Dish Default Causing Crown Castle to Accelerate Layoffs
Crown Castle said there are now at least six lawsuits against Dish Wireless.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2026 – Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday evening that the Dish default was causing the company to accelerate planned layoffs – amounting to about 20 percent of its workforce – related to the sale of its fiber and small cell businesses.
After the $8.5 billion deal closes, which is expected to come in June, the company will transition to operating its portfolio of roughly 40,000 towers. Zayo is acquiring the fiber assets and investment firm EQT is acquiring the small cells.
“Due to Dish's contractual default, we have accelerated and expanded our restructuring plan to realign staffing levels consistent with the removal of all future DISH activity,” Hillabrant said. “In total, we are reducing our tower and corporate workforce and continuing operations by approximately 20 percent, ending at about 1,250 full time employees.”
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