Spain-based telecom infrastructure firm Cellnex announced a series of deals to acquire mobile towers in three European countries.
The $3 billion (EUR2.7 billion) transaction will see Cellnex buying network equipment from Iliad in France and Italy, as well as Salt in Switzerland.
The market for MVNO services remains buoyant. Customers of resellers accounted for 4.6% of all mobile users worldwide at the end of 2018. This is up from 4.3% a year earlier and less than 2% in December 2011.
Japan has one of the most technologically advanced mobile markets in the world. Three well-established players–NTT DOCOMO, KDDI, and Softbank–dominate the sector.
When combined, these three claimed over 170 million subscribers at the end of 2018.
Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies has found itself in the spotlight following accusations of espionage, fraud, by-passing Iranian trade sanctions, and threats to cyber-security.
The company is now facing a backlash from a growing number of governments and telcos around the world.
U.S. telco AT&T has come under criticism from rivals for pushing its “5G Evolution” technology.
But critics might want to take a long look in the mirror, as many have been guilty of similar marketing hyperbole.
The wireless services sector in Latin America and the Caribbean has stagnated in recent years.
The region was home to 690.4 million wireless subscribers at the end of June 2018, up slightly from 687.4 million six months before, but well down from the recent peak of 714.1 million at end-2014.
As countries reach market saturation, operators are now concentrating their efforts on wringing more revenue from existing users.
The Italian government recently completed its sale of wireless spectrum, which has been earmarked as suitable for future 5G services.
The auction ran for 14 days and saw 171 rounds of bidding, raising over €6.55 billion. This was more than €4 billion higher than the government’s minimum target.
But the high prices paid for frequencies have raised eyebrows—and not just in Italy.
The market for fixed broadband services in the Asia-Pacific region has expanded rapidly in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent between 2005 and 2017.
The region was home to more than 549 million fixed internet customers at the end of 2017, up 14 percent from 482 million 12 months earlier.
