Start-up firm backed by Tchenguiz set for wireless broadband surge

Macropolitan, a start-up company backed by the property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, expects to have built a portfolio of 10,000 rooftop sites by this autumn as it readies itself for a surge in wireless broadband network launches in 2008.

Macropolitan manages and leases rooftop space to telecoms operators looking to install communications equipment in urban areas. It already operates 7,600 sites after signing exclusive deals with companies such as Travelodge, Fitness First and Premier Travel Inn, making it the largest site operator in the UK.

Ryan Jarvis, previously head of BT's wireless broadband division, and Richard Greco, the former chief executive of the broadband provider Bulldog, established Macropolitan on the expectation that demand for wireless broadband is set to explode over the next few years. Its financial backers include Mr Tchenguiz, the American investment bank Miller Buckfire and the incubator investment company Global Emerging Markets.

Mr Jarvis, the chief executive of Macropolitan, said that finding appropriate aerial sites was a laborious process for operators as deals have to be signed with property owners on an individual basis, while legal and planning issues also slow down deployment. He said an individual deal often takes up to a year and there is no standard pricing model.

Mr Jarvis said his company acts as a "one-stop shop" for existing and new network providers, with a portfolio of 10,000 sites available by the autumn.

He said the model lowers the cost of finding and setting up transmission sites that can speed up a network deployment by six months. He said Macropolitan's model would also help reduce potential interference between different networks using separate technologies.

The company already has customers using its sites for 3G base stations but Mr Jarvis said he expects the auction of large chunks of spectrum to drive significant demand for rooftop space as new market entrants look to rapidly deploy wireless broadband and mobile television services.

The telecoms regulator Ofcom is selling off a vast swathe of spectrum over the next three years that will enable existing and new companies to offer wireless broadband services via the WiMax standard and mobile digital television. BT is expected to compete aggressively to buy spectrum for the deployment of WiMax services, while companies such as O2 and Vodafone could buy spectrum to bolster 3G network coverage.

Mr Jarvis said he expects Macropolitan's low-cost aggregator model to take a large share of the market in urban areas as it turns up the heat on traditional towers businesses operated by Arqiva and National Grid Wireless.