Telecoms and mobile mast investor AP Wireless UK becomes Radius Global

Telecoms investor AP Wireless UK, which via Icon Tower is a company that has often butted heads with mobile network operators (EE, O2 and Vodafone) over the issue of mast sites and related rental agreements, has this week become Radius Global – bringing the group under one global name to reflect their scale, investment and position across the digital infrastructure landscape.

The official announcement states that the company, which describes itself as being a global infrastructure investment business “focused on acquiring, managing and creating long-term value from mission-critical assets” (e.g. mast sites), now holds more than 14,000 lease streams across 23 countries.

“Radius Global … invests across the digital infrastructure ecosystem, including cell site and ground leases, network switches and exchanges, fibre aggregation points, Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), data centres and towers. This breadth of investment capabilities enables the group to work across asset classes and geographies, providing network operators, TowerCos, property owners and digital infrastructure partners with capital solutions supported by deep sector expertise and local market execution,” said the announcement.

Beginning today, the group’s offices and businesses worldwide will all now operate under the Radius Global Infrastructure name. The group’s ownership, leadership, and financial structure remain unchanged, and customers and partners will continue to work with the same teams and points of contact.

Julian Plumstead, CEO of Radius Global Infrastructure, said:

“The demand for data and connectivity is reshaping the infrastructure the world depends on, creating significant opportunities for long-term investment. Our role is to put capital, expertise and global reach behind the assets that make that connectivity possible. Operating under the Radius Global Infrastructure name reflects the magnitude of that opportunity and the scale and expertise we bring across the global digital infrastructure ecosystem.”

Despite the change of name, we still expect Icon Tower to continue its high-profile legal battles with major UK mobile network operators over disputes around rental payments and control of mast sites. Mobile operators have in the past been frustrated when Icon Tower constructs brand-new mobile masts that charge higher lease rates, often directly adjacent to existing masts that landowners may later eject the mobile operators from (i.e. operators sometimes feel as if this leaves them with little option but to move on to the Icon Tower sites at a higher rental).