Marking a decade of collaboration and growth, the European Wireless Infrastructure Association (EWIA) hosted its 10th Anniversary celebration in Brussels, bringing together towercos, MNOs, EU policymakers, and industry analysts for a high-level policy debate.
The event served not only as a reflection on the sector’s evolution, but also as a springboard for the future, with the release of EWIA’s updated Manifesto and an exclusive preview of the EY-Parthenon 2035 report. Both documents reinforced the tower sector’s pivotal role in Europe’s digital ambitions—highlighting €50bn in historical investment and forecasting €100bn more needed to achieve Digital Decade goals. But amid the optimism, urgent challenges took centre stage.
Since EWIA was founded in 2015, the industry has released capital to the value of €53bn from 2019-2024 – and is on track to delivery economic savings of €31bn by 2029, according to figures presented by EY-Parthenon’s Uli Loewer. Looking back to EWIA’s first report, the number of towers in Europe has risen from 280k to 526k, and EWIA members now own 50% of them. EWIA’s manifesto highlights the tenancy advantage of EWIA members, EWIA members tenancy ratio is 2.0x, compared with only 1.3x for towers that are still operated by MNOs and MNO subsidiaries; leading to a giant 109k towers avoided.
Amid the celebrations of the European Wireless Infrastructure Association’s 10th anniversary, the topic of lease aggregators and their growing influence in tower site management drew pointed remarks from industry leaders and regulators. Speaking to a packed room of policymakers, towerco executives, and MNO representatives at Brussels’ Steigenberger Wiltcher’s Hotel, Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano issued a clear warning: land aggregation practices are emerging as a threat not only to towercos, but to operators and consumers alike. “We have nothing against land aggregators when they operate friendly with us — they are our partners. But when this turns into predatory behaviour, it’s not just bad for us, it’s bad for our clients and ultimately for the final consumer,” said Patuano.
The remarks reflected a growing frustration across the sector. Lease aggregation — the practice of third-party firms acquiring ground lease rights to tower sites and seeking to renegotiate terms — has increasingly led to legal disputes and network disruption. Panelists and keynote speakers throughout the event described a worrying rise in site relocations driven by uncooperative land aggregators or failed renegotiations, particularly in markets like France: “We’re wasting capital by moving a site from location A to B — sometimes just 100 meters — because of hostile land negotiations. That’s money lost and coverage disrupted,” noted one attendee.
Regulatory responses
The European Commission’s Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General at DG CONNECT, acknowledged that the problem is real but emphasised the real progress already made through the GIA. “We are not reopening the GIA before it enters into application,” Nikolay stated. “but this aspect will be one that has to be monitored very closely.”
In places like Germany it can take 24-36 months to permit a new site, something which Thierry Amarger CEO, of ATC Europe raised as a blocker to Europe’s required digitisation. A workstream targeting this is required to close the gap between the best and worst member states.
Nikolay confirmed that the Commission is open to examining the aggregation issue further, calling for a more ecosystem-based regulatory framework that balances competition, investment incentives, and consumer protection. The Digital Network Act will simplify regulations and improve investment incentives.
Conclusion
Last year EWIA expanded, adding new members like Vantage Towers and INWIT. To add the perspective of a new member, Christian Hillebrandt, CEO of Vantage Towers also addressed the audience. By joining EWIA, Vantage Towers has strengthened the voice of industry in Brussels to enable discussions like the one which happened last night. Towercos stand as a partner to industry and government to invest and to innovate. To deploy new sites and enable co-location to close connectivity and coverage gaps.
The EWIA anniversary event underscored how far Europe’s towerco sector has come — and how much remains to be done. Lease aggregators may be one of the emerging frictions in the market, but the priority for industry is positive: investing to realise Europe’s digital future.
The second half of Europe’s digital decade will require another €100bn of investment, with €35bn required for network upgrades, €15bn for rural coverage and €50bn to improve transport connectivity. Towercos stand ready to provide €25bn of this investment and to play their role in transforming Europe.
Speakers included Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General, DG Connect, European Commission; Marco Patuano, Chief Executive Officer, Cellnex and Chair, EWIA; Thierry Amarger, Chief Executive Officer, ATC Europe; Christian Hillabrant, Chief Executive Officer, Vantage Towers; Claudio Teixeira, Legal Officer, BEUC; Maarit Palovirta, Deputy Director General, Connect Europe; Ulrich Loewer, Partner, EY-Parthenon. The sessions were moderated by EWIA and TDF’s Jean-Pierre Faisan and MLex Global Chief Correspondent Matthew Newman.
