American Tower Names Bradley E. Singer Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; Joseph L. Winn and J. Michael Gearon, Jr. Named Vice Chairmen.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 2001

American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) today announced that Bradley E. Singer has been named Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of American Tower Corporation and Joseph L. Winn and J. Michael Gearon, Jr. have been named Vice Chairmen of American Tower Corporation. Steven Dodge, founder of American Tower, remains the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and James Taiclet remains President and Chief Operating Officer.

Brad Singer joined American Tower in September 2000 and has held executive positions in the areas of finance, operations, and strategy. He has been instrumental in developing the Company's long term strategy, overseen the day-to-day operations of a regional operating unit, and more recently has focused on improving internal operational and financial management systems and processes. Prior to joining American Tower, Brad was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co. where he served the wireless and telecom industries. Earlier in his career he was CFO of Clyde's Restaurant Group in Washington, DC. He holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard University and a BS from University of Virginia.

Steve Dodge, Chairman and CEO of American Tower, said, "Joe Winn and I began a CFO succession planning effort almost two years ago, leading to our recruiting of Brad Singer into the company in the summer of last year. We had initially gotten to know Brad while he was at Goldman as a result of working with him on transactions in the tower arena. We were attracted not only by his obvious financial and deal skills, but also by his prior operational experience and insights. Since joining American Tower, Brad has participated actively in the development of company strategy, has run a region, and most recently, has become a major contributor as EVP Finance. He is well prepared for his new role as CFO, bringing highly relevant field experience and exceptional finance skills to the role. He has also had the benefit of working very closely with Joe since this transition began. Brad has already earned a reputation inside our company as a high impact player who is exceptionally bright, hardworking, knowledgeable, and driven to produce real results. He is viewed as a team player who likes to get his hands dirty and enjoys investing his time in the development of others. We feel very fortunate to have Brad in the Company, and we look forward to his contributions as CFO."

Brad Singer, CFO of American Tower, said, "I am looking forward to continuing to work with the smart, deeply committed, and energetic American Tower team as we grow our company. Our company has established an excellent platform to successfully meet the wireless industry's expanding infrastructure requirements. Our goal has been and will continue to be to further strengthen our company operationally and financially and I am excited to play a role in this process. In addition, I welcome the opportunity to expand my interaction with our financial partners and investors in the future."

Joe Winn has served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of American Tower Corporation since its founding in 1995. Since that time he managed the Company's spin-off from American Radio Systems, coordinated the many financing initiatives required to support American Tower's rapid growth and directed the development of the financial systems and finance team. Prior to American Tower he was CFO of American Radio Systems and Senior Vice President, Controller of American Cable Systems where he led the companies through similar high growth phases. He will continue in an active role as Vice Chairman, working closely with Steve Dodge, Michael Gearon and Brad Singer, with a focus on developing long-term shareholder value.

Steve Dodge continued, "Joe has been a business partner and good friend through three companies over almost 20 years, and he has contributed very meaningfully to much of the success that we have enjoyed. Joe's skills as a CFO are well established. Perhaps less well known are his strong skills as a strategist, as a negotiator, and as a solutions implementer. To leverage these, I'm very pleased that Joe has agreed to take on specific responsibilities going forward, including working closely with me on Verestar and certain other projects. In addition, he will be working with Michael Gearon and his team on international operations. Finally, Joe will be providing transitional support to Brad with investors, bondholders, and banks. In short, he will continue to be an integral part of the senior team and an important overall contributor. Unfortunately, Joe can't do much anymore for the softball team, which he used to dominate."

Joe Winn, Vice Chairman of American Tower said, "I am pleased and energized with my new role which positions me to continue to contribute to American Tower's future and at the same time should allow me to fulfill some of my important personal goals. This move has been well planned and I am confident the financial organization is in great hands with Brad's appointment."

Michael Gearon has been with American Tower since 1998 when Gearon & Co., Inc. was acquired. Since then, he has served as a Director of the Company and has played several key operational roles. With significant experience and success in tower development he has played an integral part in the growth of American Tower. He was named President, American Tower International in May, 2000 and will continue to lead our international effort. As Vice Chairman, Michael will also be active in U.S. planning, strategy, and talent development.

Steve Dodge commented, "Michael is an entrepreneur who always comes to play and has great relationships both inside the company and with key customers, international and domestic. His extraordinary energy, presence, industry knowledge, and deal skills have positively impacted our company on many levels. Michael's contributions have always transcended his nominal role, and while his primary focus will continue to be on international operations, we want to recognize and encourage his involvement with the company overall. He's a born winner."

Michael Gearon, Vice Chairman of American Tower said, "For the last two and a half years I have been almost exclusively focused on international development. I am still very excited about these opportunities and am now equally enthusiastic about broadening my contribution to include strengthening customer relationships and personnel development throughout the Company, both internationally and in the U.S."

American Tower is the leading independent owner, operator and developer of broadcast and wireless communications sites in North America. Giving effect to pending transactions, American Tower operates approximately 14,400 sites in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, including approximately 300 broadcast tower sites. Of the 14,400 sites, approximately 13,500 are owned or leased towers and approximately 900 are managed and lease/sublease sites. Based in Boston, American Tower has regional hub offices in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Mexico City. For more information about American Tower Corporation and its subsidiary Verestar, Inc., please visit our web sites www.americantower.com and www.verestar.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives, plans, future operating results and underlying assumptions, and other statements that are not of historical facts. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: (i) a decrease in demand for tower space would materially and adversely affect our operating results and we cannot control that demand; (ii) our substantial leverage and debt service obligations may adversely affect our operating results and our ability to make payments on our indebtedness; (iii) restrictive covenants in our credit facilities and our senior notes could adversely affect our business by limiting flexibility; (iv) build-to-suit construction projects and major acquisitions from wireless service providers increase our dependence on a limited number of customers, the loss of which could materially decrease revenue, and may also involve less favorable terms; (vii) if we cannot successfully integrate acquired sites or businesses or manage our operations as we grow, our business will be adversely affected and our growth may decline; (viii) increasing competition in the satellite and fiber network access services market may slow Verestar's growth and adversely affect its business; (ix) expanding operations into foreign countries could lead to expropriations, government regulations, funds inaccessibility, foreign exchange exposure and management problems; and (x) the economic slow down in 2001 has harmed, and may continue to harm, the financial condition of some wireless service providers. For other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements, we refer you to the information under the caption entitled "Factors That May Affect Future Results" in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, which "Factors That May Affect Future Results" we incorporate herein by reference. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.