American Tower Corporation Agrees to Purchase Communications Properties from Watson Communication Systems, Inc.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 1999--

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of San Francisco based Watson Communication Systems, Inc. for approximately $73 million in cash. The purchase price may be allocated approximately $54 million, or 13.5 times cash flow, for tower assets and approximately $18 million for other assets, including a teleport facility with substantial expansion potential.

The transaction includes 11 wireless and 10 broadcast communication towers in the San Francisco Bay area and one teleport which contains nine antennas for satellite transmission covering the full domestic arc and the Pacific international service region. Among the acquired sites is San Bruno Mountain, a premiere location within the San Francisco market. San Bruno will be the site of a new broadcast tower suitable for DTV as well as a new state-of-the-art teleport facility well positioned to meet the growing demand for Internet traffic.

Jay Watson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Watson Communication Systems, Inc., stated, "We are pleased that American Tower will be the successor to these long-time owned assets of Watson Communication. Our customers will be well served by this acquisition."

Alan Box, Executive Vice President and Director of American Tower, stated, "The addition of Watson Communication's towers and teleport facilities allows us to expand with strategically located, quality assets, for both our tower and teleport divisions. In particular, we gain an important west coast teleport presence, giving us direct access to Mae West and supporting our rapidly growing demand for international Internet traffic. From a tower perspective, we add unique, high profile wireless and broadcast sites throughout the Bay area that complement our current inventory of sites. It is rare to find a multi-purpose opportunity such as this."

American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of broadcast and wireless communications sites in the United States and, giving effect to pending transactions, operates more than 4,000 towers, including 195 broadcast tower sites, in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Based in Boston, American Tower has a national footprint with regional hubs in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, ATC Teleports, Inc., American Tower also owns and operates, giving effect to pending transactions, over 100 satellite antennas in various locations across the United States. For more information about American Tower Corporation and ATC Teleports, please visit our web sites www.americantower.com and www.atcteleports.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" concerning future expectations, plans or strategies that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The Company wishes to caution readers that certain factors may have affected the Company's actual results and could cause results for subsequent periods to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of the Company. Such factors include, but are not limited to (i) substantial capital requirements and leverage principally as a consequence of its ongoing acquisitions and

construction activities, (ii) dependence on demand for wireless communications, use of satellites for internet data transmission, and implementation of digital television, (iii) the success of the Company's tower construction program and (iv) the successful operational integration of the Company's business acquisitions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.