Altice Europe creates Fastfiber in Portugal in collaboration with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners

April 20, 2020

Altice Europe has transformed Altice Portugal FTTH into Fastfiber, which it asserts is the largest fiber to the home (FTTH) network wholesaler in Portugal.

Stephen Hardy

Altice Europe N.V. (Euronext: ATC and ATCB) has transformed Altice Portugal FTTH into Fastfiber, which it asserts is the largest fiber to the home (FTTH) network wholesaler in Portugal. Altice Europe had created Altice Portugal FTTH last December through its MEO subsidiary, which recently closed the sale of a 49.99% stake in the wholesale operations to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (see “Altice Europe links with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to create Altice Portugal FTTH network wholesaler”).

Fastfiber will operate an FTTH network that passed approximately 4 million homes in Portugal at the end of 2019. The company will sell access to dark fiber as well as the FTTH infrastructure. MEO will sell technical services to Fastfiber for FTTH network construction, maintenance, and subscriber connection.

The stake sale to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners values Fastfiber at €4.6 billion, which Altice Europe states represents an EBITDA multiple of 20X. The investment firm has made an initial payment of €1.573 billion for the ownership piece, with further scheduled payments of €375 million in December 2021 and €375 million in December 2026, subject to performance-based alternations.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.