The closing of Swisscom’s acquisition of Vodafone Italia in the beginning of 2025 not only reshapes the Italian market but also marks a significant change in the European telecommunications landscape with a few implications for mobile operators and towercos alike. It reduces the number of MNOs in the country which could lead to further mergers or partnerships and strengthens its position in mobile and fixed services through increased market share. Integrating Fastweb’s broadband infrastructure with Vodafone’s mobile network will create synergies in infrastructure.

This could also lead to potential future mergers on the continent as it sets a precedent for other MNOs to seek similar deals to remain competitive, and in turn affect more towercos. Vodafone Italia co-locates on INWIT and Cellnex towers which could trigger new contract negotiations by the new owner, or lead to a shift in tower strategies and rationalisation of existing sites.

In Spain, Vodafone is reportedly working with MasOrange to merge mobile networks and set up a joint venture. The new JV will create synergies in leasing space on towers, equipment, transmission and workforce. No figures on expected savings have been disclosed yet. Vodafone and MasOrange already have an active sharing agreement in place in Spain set up before the merger of MasMovil and Orange, which is in areas of the country where it’s not economically viable to have two networks. One recent example from Spain is Vodafone Spain’s new owner Zegona Communications attempt to negotiate an EUR 50mn reduction in rent on leasing space on Vantage Towers where it is the anchor tenant.

In the UK, Vodafone received regulatory approval to merge with Hutchison’s Three which will bring another shake-up for competition, and is expected to bring better

infrastructure investments, improving 5G coverage and mobile network efficiency. The final outcome will depend on the conditions and remedies the UK government imposes.

MNO consolidation has also taken place in Hungary. Vodafone Hungary and DIGI have consolidated into One to form a single operating entity from January 2025. Both

MNOs were acquired by parent company 4iG from former owners Vodafone in 2023 and in 2022 from Romanian Digi Communications respectively. The move has created the second largest telecommunications company in the country and is also part of a larger business transformation journey for the group.

Keeping east, Hrvatski Telekom has announced the start of the process of separating 1,700 of its macro towers into a wholly owned subsidiary, expecting to improve operational efficiency and bottom line. The process is pending corporate approvals and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.

TowerXchange understands that MNO Tele2 is considering selling its towers in the three Baltic countries and is working with Perella Weinberg Partners to reportedly try to fetch 500mn Euros for them. Meanwhile, the sale of Bite’s towers in Latvia and Lithuania is still ongoing.

Alongside the ongoing M&A activity and consolidation across the continent, 5G (and in a few countries 4G) rollout continues to present significant co-location and new build opportunities for Europe’s towercos. In addition, street works are increasingly being used to deliver macro-cell like capabilities with small cell like footprints, and outside of the urban centres more joint ventures are being formed to address rural coverage.

Alongside more traditional revenue streams, 5G is further accelerating towercos’ focus into new service lines. The provision of in-building solutions is now commonplace for many towercos. The outdoor small cell coverage requirements spurred by the densification needs of MNOs are creating new revenue streams. In addition, public transport network coverage has seen particular growth as EU initiatives are channelling more focus into transport networks presenting monetisation opportunities.

Plus, whilst traditionally associated with towercos operating in developing markets rather than those in a good grid market such as Europe, the provision of energy and energy services is starting to feature more significantly in towercos’ service offerings. Escalating energy consumption by networks, increased electricity costs and a heightened focus on ESG are all driving further emphasis on power and power security. Exploring clean energy solutions has become a strategic direction for European towercos with some already reporting onsite renewable energy generation.

While Cellnex in Poland and CETIN in the Czech Republic are known as the towercos managing active infrastructure, it appears a few other towercos are exploring RAN management. As 5G densification in urban areas advances, capex-restricted MNOs are expected to consolidate some networks and arrive at synergies and efficiencies.

At TowerXchange Meetup Europe 2025, we’ll explore Towerco 2.0 and the new roles towercos embrace at several sessions across the agenda. Join us in London to meet established and new European towercos, hear the latest on financing, policy and commercial opportunities, and make new connections.

Figures included in the report:

1. Ownership of Europe’s estimated 743,872 sites

2. Estimated tower and rooftop counts for select markets in Europe

3. Tower counts of Europe’s towercos

4. Tower strategies of Europe’s major MNOs

5. Towerco penetration across the European continent

6. Austria – estimated tower ownership

7. Belgium – estimated tower ownership

8. Bulgaria – estimated tower ownership

9. Croatia – estimated tower ownership

10. Cyprus – estimated tower ownership

11. Czech Republic – estimated tower ownership

12. Denmark – estimated tower ownership

13. Estonia – estimated tower ownership

14. Finland – estimated tower ownership

15. France – estimated tower ownership

16. Germany – estimated tower ownership

17. Greece – estimated tower ownership

18. Hungary – estimated tower ownership

19. Iceland – estimated tower ownership

20. Ireland – estimated tower ownership

21. Italy – estimated tower ownership

22. Kazakhstan – estimated tower ownership

23. Malta – estimated tower ownership

24. Netherlands – estimated tower ownership

25. Norway – estimated tower ownership

26. Poland – estimated tower ownership

27. Portugal – estimated tower ownership

28. Romania – estimated tower ownership

29. Russia – estimated tower ownership

30. Serbia – estimated tower ownership

31. Spain – estimated tower ownership

32. Sweden – estimated tower ownership

33. Sweden – network sharing joint ventures

34. Switzerland – estimated tower ownership

35. Turkey – estimated tower ownership

36. Ukraine – estimated tower ownership

37. United Kingdom – estimated tower ownership

38(a). European MNO-towerco deals since 2008

38(b). European towerco consolidation since 2015

38(c). Major European towerco equity deals since 2016