility. On January 31, 2012, we entered into the 2012 Credit Facility. The 2012 Credit Facility has a term of five years and matures on January 31, 2017. Any outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest will be due and payable in full at maturity. The 2012 Credit Facility may be paid prior to maturity in whole or in part at our option without penalty or premium.

We have the option of choosing either a defined base rate or LIBOR as the applicable base rate for borrowings under the 2012 Credit Facility. The interest rate ranges between 1.075% to 2.400% above LIBOR for LIBOR based borrowings or between 0.075% to 1.400% above the defined base rate for base rate borrowings, in each case based upon our debt ratings. A quarterly commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the 2012 Credit Facility is required, ranging from 0.125% to 0.450% per annum, based upon our debt ratings. The current margin over LIBOR that we would incur on borrowings is 1.625%, and the current commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the 2012 Credit Facility is 0.225%.

prevent us from being able to borrow additional funds, but would constitute a default, which could result in, among other things, the amounts outstanding, including all accrued interest and unpaid fees, becoming immediately due and payable.

As of December 31, 2012, we had $992.0 million outstanding under the 2012 Credit Facility and had approximately $2.7 million of undrawn letters of credit. On January 8, 2013, we repaid $719.0 million of the amount outstanding with net proceeds received from the offering of the 3.50% Notes and cash on hand. We continue to maintain the ability to draw down and repay amounts under the 2012 Credit Facility in the ordinary course.

As of February 11, 2013, we had $422.0 million drawn under the 2012 Credit Facility.

2012 Term Loan. On June 29, 2012, we entered into the 2012 Term Loan. We received net proceeds of approximately $746.4 million, of which $632.0 million were used to repay certain existing indebtedness under the 2012 Credit Facility.

The 2012 Term Loan has a term of five years and matures on June 29, 2017. Any outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest will be due and payable in full at maturity. The 2012 Term Loan may be paid prior to maturity in whole or in part at our option without penalty or premium.

We have the option of choosing either a defined base rate or LIBOR as the applicable base rate. The interest rate ranges between 1.25% to 2.50% above LIBOR for LIBOR based borrowings or between 0.25% to 1.50% above the defined base rate for base rate borrowings, in each case based upon our debt ratings. As of December 31, 2012, the interest rate under the 2012 Term Loan is LIBOR plus 1.75%.

The loan agreement contains certain reporting, information, financial and operating covenants and other restrictions (including limitations on additional debt, guaranties, sales of assets and liens) with which we must comply. Any failure to comply with the financial and operating covenants of the loan agreement would constitute a default, which could result in, among other things, the amounts outstanding, including all accrued interest and unpaid fees, becoming immediately due and payable.

As of December 31, 2012, we had $750.0 million outstanding under the 2012 Term Loan.

Colombian Short-Term Credit Facility. The 141.1 billion Colombian Peso (“COP”) denominated short-term credit facility (the “Colombian Short-Term Credit Facility”) was executed by one of our Colombian subsidiaries (“ATC Sitios”), on July 25, 2011, to refinance the credit facility entered into in connection with the purchase of the exclusive use rights for towers from Telefónica S.A.’s Colombian subsidiary, Colombia Telecomunicaciones S.A. E.S.P. On November 30, 2012, the Colombian Short-Term Credit Facility was repaid in full with proceeds from the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility, described below.

Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility. On October 19, 2012, ATC Sitios entered into a loan agreement for a COP denominated long-term credit facility (the “Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility”), which it used to refinance the Colombian Short-Term Credit Facility on November 30, 2012.

The Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility generally matures on November 30, 2020, subject to earlier maturity as a result of any mandatory prepayments. Any outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest will be due and payable in full at maturity. The Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility may be prepaid in whole or in part, subject to certain limitations and prepayment consideration, at any time.

Under the terms of the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility, ATC Sitios paid the lenders a one-time structuring fee and upfront fee of 2.9 billion COP (approximately $1.6 million), including value added tax. Principal and interest are payable quarterly in arrears with principal due in accordance with the repayment schedule included in the loan agreement. Interest accrues at a per annum rate equal to 5% above the quarterly advanced Inter-bank Rate (“IBR”) in effect at the beginning of each Interest Period (as defined in the loan agreement). The interest rate in effect at December 31, 2012 was 9.10%.

The Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility is secured by, among other things, liens on towers owned by ATC Sitios. The loan agreement contains certain reporting, information, financial ratios and operating covenants. Failure to comply with certain of the financial and operating covenants would constitute a default, which could result in, among other things, the amounts outstanding, including all accrued interest and unpaid fees, becoming immediately due and payable. The loan agreement also requires that ATC Sitios manage exposure to variability in interest rates on at least fifty percent of the amounts outstanding under the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility for the first four years of the loan, and seventy-five percent thereafter. Accordingly, ATC Sitios entered into interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional value of 101.3 billion COP (approximately $57.3 million) with certain of the lenders under the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility on December 5, 2012.

As of December 31, 2012, 135.0 billion COP (approximately $76.3 million) were outstanding under the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2012, the interest rate, after giving effect to the interest rate swap agreements, was 10.36%.

Colombian Bridge Loans. In connection with the acquisition of communications sites from Colombia Movil S.A. E.S.P., another of our Colombian subsidiaries entered into five COP denominated bridge loans. As of December 31, 2012, the aggregate principal amount outstanding under these bridge loans was 94.0 billion COP (approximately $53.2 million). As of December 31, 2012, the bridge loans had an interest rate of 7.99% and mature on June 22, 2013.

Colombian Loan. In connection with the establishment of our joint venture with Millicom International Cellular S.A. (“Millicom”) and the acquisition of certain communications sites in Colombia, ATC Colombia B.V., a 60% owned subsidiary of American Tower, entered into a U.S. Dollar-denominated shareholder loan agreement (the “Colombian Loan”), as the borrower, with our wholly owned subsidiary (the “ATC Colombian Subsidiary”), and a wholly owned subsidiary of Millicom (the “Millicom Subsidiary”), as the lenders. The Colombian Loan accrues interest at 8.30% and matures on February 22, 2022. The portion of the Colombian Loan made by the ATC Colombian Subsidiary is eliminated in consolidation, and the portion of the Colombian Loan made by the Millicom Subsidiary is reported as outstanding debt of American Tower. As of December 31, 2012, an aggregate of $19.2 million was payable to the Millicom Subsidiary.

South African Facility. Our 1.2 billion South African Rand (“ZAR”) denominated credit facility (“South African Facility”) was executed in November 2011 to refinance the bridge loan entered into in connection with the acquisition of communications sites from Cell C (Pty) Limited by our local South African subsidiaries (“SA Borrower”). The South African Facility is secured by, among other things, liens on towers owned by one of our South African subsidiaries. On August 8, 2012 and September 14, 2012, we borrowed an additional 123.0 million ZAR (approximately $15.1 million) and 24.2 million ZAR (approximately $2.9 million), respectively. The South African Facility generally matures on March 31, 2020, subject to earlier maturity resulting from repayment increases tied either to SA Borrower’s excess cash flows or permitted distributions to SA Borrower’s parent. Principal and interest are payable quarterly in arrears with principal due in accordance with the repayment schedule included in the loan agreement. Interest accrues at a rate equal to 3.75% per annum, plus the three month Johannesburg Interbank Agreed Rate (“JIBAR”). The interest rate in effect at December 31, 2012 was 8.88%. We entered into interest rate swap agreements to manage our exposure to variability in interest rates. As of December 31, 2012, 834.3 million ZAR (approximately $98.5 million) was outstanding under the South African Facility, and after giving effect to the interest rate swap agreements, the facility accrues interest at a weighted average rate of 9.84%.

Ghana Loan. In connection with the establishment of our joint venture with MTN Group Limited (“MTN Group”) and acquisitions of communications sites in Ghana, Ghana Tower Interco B.V., a 51% owned subsidiary of American Tower, entered into a U.S. Dollar-denominated shareholder loan agreement (“Ghana Loan”), as the borrower, with our wholly owned subsidiary (“ATC Ghana Subsidiary”) and Mobile Telephone Networks (Netherlands) B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN Group (the “MTN Ghana Subsidiary”), as the lenders. Pursuant to the terms of the Ghana Loan, loans were made to the joint venture in connection with the acquisition of communications sites from MTN Ghana. The Ghana Loan accrues interest at 9.0% and matures on May 4,

2016. The portion of the loans made by the ATC Ghana Subsidiary is eliminated in consolidation and the portion of the loans made by the MTN Ghana Subsidiary is reported as outstanding debt of American Tower. As of December 31, 2012, an aggregate of $131.0 million was payable to the MTN Ghana Subsidiary.

Uganda Loan. In connection with the establishment of our joint venture with MTN Group and acquisitions of communications sites in Uganda, Uganda Tower Interco B.V., a 51% owned subsidiary of American Tower, entered into a U.S. Dollar-denominated shareholder loan agreement (the “Uganda Loan”), as the borrower, with our wholly owned subsidiary (the “ATC Uganda Subsidiary”), and a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN Group (the “MTN Uganda Subsidiary”), as the lenders. The Uganda Loan matures on June 29, 2019 and accrues interest at 5.30% above LIBOR, reset annually, which as of December 31, 2012 was 6.368%. The portion of the Uganda Loan made by the ATC Uganda Subsidiary is eliminated in consolidation, and the portion of the Uganda Loan made by the MTN Uganda Subsidiary is reported as outstanding debt of American Tower. As of December 31, 2012, an aggregate of $61.0 million was payable to the MTN Uganda Subsidiary.

Senior Notes Offerings. On March 12, 2012, we completed a registered public offering of $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.70% Notes. The net proceeds to us from the offering were approximately $693.0 million, after deducting commissions and expenses. We used the net proceeds to repay a portion of the outstanding indebtedness incurred under the 2011 Credit Facility and the 2012 Credit Facility, which had been used to fund recent acquisitions.

On January 8, 2013, we completed a registered public offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of our 3.50% Notes. The net proceeds to us from the offering were approximately $983.4 million, after deducting commissions and expenses. We used $265.0 million of the net proceeds to repay the outstanding indebtedness under the 2011 Credit Facility and $718.4 million to partially repay a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under the 2012 Credit Facility.

The 4.70% Notes mature on March 15, 2022, and interest is payable semi-annually in arrears on March 15 and September 15. We began making interest payments on the 4.70% Notes on September 15, 2012. The 3.50% Notes mature on January 31, 2023, and interest is payable semi-annually in arrears on January 31 and July 31 of each year. We will begin making interest payments on the 3.50% Notes on July 31, 2013. We may redeem the 4.70% Notes or the 3.50% Notes at any time at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus a make-whole premium, together with accrued interest to the redemption date. Interest on the 4.70% Notes began to accrue on March 12, 2012 and interest on the 3.50% Notes began to accrue on January 8, 2013, and each is computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of twelve 30-day months.

If we undergo a change of control and ratings decline (each as defined in the indentures governing the 4.70% Notes and the 3.50% Notes), we will be required to offer to repurchase all of the 4.70% Notes and 3.50% Notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest up to but not including the repurchase date. Each of the 4.70% Notes and the 3.50% Notes rank equally with all of our other senior unsecured debt and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other obligations of our subsidiaries. The indentures contain certain covenants that restrict our ability to merge, consolidate or sell assets and our (together with our subsidiaries’) ability to incur liens. These covenants are subject to a number of exceptions, including that we and our subsidiaries may incur certain liens on assets, mortgages or other liens securing indebtedness, if the aggregate amount of such liens does not exceed 3.5x Adjusted EBITDA, as defined in the indentures.

Stock Repurchase Program. In March 2011, our Board of Directors approved the 2011 Buyback, pursuant to which we are authorized to purchase up to $1.5 billion of common stock.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, we repurchased 872,005 shares of our common stock for an aggregate of $62.7 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to the 2011 Buyback. As of December 31, 2012, we had repurchased a total of approximately 4.3 million shares of our common stock under the 2011 Buyback for an aggregate of $243.9 million, including commissions and fees.

Between January 1, 2013 and January 21, 2013, we repurchased an additional 15,790 shares of our common stock for an aggregate of $1.2 million, including commissions and fees, pursuant to the 2011 Buyback. As of January 21, 2013, we had repurchased a total of approximately 4.3 million shares of our common stock under the 2011 Buyback for an aggregate of $245.2 million, including commissions and fees.

Under the 2011 Buyback, we are authorized to purchase shares from time to time through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions at prevailing prices in accordance with securities laws and other legal requirements, and subject to market conditions and other factors. To facilitate repurchases, we make purchases pursuant to trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, which allow us to repurchase shares during periods when we otherwise might be prevented from doing so under insider trading laws or because of self-imposed trading blackout periods.

We expect to continue to manage the pacing of the remaining $1.3 billion under the 2011 Buyback in response to general market conditions and other relevant factors. In the near term, we expect to fund any further repurchases of our common stock through a combination of cash on hand, cash generated by operations and borrowings under our credit facilities. Purchases under the 2011 Buyback are subject to us having available cash to fund repurchases.

Sales of Equity Securities. We receive proceeds from sales of our equity securities pursuant to our employee stock purchase plan and upon exercise of stock options granted under our equity incentive plans. For the year ended December 31, 2012, we received an aggregate of $55.4 million in proceeds from sales of shares pursuant to our employee stock purchase plan and upon exercises of stock options.

Distributions. As a REIT, we must annually distribute to our stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for distributed earnings and excluding any net capital gain). Generally, we expect to distribute all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income so as to not be subject to income tax or excise tax on undistributed REIT taxable income. The amount, timing and frequency of future distributions, however, will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, a number of which may be beyond our control, including our financial condition and operating cash flows, the amount required to maintain REIT status and reduce any income and excise taxes that we otherwise would be required to pay, limitations on distributions in our existing and future debt instruments, our ability to utilize NOLs to offset our distribution requirements, limitations on our ability to fund distributions using cash generated through our TRSs and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, we paid an aggregate of $355.6 million in regular cash distributions to our stockholders, which included our fourth quarter distribution of approximately $94.8 million to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 17, 2012. For detail on the other regular cash distributions paid to our stockholders during 2012, see Item 5 of this Annual Report under the caption “Dividends.”

We will accrue distributions on unvested restricted stock unit awards granted subsequent to January 1, 2012, which will be payable upon vesting. As of December 31, 2012, we had accrued $0.7 million of distributions payable upon the vesting of restricted stock units.

Contractual Obligations. Our contractual obligations relate primarily to the Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-1 issued in our May 2007 securitization transaction (the “Securitization”), borrowings under our credit facilities, our outstanding notes and our operating leases related to the ground under our towers. The following table sets forth information relating to our contractual obligations payable in cash as of December 31, 2012 (in thousands):


Contractual Obligations	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		Thereafter		Total
Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-1(1)	$	—	$	1,750,000	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	1,750,000
2011 Credit Facility(2)		—		—		—		265,000		—		—		265,000
2012 Credit Facility(2)		—		—		—		—		992,000		—		992,000
2012 Term Loan		—		—		—		—		750,000		—		750,000
Unison Notes, Series 2010-1 Class C, Series 2010-2 Class C and Series 2010-2 Class F notes(3)		—		—		—		—		67,000		129,000		196,000
Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility(4)		—		763		3,054		10,689		12,216		49,625		76,347
Colombian Bridge Loans(5)		53,169		—		—		—		—		—		53,169
Colombian Loan(6)		—		—		—		—		—		19,176		19,176
South African Facility(7)		2,461		5,957		11,322		15,753		17,722		45,241		98,456
Ghana Loan(6)		—		—		—		130,951		—		—		130,951
Uganda Loan(6)		—		—		—		—		—		61,023		61,023
4.625% senior notes		—		—		600,000		—		—		—		600,000
7.00% senior notes		—		—		—		—		500,000		—		500,000
4.50% senior notes		—		—		—		—		—		1,000,000		1,000,000
7.25% senior notes		—		—		—		—		—		300,000		300,000
5.05% senior notes		—		—		—		—		—		700,000		700,000
5.90% senior notes		—		—		—		—		—		500,000		500,000
4.70% senior notes		—		—		—		—		—		700,000		700,000

Long-term obligations, excluding capital leases		55,630		1,756,720		614,376		422,393		2,338,938		3,504,065		8,692,122
Cash interest expense		398,000		342,000		295,000		284,000		214,000		448,000		1,981,000
Capital lease payments (including interest)		8,242		7,316		5,377		5,485		4,897		164,520		195,837

Total debt service obligations		461,872		2,106,036		914,753		711,878		2,557,835		4,116,585		10,868,959

Operating lease payments(8)		364,427		352,624		343,478		328,826		317,533		2,878,866		4,585,754
Other non-current liabilities(9)(10)		506		21,895		4,967		18,690		1,632		1,541,956		1,589,646

Total	$	826,805	$	2,480,555	$	1,263,198	$	1,059,394	$	2,877,000	$	8,537,407	$	17,044,359

(1)	Anticipated repayment date; final legal maturity date is April 2037.

(2)	On January 8, 2013, we repaid $265.0 million outstanding under our 2011 Credit Facility and $719.0 million outstanding under our 2012 Credit Facility with proceeds from the 3.50% Notes and cash on hand.

(3)

The Unison Notes, Series 2010-1 Class C, Series 2010-2 Class C and Series 2010-2 Class F notes were assumed by us in connection with the Unison Acquisition, and have anticipated repayment dates of April 15, 2017, April 15, 2020 and April 15, 2020, respectively, and a final maturity date of April 15, 2040.

(4)	The Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility is denominated in Colombian Pesos.

(5)	The Colombian Bridge Loans are denominated in Colombian Pesos. The maturity dates may be extended from time to time.

(6)	Denominated in U.S. Dollars.

(7)	The South African Facility is denominated in South African Rand.

(8)

Operating lease payments include payments to be made under non-cancellable initial terms, as well as payments for certain renewal periods at our option because failure to renew could result in a loss of the applicable communications sites and related revenues from tenant leases, thereby making it reasonably assured that we will renew the lease.

(9)

Primarily represents our asset retirement obligations and excludes certain other non-current liabilities included in our consolidated balance sheet, primarily our straight-line rent liability for which cash payments are included in operating lease payments and unearned revenue that is not payable in cash.

(10)

Other non-current liabilities exclude $34.3 million of liabilities for unrecognized tax positions and $28.7 million of accrued income tax related interest and penalties included in our consolidated balance sheet as we are uncertain as to when and if the amounts may be settled. Settlement of such amounts could require the use of cash flows generated from operations. We expect the unrecognized tax benefits to change over the next 12 months if certain tax matters ultimately settle with the applicable taxing jurisdiction during this timeframe. However, based on the status of these items and the amount of uncertainty associated with the outcome and timing of audit settlements, we are currently unable to estimate the impact of the amount of such changes, if any, to previously recorded uncertain tax positions.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements. We have no material off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of SEC Regulation S-K.

Interest Rate Swap Agreements. As of December 31, 2012, we held ten interest rate swap agreements, all of which have been designated as cash flow hedges, and which had an aggregate notional amount of $107.3 million, interest rates ranging from 5.78% to 7.25% and expiration dates through November 2020.

Factors Affecting Sources of Liquidity

Internally Generated Funds. Because the majority of our tenant leases are multi-year contracts, a significant majority of the revenues generated by our rental and management operations as of the end of 2012 is recurring revenue that we should continue to receive in future periods. Accordingly, a key factor affecting our ability to generate cash flow from operating activities is to maintain this recurring revenue and to convert it into operating profit by minimizing operating costs and fully achieving our operating efficiencies. In addition, our ability to increase cash flow from operating activities is dependent upon the demand for our communications sites and our related services and our ability to increase the utilization of our existing communications sites.

Restrictions Under Loan Agreements Relating to the 2011 Credit Facility, the 2012 Credit Facility and the 2012 Term Loan. The loan agreements for the 2011 Credit Facility, the 2012 Credit Facility and the 2012 Term Loan contain certain financial and operating covenants and other restrictions applicable to us and all of our subsidiaries that are not designated as unrestricted subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. These include limitations on additional debt, distributions and dividends, guaranties, sales of assets and liens. The loan agreements also contain covenants that establish three financial tests with which we and our restricted subsidiaries must comply related to total leverage, senior secured leverage and interest coverage, as set forth below. Where we designate

certain of our subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries in accordance with the respective agreements, those subsidiaries are excluded for purposes of the covenant calculations. As of December 31, 2012, we were in compliance with each of these covenants.

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Consolidated Total Leverage Ratio: This ratio requires that we not exceed a ratio of Total Debt to Adjusted EBITDA (each as defined in the loan agreements) of 6.00 to 1.00. Based on our financial performance for the 12 months ended December 31, 2012, we could incur approximately $2.5 billion of additional indebtedness and still remain in compliance with this ratio. In addition, if we maintain our existing debt levels and our expenses do not change materially from current levels, our revenues could decrease by approximately $412 million and we would still remain in compliance with this ratio.

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Consolidated Senior Secured Leverage Ratio: This ratio requires that we not exceed a ratio of Senior Secured Debt (as defined in the loan agreements) to Adjusted EBITDA of 3.00 to 1.00. Based on our financial performance for the 12 months ended December 31, 2012, we could incur approximately $3.4 billion of additional Senior Secured Debt and still remain in compliance with this ratio, (effectively, however, this ratio would be limited to $2.5 billion to remain in compliance with other covenants). In addition, if we maintain our existing Senior Secured Debt levels and our expenses do not change materially from current levels, our revenues could decrease by approximately $1.1 billion and we would still remain in compliance with this ratio.

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Interest Coverage Ratio: This ratio requires that we maintain a ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to Interest Expense (as defined in the loan agreements) of not less than 2.50 to 1.00. Based on our financial performance for the 12 months ended December 31, 2012, our interest expense, which was $391 million for that period, could increase by approximately $356 million and we would still remain in compliance with this ratio. In addition, if our interest expense does not change materially from current levels, our revenues could decrease by approximately $891 million and we would still remain in compliance with this ratio.

The loan agreements for our credit facilities also contain reporting and information covenants that require us to provide financial and operating information within certain time periods. If we are unable to provide the required information on a timely basis, we would be in breach of these covenants.

Any failure to comply with the financial maintenance tests and operating covenants of the loan agreements for our credit facilities would not only prevent us from being able to borrow additional funds under these credit facilities, but would constitute a default under these credit facilities, which could result in, among other things, the amounts outstanding, including all accrued interest and unpaid fees, becoming immediately due and payable. If this were to occur, we would not have sufficient cash on hand to repay such indebtedness. The key factors affecting our ability to comply with the debt covenants described above are our financial performance relative to the financial maintenance tests defined in the loan agreements for the credit facilities and our ability to fund our debt service obligations. Based upon our current expectations, we believe our operating results during the next twelve months will be sufficient to comply with these covenants.

Restrictions Under Loan Agreement Relating to the Securitization. The loan agreement related to the Securitization involves assets related to 5,295 broadcast and wireless communications towers owned by two special purpose subsidiaries of the Company (the “Borrowers”), through a private offering of $1.75 billion of Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-1 (the “Certificates”). As of December 31, 2012, 5,278 broadcast and wireless communications towers are owned by the two special purpose subsidiaries.

The Securitization loan agreement includes certain financial ratios and operating covenants and other restrictions customary for loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets. The Borrowers’ organizational documents contain provisions consistent with rating agency securitization criteria for special purpose entities, including the requirement that the Borrowers maintain at least two independent

directors. The Securitization loan agreement also contains certain covenants that require the Borrowers to provide the trustee with regular financial reports and operating budgets, promptly notify the trustee of events of default and material breaches under the Securitization loan agreement and other agreements related to the towers subject to the Securitization, and allow the trustee reasonable access to the towers, including the right to conduct site investigations.

Under the terms of the Securitization loan agreement, the loan will be paid solely from the cash flows generated by the towers subject to the Securitization, which must be deposited, and thereafter distributed, solely pursuant to the terms of the Securitization loan. The Borrowers are required to make monthly payments of interest on the Securitization loan. On a monthly basis, all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the Securitization loan, referred to as excess cash flow, is to be released to the Borrowers for distribution to us. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Borrowers distributed excess cash to us of approximately $576.8 million.

In order to distribute this excess cash flow to us, the Borrowers must maintain several specified ratios with respect to their debt service coverage (“DSCR”). For this purpose, DSCR is tested as of the last day of each calendar quarter and is generally defined as four times the Borrowers’ net cash flow for that quarter divided by the amount of interest, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers must pay over the succeeding 12 months on the Securitization loan. Pursuant to one such test, if the DSCR as of the end of any calendar quarter were 1.75x or less (the “Cash Trap DSCR”), then all excess cash flow would be placed in a reserve account and would not be released to the Borrowers for distribution to us until the DSCR exceeded the Cash Trap DSCR for two consecutive calendar quarters.

Additionally, while the anticipated repayment date is not until April 2014, excess cash flow would be applied to principal during an “Amortization Period” under the Securitization loan until April 2014. An “Amortization Period” would commence under the Securitization loan if the DSCR as of the end of any calendar quarter fell below 1.45x (the “Minimum DSCR”).

In such a case, all excess cash flow and any amounts then in the reserve account because the Cash Trap DSCR was not met would be applied to pay principal of the Securitization loan on each monthly payment date until the DSCR exceeded the Minimum DSCR for two consecutive calendar quarters, and so would not be available for distribution to us.

Consequently, a failure to comply with the covenants in the Securitization loan agreement could prevent the Borrowers from taking certain actions with respect to the towers. Additionally, a failure to meet the noted DSCR tests could prevent the Borrowers from distributing excess cash flow to us, which could affect our ability to fund our discretionary expenditures, including tower construction and acquisitions, pay REIT distribution requirements and fund our stock repurchase program. In addition, if the Borrowers were to default on the loan related to the Securitization, the trustee could seek to foreclose upon or otherwise convert the ownership of the towers subject to the Securitization, in which case we could lose the towers and the revenue associated with the towers.

As of December 31, 2012, the Borrowers’ DSCR was 3.89x. Based on the Borrowers’ net cash flow for the calendar quarter ended December 31, 2012 and the amount of interest, servicing fees and trustee fees payable over the succeeding 12 months on the Securitization loan, the Borrowers could endure a reduction of approximately $211.3 million in net cash flow before triggering a Cash Trap DSCR, and approximately $240.9 million in net cash flow before triggering an Amortization Period.

As discussed above, we use our available liquidity and seek new sources of liquidity to refinance and repurchase our outstanding indebtedness. In addition, in order to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives, satisfy our REIT distribution requirements and fund our stock repurchase program, we may need to raise additional capital through financing activities. If we determine that it is desirable or necessary to

raise additional capital, we may be unable to do so, or such additional financing may be prohibitively expensive or restricted by the terms of our outstanding indebtedness. If we are unable to raise capital when our needs arise, we may not be able to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives, satisfy our REIT distribution requirements, refinance our existing indebtedness or fund our stock repurchase program.

In addition, our liquidity depends on our ability to generate cash flow from operating activities. As set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we derive a substantial portion of our revenues from a small number of tenants and, consequently, a failure by a significant tenant to perform its contractual obligations to us could adversely affect our cash flow and liquidity.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. We evaluate our policies and estimates on an ongoing basis, including those related to impairment of assets, asset retirement obligations, accounting for acquisitions, revenue recognition, rent expense, stock-based compensation and income taxes. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We have reviewed our policies and estimates to determine our critical accounting policies for the year ended December 31, 2012. We have identified the following policies as critical to an understanding of our results of operations and financial condition. This is not a comprehensive list of our accounting policies. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by GAAP, with no need for management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting any available alternative would not produce a materially different result.

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Impairment of Assets—Assets Subject to Depreciation and Amortization: We review long-lived assets, including intangibles, for impairment at least annually or whenever events, changes in circumstances or other indicators or evidence indicate that the carrying amount of our assets may not be recoverable. We review our tower portfolio and network location intangible assets for indications of impairment at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows, typically at an individual tower basis. Possible indicators include a tower not having current tenant leases or having expenses in excess of revenues. A cash flow modeling approach is utilized to assess recoverability and incorporates, among other items, the tower location, the tower location demographics, the timing of additions of new tenants, lease rates and estimated length of tenancy and ongoing cash requirements. To the extent that cash flows generated under this approach are not sufficient to recover the carrying value of the towers, an impairment charge is recognized for the towers and network location intangible assets. We record any related impairment charge in the period in which we identify such impairment.

We monitor our customer-related intangible assets on a customer by customer basis for indications of impairment, such as high levels of turnover or attrition, non-renewal of a significant number of contracts, or the cancellation or termination of a relationship. We assess recoverability by determining whether the carrying value of the customer-related intangible assets will be recovered through projected undiscounted cash flows. If we determine that the carrying value of the customer-related intangible asset may not be recoverable, we measure any impairment based on the fair value of the asset as determined by the projected future discounted cash flows to be provided from the asset, as compared to the asset’s carrying value. We record any related impairment charge in the period in which we identify such impairment.

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Impairment of Assets—Goodwill: We review goodwill for impairment at least annually (as of December 31) or whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable.

Goodwill is recorded in our domestic and international rental and management segments and network development services segment. We utilize the two step impairment test when testing goodwill for impairment. When conducting this test, we employ a discounted cash flow analysis. The key assumptions utilized in the discounted cash flow analysis include current operating performance, terminal sales growth rate, management’s expectations of future operating results and cash requirements, the current weighted average cost of capital and an expected tax rate. Under the first step of this test, we compare the fair value of the reporting unit, as calculated under an income approach using future discounted cash flows, to the carrying value of the applicable reporting unit. If the carrying value exceeds the fair value, we conduct the second step of this test, in which the implied fair value of the applicable reporting unit’s goodwill is compared to the carrying amount of that goodwill. If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, an impairment loss would be recognized.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, no potential impairment was identified under the first step of the test. The fair value of each of our reporting units was in excess of its carrying value and passed with a substantial margin; except for two reporting units, whose fair value exceed the carrying value by approximately $87.2 million. For these two reporting units, we performed a sensitivity analysis on our significant assumptions and determined that none of the following negative changes in our assumptions individually, which we determined to be reasonable, would impact our conclusions:

•

A 5% reduction in projected net income, or a 110 basis point increase in the weighted average cost of capital, or a 15% reduction in terminal sales growth rate.

The goodwill recorded in these two reporting units approximated $41.9 million as of December 31, 2012, and is the result of recently completed acquisitions. Accordingly, the sensitivity of projections to changes in the various assumptions is due, in part, to the timing of the underlying acquisitions(s), current levels of cash flows and amounts of cash flows generated in excess of the planned amounts. Due to the proximity of the acquisition date to the measurement date, the fair value of intangible assets and goodwill used to test for impairment is in line with the fair value used to initially measure the business.

•

Asset Retirement Obligations: We recognize asset retirement obligations associated with our obligation to retire tangible long-lived assets and the related asset retirement costs, which are principally obligations to remediate leased land on which certain of our tower assets are located, in the period in which they are incurred, if a reasonable estimate of a fair value can be made, and we accrete such liability through the obligation’s estimated settlement date. The associated retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the related tower assets and depreciated over their estimated useful lives or captured as a component of purchase accounting.

We updated our assumptions used in estimating our aggregate asset retirement obligation, which resulted in a net increase in the estimated obligation of $6.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2012. The change in 2012 primarily resulted from changes in timing of certain settlement date and cost assumptions. Fair value estimates of liabilities for asset retirement obligations generally involve discounted future cash flows, and periodic accretion of such liabilities due to the passage of time is recorded as an operating expense. The significant assumptions used in estimating our aggregate asset retirement obligation are: timing of tower removals; cost of tower removals; timing and number of land lease renewals; expected inflation rates; and credit-adjusted risk-free interest rates that approximate our incremental borrowing rate. While we feel the assumptions are appropriate, there can be no assurances that actual costs and the probability of incurring obligations will not differ from these estimates. We will continue to review these assumptions periodically and we may need to adjust them as necessary.

•

Acquisitions: For those acquisitions that meet the definition of a business combination, we allocate the purchase price, including any contingent consideration, to the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at their estimated fair values as of the date of the acquisition with any excess of the purchase price paid over the estimated fair value of net assets acquired recorded as goodwill. For those transactions that do not meet the definition of a business combination, we allocate the purchase price to property and equipment for the fair value of the towers and to identifiable intangible assets (primarily acquired customer-related and network location intangibles). The fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed is typically determined by using either estimates of replacement costs or discounted cash flow valuation methods. When determining the fair value of tangible assets acquired, we must estimate the cost to replace the asset with a new asset taking into consideration such factors as age, condition and the economic useful life of the asset. When determining the fair value of intangible assets acquired, we must estimate the applicable discount rate and the timing and amount of future customer cash flows, including rate and terms of renewal and attrition. The determination of the final purchase price and acquisition-date fair values of the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed may extend over more than one period and result in adjustments to the preliminary estimate recognized.

•

Revenue Recognition: Rental and management revenues are recognized on a monthly basis under lease or management agreements when earned and when collectability is reasonably assured, regardless of whether the payments from the tenants are received in equal monthly amounts. Fixed escalation clauses present in non-cancellable lease agreements, excluding those tied to the Consumer Price Index or other inflation-based indices, and other incentives present in lease agreements with our tenants are recognized on a straight-line basis over the fixed, non-cancellable terms of the applicable leases. Total rental and management straight-line revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 approximated $165.8 million, $144.0 million and $105.2 million, respectively. Amounts billed up-front for certain services provided in connection with the execution of lease agreements are initially deferred and recognized as revenue over the terms of the applicable leases. Amounts billed or received prior to being earned are deferred and reflected in unearned revenue in the consolidated balance sheets until the criteria for recognition has been met.

We derive the largest portion of our revenues, corresponding trade receivables and the related deferred rent asset from a small number of tenants in the telecommunications industry, and approximately 51% of our revenues are derived from four tenants in the industry. In addition, we have concentrations of credit risk in certain geographic areas. We mitigate the concentrations of credit risk with respect to notes and trade receivables by actively monitoring the credit worthiness of our borrowers and tenants. In recognizing customer revenue we must assess the collectibility of both the amounts billed and the portion recognized on a straight-line basis. This assessment takes tenant credit risk and business and industry conditions into consideration to ultimately determine the collectability of the amounts billed. To the extent the amounts, based on management’s estimates, may not be collectible, recognition is deferred until such point as the uncertainty is resolved. Any amounts that were previously recognized as revenue and subsequently determined to be uncollectible are charged to bad debt expense. Accounts receivable are reported net of allowances for doubtful accounts related to estimated losses resulting from a tenant’s inability to make required payments and allowances for amounts invoiced whose collectibility is not reasonably assured.

•

Rent Expense: Many of the leases underlying our tower sites have fixed rent escalations, which provide for periodic increases in the amount of ground rent payable over time. We calculate straight-line ground rent expense for these leases based on the fixed non-cancellable term of the underlying ground lease plus all periods, if any, for which failure to renew the lease imposes an economic penalty to us such that renewal appears to be reasonably assured. Certain of our tenant leases require us to exercise available renewal options pursuant to the underlying ground lease, if the tenant exercises its renewal option. For towers with these types of tenant leases at the inception of the ground lease, we calculate our straight-line ground rent over the term of the ground lease, including all renewal options required

to fulfill the tenant lease obligation. In addition to the straight-line ground rent expense recorded, we also record an associated straight-line rent liability in other non-current liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Leases may contain complex terms that often are subject to interpretation.

•

Stock-Based Compensation: We measure stock-based compensation cost at the accounting measurement date based on the fair value of the award and the fair value is recognized as an expense over the service period, which generally represents the vesting period. The expense recognized over the service period is required to include an estimate of the awards that will not fully vest and be forfeited. The fair value of a stock option is determined using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that takes into account a number of assumptions at the accounting measurement date including the stock price, the exercise price, the expected life of the option, the volatility of the underlying stock, the expected distributions, and the risk-free interest rate over the expected life of the option. These assumptions are highly subjective and could significantly impact the value of the option and hence the compensation expense. The fair value of restricted stock units is based on the fair value of our common stock on the grant date. We recognize stock-based compensation in either selling, general, administrative and development expense, costs of operations or as part of the costs associated with the construction of our tower assets.

•

Income Taxes: We will elect to be taxed as a REIT under the Code effective January 1, 2012, and will generally not be subject to federal and state income taxes on our QRSs’ taxable income that we distribute to our stockholders provided we meet certain organization and operating requirements. However, even as a REIT, we will remain obligated to pay income taxes on earnings from our TRS assets. In addition, our international assets and operations continue to be subject to taxation in the foreign jurisdictions where those assets are held or those operations are conducted.

Accounting for income taxes requires us to estimate the timing and impact of amounts recorded in our financial statements that may be recognized differently for tax purposes. To the extent that the timing of amounts recognized for book purposes differs from the timing of recognition for tax purposes, deferred tax assets or liabilities are required to be recorded. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured based on the rate at which we expect these items to be reflected in our tax returns, which may differ from the current rate. At December 31, 2011, we reversed deferred tax assets and liabilities related to our REIT activities as a result of a reduction of the expected tax rate. As a REIT, we will not pay federal income tax on our QRSs, because a dividends paid deduction will be available to offset our taxable income. Additionally, we will be permitted to use NOLs to offset our REIT taxable income. We do not expect to pay federal taxes on our REIT taxable income.

We periodically review our deferred tax assets, and we record a valuation allowance to reduce our net deferred tax asset to the amount that management believes is more likely than not to be realized. As of December 31, 2012, we have provided a valuation allowance of approximately $95.6 million on deferred tax assets for certain of our subsidiaries, which primarily relates to foreign NOLs. We have not provided a valuation allowance for the remaining deferred tax asset, primarily our foreign and federal NOLs related to other TRS entities, as we believe that we will have sufficient taxable income to realize these NOLs during the applicable carryforward period. Valuation allowances may be reversed if related deferred tax assets are deemed realizable based on changes in facts and circumstances relevant to the assets’ recoverability.

The recoverability of our U.S. federal net deferred tax asset has been assessed utilizing projections based on our current operations. Accordingly, the recoverability of our net deferred tax asset is not dependent on material asset sales or other non-routine transactions. Based on our current outlook of future taxable income during the carryforward period, management believes that our net deferred tax asset will be realized. If we are unable to generate sufficient taxable income in the future, we will be required to reassess our deferred tax assets and consider an adjustment to our valuation allowances.

Changes in tax laws and rates could also affect recorded deferred tax assets and liabilities in the future. Management is not aware of any such changes that would have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations, cash flows or financial position.

We recognize the benefit of uncertain tax positions when, in management’s judgment, it is more likely than not that positions we have taken in our tax returns will be sustained upon examination, which are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. We adjust our tax liabilities when our judgment changes as a result of the evaluation of new information or information not previously available. Due to the complexity of some of these uncertainties, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment that is materially different from our current estimate of the tax liabilities. These differences will be reflected as increases or decreases to income tax expense in the period in which additional information is available or the position is ultimately settled under audit.

We expect the unrecognized tax benefits to change over the next 12 months if certain tax matters ultimately settle with the applicable taxing jurisdiction during this timeframe, or if the applicable statute of limitations lapses. We believe that the amount of the change could range from zero to $1.3 million. As of December 31, 2012, we have classified approximately $34.3 million of reserves for uncertain tax positions as other non-current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet. We also classified approximately $28.7 million of accrued income tax-related interest and penalties as other non-current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2012.

The calculation of our tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws, regulations and administrative practices in a multitude of jurisdictions across our operations.

From time to time, we are subject to examination by various tax authorities in jurisdictions in which we have significant business operations, and we regularly assess the likelihood of additional assessments in each of the tax jurisdictions resulting from these examinations. We believe that adequate provisions have been made for income taxes for all periods through December 31, 2012.

We consider the earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries to be indefinitely invested outside the United States on the basis of estimates that future domestic cash generation will be sufficient to meet future domestic cash needs. We have not recorded a deferred tax liability related to the U.S. federal and state income taxes and foreign withholding taxes on approximately $101 million of undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries indefinitely invested outside of the United States. Should we decide to repatriate the foreign earnings, we may have to adjust the income tax provision in the period we determined that the earnings will no longer be indefinitely invested outside of the United States.

ITEM 7A.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

The following tables provide information as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 about our market risk exposure associated with changing interest rates. For long-term debt obligations, the tables present principal cash flows by maturity date and average interest rates related to outstanding obligations. For interest rate caps and swaps, the tables present notional principal amounts and weighted-average interest rates by contractual maturity dates.

As of December 31, 2012

Principal Payments and Interest Rate Detail by Contractual Maturity Dates

(In thousands, except percentages)


Long-Term Debt	2013			2014			2015			2016			2017			Thereafter			Total		Fair Value
Fixed Rate Debt(a)	$	57,570		$	1,752,323		$	601,517		$	132,280		$	568,139		$	3,394,758		$	6,506,587	$	7,120,522
Average Interest Rate(a)		7.82	%		5.61	%		4.63	%		8.99	%		6.81	%		5.28	%
Variable Rate Debt(a)	$	2,461		$	6,720		$	14,377		$	291,442		$	1,771,938		$	155,890		$	2,242,828	$	2,239,053

Aggregate Notional Amounts Associated with Interest Rate Swaps in Place

As of December 31, 2012 and Interest Rate Detail by Contractual Maturity Dates

(In thousands, except percentages)


Interest Rate SWAPS	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		Thereafter		Total			Fair Value
Notional Amount	$	1,250	$	3,597	$	8,040	$	16,016	$	18,161	$	60,192	$	107,256		$	5,442
Fixed Rate Debt(b)														10.78	%

As of December 31, 2011

Principal Payments and Interest Rate Detail by Contractual Maturity Dates

(In thousands, except percentages)


Long-Term Debt	2012			2013			2014			2015			2016			Thereafter			Total		Fair Value
Fixed Rate Debt(c)	$	101,816		$	2,231		$	1,751,555		$	600,462		$	127,960		$	3,235,851		$	5,819,875	$	6,064,783
Average Interest Rate(c)		7.08	%		5.00	%		5.61	%		4.63	%		9.00	%		5.66	%
Variable Rate Debt(c)													$	625,000		$	784,920		$	1,409,920	$	1,396,670

(a)

As of December 31, 2012, variable rate debt consisted of our 2011 Credit Facility ($265.0 million), which matures on April 8, 2016, our 2012 Credit Facility ($992.0 million), which matures on January 31, 2017 and our 2012 Term Loan ($750.0 million), which matures on June 29, 2017. Variable rate debt also includes $98.5 million of indebtedness outstanding under the South African Facility, which amortizes through March 31, 2020, $61.0 million of indebtedness under the Uganda Loan, which matures on June 29, 2019 and $76.3 million of indebtedness under the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility, which amortizes through November 30, 2020. As of December 31, 2012, fixed rate debt consisted of: the Certificates issued in the Securitization ($1.75 billion); Unison Notes ($196.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $207.2 million); the 7.25% senior notes due 2019 ($300.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $296.3 million); the 7.00% senior notes due 2017 ($500.0 million); the 4.625% senior notes due 2015 ($600.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $599.6 million); the 5.05% senior notes due 2020 ($700.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $699.3 million); the 4.50% senior notes due 2018 ($1.0 billion principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $999.4 million); the 5.90% Notes ($500.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $499.4 million); the 4.70% Notes ($700.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2012 was $698.8 million), and other debt of $260.6 million (including the Colombian Bridge Loans, Colombian Loan and Ghana Loan and other debt including capital leases). Interest on the 2011 Credit Facility, the 2012 Credit Facility and the 2012 Term Loan is payable in accordance with the applicable LIBOR agreement or quarterly and accrues at our option either at LIBOR plus margin (as defined) or the base rate plus margin (as defined). The weighted average interest rate in effect at December 31, 2012 for the 2011 Credit Facility, the 2012 Credit Facility and the 2012 Term Loan was 1.92%. For the year ended December 31, 2012, the weighted average interest rate under the 2011 Credit Facility, the 2012 Credit Facility and the 2012 Term Loan was 1.82%. Interest on the South African Facility is payable in accordance with the applicable JIBAR agreement and accrues at JIBAR plus margin (as defined). The weighted average interest rate at December 31, 2012, after giving effect to our interest rate swap agreements in South Africa, was 9.84%. Interest on the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility is payable in accordance with the applicable IBR agreement and accrues at IBR plus margin (as defined). The weighted average interest rate at December 31, 2012, after giving effect to our interest rate swap agreements in Colombia, was 10.36%. Interest on the Uganda Loan is payable in accordance with the applicable LIBOR plus margin (as defined). The Uganda Loan accrued interest at 6.368% at December 31, 2012.

(b)	Represents the weighted average fixed rate of interest based on contractual notional amount as a percentage of total notional amounts.

(c)

As of December 31, 2011, variable rate debt consisted of our Revolving Credit Facility ($1.0 billion drawn) and the 2008 Term Loan ($325.0 million) included above which originally matured on June 8, 2012, but we repaid on January 31, 2012 with $625.0 million in proceeds from the 2011 Credit Facility, which matures on April 8, 2016, and $700 million in proceeds from the 2012 Credit Facility, which matures on January 31, 2017. Variable rate debt also includes $84.9 million of indebtedness outstanding under our South African Facility which matures on March 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2011, fixed rate debt consisted of: the Certificates issued in the Securitization ($1.75 billion); Unison Notes ($196.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $209.3 million); the 7.25% senior notes due 2019 ($300.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $295.8 million); the 7.00% senior notes due 2017 ($500.0 million); the 4.625% senior notes due 2015 ($600.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $599.5 million); the 5.05% senior notes due 2020 ($700.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $699.3 million); the 4.50% senior notes due 2018 ($1.0 billion principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $999.3 million); the 5.90% Notes ($500.0 million principal amount due at maturity, the balance as of December 31, 2011 was $499.3 million); and other debt of $273.9 million (including the Colombian Bridge Loan, Colombian Short-Term Credit Facility and Ghana Loan). Interest on the Revolving Credit Facility and the 2008 Term Loan was payable in accordance with the applicable LIBOR agreement or quarterly and accrued at our option either at LIBOR plus margin (as defined) or the base rate plus margin (as defined). The weighted-average interest rate in effect at December 31, 2011 for the Revolving Credit Facility and the 2008 Term Loan was 0.95%. For the year ended December 31, 2011, the weighted average interest rate under the Revolving Credit Facility and the 2008 Term Loan was 1.71%.

As of December 31, 2012, we held ten interest rate swap agreements, all of which have been designated as cash flow hedges, and which had an aggregate notional amount of $107.3 million, interest rates ranging from 5.78% to 7.25% and expiration dates through November 2020.

Changes in interest rates can cause interest charges to fluctuate on our variable rate debt. Variable rate debt as of December 31, 2012, was comprised of $265.0 million under the 2011 Credit Facility, $992.0 million under the 2012 Credit Facility, $750.0 million under the 2012 Term Loan, $61.0 million under the Uganda Loan, $48.5 million under the South African Facility after giving effect to our interest rate swap agreements in South Africa and $19.1 million under the Colombian Long-Term Credit Facility after giving effect to our interest rate swap agreements in Colombia. A 10% increase in current interest rates would result in an additional $4.8 million of interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2012.

We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates primarily in connection with our foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures internationally. Any transaction denominated in a currency other than the U.S. Dollar is reported in U.S. Dollars at the applicable exchange rate. All assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. Dollars at exchange rates in effect at the end of the applicable fiscal reporting period and all revenues and expenses are translated at average rates for the period. The cumulative translation effect is included in equity and as a component of comprehensive income (loss). We may enter into additional foreign currency financial instruments in anticipation of future transactions in order to minimize the risk of currency fluctuations.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, approximately 30% of our revenues and approximately 39% of our operating expenses were denominated in foreign currencies, as compared to 26% and 34% respectively, during the same period in 2011.

We have performed sensitivity analyses assuming a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in foreign currency exchange rates from the quoted foreign currency exchange rates at December 31, 2012 and 2011. As of December 31, 2012, the analysis indicated that such an adverse movement would cause our revenues, operating results and cash flows to fluctuate by less than 5%. As of December 31, 2011, the analysis indicated that such an adverse movement would cause our revenues, operating results and cash flows to fluctuate by less than 4%.

As of December 31, 2012, we have incurred a substantial amount of additional intercompany debt, which is not considered to be permanently reinvested, and similar unaffiliated balances that were denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the subsidiary in which it is recorded. As this debt had not been designated as being of long-term investment in nature, any changes in the foreign currency exchange rates will result in unrealized gains or losses, which will be included in our determination of net income. An adverse

change of 10% in the underlying exchange rates of our unsettled intercompany debt and similar unaffiliated balances would result in approximately $188.8 million of unrealized gains or losses that would be included in other (expense) income in our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2012.

ITEM 8.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

See Item 15 (a).

ITEM 9.

CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

ITEM 9A.

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We have established disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that material information relating to us, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the officers who certify our financial reports and to other members of senior management and the Board of Directors.

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2012 and designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the requisite time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance to our management and Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012. In making its assessment of internal control over financial reporting, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework. Based on this assessment, management concluded that, as of December 31, 2012, our internal control over financial reporting is effective.

Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm that audited our financial statements included in this Annual Report, has issued an attestation report on management’s internal control over financial reporting, which is included in this Item 9A under the caption “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.”

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of

American Tower Corporation

Boston, Massachusetts

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of American Tower Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule as of and for the year ended December 31, 2012 of the Company and our report dated February 26, 2013, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements and financial statement schedule.

/s/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 26, 2013

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2012 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART III

ITEM 10.

DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our executive officers and their respective ages and positions as of February 26, 2013 are set forth below:


James D. Taiclet, Jr.	52	Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Thomas A. Bartlett	54	Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Edmund DiSanto	60	Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary
William H. Hess	49	Executive Vice President, International Operations and President, Latin America and EMEA
Steven C. Marshall	51	Executive Vice President, and President, U.S. Tower Division
Robert J. Meyer, Jr.	49	Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller
Amit Sharma	62	Executive Vice President and President, Asia

James D. Taiclet, Jr. is our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Taiclet was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in September 2001, was named Chief Executive Officer in October 2003 and was selected as Chairman of the Board in February 2004. Prior to joining us, Mr. Taiclet served as President of Honeywell Aerospace Services, a unit of Honeywell International, and prior to that as Vice President, Engine Services at Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corporation. He was also previously a consultant at McKinsey & Company, specializing in telecommunications and aerospace strategy and operations. Mr. Taiclet began his career as a United States Air Force officer and pilot. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University, where he was awarded a Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson School, and is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with majors in Engineering and International Relations. Mr. Taiclet serves on the Board of Trustees of Brigham and Women’s Healthcare, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Boston Club.

Thomas A. Bartlett is our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Mr. Bartlett joined us in April 2009 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and assumed the role of Treasurer in February 2012. Prior to joining us, Mr. Bartlett served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller with Verizon Communications Inc. since November 2005. In this role, he was responsible for corporate-wide accounting, tax planning and compliance, SEC financial reporting, budget reporting and analysis, and capital expenditures planning functions. Mr. Bartlett previously held the roles of Senior Vice President and Treasurer, as well as Senior Vice President in Investor Relations. During his 25 year career with Verizon Communications and its predecessor companies and affiliates, he served in numerous operations and business development roles, including as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Atlantic International Wireless from 1995 through 2000, where he was responsible for wireless activities in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, and was also an area President in Verizon’s U.S. wireless business responsible for all operational aspects in both the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Mr. Bartlett began his career at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells. Mr. Bartlett earned his M.B.A. degree from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Lehigh University, and became a Certified Public Accountant.

Edmund DiSanto is our Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. DiSanto joined us in April 2007. Prior to joining us, Mr. DiSanto was with Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corporation. Mr. DiSanto started with United Technologies in 1989, where he first served as Assistant General Counsel of its Carrier subsidiary, then corporate Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Technologies, and from 1997, he held various legal and business roles at its Pratt & Whitney unit, including Deputy General Counsel and most recently, Vice President, Global Service Partners, Business Development. Prior to joining United Technologies, Mr. DiSanto served in a number of legal and related positions at United Dominion Industries and New England Electric Systems. Mr. DiSanto earned his J.D. degree from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University.

William H. Hess is our Executive Vice President, International Operations and President, Latin America and EMEA. Mr. Hess joined us in March 2001 as Chief Financial Officer of American Tower International and was appointed Executive Vice President in June 2001. Mr. Hess was appointed Executive Vice President, General Counsel in September 2002, and in February 2007, Mr. Hess was also appointed Executive Vice President, International Operations. Mr. Hess relinquished the position of General Counsel in April 2007 when he was named President of our Latin American operations. In March 2009, Mr. Hess also became responsible for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) territory. Prior to joining us, Mr. Hess had been a partner in the corporate and finance practice group of the law firm of King & Spalding LLP, which he joined in 1990. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Hess practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with Arthur Young & Co. Mr. Hess received his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law and is a graduate of Harding University.

Steven C. Marshall is our Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division. Mr. Marshall served as our Executive Vice President, International Business Development from November 2007 through March 2009, at which time he was appointed our Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division. Prior to joining us, Mr. Marshall was with National Grid Plc, where he served in a number of leadership and business development positions since 1997. Between 2003 and 2007, Mr. Marshall was Chief Executive Officer, National Grid Wireless, where he led National Grid’s wireless tower infrastructure business in the United States and United Kingdom, and held directorships with Digital UK and FreeView during this period. In addition, during his tenure at National Grid, as well as at Costain Group Plc and Tootal Group Plc, he led operational and business development efforts in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In October 2010, Mr. Marshall was appointed a director of PCIA–The Wireless Infrastructure Association. In April 2011, Mr. Marshall was appointed a director of Competitive Carriers Association. Mr. Marshall earned his M.B.A. degree from Manchester Business School in Manchester, England and a Bachelor of Science with honors in Building and Civil Engineering from the Victoria University of Manchester, England.

Robert J. Meyer, Jr. is our Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller. Mr. Meyer joined us in August 2008. Prior to joining us Mr. Meyer was with Bright Horizons Family Solutions since 1998, a provider of child care, early education and work/life consulting services, where he most recently served as Chief Accounting Officer. Mr. Meyer also served as Corporate Controller and Vice President of Finance while at Bright Horizons. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, from 1997 to 1998, Mr. Meyer served as Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at First Security Services Corp. Mr. Meyer earned his Masters in Finance from Bentley University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Marquette University, and is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Amit Sharma is our Executive Vice President and President, Asia. Mr. Sharma joined us in September 2007. Prior to joining us, since 1992, Mr. Sharma worked at Motorola, where he led country teams in India and Southeast Asia, including as Country President, India and as Head of Strategy, Asia-Pacific. Mr. Sharma also served on Motorola’s Asia Pacific Board and was a member of its senior leadership team. Mr. Sharma also worked at GE Capital, serving as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, and prior to that, with McKinsey, New York, serving as a core member of the firm’s Electronics and Marketing Practices. Mr. Sharma earned his M.B.A. degree in International Business from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was on the Dean’s List and the Director’s Honors List. Mr. Sharma also holds an MS in Computer Science from the Moore School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

The information under “Election of Directors” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” from the Definitive Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference. Information required by this item pursuant to Item 407(c)(3) of SEC Regulation S-K relating to our procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to our Board of Directors, and pursuant to Item 407(d)(4) and 407(d)(5) of SEC Regulation S-K relating to our audit committee financial experts and identification of the audit committee of our Board of Directors, is contained in the Definitive Proxy Statement under “Corporate Governance” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information regarding our Code of Conduct applicable to our principal executive officer, our principal financial officer, our controller and other senior financial officers appears in Item 1 of this report under the caption “Business—Available Information.”

ITEM 11.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The information under “Compensation and Other Information Concerning Directors and Officers” from the Definitive Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 12.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The information under “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans” from the Definitive Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 13.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Information required by this item pursuant to Item 404 of SEC Regulation S-K relating to approval of related party transactions is contained in the Definitive Proxy Statement under “Corporate Governance” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information required by this item pursuant to Item 407(a) of SEC Regulation S-K relating to director independence is contained in the Definitive Proxy Statement under “Corporate Governance” and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 14.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

The information under “Independent Auditor Fees and Other Matters” from the Definitive Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

PART IV

ITEM 15.

EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a)	The following documents are filed as a part of this report:

1. Financial Statements. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statements, which appears on page F-1 hereof. The financial statements listed in the accompanying Index to Consolidated Financial Statements are filed herewith in response to this Item.

2. Financial Statement Schedules. American Tower Corporation and Subsidiaries Schedule III – Schedule of Real Estate and Accumulated Depreciation is filed herewith in response to this Item.

3. Exhibits. See Index to Exhibits. The exhibits listed in the Index to Exhibits immediately preceding the exhibits are filed herewith in response to this Item.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized on the 26th day of February, 2013.


AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION

By:		/S/ JAMES D. TAICLET, JR.
		James D. Taiclet, Jr. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been duly signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.


Signature	Title	Date

/S/ JAMES D. TAICLET, JR. James D. Taiclet, Jr.	Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)	February 26, 2013

/S/ THOMAS A. BARTLETT Thomas A. Bartlett	Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer)	February 26, 2013

/S/ ROBERT J. MEYER, JR. Robert J. Meyer, Jr.	Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller (Principal Accounting Officer)	February 26, 2013

/S/ RAYMOND P. DOLAN Raymond P. Dolan	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ RONALD M. DYKES Ronald M. Dykes	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ CAROLYN F. KATZ Carolyn F. Katz	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ GUSTAVO LARA CANTU Gustavo Lara Cantu	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ JOANN A. REED JoAnn A. Reed	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ PAMELA D. A. REEVE Pamela D. A. Reeve	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ DAVID E. SHARBUTT David E. Sharbutt	Director	February 26, 2013

/S/ SAMME L. THOMPSON Samme L. Thompson	Director	February 26, 2013

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS


	Page

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		F-2

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2012 and 2011		F-3

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010		F-4

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the Years Ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010		F-5

Consolidated Statements of Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010		F-6

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010		F-7

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements		F-8

F-1

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of

American Tower Corporation

Boston, Massachusetts

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of American Tower Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2012. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15. These financial statements and financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements and financial statement schedule based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2012 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, such financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 26, 2013 expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 26, 2013

F-2

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share data)


	December 31, 2012			December 31, 2011
ASSETS
CURRENT ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	368,618		$	330,191
Restricted cash		69,316			42,215
Short-term investments and available-for-sale securities		6,018			22,270
Accounts receivable, net		136,971			100,610
Prepaid and other current assets		222,851			250,273
Deferred income taxes		25,754			29,596

Total current assets		829,528			775,155

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, net		5,789,995			4,981,722
GOODWILL		2,912,046			2,676,290
OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS, net		3,115,053			2,495,053
DEFERRED INCOME TAXES		213,518			209,031
DEFERRED RENT ASSET		776,201			609,529
NOTES RECEIVABLE AND OTHER NON-CURRENT ASSETS		452,788			495,615

TOTAL	$	14,089,129		$	12,242,395

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
CURRENT LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable	$	89,578		$	215,931
Accrued expenses		286,962			305,538
Distributions payable		189			—
Accrued interest		71,271			65,729
Current portion of long-term obligations		60,031			101,816
Unearned revenue		124,147			92,483

Total current liabilities		632,178			781,497

LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS		8,693,345			7,134,492
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS		435,724			344,180
OTHER NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES		643,701			572,084

Total liabilities		10,404,948			8,832,253


COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

EQUITY:
Preferred stock: $.01 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding
Common stock: $.01 par value, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 395,963,218 and 393,642,079 shares issued, and 395,091,213 and 393,642,079 shares outstanding, respectively		3,959			3,936
Additional paid-in capital		5,012,124			4,903,800
Distributions in excess of earnings		(1,196,907	)		(1,477,899	)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(183,347	)		(142,617	)
Treasury stock (872,005 and 0 shares at cost, respectively)		(62,728	)		—

Total American Tower Corporation equity		3,573,101			3,287,220
Noncontrolling interest		111,080			122,922

Total equity		3,684,181			3,410,142

TOTAL	$	14,089,129		$	12,242,395

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

F-3

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share data)


	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
REVENUES:
Rental and management	$	2,803,490		$	2,386,185		$	1,936,373
Network development services		72,470			57,347			48,962

Total operating revenues		2,875,960			2,443,532			1,985,335

OPERATING EXPENSES:
Costs of operations (exclusive of items shown separately below):
Rental and management (including stock-based compensation expense of $793, $1,105 and $0, respectively)		686,681			590,272			447,629
Network development services (including stock-based compensation expense of $968, $1,224 and $0, respectively)		35,798			30,684			26,957
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		644,276			555,517			460,726
Selling, general, administrative and development expense (including stock-based compensation expense of $50,222, $45,108, and $52,555, respectively)		327,301			288,824			229,769
Other operating expenses		62,185			58,103			35,876

Total operating expenses		1,756,241			1,523,400			1,200,957

OPERATING INCOME		1,119,719			920,132			784,378

OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest income, TV Azteca, net of interest expense of $1,485, $1,474, and $1,487, respectively		14,258			14,214			14,212
Interest income		7,680			7,378			5,024
Interest expense		(401,665	)		(311,854	)		(246,018	)
Loss on retirement of long-term obligations		(398	)		—			(1,886	)
Other (expense) income (including unrealized foreign currency (losses) gains of $(34,330), $(131,053) and $4,792, respectively)		(38,300	)		(122,975	)		315

Total other expense		(418,425	)		(413,237	)		(228,353	)

INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS BEFORE INCOME TAXES AND INCOME ON EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS		701,294			506,895			556,025
Income tax provision		(107,304	)		(125,080	)		(182,489	)
Income on equity method investments		35			25			40

INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS		594,025			381,840			373,576
INCOME FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS, NET OF INCOME TAX PROVISION OF $0, $0 AND $19, RESPECTIVELY		—			—			30

NET INCOME	$	594,025		$	381,840		$	373,606
Net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interest		43,258			14,622			(670	)

NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION	$	637,283		$	396,462		$	372,936

NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE AMOUNTS:
BASIC:
Income from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation	$	1.61		$	1.00		$	0.93
Income from discontinued operations attributable to American Tower Corporation		—			—			—

Net income attributable to American Tower Corporation	$	1.61		$	1.00		$	0.93

DILUTED:
Income from continuing operations attributable to American Tower Corporation	$	1.60		$	0.99		$	0.92
Income from discontinued operations attributable to American Tower Corporation		—			—			—

Net income attributable to American Tower Corporation	$	1.60		$	0.99		$	0.92

WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING:
BASIC		394,772			395,711			401,152

DILUTED		399,287			400,195			404,072