Infrastructure

We assist operators, investors, and policy makers in understanding the value of towers, fibre and other passive infrastructure.
As the industry continues to optimise the financial efficiency of its network assets, we assist our clients in understanding the value of towers, fibre and other passive infrastructure, as well as the pros and cons of monetising or sharing passive and active components within shared networks.
We provide support on both the buy and sell side of tower divestments, as well as advising operators on the benefits of passive and active network sharing. For tower transactions, we provide business cases together with commercial and technical due diligence. For network sharing, operators often jointly appoint us as a ‘clean team’ to build a business case without sharing data.
We also consider the policy issues raised by infrastructure sharing, applying our understanding of the pros and cons of InfraCo models and inter-operator network sharing from the perspectives of competition, consumer benefits and environmental benefits.
Our infrastructure services
Tower portfolio due diligence
We use our network modelling expertise, combined with detailed geographical analysis, to build comprehensive forecasts of the lease-up potential of sites.
Evaluation of business opportunities
We provide strategic assessments of opportunities for diversification, including small cells, private networks, data centres and other services.
Regulation of digital infrastructure
We help policy makers regulate the use of towers, networks and spectrum while retaining incentives for infrastructure deployment and competition.
Commercial due diligence
We review entities’ revenue, cost projections, and perform an in-depth market assessment, to identify any ‘red flags’ which are then investigated in detail.
Technical due diligence
We review the operational performance of networks and the age and quality of equipment used on networks, to better inform investment and strategic decision making.
Our project experience
Buy-side due diligence on tower portfolios
We undertook commercial due diligences on various tower portfolios in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Vendor due diligence for Salt’s towers
Aetha supported Salt with the successful sale of its tower assets in Switzerland to Cellnex.
FTTH due diligence in Scandinavia
Aetha undertook due diligence of Altifiber’s operations ahead of investment by KC Impact.
Due diligence of mobile and fixed operator
Aetha undertook a due diligence review of 2degrees’ operations ahead of its acquisition by Alignvest.
Relevant articles and reports
MTN acquires IHS – is this a shift in the tower ownership model?
02 March 2026
MTN acquires IHS – is this a shift in the tower ownership model?
Fourteen years after first selling its mobile towers to IHS, helping establish one of the […]
Dish bows out: How does this impact Open RAN’s future?
6 October 2025
Dish’s bid to become a competitive fourth mobile operator in the US has hit a dramatic speed bump following recent announcements of spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX. […]
Network sharing: unlocking scale to bridge Africa’s digital divide
7 August 2025
Sub-Saharan Africa has seen rapid development of communications services in recent years. However, economic and geographic challenges mean that over 60% of the population remains […]
Telco delayering: where might it take us?
1 November 2024
‘Delayering’ – the separation of telecoms business into their infrastructure and service components – is becoming increasingly popular. Countless mobile operators have carved out their towers, snapped up […]






