Cellnex and CK Hutchison have just 5 days to prove mass mobile tower sell-off won't harm competition
- Reference: 1626261304
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/07/14/cma_cellnex_phone_mast_selloff/
- Source link:
The tight deadline came as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised "concerns" about the proposed acquisition by Spain's Cellnex of thousands of mobile phone towers currently owned by CK Hutchison Holdings, UK network Three's Hong Kong parent [1][PDF] .
The CMA's intervention follows last year's announcement that [2]Cellnex planned to splash out €10bn on a Europe-wide buyout of wireless telecoms infrastructure currently owned by CK Hutchison Holdings.
[3]
At the time it was reported that the acquisition would see some 24,600 towers added to Cellnex's portfolio of 60,000 masts across Europe including some 6,000 mobile phone masts across Britain.
[4]
[5]
Following the completion of Phase 1 of its investigation launched in May, the CMA has found that the deal "raises competition concerns" in relation to the independent supply of "passive infrastructure assets."
[6]Vodafone on mega Euro masts biz: From our Vantage point, we want €2bn+ from towers IPO
[7]No such thing as a Three lunch: Hutchinson CK to sell tower biz to Cellnex
[8]Spain's Cellnex snags Arqiva's telecoms unit for £2bn to become the UK's 'largest' wireless infrastructure operator
[9]A bunch of also-RAN: Vodafone and O2 cosy up to share '5G-active' gear
The CMA pointed out that Cellnex is already the "largest independent supplier of mobile towers in the UK" following its [10]£2bn acquisition of Arqiva's telecoms division in 2020, which added around 8,300 sites to Cellnex's portfolio.
The CMA is concerned that its purchase of assets owned by Three – along with its already considerable estate of towers and masts – would further strengthen its position in the market.
As a result, Cellnex and CK Hutchison have five working days to offer legally binding proposals to the CMA to ensure the deal will not damage competition within the industry.
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No one from Cellnex or Three was available for comment at the time of writing.
In a statement, Mike Walker, chief economic adviser at the CMA, said: "It's important that services provided to mobile networks remain competitive so that the millions of businesses and consumers across the UK that use mobile phones can enjoy lower prices. Cellnex is already the largest independent supplier of mobile towers in the UK. We're concerned that this deal could help to lock in this position and prevent the emergence of new direct competition."
Cellnex and CK Hutchison have until 20 July to reply. ®
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[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60ed93618fa8f50c7ca55ab8/Decision_summary_-_Cellnex-CK_Hutchison.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/13/hutchinson_sells_masts/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YO8KHfF075NTX27lKzt8FQAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YO8KHfF075NTX27lKzt8FQAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YO8KHfF075NTX27lKzt8FQAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/09/vodafone_vantage_towers_ipo_range/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/13/hutchinson_sells_masts/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/08/cellnex_telecom_snaps_up_arqiva_for_2bn/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2019/07/24/vodafone_and_o2_cosy_up_to_share_5g_gear/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/08/cellnex_telecom_snaps_up_arqiva_for_2bn/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YO8KHfF075NTX27lKzt8FQAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: keeping control?
I'm unsure just what 'competition' looks like in the mast site market.
Whilst there will be some potential competition whilst telco's build out their 5G networks and so will be wanting some new mast locations, once a telco has a 5G infrastructure they are unlikely to switch mast sites just because ANO site is cheaper.
If anything Ofcom needs to regulate the market ie. prices site owners can charge.
Two into One does go
go... towards increasing prices for all users which will naturally be passed on to us mere plebs as vastly increased prices.
Same old, same old. nowt new there then. Move along now. Nothing to see. etc etc etc
And yet...the CMA doesn't lift a finger to the massive increase in PAYG call and data pricing.
PAYG call and data pricing has gone through the roof in the past year and the CMA if anything, made matters worse by allowing the merger of o2 and Virgin Media.
Vodafone reduced its inclusive data from 500GB per day to 50GB per day, with its capped £1 a day rate.
With effectively, a charge of £1 per call and £1 per message from the 12th Jan 2021.
Just touch your phone, (switch data on for a moment) and expect a £1 charge that day, pretty much can't be avoided, with a data cap of 50MB.
Yes, FFS, 50MB.
o2 got rid of it's 3-2-1 tariff for new customers.
three increased it's 3-2-1 tariff by 333% (or so it seems, but you don't forget it that way three-three-three' hundred percentage rise) to 10-10-5.
'10p per minute, 10p per text message and 5p per MB of data.
1GB of data now costing £50, up from £10.
Yes, there is still 1p mobile, but that is a minimum of £30 per year to stay connected.
It's clearly no coincidence that these massive price increases happened as Banks introduced compulsory two-factor access to bank accounts, where there is now no choice but to have a mobile phone even if it's just used for banking.
You really do have to ask, what is the point of these regulators when there is a 170,0000 (two year waiting list) to escalate any complaint with the FO (Financial Ombudsman). All of them are an utter time-wasting merry-go-round of pen-pushing nonsense, forcing each individual to explain the same complaint which has affected hundreds of customers at once.
Masts should be publically owned.
keeping control?
So instead of being owned by a Chinese company they'll be owned by a Spanish one. Politics apart I see not a lot of difference here. But politics considered, maybe there might be, and maybe not to our detriment?