Sustainable dividends from cell tower providers
Biggest names in this telco infrastructure play have substantial networks that act as bulwarks against any newcomers
What are we looking for?
Sustainable dividends from cell tower providers even in the face of competition from Starlink.
The screen
BCE Inc. BCE-Tis now selling 49.9 per cent of its cell tower network to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec – manager of the province’s public pension plan. BCE will receive $2.45-billion for the minority stake while retaining control of the new entity, which is set to hold some 5,000 towers across Canada.
Like BCE, all tower companies own and operate the physical structures themselves, although it falls to mobile network operators leasing space on the structures to install and maintain their own broadcast equipment.
Looking long term, our analysts at The Successful Investor see a looming threat: SpaceX’s SPCX-Q Starlink and other satellite service providers threaten to disrupt cell tower demand by bypassing those structures altogether. They use low-orbit satellites to connect consumers and businesses with cellular reception regardless of how remote their location.
Still, we see the biggest, most entrenched players in the cell tower industry able to stare down those competitors. In fact, BCE and Telus are already moving to bring satellite service to their own networks.
Our search started with a list of North American cell tower operators. From there, we focused on established players with the massive infrastructure portfolios to satisfy rising demand. They also use solid cash flow to reward investors with dividends. We then applied our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System, which awards points to a stock based on key factors:
- one point for five years of continuous dividend payments
- two points for more than five
- two points if it has raised the payment in the past five years
- one point for management’s commitment to dividends
- one point for operating in non-cyclical industries
- one point for limited exposure to foreign currency rates and freedom from political interference
- two points for a strong balance sheet, including manageable debt and adequate cash
- two points for a long-term record of positive earnings and cash flow sufficient to cover dividend payments
- one point for being an industry leader
Companies with 10 to 12 points have the most secure dividends, or the highest sustainability. Those with seven to nine points have above-average sustainability; average sustainability, four to six points; and below-average sustainability, one to three points.
More about TSI Network
TSI Network is the online home of The Successful Investor Inc. – the group of widely followed Canadian investment newsletters by editor and publisher Pat McKeough. They include our award-winning flagship newsletter, The Successful Investor, and the TSI Dividend Advisor. TSI Network is also affiliated with Successful Investor Wealth Management.
What we found
Our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System generated five stocks.
American Tower Corp. AMT-N, based in Boston,is the largest independent operator of wireless telecom and broadcast towers, with almost 150,000 sites worldwide.
Headquartered in Houston, Crown Castle Inc. CCI-N owns and operates more than 40,000 cell towers throughout the United States. Note: The company completed the major US$8.5-billion sale of its Fibre business in May 2026, and it cut its dividend by 32.1 per cent in June 2025 to reflect the loss of those assets.
SBA Communications Corp. SBAC-Q, based in Boca Raton, Fla., owns and operates towers, principally in the U.S., but also in South America, Central America, and Africa; altogether, that’s more than 46,000 towers.
Vancouver’s Telus Corp. T-T sold 49.5 per cent of its newly formed wireless tower subsidiary, Terrion, to the Caisse in late 2025 for approximately $1.26-billion. The deal kept Telus in control of a network with some 3,000 towers spread across key markets in Canada.
And finally, Montreal-based BCE Inc. continues to profit from selling telecom services to Canadians. The unlocking of value with the sale of its cell tower stake, combined with BCE’s move to retain controlling interest, will further support its dividend.
Scott Clayton, MBA, is senior analyst for TSI Network and associate editor of TSI Dividend Advisor.