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Italy: Telecom Italia, Vodafone agree mobile tower merger

By  |  July 29, 2019

Telecom Italia and rival Vodafone Italy inked an agreement to merge their respective mobile tower infrastructure, enabling a joint rollout of 5G across the country.

The move ties in with a trend across the industry at the moment, as operators look at ways to share the heavy investment required to develop next-generation networks.

In a statement, Vodafone said it would transfer its mobile masts into Inwit, the tower unit which is 60% owned by Telecom Italia. The move will create Italy’s biggest tower company and the second-largest in Europe with more than 22,000 towers.

The operators will jointly control the new Inwit through equal 37.5% stakes, with the option of reducing the stakes to 25% after three years. They will both have equal governance rights.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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