The news comes as the company says it aims to improve the availability of high-speed wireless broadband in rural areas, and help mobile operators address coverage blackspots.
"We are pleased to announce our plans to invest €25m to add 300 towers to our existing portfolio," said Colin Cunningham, CEO of Cignal (pictured). "This infrastructure provides the platform from which operators can deliver high-speed broadband and mobile services to their consumers. Though our strategy of hosting equipment for multiple operators on each tower they can provide a much more cost-efficient service."
The planned buildout will cover all counties in Ireland, with site developed on ‘build to suit’ contracts and leased back to mobile phone and wireless broadband operators.
"The construction of 300 new towers represents a significant investment in network infrastructure, which will assist in addressing mobile phone coverage blackspots and the availability of wireless broadband across rural Ireland," said Minister of State for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development, Sean Canney.
The investment has received the full backing of Cignal’s majority shareholder Infravia Capital Partners, an infrastructure investor, which manages over €4 billion in assets.
Cignal currently has a portfolio of over 450 towers, which equates to almost 20% of the Irish market for infrastructure and supports a number of different types of services including mobile, fixed wireless broadband communications and broadcast services.
In related in news, the Irish government announced plans to build Ireland’s €1.1 billion wholesale national broadband network. The government is close to awarding the contract to a consortium of Enet, which operates metro networks in Ireland, SSE, a UK energy company that has a telecoms business, and John Laing, a UK infrastructure investor.
