Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

Collins Robert Sean

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 1/1/2017

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL CORP [CCI]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

1220 AUGUSTA DRIVE SUITE 600

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
___ X ___ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Vice President and Controller /

(Street)

HOUSTON, TX 77057

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Time RSUs ⁽¹⁾	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	3650.0	$0.0	D

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	Each Restricted Stock Unit ("RSU") is issued pursuant to the Company's 2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan and represents a contingent right to receive one share of common stock, and vesting (i.e., forfeiture restriction termination) generally is subject to (i) the reporting person remaining an employee or director of the Company or its affiliates and (ii) the other criteria described in the footnote below.
( 2)	33 1/3% of the Time RSUs vest on December 12 of each of 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Collins Robert Sean 1220 AUGUSTA DRIVE SUITE 600 HOUSTON, TX 77057			Vice President and Controller

Signatures
/s/ Robert Sean Collins		1/3/2017
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.