With broadcast towercos representing Spain, Italy, the UK, France, Poland, Norway and Finland in attendance at the TowerXchange Meetup Europe, we hosted a panel session and roundtable to explore the synergies between the two sectors. Here’s what we learned.
Of the 78,000 towers owned by independent infrastructure providers in Europe, almost 48,000 are owned by companies which also generate significant revenue from the broadcast and radio sectors. Each European country has at least one broadcast towerco and some markets (such as Spain and Italy) have two, often heavily regulated, many with significant State ownership. The attitudes of broadcast towercos to the telecoms sector varies with some companies actively pursuing opportunities in the sector (France’s TDF reports that 40% of their revenues come from the telecom industry; Italy’s EI Towers is one of the two front runners to acquire a stake in Telecom Italia’s INWIT), whilst others have adopted much more of a passive approach.
