18 October 2022

Cellnex has announced a new deal to expand its distributed antenna systems (DAS) business in the UK, spending an undisclosed sum to acquire DAS specialist HiBW. 

HiBW, part of the Herbert Retail Group, has a DAS portfolio that includes high-profile clients from across the communications, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and government industries.

The deal will see HiBW combined with Cellnex UK’s existing DAS portfolio, including its deployment at Manchester City football club’s Etihad Stadium, creating a new business unit known as CUKIS. The newly formed CUKIS will be led by HiBW’s director Tim Loynes and will handle all of Cellnex UK’s and HiBW’s combined DAS operations.

“I’m really excited about the growth opportunities the acquisition of HiBW will create for our customers and for us,” said David Crawford, managing director, Cellnex UK. “By combining HiBW’s agility and diverse customer portfolio with our current strong DAS business and ability to scale, Cellnex UK will be able to provide best-in-class solutions across all industries. I look forward to welcoming Tim and his team on board and growing our business together.”

Cellnex’s increasing focus on DAS and small cell connectivity should come as no surprise. While mobile tower infrastructure – the heart of Cellnex’s international portfolio – is naturally an integral part of the mobile ecosystem, the nature of 5G spectrum means that macro deployments alone will struggle to provide coverage to indoor locations, where the majority of 5G’s usage will take place.

As such, the role of small cells and DAS is expected to increase in the years to come with the rollout of 5G.

“Together as CUKIS, we have all the components to deliver a market-leading DAS offering to enterprises,” explained Tim Loynes as new director of CUKIS. “I look forward to getting started and driving real growth for our customers and MNO partners.”