National Grid bids for 3,500 phone masts

Acquisition of Crown Castle kit imminent

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 25th June 2004 11:55 GMT

National Grid Transco (NGT) - which owns and operates gas and electricity networks in the UK - has confirmed it is in discussions to buy 3,500 mobile phone and broadcasting masts from US outfit Crown Castle. NGT already has a network of some 1,400 masts. Customers include O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3.

According to the FT, Crown Castle's UK mast business is valued at £1.2bn ($2bn). A deal could be secured as early as next week.

In the UK, Crown Castle's history lies with the BBC Home Service Transmission Division, privatised in 1997. It owns more than 2,500 sites and has access to more than 4,000 rooftop sites.

Providing shared communications infrastructure and network services to telecoms operators and broadcasters, Crown Castle has access to more than 6,500 independent wireless communication sites throughout the UK. ®