Telco aims to close deal in June; bids from Cellnex, F2i, others
Telecom Italia received three non-binding offers for the company’s 45% stake in telecoms tower unit Inwit, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported.
According to the report, Telecom Italia expects to complete a transaction by June.
Spanish operator Cellnex, which controls 15,000 towers in Spain and Italy, launched a bid in association with infrastructure fund F2i. Other companies submitting offers are Ei Towers and American Tower.
In November 2015, Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano said the company expects to keep a stake of between 15% and 20% in its tower unit. Telecom Italia in early 2015 sold 40% of its tower company in a listing, and in September gave the green light to company management to explore options to sell an additional stake.
Inwit, which generated 314 million euros in revenues last year, owns 11,500 mobile towers, which represents approximately 27% of all Italian towers.
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Telecom Italia offers fixed, mobile and broadband services. At the end of the third quarter of 2015, the telco had more than 30 million mobile subscribers, 19.3 million fixed lines and 8.8 million broadband subscribers.
Deutsche Telekom launches VoLTE in Germany
Deutsche Telekom recently launched voice-over-LTE services for contract subscribers with a VoLTE-ready smartphone.
The European telco said subscribers will not be charged extra for the use of VoLTE services. DT said the new service is available on both mobile and fixed networks.
Smartphones compatible with the VoLTE service include the Samsung Galaxy S5, S6 and S6 Edge; the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL; and the Sony Xperia Z3; Z3 Compact, Z5, Z5 Compact and Z5 Premium.
Rival operators Vodafone Germany and O2 Germany already offer VoLTE services. In Germany, DT ended Q3 2015 with 7.4 million LTE subscribers.