There are three MNOs in the Dutch market; KPN, VodafoneZiggo (owned by Vodafone and Liberty Global), and Odido (formerly T-Mobile which Deutsche Telekom and Tele2 sold to a consortium of investors).
The Netherlands holds the accolade of having hosted one of the first sale and leaseback transaction in the European market, with KPN divesting towers in four tranches starting in 2008. KPN sold 601 towers across two deals to Open Tower Company, 460 sites to Shere Group and 261 sites to Protelindo.
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).
Open Tower Company (OTC) which is 75% owned by Dutch pension fund ABP, currently owns just over 900 macro and broadcasting towers, whilst also having access around 750 electricity pylons. ABP has announced it has signed an agreement with KPN to combine OTC’s assets and KPN’s rooftops, third-party towers and 250 remaining uncarved towers, into a new towerco that will manage 3,800 sites once operational.
In January 2021, Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex reached a deal to merge their Dutch tower businesses into Cellnex Netherlands BV whilst both becoming anchor investors of a new investment fund - Digital Infrastructure Vehicle. Digital Infrastructure Vehicle holds a 38% stake in Cellnex Netherlands as a seed asset (with Cellnex holding the remaining 62% stake). Following closure of the deal, Cellnex now owns 4,075 sites in the country with a BTS pipeline of just over 200 sites. VodafoneZiggo, the final operator in the Dutch market retains its portfolio of towers, understood to number around 3,000 sites. Whilst Vodafone has carved out the vast majority of its European towers into Vantage Towers, VodafoneZiggo is a joint venture with Liberty Global.
Towerco Wireless Infrastructure Group owns a portfolio of 50 sites in the country. Additionally, there are a further c. 6,000 other locations owned by third parties that are in use as telecom sites.
