General Electric Co, the industrial combine that is the US’s fifth-largest corporation has invested $200m in Crown Castle International Corp, the US-based mastermind of an international network of 7,000 radio towers for wireless communications. The deal was driven by General Electric’s investment vehicle, GE Capital Structured Finance Group, and erects a platform for alliances with General Electric’s other businesses including US TV network NBC and satellite-based communications firm GE Americom. John Eck, president of NBC’s broadcast operations hailed Crown Castle as a key player in the consolidation of telecommunications infrastructure that will ultimately integrate broadcast and e-business activities. General Electric takes its place alongside Castle’s other US partners including carriers, AT&T Wireless, and the wireless units of Bell Atlantic Corp and BellSouth Corp, which lease antennae space on Crown’s owned or managed towers and rooftop sites.
