What was the organic revenue growth rate for Crown Castle in the first quarter of 2022 
 to increase that return over time as we add customers on our tower and fiber assets and grow our cash flow. To that point, we are seeing significant demand for our infrastructure solutions with our customers upgrading thousands of tower sites for 5G while also preparing for the next phase of network densification that will require tens of thousands of small cells as reflected in our record backlog of 60,000 small cell nodes. Importantly, we benefit from these superior growth trends while being leveraged solely for the favorable dynamics in the U.S. wireless market.
As compared to international markets, we believe the U.S. not only has the best growth profile as I just discussed, but it also has the lowest risk, resulting from a supportive market structure that incentivizes carriers to spend on improving their networks as they compete on network quality, resulting in less churn on our assets, no exposure to loss of value from foreign currencies and social and governmental policies that are stable and supportive of improving connectivity and expanding broadband access. Because we believe the U.S. has both greater growth potential and lower risk, we are focusing our investments solely in the U.S.
We have an unmatched portfolio of assets that is producing growing cash flows by providing access to existing and new customers that are building 5G networks, and we are investing in new small cell and fiber assets that our customers need for their wireless networks, which we believe increases our ability to capitalize on 5G growth trends. As a result of these actions, I believe Crown Castle offers shareholders a unique opportunity to benefit from the deployment and development of wireless networks in the U.S. In the near to medium term, we expect to, once again, deliver the highest tower revenue growth rate in the U.S. with 6% organic growth, and we are preparing for an acceleration in small cell deployments beginning in 2023 following the recent inflection in demand from our customers.
Longer term, we believe we are the only communications infrastructure company positioned for the future of 5G networks that will require network densification with small cells at scale. By continuing to invest in small cell and fiber assets, we believe we will be able to extend the runway of 7% to 8% annual growth in dividends per share. When I consider the durability of the underlying demand trends we see in the U.S. that provides significant visibility into the anticipated future growth for our business, the deliberate decisions we have made to reduce the risks associated with our strategy, and our history of steady execution, I believe Crown Castle stands out as an excellent investment that will generate compelling returns over time.
And with that, I'll turn the call over to Dan before we take some questions.
Dan Schlanger -- Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Jay, and good morning, everyone. As Jay mentioned, we are encouraged by the continued high activity levels we are experiencing, which are driven by our customers' 5G upgrade and densification initiatives. Starting with our first-quarter results on Page 5, we began the year on a very positive note, with AFFO per share growth of 9% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 22% that were driven by strong demand from our customers. As I mentioned last quarter, we are now reporting organic revenue growth exclusive of the impact of prepaid rent amortization or what we refer to as organic contribution to site rental billings.
In the first quarter, we generated 6% core organic revenue growth, driven by more than 9% from core leasing activity and contracted escalators, net of approximately 3% from nonrenewals. Revenues were also positively impacted by approximately $15 million from items not expected to recur in 2022, with approximately $10 million in fiber solutions and the balance in towers. Turning to Page 6. I want to briefly walk through the increase to our full year 2022 outlook.
As a result of higher tower activity levels, we are experiencing -- we are increasing our expectations for site rental revenues 
 to increase that return over time as we add customers on our tower and fiber assets and grow our cash flow. To that point, we are seeing significant demand for our infrastructure solutions with our customers upgrading thousands of tower sites for 5G while also preparing for the next phase of network densification that will require tens of thousands of small cells as reflected in our record backlog of 60,000 small cell nodes. Importantly, we benefit from these superior growth trends while being leveraged solely for the favorable dynamics in the U.S. wireless market.
As compared to international markets, we believe the U.S. not only has the best growth profile as I just discussed, but it also has the lowest risk, resulting from a supportive market structure that incentivizes carriers to spend on improving their networks as they compete on network quality, resulting in less churn on our assets, no exposure to loss of value from foreign currencies and social and governmental policies that are stable and supportive of improving connectivity and expanding broadband access. Because we believe the U.S. has both greater growth potential and lower risk, we are focusing our investments solely in the U.S.
We have an unmatched portfolio of assets that is producing growing cash flows by providing access to existing and new customers that are building 5G networks, and we are investing in new small cell and fiber assets that our customers need for their wireless networks, which we believe increases our ability to capitalize on 5G growth trends. As a result of these actions, I believe Crown Castle offers shareholders a unique opportunity to benefit from the deployment and development of wireless networks in the U.S. In the near to medium term, we expect to, once again, deliver the highest tower revenue growth rate in the U.S. with 6% organic growth, and we are preparing for an acceleration in small cell deployments beginning in 2023 following the recent inflection in demand from our customers.
 Longer term, we believe we are the only communications infrastructure company positioned for the future of 5G networks that will require network densification with small cells at scale. By continuing to invest in small cell and fiber assets, we believe we will be able to extend the runway of 7% to 8% annual growth in dividends per share. When I consider the durability of the underlying demand trends we see in the U.S. that provides significant visibility into the anticipated future growth for our business, the deliberate decisions we have made to reduce the risks associated with our strategy, and our history of steady execution, I believe Crown Castle stands out as an excellent investment that will generate compelling returns over time.
And with that, I'll turn the call over to Dan before we take some questions.
Dan Schlanger -- Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Jay, and good morning, everyone. As Jay mentioned, we are encouraged by the continued high activity levels we are experiencing, which are driven by our customers' 5G upgrade and densification initiatives. Starting with our first-quarter results on Page 5, we began the year on a very positive note, with AFFO per share growth of 9% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 22% that were driven by strong demand from our customers. As I mentioned last quarter, we are now reporting organic revenue growth exclusive of the impact of prepaid rent amortization or what we refer to as organic contribution to site rental billings.
In the first quarter, we generated 6% core organic revenue growth, driven by more than 9% from core leasing activity and contracted escalators, net of approximately 3% from nonrenewals. Revenues were also positively impacted by approximately $15 million from items not expected to recur in 2022, with approximately $10 million in fiber solutions and the balance in towers. Turning to Page 6. I want to briefly walk through the increase to our full year 2022 outlook.
As a result of higher tower activity levels, we are experiencing -- we are increasing our expectations for site rental revenues 