Monthly News Roundup: September 2024

Australian towerco Waveconn is to acquire American Tower’s Australian property business, adding a further 170 sites to its portfolio comprising land under mobile towers and building rooftops Following the acquisition of AT Australia Pty Ltd and AT Australia Operations Pty Ltd from American Tower Corporation, the Australian digital infrastructure owner Waveconn is to add new assets. The transaction is subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024. Read more.

The company’s anchor One Core business – combining the traditional tower business and its DAS indoor connectivity business – accounts for 88% of the company’s revenue, with the Two Wings business representing 12% of the company’s total revenue. Operating revenue grew steadily in the first half of 2024 to RMB48,247mn (US$6.796bn), an increase of 3.8% year-on-year (yoy). EBITDA reached RMB33,045mn, an increase of 3.2% yoy, with an EBITDA margin of 68.5%. By 2027, China Tower hopes to see its revenue grow by 5%, with its One Core strand of the business taking up 3% growth, and Two Wings 2%. Read more.

State owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is slated to launch 4G services in India, having completed trials upon installing an approximate 25,000 4G towers across the country. BSNL is targeting a 20% market share of the country’s overall mobile market by the end of 2024 by accelerating the rollout of its 4G network, according to previous press reports. According to local reports, one senior official said: “We have successfully trialled our 4G network in all circles and major cities, and the results have been promising. We will conduct a few more trials before formally launching the 4G services,” While private telecom providers such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea Limited are rolling out their 5G services, BSNL has primarily been offering 2G and 3G networks. Over the past number of years, BSNL has lost market share to rival telcos Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel due to the lack of extended 4G coverage across the country. BSNL lost 18 million customers in the last fiscal year. This bought its customer base down to 88.06mn. It is estimate to have 7.46% market share, as of April 2024.

New Zealand’s largest towerco Connexa has confirmed the acquisition of American Tower Corporation’s New Zealand property business, pending regulatory approval. ATC New Zealand is a property platform owning a portfolio of 112 site interests throughout New Zealand including land under mobile towers and rooftop based mobile sites. Connexa CEO Rob Berrill, commented on the benefits of the transaction: "This acquisition is a significant milestone for Connexa. It allows us to expand our property footprint and enhance our ability to provide robust and reliable mobile infrastructure across New Zealand. By integrating ATC New Zealand's assets, we can better support our customers and contribute to the development of the country's digital landscape.” The move signals ATC’s diminishing influence in Asia’s tower market, having agreed a deal with Summit Digitel’s owners Brookfield (operating under the new brand name Altius) to sell their loss-making 77,712 sites for US$2.5bn at the beginning of the year.

Filipino MNO Globe Telecom built 352 towers and upgrading 1,942 existing mobile sites to LTE technology during the first half of 2024. The company said that the network buildup will aim to enhance Globe’s mobile services and data speeds to provide reliable life-enabling connectivity to Filipinos. In addition to mobile network improvements, Globe has made notable advancements in its fibre infrastructure. The company deployed 39,880 fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) lines from January to June 2024, further expanding its high-speed fibre internet coverage. This year's rollout is strategically planned to maximise the utilisation of Globe’s existing fibre inventory, aligning with its reduced cash capex allocation. The build represents a rebalancing of its tower portfolio after Pinnacle Towers-owned towerco Frontier Tower Associates Philippines closed the final tranche of a 3,529 tower sale and leaseback transaction in a deal worth P45bn (US$803m), with an agreement for Globe to lease them back for a period of 15 years. Globe is also in the process of offloading the last batch of towers in a 2,180 tower deal worth P26.2bn it secured with fellow tower company MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC). Globe's network expansion strategy has evolved since 2023, with a shift towards optimising network investments rather than pursuing opportunistic capacity expansion.

Miescor Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC) and PhilTower consoliate, creating the second largest towerco in the Philippines. The first public consolidation in the country will see over 3,300 towers combined under the newly integrated organisation, serving improved coverage for its mobile network operator (MNO) clients including Globe Telecom, Smart Communications, and DITO. There is also a pipeline of a further 2,100 committed orders to MNOs. The combined company (JVCo) will continue to be backed by a consortium of MIDC and PhilTower’s existing investors including Stonepeak, MIDC’s parent company MIESCOR, Macquarie Capital, and pan-Asian digital shared infrastructure provider Global Network Inc. Read more.

A newly appointed legal firm will collaborate with police on theft cases including batteries, cables and base station equipment in Thailand. Such thefts have caused significant service disruptions, particularly in the Eastern and Northeastern regions. It is working with police to track down the criminal gangs and their financial networks, aiming to prosecute such offenders. The company is also investigating black markets buying stolen goods and warns consumers to be cautious when purchasing second-hand lithium batteries to avoid being duped into buying stolen property. Read more.

The US$400mn deal will help finance PTCLs acquisition of Telenor Pakistan and tower business unit Orion Towers. The IFC, alongside a consortium including British International Investment (BII) and the Silk Road Fund (SRF), will provide US$400mn to Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) to finance its acquisition of Telenor Pakistan and Orion Towers. With 7 years to the loan, US$224.5mn will come from the IFC’s account and managed funds, and US$175.5mn from BII and SRF. PTCL had agreed to acquire 100% of Pakistan’s business unit from Nordic-based operator Telenor as part of the group’s exit from its Asian markets. Read more.

Regional: Marco Patuno becomes EWIA’s chair

Marco Patuano, the CEO of Europe’s largest towerco, has been appointed Chairperson of the European Wireless Infrastructure Association (EWIA), the organization has announced. Patuano succeeds Tobias Martinez, who was also the former CEO of Cellnex and whose mandate at EWIA ended on 31 August. “Taking on the role of Chair of EWIA is both an honor and a responsibility. Together, we will champion connectivity, foster collaboration, and drive sustainable growth, ensuring a brighter digital future for Europe”, said Patuano.

Regional: European Commission clears e& acquisition of PPF Group

The European Commission (EC) has provisionally approved e&’s purchase of majority stakes (50% plus one share) in PPF Group’s MNO and towerco subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Hungary Serbia and Slovakia. The group’s Czech assets are outside of the deal’s scope. The EC investigated the UAE-based telecom group under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) which is aimed at protecting companies in the bloc from unfair competition from outside the bloc. The EC had concerns that e& could receive foreign subsidies that could distort the EU internal market. That means the new entity having an uneven playing field when it comes to investing in its network, including taking part in spectrum auctions or the deployment of infrastructure. E& has had to make commitments in order to receive clearance of the deal. That also included abiding by a prohibition of any financing of PPF's activities in the EU internal market, plus a requirement for the carrier to inform the EC of future acquisitions.

Belgium: Digi misses summer launch deadline

After announcing its launch in Belgium to take place this summer, the fourth MNO-to-be Digi Belgium has now delayed it claiming it will not meet the set deadline. The company has not provided any new date for the launch. Digi is continuing to roll-out its network with CEO Jeroen Degadt saying it will be starting friendly-user tests and a marketing campaign to prepare for the launch.

Italy: EC clears Swisscom acquisition of Vodafone Italia

The European Commission has cleared the purchase of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Swiss telecoms company has announced. The EUR 8bn deal is still pending other regulatory approvals, including by the Italian competition authority. Swisscom plans to merge Vodafone Italia with Swisscom's Milan-based subsidiary Fastweb which will make the new company Italy's largest telecom provider (for fixed and mobile) after market leader TIM. Swisscom has said it expects the deal to complete in the first quarter of 2025.

Budapest-headquartered telco and IT group 4iG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of North Macedonia which outlines the possibilities for the Group to enter the telecommunications market to offer mobile and fixed telecommunication services, 4iG has announced in its Q2 2024 financial results published on 2nd September. According to 4iG, the document also identifies strategic target areas of future development of telecommunication services and infrastructure in North Macedonia. Read more.

Poland: Cellnex scales back plans in Poland

Cellnex, Europe's largest towerco, has hit a roadblock in its strategic pivot under new CEO Marco Patuano. The company has halted plans to sell a stake in its Polish business, a move that could have valued the unit at up to €4bn (US$4.4bn), according to sources familiar with the matter reported in Bloomberg. Read more.

Spain: Cellnex launches new beachside DAS in Barcelona

Barcelona-headquartered towerco Cellnex has announced the completion of a project aimed at enhancing connectivity across the city’s beaches through the installation of distributed antenna system (DAS) units. The towerco says the project covers 3.5km of coastline and was aimed at meeting rising capacity demand during the international sailing competition America’s Cup whose 37^th edition takes place there this year. Read more.

Telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel has completed the purchase of Ukraine’s only towerco UkrTOWER, the country’s third MNO lifecell and consultancy and outsourcing company Global Bilgi for US$524.3 mn, Turkcell has announced. All companies’ shares, rights and liabilities have been transferred to DVL Telecom with Turkcell no longer having any shares in its three former subsidiaries. Read more.

UK-based neutral host infrastructure provider Freshwave has announced it has designed and deployed in-building 4G connectivity across 15 buildings of The Princess Alexandra Hospital north of London and is now providing ongoing support via a managed service. The towerco says that while it carried out the installation of the 4G Distributed Antenna System (DAS) across the buildings, there was no operational impact on the hospital and all who work there, patients, and visitors now receive assured connectivity, regardless of the mobile network they use. Read more.

On 24th September, Brazil’s telecom regulator, Anatel, approved the release of the 3.5 GHz frequency band for 5G in 189 more towns. This move not only accelerates Brazil's 5G rollout but also highlights the crucial role of the country’s tower industry in supporting this next-generation network. Read more.

América Móvil, the telecommunications giant headed by Carlos Slim, and Telefónica have entered into a non-binding agreement to explore the potential joint acquisition of assets owned by WOM, a Chilean telecom operator. The two telecom giants are examining the possibility of purchasing WOM's operations and its affiliated companies in Chile. This move comes as WOM continues to navigate its financial difficulties, having reorganised its executive structure and reached an agreement with its creditors. This agreement was approved by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, allowing WOM to proceed with its financial reorganisation without disrupting its ongoing business activities. Read more.

Vertical Bridge has announced a deal with Verizon in which the towerco will obtain exclusive rights to lease, manage, and operate 6,339 wireless communication towers across the U.S. from Verizon subsidiaries. Vertical Bridge is the largest privately owned towerco in the the US and is backed by long-time towerco entrepreneur Marc Ganzi's DigitalBridge. Read more.

TowerXchange Meetup Africa opened with a strategy panel that explored the biggest challenges the industry is facing and what the path to the future looks like for Africa’s towercos. Speaking on the panel was Tom Greenwood, CEO of Helios Towers; Kunle Iluyemi, Head of Sub Saharan Africa at IHS Towers; Nicholas Van Slyck, Vice President of Africa & Asia at SBA Communications; Michael Mutiga, Chief Business Development & Strategy Officer at Safaricom; and Estelle Rossouw, Manager of Digital energy Systems at Vodacom. The panel was moderated by Angela Wamola, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at the GSMA. Read more.

Regional: 5G Subscriptions to surge to 320 million by 2029

A new report by Erisson (Ericsson 2024 mobility report) predicts that 5G subscriptions will reach 320 million by 2029, up from 11 million last year. Primary driving factors including spectrum availability in lower and medium bands and the declining prices of 5G devices for end-users. 28% of mobile subscriptions are expected to be 5G by the end of 2029, surpassing 3G. A forecasted decline in legacy technology, particularly 2G, as more customers transition to 4G and 5G networks is also expected. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have the highest annual growth rate for phone subscriptions globally, hitting 1.117bn by 2029. Smartphone adoption is expected to increase from 460mn to 790mn. The rapid technology shift towards 5G will have profound implications on the demands of mobile networks in Africa (and is already). 5G technology will require increasing densification of telecom towers to meet coverage requirements, leading to more site rollout and colocation as MNOs increase points of presence. Energy loads will also increase significantly as 5G equipment is more power-intensive, although this may be marginally offset by the removal of legacy equipment as well as improvements in antenna efficiency over time.

CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) will provide fully financed renewable energy solutions to power digital infrastructure in rural areas across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan The renewable energy-battery hybrid systems will provide a market-leading 99.97% uptime service level agreement (SLA) to iSAT’s MNO clients. Read more.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided a US$200mn loan to three of Airtel Africa’s subsidiaries (which have not yet been named) to support the expansion and modernisation of the MNO’s network and accelerate the deployment of new infrastructure with a focus on rural areas. Read more.

Liberia: ZTE and Orange complete rural deployment

Orange Liberia has collaborated with Chinese-based OEM ZTE to deploy 128 rural telephony sites to provide low-power-consumption, wide-range mobile equipment for 2G voice services and supporting 4G. Each site is powered by a solar and lithium hybrid solution, enhanced with AI energy-saving software to achieve energy-efficiency network construction.

South Africa: MTN and ZTE launch Africa’s first 5G maritime coverage

MTN South Africa and Chinese OEM ZTE Corporation have launched Africa’s first 5G ultra-range maritime coverage off the coast of Mossel Bay in Western Cape, South Africa. The deployment will enable MTN to provide new coverage services for tourism, fishing and support the wider maritime economy. Use-cases include extending internet access across underserved areas, improving operational capabilities of shipping, fishing and maritime research, and enable new video streaming services for sea rescue operations and monitoring. ZTE highlighted that the 5G maritime network is expected to introduce new applications, including remote vessel tracking, advanced navigation systems and enhanced communication tools.

The government has launched a “Digital Tanzania” project supported by the World Bank and in partnership with MNOs to achieve 80% broadband penetration by 2025. With a total expected cost of US$112mn implemented under the Universal Communication Services Access Fund (UCSAF), MNOs will need to deploy 758 new towers to underserved areas. Additionally, 304 existing 2G sites will be upgraded to 3G and 4G. The 636 new sites to be built will be in addition to the 758 towers that have already been planned for underserved areas. Read more.