American Tower

American Tower’s moat is multi‑layered. First, switching costs are high: carriers face costly, multi‑month engineering and permitting to relocate radios and backhaul, so churn is low and leases are multiyear and non‑cancellable.

Second, efficient scale and zoning barriers limit rational new entrants in many markets, while co‑location creates a structural cost advantage because incremental tenants add revenue at minimal site‑level cost, lifting returns as tenancy ratios rise.

Third, CoreSite adds an interconnection moat in key U.S. metros where ecosystems of networks, clouds and enterprises create sticky, premium‑priced colocation. Finally, contracts feature embedded escalators that compound over time.

Risks to monitor include network sharing, small‑cell densification that may shift some spend off macro towers in dense urban cores, and satellite direct‑to‑device as a niche back‑up link. Overall, the moat is durable given the critical nature of sites and the cost to replicate location, power, and backhaul.