Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks

Tower companies own almost three quarters of the mobile telecom installations globally and continue to grow. The main driver of this change is linked to the reduction of capital expenditures by operators and the increasing sharing of infrastructure by tower companies that improves their assets’ tena...

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Main Authors: Koutroumpis, P, Masselos, K
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2024
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author Koutroumpis, P
Masselos, K
author_facet Koutroumpis, P
Masselos, K
author_sort Koutroumpis, P
collection OXFORD
description Tower companies own almost three quarters of the mobile telecom installations globally and continue to grow. The main driver of this change is linked to the reduction of capital expenditures by operators and the increasing sharing of infrastructure by tower companies that improves their assets’ tenancy ratios. In this paper we review the evidence from tower company introductions in European markets and compare the operator financial outcomes along with the cost of services and market concentration that consumers experience. We also compare the wave of mergers during the same period in Europe, as an alternative cost-saving approach. We find that mergers primarily help operators improve their financial positions and EBITDA margin by 8.6 percentage points while consumers face significantly more concentrated markets with fewer options. Tower companies reduce average revenues per user by 1.41- 1.79 Euros as increased tenancy ratios are passed-through to consumers and help operators reduce their capital expenditures. We provide policy and market recommendations based on these findings.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ad29c6ec-5b51-4e5d-9d4e-a814d2bb49b92024-07-15T11:14:58ZTower companies vs mergers in mobile networksJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ad29c6ec-5b51-4e5d-9d4e-a814d2bb49b9EnglishSymplectic ElementsInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers2024Koutroumpis, PMasselos, KTower companies own almost three quarters of the mobile telecom installations globally and continue to grow. The main driver of this change is linked to the reduction of capital expenditures by operators and the increasing sharing of infrastructure by tower companies that improves their assets’ tenancy ratios. In this paper we review the evidence from tower company introductions in European markets and compare the operator financial outcomes along with the cost of services and market concentration that consumers experience. We also compare the wave of mergers during the same period in Europe, as an alternative cost-saving approach. We find that mergers primarily help operators improve their financial positions and EBITDA margin by 8.6 percentage points while consumers face significantly more concentrated markets with fewer options. Tower companies reduce average revenues per user by 1.41- 1.79 Euros as increased tenancy ratios are passed-through to consumers and help operators reduce their capital expenditures. We provide policy and market recommendations based on these findings.
spellingShingle Koutroumpis, P
Masselos, K
Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title_full Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title_fullStr Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title_full_unstemmed Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title_short Tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
title_sort tower companies vs mergers in mobile networks
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AT masselosk towercompaniesvsmergersinmobilenetworks