What Tillman Infrastructure does

Tillman Infrastructure is a privately held U.S. cellular tower and connectivity infrastructure company founded in 2016 and headquartered at 152 West 57th Street, New York. It develops, owns, and operates macro cell towers, small cells, and distributed antenna systems (DAS) for wireless carriers, with a portfolio of more than 1,000 owned and managed sites across approximately 35 states and an additional 2,500 sites in active development. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tillman Global Holdings, which has invested over $6.5 billion in digital infrastructure capital expenditures since 2008 and operates approximately 10,000 towers across five continents.

The company's core offerings are Build-to-Suit tower development, Colocation on existing tower and rooftop assets, Ground Lease Buyout programs for landlords, Real Estate Management services for property owners, and Tower Acquisitions. Revenue is generated primarily through long-term recurring ground leases and colocation rents paid by mobile network operators for antenna placement, supplemented by one-time ground lease buyout transactions and acquisition revenue. Customers include AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile as anchor MNO tenants (with AT&T and Verizon participating in a joint co-anchoring development program), plus regional and rural carriers, and wireless internet service providers accessed via partnerships with the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) and WISPA.

Tillman sells through enterprise direct sales to carriers, self-serve colocation application forms on its website, and association partnerships, with pricing negotiated individually and not publicly disclosed. The company has raised over $1.5 billion in equity and debt capital historically, with major institutional backers including CDPQ, AMP Capital, and UBS Asset Management, and closed an additional $1 billion syndicated debt facility in April 2024 led by Apollo. Leadership includes CEO Chris Hickman (ex-Crown Castle), CFO Todd Smith (ex-Partners Group), CHRO Robyn Padrone, Vice Chairman Bill Hague (ex-AT&T), and co-founder Sanjiv Ahuja as Chairman.

Name

Tillman Infrastructure

Legal name

Tillman Infrastructure LLC

Website

https://tillmaninfrastructure.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Tillman Infrastructure is a U.S. cellular tower company that develops, owns, and operates macro tower and colocation infrastructure for mobile network operators (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile), regional carriers, and WISPs across approximately 35 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Telecom Tower Infrastructure

NAICS

Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction (237130)

SIC

Heavy Construction Other Than Bldg Const - Contractors (1600), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Macro Towers (Ground-Based & Rooftop) (HDAIAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Site Acquisition, Development & Permitting Services (HDAIAKAE), Tower Operations & Maintenance (Field Services) (HDAIAKAF), Structural & Civil Engineering for Sites (Design, Reinforcement, Foundations) (HDAIAKAI), Telecom Tower & Mast Construction (Greenfield Builds, Foundations, Erection) (IMAFAIAC)

Keywords

• Cell tower infrastructure
• Telecom tower leasing
• Build-to-suit towers
• Wireless infrastructure development
• Tower colocation services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tower Leasing: Long-term ground leases with mobile network operators for tower space. Carriers pay recurring rent for antenna placement on towers.
2. Colocation Services: Additional carriers co-locating on existing tower infrastructure, generating incremental revenue from shared infrastructure
3. Build-to-Suit Development: Constructing new towers to carrier specifications, with carriers committing to lease and co-anchor co-located towers
4. Ground Lease Buyout: Purchasing existing ground leases from landlords, generating revenue through long-term carrier relationships

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Tillman Infrastructure develops, owns, and operates cellular tower and rooftop infrastructure across the continental United States. It sells Build-to-Suit tower development, Colocation space on its growing portfolio of towers, Ground Lease Buyout services for landlords, Real Estate Management for property owners, and Tower Acquisitions for portfolio sellers. The company targets mobile network operators, regional carriers, and WISPs seeking cost-competitive infrastructure for 4G and 5G network expansion.

Product overview

Tillman Infrastructure is a rapidly growing carrier-neutral tower company that develops, owns, and operates cellular tower infrastructure across the United States. The company offers a portfolio of services including Build-to-Suit (end-to-end tower development), Colocation (tower and rooftop assets for multiple carriers), Ground Lease Buyout (financial flexibility for landlords), Real Estate Management (telecom revenue optimization for property owners), and Tower Acquisitions (purchasing individual sites and portfolios). The company operates as a subsidiary of Tillman Global Holdings and has built over 1,000 towers since its founding in 2016, with approximately 2,500 additional sites in development. The company emphasizes transparency, capacity for 5G and beyond, and competitive positioning against larger incumbent tower companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Build-to-Suit End-to-end telecommunication tower development service across the continental United States. Enables carriers to commission new macro cell towers built to their specifications, with ample capacity for 5G and beyond and the ability to co-anchor multiple carriers on a single structure.
• Colocation Provides a rapidly growing portfolio of more than 1,000 owned and managed tower and rooftop assets available for multiple carriers to share infrastructure on existing structures. Includes a self-serve modification and colocation application process with negotiated multi-year contracts.
• Ground Lease Buyout Provides landlords with financial flexibility by purchasing existing ground leases, enabling property owners to monetize their tower ground lease agreements. Terms are negotiated individually with landlords.
• Real Estate Management Works with building owners and managers to unlock telecommunications revenue potential on their properties by facilitating tower or rooftop deployments.
• Tower Acquisitions Acquires individual tower sites and tower portfolios, supporting tower developers and owners looking to sell their assets as part of portfolio expansion.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached 1,000 towers faster than any other towerco in the country, starting from first build in May 2017
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• CCA (Competitive Carriers Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 December 2020Strategic partnership providing CCA members with preferred terms and expedited colocation process on Tillman's national portfolio. Members also gain access to Tillman Global Holdings affiliates including Tillman Networks and Tillman Digital Cities.
• WISPA (Wireless Internet Service Providers Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2020Strategic partnership providing WISPA members priority access to Tillman's nationwide portfolio of wireless infrastructure. Includes streamlined application process, 30-day turnaround, and waived application fees. Tillman donates first month's rent to WISPA.
• AT&TflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Major mobile network operator and founding partner in Tillman's joint development program. Committed to leasing and co-anchoring towers built by Tillman. Co-developing hundreds of cell towers with Verizon.
• VerizonflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Major mobile network operator and founding partner in Tillman's joint development program. Committed to leasing and co-anchoring towers. Joint agreement with AT&T to build hundreds of cell towers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Crown Castle Inc. Largest U.S. tower operator (~40k+ macro towers) and dominant U.S. small-cell/fiber platform. Tillman's CIO Chris Hickman came from Crown Castle. Directly competes in macro tower leasing and build-to-suit, but operates at much larger scale with fiber and small-cell adjacencies Tillman has not yet built.
• American Tower Corporation: Global tower REIT with ~220k+ sites across multiple continents. One of the 'Big 3' incumbents Tillman explicitly targets with its lower-cost disruption thesis. Competes for the same MNO build-to-suit and colocation opportunities at substantially greater scale and balance-sheet depth.
• SBA Communications: Public tower REIT operating ~30k+ tower sites in the U.S. and internationally. The third 'Big 3' incumbent against which Tillman positions its lower-cost alternative. Direct overlap in macro tower leasing for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Direct peers

• Vertical Bridge: Largest private U.S. tower operator with several thousand macro towers and rooftop sites; led by former SBA executives. Closest private competitor to Tillman with similar build-to-suit and acquisition model serving the same MNO customer base.
• Phoenix Tower International: Private tower operator backed by Blackstone and various carriers, operating thousands of towers across the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean. Directly comparable business model: build-to-suit, colocation, and carrier partnerships for MNOs.
• Insite Wireless Group: Private U.S. tower and DAS operator with portfolios of macro towers, rooftop, and in-building systems. Comparable product mix (macro + DAS) to Tillman's core plus stated adjacency ambitions.

Emerging players

• Harmoni Towers: U.S. private towerco backed by Macquarie Asset Management; focuses on acquiring and building towers in tier-2/3 markets and rural areas. Smaller and more emerging than Tillman but pursues similar underserved-market thesis with MNO anchor tenants.
• Uniti Group (Uniti Towers / HiLine): U.S. tower and fiber infrastructure company that has been actively divesting its fiber business to focus on tower operations. Smaller tower portfolio than the Big 3 but pursues similar MNO leasing economics.

Others

• GTL Infrastructure / India Towers analog: Large international tower operators in emerging markets (India, Africa, LatAm) that share the build-to-suit, multi-tenant colocation business model Tillman uses domestically. Indirect comparables for portfolio economics and tenant churn dynamics.
• CCI Systems (via Tillman Global Holdings affiliates): Sister operating companies under Tillman Global Holdings (Tillman Networks, Tillman Digital Cities) offering fiber backhaul, edge data centers, and digital city infrastructure. Not direct competitors but ecosystem peers demonstrating the broader TGH digital infrastructure platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tillman Infrastructure