Cellnex Telecom acquires CommsCon

CommsCon provides signal coverage solutions in Italy based on ‘small cells’ technology in areas and spaces with a high concentration of users

• The acquisition of CommsCon Italia s.r.l., totalling € 18,65 million, confirms Cellnex Telecom’s commitment to developing and rolling out ‘small cells’ and speeds up its strategic positioning in the sector.
• CommsCon manages telephony and data coverage in Italy at emblematic sites such as Milan’s San Siro stadium and Turin’s Juventus stadium, the Milan, Genoa and Brescia undergrounds, hospitals, high-speed tunnels, Milan city centre, offices, exhibition halls and commercial malls, as well as Milan-Malpensa Airport.
• The ‘small cells’ market for busy open-air public spaces and closed areas (airports, stations, tunnels, stadiums, hospitals, etc.) will be one of the main vectors of telecommunications infrastructure growth in the coming years.
• According to industry estimates, 350,000 ‘small cells’ will be rolled out in Europe up to 2020 to ensure real mobile broadband.
• The acquisition positions Cellnex as a DAS benchmark and consolidates its competence centre in this area in Italy.

Barcelona, Milan, 28 June 2016. Cellnex Telecom –through its subsidiary Cellnex Italia, s.r.l. –, today announced that it has agreed to acquire CommsCon, an Italian operator and provider of innovative ‘small cell’ solutions for mobile broadband coverage in large open and closed spaces.

The transaction involves an investment of € 18,65 million and responds to a high strategic interest.  Commenting the agreement Tobias Martínez, CEO of Cellnex Telecom, stated that “the acquisition of CommsCon positions Cellnex as a key player in the development and roll-out of telephony and data coverage solutions in busy areas.  By implementing advanced technologies based on ‘small cells’ and distributed antenna systems (DAS) Cellnex can provide services to various operators based on a single infrastructure and equipment roll-out.

“The densification of networks in open and closed crowded spaces is one of the main vectors of growth in the telecommunications infrastructure industry for the coming years. The industry will not achieve genuine broadband and true mobility unless we can prepare for the challenge associated with rolling out hundreds of thousands of ‘small cells’ in large urban areas.”

About CommsCon and the ‘small cells’ market

CommsCon is an Italian company set up in 2002 that specialises in providing coverage to mobile operators in high-traffic areas such as airports, hospitals, stadiums, large offices, etc.

The company operates 85 technical rooms which host up to 720 base transceiver stations (BTS). These are connected  to a dense network of 12,200 small antennas deployed in the DAS systems managed by CommsCon.

This infrastructure provides coverage in emblematic sites such as Milan’s San Siro stadium and Turin’s Juventus stadium, the Milan, Genoa and Brescia undergrounds, hospitals in Bergamo and Milan, high-speed tunnels in Bologna,  the Gran Sasso Tunnel (10 km under the Apenines) Milan’s historic city centre, offices and exhibition halls, as well as the Milano-Malpensa Airport and commercial malls (e.g. IKEA centers).

The market for ‘small cells’ in open and closed spaces will be the main driver of the telecommunications infrastructure industry in the coming years. It is estimated that, by 2020,  350,000 ‘small cells’ will be rolled out in Europe.

About Cellnex Telecom

Since it acquired the portfolio of telecommunications towers from WIND in Italy in March, 2015 Cellnex Telecom has become Europe’s leading independent operator of wireless communications infrastructure, with a total portfolio of 15,120 towers at the close of 1Q 2016. Cellnex closed the first quarter of 2016 with revenue of € 165 million (+41%) and EBITDA of € 63 million (+26%).

On 30 May Cellnex announced the agreement with Protelindo Netherlands for the purchase of 261 telecommunication sites in the Netherlands. This operation involves an investment of € 109 million and Cellnex Telecom’s entry as an infrastructure operator in the markets of Northern Europe.

Cellnex classifies its activities into three areas: mobile telephony infrastructures; audiovisual broadcasting networks; security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management (smart cities and the “Internet of Things” (IoT)).