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                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 3

            INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

(Print or Type Responses)
________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Bell Atlantic Corporation, a Delaware corporation
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   (Last)                            (First)              (Middle)

1095 Avenue of the Americas
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                                    (Street)

New York                              NY                    10036
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   (City)                            (State)                (Zip)

________________________________________________________________________________
2.   Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)

March 31, 1999
________________________________________________________________________________
3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)


________________________________________________________________________________
4.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

Crown Castle International Corp. (TWRS)
________________________________________________________________________________
5.   Relationship of Reporting Persons to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [_]  Director                             [X]  10% Owner
     [_]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)


________________________________________________________________________________
6.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)


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

     [X]  Form filed by One Reporting Person

     [_]  Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

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             Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
================================================================================


                                                                 3. Ownership Form:
                                      2. Amount of Securities       Direct (D) or  
1. Title of Security                     Beneficially Owned         Indirect (I)       4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
   (Instr. 4)                            (Instr. 4)                 (Instr. 5)            (Instr. 4)                              
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Common Stock                             15,597,783                     I                 *
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*    If the Form is filed by more than one  Reporting  Person,  see  Instruction
     5(b)(v).

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.


                                                                 SEC 1473 (7-96)

FORM 3 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 5. Owner- 3. Title and Amount of Securities ship Underlying Derivative Security Form of 2. Date Exercisable (Instr. 4) Derivative and Expiration Date --------------------------------- 4. Conver- Security: (Month/Day/Year) Amount sion or Direct 6. Nature of ---------------------- or Exercise (D) or Indirect Date Expira- Number Price of Indirect Beneficial 1. Title of Derivative Exer- tion of Derivative (I) Ownership Security (Instr. 4) cisable Date Title Shares Security (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: * Bell Atlantic Corporation is the indirect parent corporation of Bell Atlantic Mobile, Inc., a Delaware corporation and the managing general partner of Cellco Partnership, a Delaware general partnership doing business as Bell Atlantic Mobile. For reporting purposes, Cellco Partnership is deemed to be the indirect beneficial owner of 15,597,783 shares of the Issuer's Common Stock which are held by Crown Atlantic Holding Company LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and joint venture entity in which Cellco Partnership holds a 38.53% interest. /s/ Robert Erb 4/9/99 - --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Date ** 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. SEC 1473 (7-96)