Former President & Chief Executive Officer, Crown Castle
Search every verified Jay Brown interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. During an April 2020 webcast, Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown discussed the communications industry's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brown stated that the transition from 4G to 5G would be faster and more efficient, noting that 5G could connect millions of devices in a small area, with each device potentially generating only a few pennies of monthly revenue. He credited the FCC for setting parameters to help deploy wireless spectrum and said that shared costs across carriers lower prices for consumers. Brown also said that wireless connectivity requires funding and spectrum, and that the combination of Sprint and T-Mobile, along with investment from AT&T, Verizon, and Dish, has created well-capitalized providers building 5G networks. Brown thanked field workers who maintained network connectivity during the pandemic and saluted healthcare workers. He expressed willingness to participate as a guest judge in future events.
“We have over 40,000 towers in the U.S. and about 80,000 miles of dense urban and suburban fiber-optic cable. The combination of those two assets is what enables everything to be connected.”
“The real game changer in 5G is the number of devices that can be simultaneously connected. Today, in a 400-acre area, we can connect about a thousand people. With 5G, that number will be in the millions. This allows us to connect devices that only produce a few pennies a month in revenue, which wouldn't be economically...”
“We have an initiative called Connected by Good. Historically, we spent significant funds improving park systems. We took all of those funds for this year and moved them into providing technology to schools, putting laptops, Wi-Fi, or tablets in the hands of underprivileged kids so they can go to school remotely.”
“The combination of Sprint and T-Mobile means there is now a third provider in the wireless industry that is well-capitalized. We are going to end up with four operators in the U.S. all building 5G networks with significant amounts of capital. This, combined with the additional spectrum bands the FCC is allocating, mean...”
Join our webcast today at noon for a special one-hour double-header edition of Business as Usual featuring FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown. Find out how the communications industry is ramping up to ensure ample bandwidth through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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