SBA Sells Chile, Ecuador Towers; Peru Deal Pending
SBA Communications is exiting most of its South American tower markets, retaining only Brazil.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Data Centers
SBA Communications sold its tower assets in Chile and Ecuador and reached an agreement to sell its towers and related assets in Peru, announcing the moves during its Q3 earnings report. Financial terms of the Chile and Ecuador sales were not disclosed.
Why it matters
The exits trim SBA's 2026 outlook by roughly $10 million in site leasing revenue, $6 million in tower cash flow and $4 million in adjusted EBITDA. They follow the company's 2025 exit from Colombia and leave Brazil as its only remaining South American market.
The figures come from SBA's Q3 earnings report, which put site rental revenues at $665.4 million, up 1.4 percent year over year. The exits are projected to reduce 2026 site leasing revenue by about $10 million, tower cash flow by $6 million and adjusted EBITDA by $4 million, while the sale prices remain undisclosed.
The players
SBA Communications
A U.S.-based wireless infrastructure company that owns and operates tower sites across the Americas, including more than 17,000 tower sites in the United States.
The details
SBA said it sold its towers in Chile and Ecuador and reached an agreement to sell its Peru assets, which still needs regulatory sign-off. The company is exiting most South American markets, having left Colombia in 2025, and keeping only Brazil.
Timeline
2025: SBA exited Colombia.
Q3 2026: SBA announced the Chile and Ecuador sales and the Peru agreement during its quarterly earnings report.
2027: The FCC is set to auction upper C-Band spectrum.
Market Landscape
The company's retreat from smaller South American markets comes as the upper C-band auction and the move toward 6G are expected to drive new deployments on existing tower sites. Concentrating on core markets positions SBA to capture that demand rather than spread capital across regions with less growth.
For most users the immediate effect is limited, since the exits concern tower operations in smaller South American markets rather than service in the United States. Future coverage and capacity improvements tied to spectrum auctions and new tower deployments will depend on whether those sites are built out.
The takeaway
Companies with tower portfolios are pruning international exposure to focus capital where spectrum demand is expected to grow. Watching how upper C-band deployments unfold will show whether that focus pays off.
What happens next
The Peru sale remains subject to regulatory approvals, and the FCC is set to auction upper C-Band spectrum next year.
Further reading
For broader context on the infrastructure behind these networks, see Data Centers.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Datacenterdynamics.
