Crown Castle to lay off 250, restructure management

Crown Castle International, Houston, is restructuring its U.S. business to “flatten its organizational structure to better align with customer demand,” a document filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission reads.

The restructuring streamlines Crown Castle’s U.S. business into seven geographic areas with each such area being responsible for the leasing and management of 1,500 towers and providing select services. The document said that Crown Castle expects to reduce its workforce by 250 employees, close some smaller offices and take a restructuring charge of $7 million to $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2002.

The restructuring is expected to reduce annual general and administrative expenses by $11 million to $14 million.

Besides its U.S. businesses, Crown Castle has operations in the United Kingdom and Australia. It reported owning, leasing or managing 15,000 towers and rooftops at the end of 2001, and it reported constructing 1,450 towers during 2001.