TowerXchange's European guide - A country-by-country guide to the European tower industry
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Q1 2021 UPDATE TowerXchange’s European guide A country-by-country guide to the European tower industry
REGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Introduction
The commercialisation and monetisation of the tower Figure 1: Ownership of Europe’s estimated Currently, of Europe’s c. 716,000 towers, 52% are owned
market in Europe has hit a tipping point in the past year. 716,000 towers* by a towerco, be it an independent towerco, an MNO-
With the high valuations being attributed to towers and owned towerco or a joint venture infraco (see figure 1).
towercos, widespread acceptance that infrastructure This figure will increase to 57% when all the deals and
12%
sharing is essential in managing network costs, and carve outs that have been announced are completed.
major investment in 5G ahead for MNOs, tower strategy The figure is expected to increase significantly further
has moved to the top of boardroom discussions. What’s still as MNOs rollout tower strategies to additional
13%
more, no longer is the towerco model confined primarily markets and further MNOs define strategies for their
to Western and Southern Europe, towercos are pushing passive infrastructure. Independent towercos currently
48%
north into the Nordics and east into CEE as operators in own 12% of Europe’s towers (a figure set to increase to
those regions rethink the way their passive infrastructure 20% when American Tower closes the Telxius deal and
is managed. A quick look at the continent’s major MNOs Cellnex closes outstanding deals with Play, Hutchison
(see figure 4) shows that all have hinted at, announced or and Deutsche Telkom and finalises the acquisition
27%
executed revised tower strategies in recent months. of Hivory & Polkomtel Infrastruktura). MNO owned
towercos currently own 27% of towers, this will drop
The types of deals that we are seeing are changing. Whilst slightly to 25% following the movement of Telxius, Hivory
we have seen divestments to independent towercos by and T-Mobile Infra into independent towerco hands, with
MNOs Joint venture towercos
the likes of Iliad, Hutchison and Telefonica (following the Orange’s formation of TOTEM off-setting some of the
sale of Telxius to American Tower in the case of the latter), Operator-owned towercos Independent towercos drop). For the immediate term, the number of towers
other operators, such as Vodafone and Orange, have opted *Figures include deals that have closed only owned by JV infracos will remain constant.
to keep operational control and majority ownership. These
Source: TowerXchange
MNO-owned towercos also have an appetite for M&A, In the short to medium term, TowerXchange forecasts
exploring JVs with other MNO-owned towercos (as was significant levels of M&A continuing in the European
the case with Vodafone and TIM’s tie up via INWIT in Italy) another model in the Netherlands, merging their towers with market. New operator-owned towercos will be formed, new
or through acquiring the portfolios of operators who are Cellnex’ portfolio in the country and founding a new digital joint ventures will be created and existing towercos will
looking to sell (such as Vantage Towers’ acquisition of Wind infrastructure fund with the towerco, the fund holding a 38% continue to grow inorganically as they execute further M&A,
Hellas’ sites in Greece). Deutsche Telekom has explored yet stake in Cellnex Netherlands as a seed asset. acquiring both operator and towerco owned towers.
2 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
INTRODUCTION
Whilst M&A continues to be a major trend in the European SDN, V-RAN and C-RAN, new roles are being created for TowerXchange Meetup Europe, bringing together key
market, diversification of towercos into new services and towercos and other neutral hosts, providing opportunities tower industry stakeholders from across the continent.
new asset types continues to be another key dynamic. to explore the active side of the network and transition from Taking place virtually, the Meetup will explore the
Many players are already active in the provision of in- a towerco to a potential netco. These are exciting times, organic and inorganic growth prospects for the sector,
building solutions; some are playing in the fibre space; demanding new skill sets and presenting a new client base whilst also taking a deep dive into topics such as
the most innovative are working on developing business and partner ecosystem to towercos. digitalisation, innovation and operational excellence.
models and capabilities to play a role in edge computing For more information, please visit:
and private networks. With the rise of concepts such as On 25-27 May, TowerXchange will hold the 5th Annual https://meetup.towerxchange.com/europe
Figure 2: Estimated tower and rooftop counts for select markets in Europe
Serbia Portugal Ukraine Poland
5,146 13,252 21,655 27,315
Hungary
7,542
Denmark Austria
9,517 15,970
Switzerland
11,365
UK Spain Italy Turkey France Germany Russia
37,660 38,927 44,979 50,215 53,105 75,967 140,900
Greece Netherlands
9,956 13,979
Bulgaria Norway Kazakhstan
8,320 12,100 16,000
Ireland Czech Republic Sweden
5,292 11,735 21,800
Source: TowerXchange
3 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Figure 3: Figure 3: Tower counts of Europe’s towercos
1. Cellnex[i] 58,104
2. Vantage Towers[ii] 45,700
3. Deutsche Funkturm 32,500
4. TOTEM[iii] 25,500
5. INWIT 22,469
6. Telxius[iv] 19,800
7. First Tower Company 17,000
8. National Tower Company 14,500
9. Cornerstone 14,200
8 9 10
10. NetWorkS! 13,000
11. MBNL 12,000
12. Global Tower 10,919
13. Hivory[iv] 10,500
14. CETIN Group 10,223
5 15. Telenor Infra 10,000
16. TDF 7,728
17. Telia Towers 6,600
18. Magenta T-Infra 6,000
14 15 16
19. SUNAB 6,000
20. Russian Towers 6,000
11 21. Net4Mobility 5,600
22. ATC Europe [v] 5,531
1 3
23. 3GIS 4,100
24. Vertical 3,500
25. T-Mobile Infra[vi] 3,150
20 21 22 26. EI Towers 2,300
17
27. Rai Way 2,300
28. Wireless Infrastructure Group 2,200
6 29. Service Telecom 2,000
27 28
30. Centuria 1,700
12 31. RTRS 1,400
41
32. Digita 1,200
33. TT-Network 1,200
18 23 29 30 31 34. TDC Net 1,100
35. Towertel[vii] 1,000
36. Open Tower Company 890
25 36 37 37. Ceske Radiokomunikace 800
32 34
38. Towercom A/S 700
38 39. Phoenix Tower International [viii] 782
40. Axion 600
2 4 7 13 19 24 26 33 35 39 40 41. 18 towercos with < 500 towers 3,169
[i] Sites reflected in Cellnex’ count reflect closed deals only. The company has announced but not yet closed [iv] Telxius is in the process of being acquired by American Tower. Site count reflects just Telxius’ European
deals in Poland (6,911 sites from Play and 7,000 from Polkomtel), France (10,500-site Hivory), Italy (8,900 tower count
from CK Hutchison’s Wind Tre) and the Netherlands (3,150) [v] Hivory is in the process of being acquired by Cellnex
[ii] Vantage Towers’ site count excludes their stake in INWIT and Cornerstone, with INWIT and Cornerstone [vi] American Tower in the process of acquiring Telxius
both represented separately on this chart [vii] T-Mobile Infra is in the process of being acquired by Cellnex
[iii] TOTEM is expected to launch operations in H2 2021 [viii] Phoenix Tower International is in the process of acquiring Towertel which owns 1,000 macro towers
4 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Figure 4: Tower strategies of Europe’s major MNOs
Company Other alias’ European countries of operation Tower strategy
A1 Group (Telekom A1, vip Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Telekom Austria have begun plans to carve out their towers into a separate towerco unit to reap “more
Austria) North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia benefits from tower assets through [a] targeted management focus on internal efficiencies and higher
tenancy ratios”.
In Mexico, América Móvil – Telekom Austria’s majority shareholder – has carved out their passive
infrastructure into Telesites (which has listed shares on the Mexican stock exchange) and in their Q4
2020 results announced they were to follow the same strategy across all their Caribbean and Latin
American markets, mentioning that they were in discussions with Telekom Austria regarding their
towers in Europe.
Altice SFR France; Portugal In France, carved out their towers into a captive towerco, Hivory, in which they sold a 49.99% stake to
KKR. Hivory has subsquently been sold to Cellnex
In Portugal, carved their towers into OMTEL, with OMTEL since 100% acquired by Cellnex
Deutsche Telekom Telekom Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, German towers carved into Deutsche Funkturm in 2002; Austrian towers carved into Magenta T-Infra in
Deutschland; Poland (Plus direct and indirect 2021. Both are held under the GD Towers business unit.
T-Mobile; Magenta investments in Croatia, Greece,
Dutch towers have been merged with Cellnex’ Netherlands’ portfolio, with Cellnex and Deutsche
Telekom Hungary, Montenegro and North
Telekom creating a new investment fund, Digital Infrastructure Vehicle which holds a 38% stake of
Macedonia
Cellnex Netherlands as its seed asset. DIV plans to seek third party investment and invest in other
digital infrastructure.
In Poland, T-Mobile’s towers are managed through a JV with Orange (NetWorkS!)
Hutchison 3; Hi3G; Wind Tre Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Towers sold to Cellnex for €8.6bn in cash and €1.4bn in Cellnex shares (c. 5% Cellnex’ capital).
Sweden, UK Hutchison’s UK towers are managed by the JV MBNL, with Cellnex set to acquire only the economic risks
and rewards of the towers. In Sweden, a portion of Hutchison’s towers are managed by the JV, 3GIS.
Iliad (and other MNOs eir, Epic, Free, Iliad, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Xavier Niel owned companies have sold their towers to Cellnex in three – soon to be four – markets.
owned by Xavier Niel’s Monaco Telecom, Monaco, Poland In 2019, Iliad sold their towers in France and Italy to Cellnex, retaining a 30% stake in the former. At the
NJJ) Salt same time, Salt sold their tower to the towerco, retaining a 10% stake. In Poland Play has agreed the
sale of its towers to Cellnex in the market, with Iliad retaining a 40% stake. In Ireland, eir has sold their
tower portfolio to Phoenix Tower International and the towerco has also reached an agreement with
Monaco Telecom to acquire and build sites in Malta and Cyprus
5 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Figure 4: Tower strategies of Europe’s major MNOs
Company Other alias’ European countries of operation Tower strategy
Orange Belgium, France, Germany, Orange has carved out its French and Spanish towers into TOTEM. TOTEM is expected to launch
Luxembourg, Moldova, Poland, operations in H2 2021, at which point Orange will explore the integration of Orange towers in other
Romania, Slovakia, Spain markets. Orange wants to remain majority control of TOTEM. TOTEM has an appetite for M&A
including the potential formation of JVs with other MNO owned towercos.
In Poland and Romania, Orange’s towers are managed by the joint ventures NetWorkS! (with T-Mobile)
and Netgrid Telecoms (with Vodafone) respectively, although the towers remain on the balance sheets
of the MNOs.
Outside of this, Orange has completed one sale and leaseback transaction in Europe, selling 1,500 non-
strategic sites to Cellnex in Spain.
PPF Telecom Group O2 Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, PPF has separated out its infrastructure and retail businesses in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary
Telenor CEE Montenegro, Serbia and Serbia, with the infrastructure managed under CETIN Group. CETIN manages both passive and
active infrastructure. PPF is considering the monetisation of CETIN, with a potential IPO one option
under consideration.
Tele2 Croatia, Germany, Estonia, Has yet to reveal any significant plans for their passive infrastructure but Tele2 told analysts in their
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Q320 results call that “there is an opportunity to do more in terms of sharing and separating out some
Netherlands, Sweden of our infrastructure assets”. In their Q4 results they stated that more information would become
available on their Capital Markets Day in May.
In Sweden, Tele2 is involved in two active sharing joint ventures; SUNAB (with Telia, covering 3G which
is set to be wound down) and Net4Mobility (with Telenor – whose remit has just been extended to
include 5G as well as 2G and 4G).
In Latvia and Lithuania, Tele2 has formed Centuria, a network sharing joint venture with Bite. The joint
venture covers both active and passive sharing (including spectrum sharing)
Telefónica Movistar, O2 Germany, Spain, UK Telefónica carved their infrastructure assets (both towers and subsea cabling) into infraco Telxius
before selling a 40% stake to KKR and an effective 9.99% stake to Pontegadea. Telefónica has
subsequently agreed the sale of Telxius’ tower business to American Tower.
In the UK, Telefónica’s towers are owned by Cornerstone, Telefónica’s 50:50 joint venture with
Vodafone. Telefónica and Vodafone recently announced the commercialisation of Cornerstone, with
Vodafone transferring its stake to Vantage Towers.
6 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Figure 4: Tower strategies of Europe’s major MNOs
Company Other alias’ European countries of operation Tower strategy
Telenor Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden Telenor has carved out their towers in Norway into Telenor Infra and has stated that they will “move
forward with similar solutions in other parts of their portfolio”.
In Sweden, Telenor is involved in two active sharing joint ventures: 3GIS (with Hi3G which covers 3G and
is being wound down) and Net4Mobility (with Tele2 – whose remit has just been extended to include 5G
as well as 2G and 4G). In Denmark, Telenor’s towers are held by TT-Network, the joint venture with Telia.
Telia Moldcell Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Telia has created Telia Asset Management which is set to own, manage and secure external
Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, investment in its infrastructure assets. The company had already carved out its towers in Sweden,
Sweden Norway and Finland into separate business units “Telia Towers” and has hinted that their tower
portfolios in Norway and Finland might come to market imminently. Whilst the company has a
preference for maintaining majority ownership of their infrastructure assets, the company is remaining
open minded as to the type of deal that it may sign.
Turkcell BEST; Lifecell Belarus, Turkey, Turkish Republic of Turkcell has carved out its towers across its operations into Global Tower. Turkcell launched and then
Northern Cyprus, Ukraine pulled plans to IPO Global Tower, a further monetisation attempt is expected.
VEON Beeline; Kyivstar; Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, VEON has announced that it will create towerco business units in each of its nine markets, with
Russia, Ukraine National Tower Company already formed in Russia. The operator remains open minded as to what
it will do with the towerco units, considering the rollup into a single towerco, JVs with other MNOs or
potential monetisation. VEON had previously launched and then cancelled proceedings to divest its
tower portfolios across Russia and the CIS. The operator has completed one tower deal, selling its
Italian towers (to Cellnex), prior to divesting its operations in Italy.
Vodafone Albania, Czech Republic, Germany, Vodafone has carved out the vast majority of its tower assets into Vantage Towers. Vodafone is targeting a
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, March 2021 listing of Vantage Towers on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Malta, Netherlands, Portugal,
In Greece, Vodafone has acquired the towers of Wind Hellas creating Vantage Towers Greece in which
Romania, Spain, Turkey, UK
Vodafone owns a 62% stake (set to increase to 100% should Vantage Towers undergo an IPO). In
Italy Vodafone has merged its towers with TIM’s INWIT, with Vantage Towers owning a 33.2% stake
in INWIT. In the UK, Vodafone has recently transferred its 50% interest in JV Cornerstone to Vantage
Towers, whilst simultaneously announcing the commercialisation of Cornerstone.
In Romania, Vantage Towers’ sites are managed (but not owned) by Netgrid Telecoms, their joint
venture with Orange.
7 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Austria
Figure 5: Austria – estimated tower ownership Telekom Austria, trading as A1, are yet to reveal concrete
plans for their towers, although stated in their Q320
results that they were “working on development of
alternatives that would allow us to reap more benefits
from tower assets through a targeted management
focus on internal efficiencies and higher tenancy ratios”
Towers: Population: Subscribers: implying the creation of a towerco business unit. In
4,500 4,470
15,970 8.9mn 10.7mn Mexico, América Móvil – Telekom Austria’s majority
shareholder – has carved out their passive infrastructure
into Telesites (which has listed shares on the Mexican
stock exchange) and in their Q4 2020 results announced
MNOs: 3 (Hutchison), A1 (A1 Telekom Austria), they were to follow the same strategy across all their
Magenta Telekom (Deutsche Telekom) Caribbean and Latin American markets, mentioning that
they were in discussions with Telekom Austria regarding
Towercos: Cellnex, Magenta T-Infra their towers in Europe.
7,000
The Austrian market has just recently opened up to the Cellnex Magenta T-Infra A1
towerco business model with Cellnex having acquired
Hutchison’s tower portfolio in the market as part of a Source: TowerXchange
pan-European deal. With the transaction now closed,
Cellnex have a portfolio of 4,470 sites in Austria with a
build to suit pipeline of 400 further sites. unit – Magenta T-Infra. Magenta T-Infra is held under
Deutsche Telekom’s GD Towers business unit alongside,
Magenta Telekom (owned by Deutsche Telekom) has the operator’s German towerco, Deutsche Funkturm.
carved out their Austrian towers into a separate business Magenta T-Infra has a portfolio of 7,000 towers.
8 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Bulgaria
Figure 6: Bulgaria – estimated tower ownership (which has listed shares on the Mexican stock
exchange) and in their Q4 2020 results announced
they were to follow the same strategy across all their
Caribbean and Latin American markets, mentioning
that they were in discussions with Telekom Austria
regarding their towers in Europe.
Towers: Population: Subscribers: 2,620
8,320 7.0mn 8.1mn 3,000
In July 2020, Telenor Bulgaria (owned by PPF Group)
followed in the footsteps of PPF’s Czech opco (O2
Czech Republic) and separated out their retail and
infrastructure divisions, with their infrastructure carved
MNOs: A1 (Telekom Austria), Telenor (PPF out into CETIN. CETIN’s remit extends much beyond
Group), Vivacom towers (of which the entity currently owns 2,620 in
Bulgaria), with CETIN taking ownership of the operator’s
Towercos: CETIN metallic cable pairs, fibre and indoor and outdoor base
2,700 stations. Telenor has combined all their infrastructure
divisions in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary
and Serbia to form CETIN Group. In February 2021,
A1, owned by Telkom Austria Group, has the largest PPF Group confirmed that they were considering an
A1 Vivacom CETIN
mobile market share in Bulgaria. Their estimated IPO as one of the options for CETIN, with observers
3,000 towers remain captive on A1’s balance sheet. Source: TowerXchange suggesting that the unit could be valued around €4bn.
Telekom Austria are yet to reveal concrete plans
for their towers across their European operations, Vivacom, in the process of being acquired by United
although stated in their Q320 results that they were efficiencies and higher tenancy ratios” implying the Group, is Bulgaria’s final operator, and sits behind
“working on development of alternatives that would creation of a towerco business unit. In Mexico, América A1 but ahead of Telenor in terms of market share.
allow us to reap more benefits from tower assets Móvil – Telekom Austria’s majority shareholder – has TowerXchange estimates the operator to own around
through a targeted management focus on internal carved out their passive infrastructure into Telesites 2,700 towers in the market.
9 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Czech Republic
Figure 7: Czech Republic – estimated tower count increasing in scope, the European Commission has said
that it represents anti-competitive practices.
800 Vodafone has carved out their tower portfolio into their
pan-European towerco, Vantage Towers. Vantage Towers
became operational in summer 2020 and has a portfolio
Towers: Population: Subscribers: of 3,800 sites in Czech Republic. At the time of going
11,735 10.7mn 13.2mn 3,800 to press, Vodafone is gearing up for a March listing of
3,500 Vantage Towers on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
MNOs: O2 (PPF Group), T-Mobile (Deutsche T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom and, whilst
Telekom), Vodafone Deutsche Telekom has formed towercos or monetised
towers in some of its European markets, the operator is
Towercos: České Radiokomunikace, CETIN, yet to announce any plans for their Czech tower portfolio.
Vantage Towers At group level, Deutsche Telekom has formed a towerco
3,635
business unit – GD Towers - under which its German
towerco, Deutsche Funkturm (established in 2002), and
its new Austrian towerco, Magenta T- Infra (established
O2 is the Czech Republic’s leading MNO. When PPF Vantage Towers CETIN T-Mobile in January 2021) are held. In the Netherlands, Deutsche
acquired O2 Czech Republic from Telefónica in 2014, České Radiokomunikace Telekom’s opco, T-Mobile has merged their towers with
they immediately set about separating out the retail Source: TowerXchange
Cellnex Netherlands, forming a new infra fund, DIV, which
assets from the infrastructure, in the latter case creating holds a 38% stake in Cellnex Netherlands as a seed asset.
CETIN. CETIN’s remit extends beyond towers, with CETIN DIV plans to invest in further digital infrastructure portfolios.
owning O2’s metallic cable pairs, fibre and indoor and CETIN Group. PPF is reportedly mulling an IPO of CETIN.
outdoor base stations. PPF has since separated out its In the Czech Republic, CETIN also took over O2’s role in In addition to Vantage Towers, CETIN and T-Mobile,
infrastructure in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia combining managing the RAN sharing arrangement with T-Mobile, broadcast towerco, České Radiokomunikace owns around
the assets with those in the Czech Republic to form although with the network sharing agreement having been 800 towers in the Czech market.
10 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Denmark
Figure 8: Denmark – estimated tower count 200 sites are ground based towers. Cellnex has a build to
suit pipeline of 500 further sites.
1,170
2,400 Telenor and Telia share their networks through the 50:50
300 joint venture infraco, TT-Network which was established
200 back in 2012. The joint venture involves both active and
Towers: Population: Subscribers: passive sharing of 2G, 3G and 4G networks, with the two
9,517 5.8mn 7.2mn 1,400 operators sharing spectrum. TT-Network have also carried
out a trial using MOCN features for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G
simultaneously. TT-Networks has a portfolio of around
MNOs: 3 (Hutchison), TDC, Telenor, Telia 1,200 towers in the country and also has a portfolio of
around 2,900 sites of alternative typologies. TT-Network is
Towercos: Cellnex, TT-Network 1,200 also involved in IBS and provides back-up power on towers.
Whilst Telia has created Telia Asset Management (which
2,900 is set to own, manage and secure external investment in
There are four MNOs in the Danish market. Market leaders, its infrastructure assets) and has hinted that they might
TDC, have separated out their service and infrastructure Ground based towers
soon look to monetise their Finnish and Norwegian tower
divisions, with TDC Net now managing the operator’s portfolios, they appear happy to leave TT-Network as it is.
TDC Net TT-Network Cellnex Others
infrastructure for fixed and mobile networks (and Nuuday Similarly, Telenor has carved its Norwegian towers into
managing the service side). TDC Net have around 1,400 Alternative site typologies Telenor Infra and has suggested it would move forward
towers and a further c. 2,400 sites of other typologies TDC Net TT-Network Cellnex with a similar strategy in other markets, but also appears
(rooftops, chimneys, windmills etc). It is understood that Source: TowerXchange happy to leave TT-Network in its current form.
rooftop and other such sites are generally not shareable in
the Danish market, with each operator having to sign their 3, owned by Hutchison, have sold their towers to Cellnex as In addition to the sites owned by Cellnex, TT-Network
own agreement with the landlord and as such, those 2,400 part of a pan-European deal. Cellnex now lists their tower and TDC Net, there are around 300 further towers in the
sites are single tenanted. count as 1,400 sites, with sources suggesting that around Danish market.
11 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
France
in France (of which 55% are ground based towers), with further deal with Cellnex transferring a further 600 sites
TOTEM expected to commence operations in H2 2021. for €170mn. In December 2018, the operator deepened
their relationship with Cellnex, signing an agreement for
Bouygues Telecom was one of Europe’s first MNOs to sell the towerco to provide distributed processing capabilities
towers to an independent towerco, selling 2,166 of their (edge computing) at 88 strategic telecom centres, a deal
estimated 17,000 towers to Antin Infrastructure Partners’ since extended to cover 150 centres. In February 2020,
Towers: Population: Subscribers: FPS Towers in 2012 for €185mn (originally retaining Cellnex and Bouygues’ relationship deepened even
53,105 67.1mn 72.0mn 15% equity, which Antin subsequently bought in 2015). further with the two parties announcing the formation of
FPS Towers expanded their portfolio to over 2,400 sites a joint venture to deploy a nationwide fibre network, with
and secured the rights to 20,000 rooftops and 76,000 plans to invest up to €1bn to rollout up to 30,000 km of
MNOs: Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile (Iliad), electricity pylons. In 2016, Antin subsequently sold FPS fibre, with the new agreement also including the rollout of
Orange, SFR Towers to ATC Europe (American Tower’s European arm a further 90 strategic telecom centres.
in which Dutch pension fund PGGM has a 49% stake)
Towercos: ATC Europe, Cellnex, Hivory*, for a total of €697mn. As of Q4 2020, ATC Europe has In March 2020, Bouygues Telecom announced a second
TOTEM**, Phoenix Tower International, TDF, a portfolio of 3,087 sites in the country although has joint venture, this time with Phoenix Tower International
Towercast recently signed a contract to build between 900 and (PTI), with the PTI controlled joint venture set to rollout
2,000 sites for Orange (primarily in rural areas and along up to 4,000 new sites outside Very Dense Areas as part
*Hivory is in the process of being acquired by Cellnex
transport routes) between 2020 and 2024. of Bouygues’ New Deal Mobile obligations. As of Q4
** TOTEM in the process of being formed
2020, PTI have built 128 towers in the market.
Bouygues Telecom has also completed several tower
transactions with Cellnex. In 2016 they sold 500 towers Bouygues is understood to retain a portfolio of around
Three of France’s four MNOs have completed tower sales (an initial tranche of 230 towers, followed by a second 3,250 sites in France.
in the country, whilst Orange has announced plans to tranche of 270) to Cellnex for a total of €147mn;
carve out their portfolio into their own towerco, TOTEM. in February 2017 they signed a third deal with the In 2018, MNO SFR (owned by Altice) carved out their
TOTEM’s perimeter is initially confined to France and aforementioned governing the transfer of 1,800 urban towers into a new towerco, SFR Towerco, in which they
Spain (with a view to explore the integration of further (primarily rooftop) sites and 1,200 new build towers for subsequently sold a 49.99% stake to investment firm,
assets at a later date). Orange currently has 17,600 sites a total of €854mn; later the same year they signed a KKR and rebranded the unit to “Hivory”. In February 2021,
12 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
FRANCE
Cellnex announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Figure 9: France – estimated tower count
Hivory and its 10,500 sites, with plans to deploy a further
500 128
2,500 sites over the next eight years.
TOTEM*
In mid-2019 France’s newest MNO, Free Mobile (owned Bouygues Telecom
7,728
by Iliad) also agreed a tower sale in the country, reaching
Cellnex
a deal with Cellnex for the sale of its 5,700 sites,
retaining a 30% stake in the assets. The transaction also 17,600 Hivory**
3,087
involves a build to suit component with Cellnex to add up ATC Europe
to 2,500 new sites for the operator.
TDF
Cellnex’s total site count (as of Q4 2020) in France stands Towercast
at 10,312 sites (excluding DAS nodes and Metropolitan 10,500
Phoenix Tower International
and Central Offices). When all deals are closed and BTS
3,250
commitments are realised, Cellnex will have a portfolio of *TOTEM is in the process of being formed
26,740 sites in the country. **Hivory is in the process of being acquired by Cellnex
10,312
Broadcast-telecom hybrid TDF has 7,728 telecom Source: TowerXchange
towers as well as an established broadcast business
and growing fibre interest. In 2016, TDF acquired the
previously family owned, towerco, ITAS TIM and its Broadcast towerco, TowerCast (owned by NRJ Group) entrant, Free Mobile, needs to gain a further 10,000
420 towers for a reported €100mn. In 2019, TDF’s which owns around 500 sites also sell co-locations to points of presence to compete with its peers, with its
shareholders, Brookfield and PSP (whose collective telecom clients in the country. NRJ announced that roaming agreement with Orange recently extended until
shares amount to 67%) commenced proceedings to TowerCast would come to market in 2017, but the deal 2022. Co-location on existing structures will help hit the
sell their shareholdings. The sale reportedly attracted has quietly slipped off the radar since. PoP targets but new build is still expected, with Cellnex
the interest of bidders including Macquarie, Antin committed to add up to 4,700 sites through its BTS
Infrastructure Partners, Digital Colony and American Some reports suggest that France may need as many as agreements with Bouygues, Free and Hivory, PTI aiming
Tower but the process was cancelled with rumours 50,000 new points of presence, with the regulator, ARCEP, to build up to 4,000 new sites for Bouygues in rural areas
suggesting the bids fell short of the sellers’ valuation stipulating that the three most established operators and ATC Europe building rural sites for Orange. The
expectations. Rumours suggest that TDF may once (Orange, SFR and Bouygues) must add a further 15,000 French government is also heavily incentivising MNOs to
again come to market. points of presence between them. The newest market build towers in rural areas.
13 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Germany
32,500 sites of which 550 are high towers, c. 9,000 50.01% stake in the infraco. In June 2020, Telefónica
masts, c. 16,000 rooftops, 3,250 special sites and 3,650 announced the sale of a further 10,100 (primarily
resell sites. DFMG is held under Deutsche Telekom’s rooftop) sites to Telxius for €1.5bn, with the deal also
GD Towers unit, alongside their newly created Austrian including a BTS commitment for Telxius to add up to
towerco, Magenta T-Infra, with DFMG helping to steer 2,400 (primarily greenfield) new sites for the operator.
the new entity. The operator’s Dutch towers were also In January 2021. American Tower announced that it
Towers: Population: Subscribers: held under the GD Towers unit, prior to the operator had reached a deal to acquire Telxius’ tower business, a
75,967 83.1mn 107.2mn reaching a deal to merge their Dutch towerco with move which will add a further 12,500 sites to American
Cellnex Netherlands. The Cellnex deal in the Netherlands Tower’s German portfolio as well as a build to suit
also involved the formation of a new investment fund pipeline of 2,400 sites.
MNOs: O2 (Telefónica), Telekom (Deutsche
– Digital Infrastructure Vehicle - in which Cellnex and
Telekom), Vodafone, 1&1 Drillisch
Deutsche Telekom are anchor investors and in which a American Tower entered the German market back
38% stake of Cellnex Netherlands is held as a seed asset. in 2012 with the acquisition of KPN’s 2,000 E-Plus
Towercos: ATC Europe, Deutsche Funkturm, DIV plans to invest in other digital infrastructure assets towers for €393mn (KPN having since sold E-Plus to
Media Broadcast Group, Telxius*, Vantage
and with Deutsche Telekom having been considering the Telefónica). American Tower have since transferred
Towers
monetisation of DFMG for a number of years, and Cellnex their German assets to ATC Europe (American Tower’s
*Telxius is in the process of being acquired by keen to enter the German market, a stake sale of DFMG joint venture with PGGM, in which the towerco has a
American Tower to DIV could be an interesting option for all parties. controlling 51% stake. For now, PGGM is not involved
in the Telxius deal, although American Tower have said
In 2016, Telefónica carved their 2,350 German ground that this may change.
based towers into a newly created infraco, Telxius,
Market leading mobile network operator, Telekom in a deal valued at €587mn (with the operator also In 2019 Vodafone announced that it was carving out its
(owned by Deutsche Telekom) founded their infraco transferring Spanish and CALA towers as well as European towers into a towerco unit, Vantage Towers
Deutsche Funkturm in 2002, initially as a subsidiary but 31,000km of subsea cabling into the infraco). Telefónica with Vantage Towers (headquartered in Dusseldorf)
then restructured into a “sister company” in 2017 with subsequently sold a 40% stake in Telxius to investment having become operational in summer 2020. Vantage
a view to commercialise their assets more actively. firm KKR, before selling an effective 9.99% stake to Towers currently owns 19,400 towers in the German
Deutsche Funkturm (DFMG) manages a portfolio of Pontegadea), leaving the operator with a controlling market of which 4,000 are ground based towers and
14 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
GERMANY
the balance, rooftops. Vodafone is currently working Figure 10: Germany – estimated tower ownership
towards a March 2021 listing of Vantage Towers on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Ground based towers
11
German broadcast towerco Media Broadcast Group 1. Deutsche Funkturm 9,500
6 2. Vantage Towers 4,000
owns a further 450 towers in Germany, and was 5
3. Telxius* 2,400
acquired by Freenet in 2016 for €295mn (around 12x
10 4. ATC Europe 2,217
EV/EBITDA).
4 5. Telefónica 2,000
6. Media Broadcast Group 450
Whilst co-location potential remains strong on 7
Germany’s ground-based towers (DFMG reports a 9 1 Rooftops
2.3x co-location ratio, more recently formed Vantage
3 7. Deutsche Funkturm 23,000
Towers 1.8x ), unique conditions in the German market
8. Vantage Towers 15,400
means that the tenancy ratio on rooftop sites sits at 9. Telxius* 6,100
almost exactly one. Landlords in Germany typically 10. Telefónica sites to be transferred
agree rooftop leases on a per operator basis rather 2 to Telxius 4,000
than per site basis and as such, the synergies available 11. Telefónica 6,900
from passive sharing on rooftops are greatly reduced. 8 *Telxius in the process of being acquired by American Tower"
Towercos are working on lease renegotiations to
Source: TowerXchange
improve the economics.
In November 2019, the three operators announced
an initiative to jointly cover white spots (primarily in
rural areas and along transport routes) which would coverage in rural areas and along traffic routes at so Vantage Towers has a commitment in place with
otherwise be uneconomic to cover. Each operator called “grey spots” – areas where LTE quality coverage Vodafone to add 5,500 towers (2,000 of which under
will build 2,000 sites which will be made available is only available from a single operator. The operators the white spot programme) and reports demand
for the other two players to use via passive sharing will implement active network sharing across antenna outstripping this, DFMG was set to add 2,000 new sites
agreements. sites using a MOCN approach. Active network sharing in 2020 alone, and American Tower is set to add up to
agreements are unlikely to be expanded beyond this. 2,400 new sites for Telefónica. The entrance of new
Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom, and more recently MNO, 1&1 Drillisch, offers further new build and co-
Telefónica, have also teamed up to improve LTE New build in the German market remains significant. location growth for towercos in the market.
15 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Greece
Figure 11: Greece – estimated tower ownership its European towers into a towerco unit which it has
since branded Vantage Towers. In Greece, Vodafone
shared passive infrastructure with Wind Hellas via the
joint venture, VICTUS Networks (although the towers
remained on the balance sheets of the MNOs). In July
2020 in an announcement surrounding the formal
Towers: Population: Subscribers: 156 launch of Vantage Towers, Vodafone announced that it
9,956 10.7mn 11.9mn had reached a deal with Crystal Almond (the controlling
shareholder of Wind Hellas) for the two operators to
MNOs: Cosmote (OTE), Vodafone, Wind Hellas transfer their tower assets to Vantage Towers Greece,
5,000
4,800 a joint venture in which Vodafone has a 62% share
(Crystal Almond)
and Crystal Almond a 38% share. With Vodafone
having published an intention to float Vantage Towers,
Towercos: Digea, Vantage Towers
Vodafone will automatically purchase Crystal Almond’s
shareholding (with Crystal Almond to acquire €100mn
in shares in the IPO). Vantage Towers Greece will be the
There are three MNOs in the Greek market with Cosmote preferred supplier of towers to Vodafone Greece and
having the largest market share and an estimated 5,000 Wind Hellas, with the two parties having committed to
towers. Cosmote is 100% owned by OTE which is in turn Cosmote Vantage Towers Digea being anchor tenant on 250 new sites (500 in total) to be
40% owned by Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom built by Vantage Towers Greece in the next five years.
Source: TowerXchange
has long had its own towerco in Germany (Deutsche
Funkturm) and more recently formed a towerco in Austria In addition to sharing passive infrastructure through
(Magenta T-Infra), with both towercos held under the (Digital Infrastructure Vehicle) in the process. There Vantage Towers, Vodafone and Wind Hellas have an
GD Towers business unit. Deutsche Telekom’s Dutch have been no plans hinted for Deutsche Telekom’s active sharing agreement in place.
towers were also held under the GD Towers unit before shareholding in Cosmote.
the operator reached a deal to merge the portfolio with Beyond Cosmote and Vantage Towers Greece, broadcast
Cellnex Netherlands, forming a new infrastructure fund In July 2019, Vodafone announced plans to carve out towerco, Digea owns 156 towers in the Greek market.
16 | TowerXchange’s
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www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Hungary
Figure 12: Hungary – estimated tower ownership CETIN taking ownership of the operator’s metallic cable
pairs, fibre and indoor and outdoor base stations. Telenor
has combined all their infrastructure divisions in the Czech
Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia to form CETIN
600
Group. PPF is considering an IPO of CETIN Group.
1,900
220
Towers: Population: Subscribers: Magyar Telecom, the Hungarian incumbent, is 59.3%
7,542 9.8mn 10.3mn owned by Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom
has long had its own towerco in Germany (Deutsche
Funkturm) and more recently formed a towerco in Austria
MNOs: Digi, Magyar Telekom (Deutsche 2,500
(Magenta T-Infra), with both towercos held under the
Telekom), Telenor (PPF Group), Vodafone
GD Towers business unit. Deutsche Telekom’s Dutch
towers were also held under the GD Towers unit before
Towercos: CETIN, Vantage Towers
the operator reached a deal to merge the portfolio with
2,322
Cellnex Netherlands, forming a new infrastructure fund
(Digital Infrastructure Vehicle) in the process. No plans
There are four MNOs in the Hungarian market, Magyar have been hinted for Magyar Telecom
Telekom (59.3% owned by Deutsche Telekom), Telenor
(owned by PPF Group), Vodafone, and DIGI (which entered Vantage Towers CETIN Magyar Telecom Romanian owned DIGI launched mobile operations in
the market in 2019 and has the smallest market share). DIGI Antenna Hungaria Hungary in 2019, although the operator was excluded
Source: TowerXchange from the country’s 5G auctions and has recently just lost
Vodafone has carved out their tower portfolio into their a court case on the matter.
pan-European towerco, Vantage Towers. Vantage Towers PPF Group) followed in the footsteps of PPF’s Czech opco
became operational in summer 2020 and has a portfolio (O2 Czech Republic) and separated out their retail and Broadcast towerco, Antenna Hungaria (which owns a
of 1,900 sites in Hungary. Vodafone is currently targeting infrastructure divisions, with their infrastructure carved out 25% stake in Telenor Hungary) is understood to own
a March 2021 listing of Vantage Towers on the Frankfurt into CETIN. CETIN’s remit extends much beyond towers around 220 towers in the country and also leases space to
Stock Exchange. In July 2020, Telenor Hungary (owned by (of which the entity currently owns 2,322 in Hungary), with telecoms operators.
17 | TowerXchange’s
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www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Ireland
Figure 13: Ireland – estimated tower ownership
55
75 Vantage Towers
100 1,200
100 Cellnex
150 Phoenix Tower International
150 Towercom
Towers: Population: Subscribers: ESB Telecoms
5,292 4.9mn 5.1mn OPW
250
Shared Access
CIE
MNOs: 3 (CK Hutchison), eir, Vodafone 377
1,781 AP Wireless
Highpoint
Towercos: Cellnex, Hibernian, Highpoint 400 Hibernian
(Obelisk), Phoenix Tower International, Shared Wireless Infrastructure Group
Access, Towercom, Wireless Infrastructure 654
Source: TowerXchange
Group, Vantage Towers
There are three MNOs in the Irish market. Vodafone, 3 Three (owned by CK Hutchison) has sold its towers to from Eircom (owners of eir) by Towercom back in 2007.
and eir. Vodafone has carved out their c. 1,200 towers Cellnex as part of a pan-European deal. Cellnex entered Towercom now owns 400 sites in the country.
in the pan-European towerco, Vantage Towers with the Irish market back in 2019 with the acquisition of Cignal
Vodafone working towards a March 2021 listing of the (Cignal having previously acquired the towers – and the land There is a long tail of other independent towercos in
unit on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In May 2020, eir under third party towers – of state forestry company, Coillte the Irish market (notably Brookfield backed Wireless
signed a deal to sell its portfolio of 650 sites to Phoenix back in 2015). Cellnex currently has a portfolio of 1,781 sites Infrastructure Group which, whilst just having a
Tower International for €300mn. The deal also includes in the Irish market with a BTS pipeline of 100 sites. portfolio of 55 sites in Ireland, has a portfolio of
a BTS commitment with PTI expected to add up to 800 over 2,000 towers in the UK) and so M&A activity is
new sites for the operator. PTI currently has a portfolio of There have been a handful of other tower transactions in expected as some of the country’s larger players look to
654 sites in the country. the Irish market, most notably the acquisition of 340 masts consolidate the market.
18 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Italy
Figure 14(a): Italy – estimated telecom tower ownership
300 1,700
1000
INWIT
Cellnex
Towers: Population: Subscribers:
44,979 60.3mn 80.6mn 8,900
CKH Networks (to be acquired by Cellnex)
Towertel *
22,469
MNOs: Iliad, TIM (Telecom Italia), Vodafone,
HighTel
Wind Tre (CK Hutchison)
Others
Towercos: Cellnex, EI Towers, INWIT, HighTel,
Rai Way, Phoenix Tower International*, 10,610 *Towertel in the process of being acquired by
TowerTel* Phoenix Tower International
*Phoenix Tower is in the process of acquiring Towertel Source: TowerXchange
The Italian market has seen a host of different tower Towers”) to Cellnex back in 2015, originally retaining a Milan Stock Exchange, raising €875.3mn in the process.
monetisation strategies by its resident operators. 10% stake (with Cellnex taking over the operator’s 10%
stake in 2017). In 2016, VimpelCom’s Wind and CK Hutchison’s 3
The first operator to monetise its portfolio was Wind merged to form Wind Tre, with the merger being
(at the time owned by Vimpelcom) who carried out The same year, TIM, the mobile arm of Telecom approved on the condition that spectrum and towers
a sale and leaseback transaction of their portfolio of Italia, carved out its tower portfolio into a dedicated were provided to a new market entrant to ensure
7,377 towers (which it had carved into “Galata infrastructure unit, INWIT and listed a 40% stake on the competition. This opened the door to France’s Iliad who
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ITALY
entered the market in 2018 with an aggressive low- Figure 14(b): Italy – estimated broadcast tower deal is yet to close, but when it does, will add a further
cost strategy. ownership 8,900 sites to Cellnex portfolio as well as an addition
BTS pipeline of 1,100 sites.
In May 2019, Iliad became the second operator to carry
out a sale and leaseback transaction in the country, Cellnex entered the Italian market in 2014, buying
reaching a deal to sell its 2,200 sites to Cellnex for TowerCo (the operator which managed towers along
€600mn (Iliad/Salt also agreed the sale of its French and the Italian motorway network) and its 306 sites
Swiss tower portfolios to Cellnex at the same time). The from Atlantia. In addition to acquiring the TowerCo,
deal also included a build to suit component for an extra 1,600 Wind, Iliad and soon, Hutchison, towers, Cellnex
cash consideration, with Cellnex to build up to 1,000 new also acquired Italian small cells and DAS player,
towers for the operator. CommsCon back in 2016 and has been highly active in
2,300
the small cells and DAS space.
In July 2019, Vodafone became the next operator to
announce it had plans for its towers. After announcing In addition to Cellnex, there is a long tail of smaller
its intent to carve out and monetise its portfolio of independent towercos active in Italy. Phoenix Tower
61,700 European towers, fresh news emerged from its International recently entered the Italian market
700
Italian opco, with Vodafone reaching a deal to combine with the acquisition of Towertel from EI Towers (in
its 11,000 tower portfolio with TIM’s INWIT. Since the conjunction with F2i). Towertel has 2,400 tower and
merger, Vodafone and TIM reduced their respective and DAS sites in the country, of which c. 1,000 are
shareholdings in the 22,469 strong towerco from 37.5% thought to be towers. As part of the deal, PTI secured
EI Towers’ sites to be marketed by Phoenix Tower
to 33.2% (with Vodafone’s shareholding held by their the rights to market and lease 1,600 of EI Towers’
EI Towers’ remaining sites
towerco, Vantage Towers). TIM subsequently sold a 2,300 broadcast sites. After PTI (pending closure of
1.2% stake to Canson Capital partners and sold a 49% Rai Way Source: TowerXchange the TowerTel deal), HighTel is the next largest towerco
stake in its remaining shareholding to Ardian. INWIT will in the Italian market with a portfolio of around 300
have first refusal on new build for the two operators with sites. Both Cellnex and Towertel have been active
a target of building a total of 10,000 new macro sites consolidators of smaller towercos in the market, a role
and small cells by 2021. The arrangement also involves planned to carve its 28,500 European towers into its that Towertel’s buyers PTI will look to continue.
active sharing as the two parties look to reduce the cost a towerco unit, CKH Networks. This news was then
of 5G rollout in the country. superseded by the announcement in November 2020 In addition to EI Towers having a portfolio of 2,300
that Hutchison had signed a deal to sell their European broadcast sites, Rai Way too owns an almost identically
In August of 2019, Hutchison announced that it tower portfolio to Cellnex. The Italian portion of the sized portfolio of broadcast assets.
20 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Kazakhstan
Figure 15: Kazakhstan – estimated tower ownership
100
1,500
700 4,000
Beeline
Towers: Population: Subscribers: Kcell
16,000 18.5mn 25.7mn
Tele2/ALTEL
Kazakhtelecom
4,200
Logycom Group
MNOs: Beeline (VEON), kCell (Kazakhtelecom),
Tele2/ALTEL (Kazakhtelecom) 5,500
Others
Towercos: Logycom Group Source: TowerXchange
Two of Kazakhstan’s MNOs, KCell and Tele2/ALTEL, about with what they will do with their towerco units (rolling networks, and total at least 1,500, perhaps significantly
are now 100% owned by state-backed Kazakhtelecom them up into a single towerco, forming larger JVs with more. Kazakhstan’s three MNOs recently announced
(Kazakhtelecom having acquired Tele2’s shareholding in other tower portfolios or monetising them). The operator plans to create a shared rural network as part of the
the latter, mid 2019). Market leaders, Beeline are owned by is thought to own around 4,000 towers in Kazakhstan (of government backed “250+” project (aimed at bringing
Russia’s VEON. which 60% are rooftops and 40% are ground based towers). mobile broadband services to around 1,000 settlements
with more than 250 residents).
VEON’s towers came to market temporarily in 2017 (along Figures TowerXchange has had reported for site counts
with towers in other CIS markets). In their Q4 2020 results, in Kazakhstan vary with best guesses suggesting Kcell TowerXchange knows of one towerco operating in
VEON announced that they were creating towerco business has around 5,500 and Tele2/Altel 4,200. Third party Kazakhstan, Logycom Group which has approximately 100
units in each of their nine markets, remaining open minded structures make up around 30% of Kazakhstan’s mobile sites in the market.
21 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Netherlands
Figure 16: Netherlands – estimated tower ownership Protelindo’s Dutch portfolio and Shere Group have since
been acquired by Cellnex, who entered the market in 2016
with both deals. Cellnex also acquired Alticom and their 30
long range sites (tall towers with large equipment capacity).
3,000
In January 2021, Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex reached
Towers: Population: Subscribers: a deal to merge their Dutch tower businesses into Cellnex
13,979 17.3mn 21.8mn Netherlands BV whilst both becoming anchor investors
6,000
924 of a new investment fund - Digital Infrastructure Vehicle.
Digital Infrastructure Vehicle holds a 38% stake in Cellnex
MNOs: KPN, T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom)
Netherlands as a seed asset (with Cellnex holding the
VodafoneZiggo (Vodafone/ Liberty Global)
remaining 62% stake). When the deal is completed and
45
Cellnex’ BTS commitments are finalised, Cellnex will have a
Towercos: Cellnex, Open Tower Company, 3,150
portfolio of 4,314 sites in the country.
T-Mobile Infra*, Wireless Infrastructure Group 860
*T-Mobile Infra (aka Telekom Infra) is being merged with VodafoneZiggo, the final operator in the Dutch market
Cellnex Netherlands retains its portfolio of towers, understood to number
VodafoneZiggo Open Tower Company around 3,000 sites. Whilst Vodafone has carved out
Cellnex Wireless Infrastructure Group the vast majority of its European towers into Vantage
There are three MNOs in the Dutch market; KPN, T-Mobile Infra* Other site typologies Towers, VodafoneZiggo is a joint venture with Liberty
VodafoneZiggo (owned by Vodafone and Liberty Global), Global and there are no current plans to bring their tower
*T-Mobile infra sites are in the process of being merged with Cellnex
and T-Mobile (owned by Deutsche Telekom). The portfolio into the unit.
Source: TowerXchange
Netherlands holds the accolade of having hosted the first
sale and leaseback transaction in the European market, with Towerco Wireless Infrastructure Group owns a portfolio
KPN divesting towers in four tranches starting in 2008. KPN Open Tower Company (75% owned by Dutch pension fund, of 45 sites in the country. Additionally, there are a further c.
sold 601 towers across two deals to Open Tower Company, ABP) currently owns a portfolio of 860 sites in the country, 6,000 other locations owned by third parties that are in use
460 sites to Shere Group and 261 sites to Protelindo. whilst also having access to 1,000 electricity pylons. as telecom sites.
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Norway
Figure 17: Norway – estimated tower ownership external investment as the company looks to crystallise
the value of its digital infrastructure. The operator hinted
that it plans to formally announce a process regarding
the monetisation of the Norwegian (and Finnish) towers
2,000 imminently. As to what type of deal they may do, Telia
100 stated that they would ideally look to sell a minority stake
Towers: Population: Subscribers: up to 49% but remained open minded and were speaking to
12,100 5.3mn 5.7mn a number of interested parties.
4G-only player ICE accounts for about 10% of subscribers
MNOs: ICE, Telenor, Telia in the Norwegian market and has just a modest tower
portfolio of around 100 sites, with the operator relying on a
Towercos: Telenor Infra, Telia Towers recently renewed roaming agreement with Telia (although
continuing to build out Norway’s third network).
10,000
There are three MNOs in the Norwegian market. Telenor
has carved out its mobile and fixed infrastructure in
Norway (including its broadcast assets from Norkring) into Telenor Infra
a separate infraco called Telenor Infra. Telenor Infra has Telia Towers
10,000 sites that are used for mobile with a further 5,000 ICE
sites used for broadcast. Source: TowerXchange
Following a similar strategy to their opcos in Finland and
Sweden, Telia has carved out their Norwegian towers into announced the formation of Telia Asset Management, a
a separate unit, Telia Towers, with Telia Towers Norway new business unit which would own and manage select
having around 2,000 towers. In their Q4 2020 results, Telia infrastructure assets, and which would look to bring in
23 | TowerXchange’s European Guide Q1 21 | www.towerxchange.comREGIONAL GUIDE EUROPE
Poland
Figure 18: Poland – estimated tower ownership
27 377
NetWorkS!*
Towers: Population: Subscribers: Play**
7,000
27,315 37.9mn 52.3mn
Polkometel**
American Tower
MNOs: Orange, Play (Iliad), Plus (Cyfrowy 13,000
Polsat), T-Mobile Emitel
*whilst NetWorkS! manages the portfolio, the towers
Towercos: American Tower, Cellnex, Emitel
remain on the balance sheet of their parent companies
*whilst NetWorkS! manages the portfolio, the towers 6,911 (Orange and T-Mobile) with a roughly 50/50 split
remain on the balance sheet of their parent companies ** Towers in the process of being acquired by Cellnex
(Orange and T-Mobile) with a roughly 50/50 split
** Towers in the process of being acquired by Cellnex Source: TowerXchange
T-Mobile and Orange share passive and active Deutsche Telekom has long had its own towerco in forming a new infrastructure fund (Digital Infrastructure
infrastructure in Poland through 50-50 joint venture Germany (Deutsche Funkturm) and more recently Vehicle) in the process.
NetWorkS! While NetWorkS! operates around 13,000 formed a towerco in Austria (Magenta T-Infra), with
towers, the assets remain on T-Mobile and Orange’s both towercos held under the GD Towers business Orange has announced plans to carve out its French
own balance sheets. unit. Deutsche Telekom’s Dutch towers were also held and Spanish towers into its new towerco TOTEM,
under the GD Towers unit before the operator reached with TOTEM expected to commence operations in
T-Mobile is 100% owned by Deutsche Telekom. a deal to merge the portfolio with Cellnex Netherlands, the second half of this year. Following the launch of
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