INWIT has announced it has completed the purchase from Boldyn Networks of a majority stake (52.08%) in Smart City Roma, formerly called Boldyn Networks Smart City Roma.
No financial details have been disclosed. INWIT has an option to acquire the remaining shares in Smart City Roma which may be exercised after the project testing, scheduled for July 2029.
Smart City Roma, which was set up as a joint venture between Boldyn Networks and Roma Capitale, the city’s administrative authority and provider of public services, was awarded the concession for the Rome 5G project at end of 2023.
Under the project, Smart City Roma will build wholesale 5G infrastructure delivering connectivity in all the main hubs of the Italian capital, including metro lines, squares and streets. The project also envisages improving public safety and providing smart services to residents and tourists. There is a 25-year concession for the construction, management, operation and maintenance of infrastructure available to all mobile operators.
Some of the investment in the infrastructure will come from the public sector.
INWIT has said the acquisition is in line with its 2024-2026 business plan and strategy to make neutral host investments to support the network development plans of mobile operators in response to the growing demand for digital services and integrated digital infrastructure, outdoors and indoors, and in smart city projects.
In its financial results for the first nine months of 2024, the towerco reported an increase in tenancy ratio to 2.30x (up from 2.21x in Q3 2023) which is high for the sector.
As towercos embrace the neutral host business model on a larger scale and provide site hosting services to all mobile, FWA and IoT operators, TowerXchange expects to see more passive infrastructure providers to take part in smart city projects across Europe in the future.
