European telcos cash in on tower assets as high-cost 5G investment looms

FILE PHOTO: Different types of 4G, 5G and data radio relay antennas for mobile phone networks are pictured on a relay mast operated by Vodafone in Berlin, Germany April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

MADRID/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - European telecoms firms are cashing in on the money-making power of masts, as tower companies line up to pay multi-billion dollar price tags for antennas buzzing with ever more data ahead of the advent of 5G.

Faced with straitened revenue growth and stubbornly high debt built up during the last network upgrade, telecoms companies are relishing the quick cash injections they can get from selling these portfolios, or future income from spin-offs.