Belgian cableco Telenet is keen to secure partnerships with local mobile operators after acquiring its own 3G spectrum to avoid investing heavily in network infrastructure.
Announcing its new licence, the company stated: “Telenet will now look at all…
Belgian cableco Telenet is keen to secure partnerships with local mobile operators after acquiring its own 3G spectrum to avoid investing heavily in network infrastructure.
Announcing its new licence, the company stated: “Telenet will now look at all available options to operate its frequencies at maximum capital efficiency, leveraging as much as possible on existing infrastructure assets and seeking a more intense collaboration with the existing Belgian mobile network operators through mutual value?accretive partnerships.”
Telenet, which currently uses France Telecom’s Mobistar to provide its mobile telephony services, acquired Belgium’s fourth 3G licence last month in partnership with Walloon cable operator Voo.
Tecteo, Voo’s holding company, and Telenet were awarded the licence after successfully placing a minimum E71.5m bid.
In a note to investors on 1 July, ratings agency Moody’s said it expects Telenet’s capex associated with its planned network roll out will be limited to approximately E50m, because of plans to find partners to help roll out its network.
“In Moody’s opinion, owning the spectrum should over the medium term (i) help improve Telenet’s position in the Belgian mobile market; (ii) better position the company to benefit from the future growth in mobile data; (iii) enable the roll-out of high speed data networks such as LTE; and (iv) act as a hedge against future capacity constraints,” the ratings firm stated.
In addition, a Telenet spokesman said the group plans to acquire 2G spectrum in 2015 through a “spectrum reshuffle” for around E31m. These frequencies will help complement the 3G spectrum it was awarded in June, he said.