Vodafone’s €20bn phone mast arm leaps on demand for data

Vodafone’s Vantage Towers phone masts division has reported surging numbers of new masts and customers using them ahead of its forthcoming €20 billion stock market flotation.

The business is due to launch shares on the Frankfurt stock market in the coming months and in January Vodafone added its UK masts into the mix, giving it a combined 82,000 sites in 10 European markets.

Over the past nine months, the business added 1400 new “tenancies” as operators rented room on its antenna for their kit. It built 450 new sites, putting it on target to reach 550 new sites by the end of next month.

Investors are likely to see Vantage as a play on 5G, the Internet of Things, and the more general increase in demand for data coverage.

Chief executive Vivek Badrinath said: “The growth opportunity in Europe is considerable, as the rollout of 5G accelerates and mobile operators look to expand their networks to manage ever increasing data traffic.”