There are three major operators in the Icelandic market -Síminn, the incumbent; Sýn and Nova (which was the newer challenger in the market). Whilst Síminn marginally has the largest market share, the subscriber base is relatively evenly split between the three operators.
In 2007, Síminn carved out its infrastructure assets into a dedicated infraco, Míla. Míla owns a comprehensive network comprised of fixed copper and fibre access, backbone and connectivity, as well as active equipment across a nationwide footprint. Their tower count is understood to be around 500 sites.
In 2021, investment firm Ardian, reached a deal to acquire 100% of Míla.
In late 2021, Sýn and Nova simultaneously announced the sale of their tower portfolios to ÍslandsTurnar, a new towerco formed by DigitalBridge. The deal has made ÍslandsTurnar Iceland’s first independent towerco.
ÍslandsTurnar’s site count stands at 367 sites and includes both ground based and rooftop sites. The deal also included a build to suit component for an undisclosed number of
sites over a long-term period. Recently, Sýn agreed the sale of its core networt to open access infrastructure provider, Ljosleidarinn.
Like much of the Nordics, active sharing is a feature of the Icelandic market with Sýn and Nova have an extensive national RANsharing agreement in place. As such, nearly all of ÍslandsTurnar’s 367 sites have both operators present on them. Whilst there are some tenancies from Síminn on the ÍslandsTurnar portfolio, Síminn has historically preferred to
use its own infrastructure when rolling out its network.
As the incumbent, regulation has been applied to Síminn/ Míla requiring them to allow other operators access to their tower portfolio at a reasonable rate. As such, Míla has tenancies from both Sýn and Nova on their towers.
5G rollout is in the early stages in the country and whilst it is early days, there are very clear rollout and investment plans in place from the country’s operators providing significant growth opportunities for both ÍslandsTurnar and independent, Míla.
