Telecom Italia plans to keep up to 20% of the infrastructure firm
Telecom Italia is looking to sell a part of its Inwit holdings, with CEO Marco Patuano noting “we are ready to send tender invitations to potential bidders for the Inwit stake.” Patuano said the company expects to keep a stake of between 15% and 20% in its tower unit.
Telecom Italia sold 40% of its tower company in a listing earlier this year, and in September, gave the green light to company management to explore options to sell an additional stake in Inwit.
A 40% stake of Inwit would be valued 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), according to local press reports.
Representatives from Telecom Italia said the company has not yet received any formal offer for the stake, but press reports affirmed Spanish operator Cellnex is preparing a bid with infrastructure fund F2i, which may be announced by mid-December.
Cellnex currently own and operates 15,000 telecommunications towers in Spain and Italy. Inwit, which posed revenue of 314 million euros last year, owns 11,500 mobile towers, which represents approximately 27% of all Italian towers.
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Serbian mobile operators obtain additional spectrum
Serbia’s three main mobile operators obtained spectrum in the 800 MHz band, which will enable the telcos to boost their 4G offerings.
VIP, Telenor and Telekom Srbija obtained two blocks of 5 megahertz in the 800 MHz spectrum band, according to Serbian telecommunications regulator RATEL.
Telekom Srbija, which operates under the MTS brand in the mobile market, paid 35.05 million euros ($37 million) for 10 megahertz of spectrum, followed by Telenor Serbia with 35.002 million euros and VIP with 35 million euros.
RATEL set a reserve price of 17.5 million euros for each 5-megahertz block. The new licenses will be valid for 10 years with a possibility of a five-year extension.
The three operators are currently offering LTE services in the country through spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.