The traditional towerco growth story, of helping operators increase coverage, no longer holds in developed markets. There is, however, the potential for growth associated with network upgrades and densification as operators continue to roll out new technologies and compete on the quality of mobile services.
Traditionally, towercos have sought to drive revenue growth by increasing tenancy ratios on their portfolio of sites. Ongoing demand from operators for greater network coverage and, to a lesser extent, network capacity led to a sustained period of rising tenancy ratios for towercos. This trend is now losing steam, as operators in developed markets, especially in Europe, are not undertaking significant coverage expansion and are partially utilising small cells and rooftops to provide network capacity.
