By Rory Gallivan
LONDON--CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings PLC's (CFHL.LN) chief
executive officer expects to win more business with EE's rival
mobile telecommunications groups if EE's proposed takeover by
telecoms giant BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) goes ahead.
Speaking in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires on Monday,
Greg Mesch said that the BT-EE tie up would likely put paid to an
agreement CityFibre reached with EE to provide fiber connections to
EE's mobile phone masts.
But he added that rival mobile operators such as Vodafone Group
PLC (VOD.LN), O2 and Three will now be more keen to use CityFibre's
fiber infrastructure rather than that of a direct rival, which BT
will be if it takes over EE.
CityFibre, which listed on the London Stock Exchange last year
with a plan to install broadband fiber infrastructure in mid-sized
U.K. cities, in November announced an agreement to provide
underground fiber connections to improve the performance of their
mobile phone masts in Hull and later other cities.
But BT last month said that it had agreed terms to buy EE for
12.5 billion pounds ($18.7 billion), a move that will give EE
access to BT's fiber infrastructure rather than having to use
CityFibre's.
Despite the likely loss of this deal, Mr Mesch said he sees the
BT-EE tie-up as more positive than negative for CityFibre as mobile
operators will be loath to use the fiber services of BT if it is
now a direct competitor.
He was speaking after CityFibre earlier Monday announced a
pretax loss of GBP7 million for the year ended December 31, up from
a loss of GBP6.2 million the previous year. The company is in the
early stages of a plan to overhaul the U.K.'s Internet provision by
creating underground infrastructure to rival BT's.
Among its early forays into the market was a joint venture with
BT's rivals Sky PLC (SKY.LN) and TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC
(TALK.LN) to provide high speed Internet services to homes and
businesses in York.
Shares at 1121 GMT, down 2 pence, or 3%, at 66 pence valuing the
company at GBP69.2 million.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RoryGallivan