Meetup MENA 2019 - TowerXchange
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Diamond sponsor:
29-30 January 2019, Dubai,UAE R
Meetup MENA 2019
The 20th retreat for the telecoms infrastructure elite, coming to MENA for the first time in 2019
1 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena
To discuss your participation, contact Annabelle on +44 7423 512588 or email amayhew@towerxchange.com
TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019 advisory committee
Rustem Umerov Sam Evans Dimitris Lioulias
CEO Associate Partner VP, Strategy
ASTEM Delta Partners Saudi Telecom Company
Wiktor Barcicki Marc Ganzi Nihat Narin
Group Senior Director, Technology Economics Founder & CEO CEO
Etisalat Digital Bridge Global Tower
Malek Bouteraa Enda Hardiman Gulfraz Qayyum
former CTO Founder & Managing Partner Managing Director, TMT, EMEA
Ooredoo Hardiman Telecommunications Citi
Chuck Green Kamil Hilali Suresh Sidhu
non-Exec Director Group Chief Strategy CEO
edotco Zain edotco Group
Steve Howden Ali Khan James Maclaurin
SVP, Group Head M&A Senior Expert, M&A ex-Founder
IHS Omantel edotco
Companies which have attended previous TowerXchange Meetups
2 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena
What is a Meetup?
For the past five years, TowerXchange’s series of invitation only Meetups have become the meeting point for the leading minds in the
global tower industry. Assembling MNO strategists, towerco CXOs and top operational, financial and technical experts, each Meetup
brings together the top 250 decision makers in the sector.
TowerXchange Meetup MENA: Driving sharing,
TowerXchange's Meetups have been attended by over 4,000 CXOs, senior decision makers and
efficiencies and investment in MENA's passive
leading experts over the past five years. Combining a small number of keynote panels, the real
infrastructure
feature of a Meetup are small roundtable breakouts, connecting you directly and in an intimate
As infrastructure sharing starts to become more widespread,
format with the sector's most influential figures. Each roundtable focuses on a specific strategic,
and the region opens up to the towerco business model,
financial, operational or technical subject and is hosted by an expert moderator. With the ability
TowerXchange are delighted to host the first Meetup MENA
to attend four roundtables at each Meetup, participants can tailor their agenda to their exact
in Dubai in 2019. needs.
Creating supportive regulatory "TowerXchange are providing an important information service to the global tower industry by
environments sharing news, independent analysis and best practices through the TowerXchange Journal, and
by bringing together the leading decision makers at the TowerXchange Meetup - an invaluable
$
networking and knowledge sharing event focused specifically on the industry dynamics among
Unlocking investment in passive tower companies, their customers and suppliers" Chuck Green, former CEO Helios Towers and
infrastructure former CFO Crown Castle
“TowerXchange does a great job in bringing together all the towercos, operators, investors as
Exploring infrastructure sharing
well as suppliers. TowerXchange Meetups have become the definitive gathering for business
strategies for the digital
leaders in telecommunications infrastructure, and TowerXchange's publication is widely
respected as the industry's journal of record” Suresh Sidhu, CEO, edotco
Rebuilding and expanding networks
in conflict zones “TowerXchange is the GSMA for the tower industry” Akhil Gupta, Chairman of Bharti Infratel
"Thank you for a greatly organised conference. It’s difficult to create a conference with a good
Optimising site opex and capex balance of representatives from all relevant stakeholders and you guys did that brilliantly"
through efficiency measures Dimitris Lioulias, VP, Strategy, Saudi Telecom Company
3 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena
TowerXchange Meetup MENA - Agenda
29-30 January 2019
Day One | 29th January 2019
08:00 Welcome coffee & registration 12:45 Networking lunch
09:00 TowerXchange welcome address: The evolution of the 14:15 Roundtable session 2*
towerco industry and the MENA tower landscape
15:15 Networking refreshment break
09:45 Keynote: Communications infrastructure for 5G and the
digital economy 15:45 Debate: MNO owned versus independent versus joint
Inspirational thought leaders from the region’s governments venture towercos - what are the pros and cons of each
and MNOs share their vision for investment, rollout and model?
optimisation of tomorrow’s networks across MENA A range of towerco business models have emerged globally.
This debate examines each model and the pros and cons that
10:30 Keynote towerco panel: Driving efficiencies and creating they bring to MNOs, investors and the broader sector and
value through the towerco business model economy
Founders and CXOs of the world’s leading towercos examine
tangible impacts the model has had in select global markets 16:30 Panel: The investibility of a tower industry in MENA
and how this applies to unique environments across MENA Key investors share their appetite to funnel capital into
an emerging MENA tower industry, discuss the expected
11:15 Networking refreshment break and opening of the involvement of different stakeholders and forecast the value
exhibition hall locked in the sector
11:45 Roundtable session 1* 17:15 Chair’s closing remarks
Participants are divided into discussion groups of roughly 20
participants, hosted by an expert moderator on a selection of 17:30 Networking drinks in the exhibition hall
different topics. All sessions are held under Chatham House
rule to facilitate open exchange 19:30 Networking dinner
4 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena
TowerXchange Meetup MENA - Agenda
29-30 January 2019
Day One | 30th January 2019
08:30 Morning coffee 14:30 Networking refreshment break
09:00 Infrastructure for smart cities and 5G: Business models, 15:00 Reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of cell site
partnerships and technologies to deliver efficiencies operations
In a region leading the charge on 5G this panel examines Infrastructure sharing presents one solution to reduce site
the roles of different stakeholders from government and opex but optimization of energy generation, O&M protocols,
municipalities to enterprises, operators and infracos in workforce management and site design presents further
delivering the the networks of the future efficiency gains. This panel examines lessons learned by tower
industry operational experts who have overhauled the way in
09:45 Connecting the unconnected: Low cost, rapid deployment which the telecoms sector manages towers.
solutions for network restoration, temporary coverage
requirements and rural areas 16:00 Chairs closing remarks and end of Meetup
This panel shares experiences rolling out infrastructure in
remote areas, regions experiencing or recovering from conflict
and areas requiring temporary coverage, focussing on the
most cost effective solutions and business models to improve
connectivity
10:30 Networking refreshment break
11:00 Roundtable session 3*
12:00 Networking lunch
13:30 Roundtable session 4*
5 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena
Provisional roundtable topics
Hour long interactive sessions hosted by an expert moderator. Each table will involve approximately 20
participants and will be held under Chatham House rule to facilitate open exchange. Provisional topics include:
< Evolution and comparison of towerco business models globally < MENA fuel trends and the role for hybrid solutions over generators
< Creating a win-win regulatory environment < What role will ESCOs play in MENA?
< MNO joint venture towercos: can they work? < Optimising energy efficiency at high temperatures
< Tower value crystallisation for MNOs without sale & leaseback – < How tighter asset management can deliver better margins in
can “truly independent” towercos create more value than a developed markets
majority MNO-owned towerco? < Strengthening and future proofing sites for increased infrastructure
< Carving out and creating value in MNO owned towercos
sharing
< Sale & leasebacks: The good, the bad and the ugly
< Accelerating co-location
< Infrastructure requirements, timelines and models for 5G rollout in
< Pricing considerations and common pitfalls to avoid with your
the GCC
commercial negotiations
< The MENA MNO landscape: Data and subscriber growth,
< Reducing site opex in developing markets
competition and M&A
< Low cost rapid deployment solutions
< Achieving value through decommissioning
< Saudi Arabia
< What drives value for tower investors?
< Iraq
< Getting active sharing agreements off the ground
< Infracos and infrastructure sharing models for smart cities < Egypt
< 5G use cases and commercialisation: reality versus myth < Iran
< Indoor coverage in a 5G era < North Africa
< Who will be the infrastructure owners in tomorrow’s networks? < Pakistan
< Delivering rural coverage cost effectively < GCC
< How to scale a towerco < Conflict markets: Where and when the growth will be
6 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena2018 sponsors and exhibitors
Diamond sponsor:
R
GRIDSERVE®
GRIDSERVE Sustainable Energy Limited (“GRIDSERVE”) is a rapidly expanding energy services company which develops, builds, owns and operates
sustainable energy solutions for critical power infrastructure. We are seasoned sustainable energy professionals with roots that started with some of the
world’s first commercial deployments of solar energy and energy storage solutions over 40-years ago. This rich history of product design, manufacturing, and
solution provision has uniquely positioned GRIDSERVE at the forefront of today’s hybrid energy marketplace. More recently GRIDSERVE’s strong pedigree in
solar and energy storage, has been responsible for the development, construction, and operation of more than a gigawatt of solar energy and energy storage
solutions, including connecting over 100 utility-scale sustainable energy projects to the UK grid in the last five years alone.
GRIDSERVE has combined best-in-class modular technologies and services to focus on delivering turn-key dependable, low cost, clean energy for critical
power infrastructure applications. GRIDSERVE’s 12kW DC Solar Energy Centre (SEC12) integrates the world’s highest performance and most optimised
components to provide maximum efficiency DC hybrid power systems that have been designed specifically for direct current telecom BTS applications.
GRIDSERVE’s SEC12 is configured as a ‘plug and play’ hybrid power solution that integrates the very latest advances in bifacial solar power, intelligent
energy storage, and ultra-high efficiency DC generators, into single systems complete with climate controls, and fully controllable, secure, advanced remote
monitoring features. GRIDSERVE is accredited to the international quality and environmental standards ISO9001 and ISO14001.
www.gridserve.com
7 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena2018 sponsors and exhibitors
Exhibitor: Infozech manages over 100,000 tower sites, tracking and valuation support. Our clients include major
over 42 Million litres of fuel per year, reconciling TowerCos, private equity funds, corporate finance
bills worth USD 23 Million, reconciling 700,000 / advisory and investment functions of leading
Assets for customers across multiple geographies. banks, and telecommunications carriers. We
are particularly active in end-to-end support of
www.infozech.com mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
Elum Energy All of our staff have held profit-accountable
Exhibitor:
positions with global telecommunications carriers,
Elum energy develops a software able to monitor manufacturers and systems integration houses
and control télécom energy Systems in order to prior to joining us. This allows full support of clients
reduce by 20% the energy Bill for Solar sites. M2Catalyst, LLC across the continuum from technology through
Elum energy targets MNO and Towercos that want to market effectiveness, spanning engineering,
to reduce their energy Bill coming from a very M2Catalyst is a big data/business analytics licensor commercial strategy, financial structuring and
diverse brownfield towers in emerging countries. that crowdsources trillions of cell tower, mobile proven operating methodologies.
network, device, and application data points from
millions of mobile devices. www.telecoms.net
www.elum-energy.com
Exhibitor: Our data scientists then utilize proprietary
algorithms to generate invaluable actionable
intelligence for members of the wireless ecosystem,
i.e., infrastructure providers, tower owners,
Meetup
Infozech
wireless carriers, mobile device manufacturers, and
Infozech is IOT based cost optimization and app developers.
revenue management solution provider for telecom
infrastructure providers and operators since 1999. www.m2mobileinsights.com/blog/a-r-evolution-in-
how-towers-are-valued-and-how-co-locations-are-sold/ MENA 2019
Infozech’s iTower Product Suite helps tower
companies with Asset, Billing (Infrastructure & 29-30 January 2019, Dubai,UAE
Energy), Site uptime and Energy Management with
Analytics powered approach. Infozech’s Analytics The 20th retreat for the telecoms
Hardiman Telecommunications
Product Suite enable consumers with meaningful infrastructure elite, coming to MENA for the
insights for smarter decisions. We believe that “Data Hardiman Telecommunications Ltd. was established first time in 2019
is itself a cost till it is associated to analytics to get in 1994. We are a boutique consultancy specialised www.towerxchange.com/meetups/meetup-mena
actionable insights”. in strategy development, due diligence assessment
8 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaTowerXchange’s analysis of
entered into exclusive negotiations with the MNO
regarding their portfolio of ~8,000 Saudi Arabian
the tower market in the Middle
sites. Another Middle Eastern tower sale is due to
be announced imminently, with another MNO (with
2000-2500 ground based towers, and roughly double
East & North Africa that in rooftops) in the process of appointing an
advisor to run the deal.
Further MNOs in the region are also understood
to be studying tower sales closely, attracting the
interest of towercos and investors in this virgin
territory.
In Iran, number one and number three MNO MCI
and Rightel have opted for a different path, forming
a towerco venture – Iranian Towers – in partnership
with domestic towerco, Fanasia. In Saudi Arabia,
Saudi Telecom Company which had previously
looked at both a joint venture and a tower sale has
now set its sights on carving out an internal towerco
to better manage its portfolio of 16,400 towers. STC
has invited bids for a management contract in its
new tower venture, with several parties understood
The Middle East and North Africa is the region the counterparts in the Middle East, with active sharing to have submitted offers. Whilst in Egypt, Orange
least penetrated by the towerco business model agreements in place in Tunisia and Algeria and (which in 2016 under the MobiNil brand had
globally. With the exception of Pakistan (which approximately one third of towers in Egypt being reached an agreement to sell 2,000 towers to Eaton
TowerXchange has grouped into our regional shared, but on the whole infrastructure sharing Towers; a deal which didn’t obtain regulatory
coverage), there have been no tower transactions of between MENA MNOs has been limited. approvals) has instead issued an ESCO RFP as an
scale, and whilst a handful of build-to suit towercos alternative strategy to optimise their infrastructure.
have emerged, fewer than 1% of the region’s Yet the winds of change are upon us. TowerXchange has also been made aware of further
271,489 towers sit in independent towerco hands. MNOs on the cusp of announcing ESCO RFPs.
In Kuwait, IHS Towers have reached a deal to
In North Africa, some operators have embraced acquire Zain’s 1,600 sites (with the deal expected Infrastructure sharing is gaining increasing
infrastructure sharing more readily than their to close imminently) and the towerco has also momentum in the region, buoyed both initiatives
9 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure one: Tower counts across MENA markets Source: TowerXchange
Bahrain Tunisia Qatar Kuwait Afghanistan Jordan Oman UAE Iraq Algeria Morocco Egypt Pakistan Saudi Iran
1,500 4,083 5,000 6,800 7,000 7,149 10,000 13,000 14,242 18,000 19,054 22,704 34,300 Arabia 36,000
35,663
such as Bahrain’s new legislation and by the desire Whilst the MENA region has a number of common network expansion required and operational
to optimise both capex and opex. Incumbents with threads including a number of operators active challenges present.
their leading market positions and bigger networks, in multiple markets, a central role of government
In Q1 2019, in response to the momentum in the
have typically been less willing that their challenger in business, a strong Arabic influence and similar
market, TowerXchange will bring one of their
counterparts to share but attitudes are starting to climates and geographies, it is also important to
world renowned Meetups to Dubai for the first
change. note the stark differences across different markets;
time; assembling the who’s who in the MENA
From the highly developed GCC countries pushing
tower market. If you would like to get involved,
In markets where new build is required, operators towards 5G and decommissioning of parallel
please contact Laura Graves, Managing Director,
who may not necessarily be considering a tower infrastructure, through to the war torn countries of
EMEA at lgraves@towerxchange.com
divestment, are opening up to the idea of working Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria where network rollout,
with independent towercos in a bid to rollout new restoration and power remain top concerns in Country analyses
sites in a a less capitally intensive manner. New operationally challenging markets.
build to suit players are emerging to fill a void Afghanistan has five MNOs, Afghan Wireless
and in Egypt, where new build requirements are TowerXchange examine the dynamics at play in 15 (AWCC) which is the country’s fastest growing
particularly high, major international towercos are countries across the MENA region, exploring the key MNO, Roshan which is funded by the Aga Khan
considering entering the market on a built to suit or MNOs present and their tower portfolios, the level Development Fund and is the country’s largest
build to fill basis. of infrastructure sharing and presence of towercos, MNO, multi-national players MTN (which has hinted
10 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure two: Footprints of MENA’s major MNOs
Afghanistan
Coutry Etisalat MTN Ooredoo Orange STC Vodafone Zain Subscribers: 34.0mn
Afghanistan Tower count: 7,000
MNOs: Five
Algeria
Towerco activity: None (Frontier Tower
Bahrain
Solutions previously operated sites)
Egypt
Iran Networks are better established in Northern and
Iraq Central regions, although Afghan Wireless is still
Jordan investing in Southern regions of the country.
Since the MNOs entered the market in the early
Kuwait
2000s, the security situation has deteriorated
Lebanon
significantly. The Taliban demanded the shutdown
Libya of a significant number of sites to avoid surveillance
Morocco by national and international security forces; where
Oman these demands were not met many sites were blown
Palestine up. MNOs have been reluctant to invest and so
there has been little activity in terms of new tower
Pakistan
build or co-location. Frontier Tower Solutions had
Qatar
operated in the market in the earlier days, building,
Saudi Arabia operating and maintaining sites for Afghan Wireless
Syria but the towerco has since wound up operations in
Tunisia the country.
UAE
Yemen 99% of sites run on gensets - even in cities - and the
biggest challenge is getting fuel delivered to sites.
n.b. Lighter colours indicate the company owning a stake in an MNO in the country Source: TowerXchange
Solar solutions had been examined but the payback
at exiting the market) and Etisalat, and newcomer Each of the operators own pretty much of all of period means that MNOs have been reluctant to
Afghan Telecom which is part of the Ministry of their sites, with the MNOs understood to have invest. There are few to no major international
Communications and Information Technology. between 1000-1500 towers each. The Telecom contractors operating in the market outside of
Telecommunications remains an important sector Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan (ATRA) states the military (with foreign troops also having
for the Afghan government, with Afghan Wireless that there are 7,191 base stations in the country, and massively reduced their presence, a factor which
understood to be the largest tax payer in the with limited infrastructure sharing one can assume caused a drop in subscriber numbers) although
country. that a rough proxy for the number of towers. TowerXchange has heard rumour about one multi-
11 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menanational MSP offering ESCO-like services in the Figure three: Heatmap of tower deals and towerco activity in MENA
market.
In spite of the challenging conditions, coverage
in the market has been described as “fairly
okay”. There are 30.4mn subscribers with mobile
penetration sitting at 89% (source: ATRA) and 4G
coverage is available in major urban areas, where
data usage continues to grow faster than expected.
In early 2018, the ATRA agreed to provide
US$32.1mn of funding to deploy 250 base stations
in rural and remote areas. Roshan will deploy 137
sites, Afghan Wireless 84 sites and Afghan Telecom
a total of 29.
Algeria
Towerco activity
Subscribers: 47.0mn
Major tower sale completed (plus further sales rumoured)
Tower count: 18,000
Rumours emerging of a major tower transaction
MNOs: Three
Towerco activity: None Confirmed tower sale process underway
No towerco activity or deal rumours Source: TowerXchange
Algeria has three MNOs, Mobilis (Algerie Telecom) 1
with 37% market share, Djezzy (Optimum Telecom Figure four: Tower ownership in Algeria 2
Algerie) with 35% and Ooredoo (Wataniya
Telecom Algerie) with 27% There are 47mn mobile
3
connections in the country, growing at a rate of 8% 4
YoY and mobile penetration sits at 113% (Source: 4,500 5
ARPT - L’Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Mobilis
7,500 6
Télécommunications). Each of the MNOs obtained a Djezzy
4G license in 2016 and rollout is well underway with
Ooredoo
around one quarter of the population covered as of
Q1 2018.
6,000
There are an estimated 18,000 towers in the country
Source: TowerXchange
of which 20% are ground based and the rest are
12 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menarooftop or alternative site typologies. Mobilis has Figure five: Tower ownership by Egypt’s MNOs
the largest portfolio with over 7000 sites, followed
by Djezzy with 6,000 and Ooredoo with 4,500.
Djezzy is currently undergoing a project to deploy 2,000
500 sites whilst Mobilis is deploying 1200 to 1400
sites. Ooredoo has also started also to deploy 7,500 Etisalat
sites after a period of low investment over recent Orange
7,000
years, with an estimated 350-500 sites likely to be
Vodacom
deployed.
Telecom Egypt
Only 2-3% of sites are currently shared, with
many lacking the structural capacity for 6,166
additional tenants and MNOs failing to agree Source: TowerXchange
what constitutes a fair swap. Ooredoo and Djezzy
ones in accordance with best practice”. Emphasis
have reportedly reached an agreement regarding
Bahrain will be placed on towers which blend with the
active sharing.
Subscribers: 2.6mn environment around them and infrastructure
Tower count: 1,500 sharing will be encouraged.
There has been no towerco activity in the market
MNOs: Three
to date, although North African Infrashare had
Towerco activity: Infrashare (newly formed) Egypt
considered build to suit opportunities. With
Subscribers: 104.5mn
VEON as major shareholders (VEON – formerly The Kingdom of Bahrain has three mobile network Tower count: 22,704
VimpelCom - sold their Italian towers to Cellnex operators; Batelco, Saudi Telecom Company owned MNOs: Four
and looked at the sale of its assets in Russia and Viva and Zain serving a subscriber base of 2.6mn Towerco activity: HOI-MEA
the CIS ) Djezzy had carried out an exploratory (source: TRA Q3 2017).
study into a potential tower sale. Limits on Egypt now has four MNOs (each with 4G licenses)
foreign direct investment in the country (limiting In spite of its small landmass, Bahrain has a total with Telecom Egypt joining Vodafone, Etisalat
international players to a 49% stake) however of 1500 sites with little infrastructure sharing and Orange after having obtained a license in
meant that there was a lack of appetite from taking place between operators. In 2016, the 2017. With 104.5mn subscribers (source: GSMA
towercos to enter the market. Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of intelligence, Q 2017) and just over 22,000 towers,
Bahrain (TRA) commissioned a study to examine the Egypt has over 4,600 subscribers per tower, the
In terms of site operations, 99% of sites are on rationalisation of the Kingdom’s total tower count highest in the MENA region.
grid with generators used for backup on core down to a core network of 400 sites. In early 2018,
sites. With comparably cheap fuel prices the case the TRA introduced new legislation to regulate the Tower ownership is fairly evenly split amongst the
for hybrid solutions is reduced. deployment of new towers and “rectify existing three established MNOs with new market entrant,
13 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure six: Tower ownership in Iran two per site due to the high loads. Fuel remains
cheap by international standards and so the case for
hybrid solutions is reduced; although fuel subsidies
1,000 are gradually being phased out. Orange has issued
4,000 106 an RFP for an ESCO to take over power for a
portion of their towers in the market, with a goal
MCI of improving energy efficiency at sites. At least one
11,000
MTN Irancell of the other MNOs is expected to follow in Orange’s
footsteps.
Rightel
Iranian Towers Iran
Fanasia Subscribers: 118mn
21,000 Tower count: 36,000
MNOs: Three national plus FCP and WiMAX
Source: TowerXchange players
Towerco activity: Iranian Towers and Fanasia
Telecom Egypt lagging behind with just 2000 towers. infrastructure services for a three year period
Four infraco licenses also having been awarded to whilst it establishes it network. Iran is the Middle East’s largest mobile market
Alkan, Mobiserve, EEC and HOI-MEA to enable them with 118mn subscribers. There are three national
to own towers, although only HOI-MEA has built Each of the four MNOs were awarded an 4G operators in the country of which MCI (Mobile
and retained a portfolio of towers with their current license in 2016, and whilst 4G coverage is relatively Communication Company of Iran) is the largest with
site count sitting at 38. Rumours had circulated that extensive in Cairo, major rollout is still required 61.3mn subscribers and 43% of the market share.
HOI-MEA were looking for a buyer for their towers. elsewhere. Collectively, Orange, Vodafone and MTN-Irancell, a joint venture in which MTN holds
Etisalat are understood to be adding 300-500 new a 49% stake, is Iran’s second largest operator with
There have been no tower transactions of scale in towers per year, whilst Telecom Egypt has initiated 45.5mn subscribers and 40% of the market share;
the market. MobiNil (now Orange) reached a deal the next phase of their network rollout, requiring and RighTel is the third largest operator with 9.5mn
back in 2016 to sell 2,000 of their sites to Eaton the addition of 1,000 new sites (GBTs, rooftops and subscribers and around 8-9% market share. In
Towers for $131mn although the deal was cancelled IBS). Such high requirements for new build and co- addition to this there are a number of FCP players
and does not look like it will return to the table locations has attracted the interest of international and WiMAX operators who make up the balance of
any time soon. Infrastructure sharing between towercos, with American Tower, TASC Towers, the market share.
the MNOs is relatively widespread, with Orange Digital Bridge and Eaton Tower all being linked to
reporting that over a third of the towers they use potential opportunities in the market. There are currently around 36,000 towers in the
are shared with other operators. In early 2018, Iranian market and with very little infrastructure
Telecom Egypt reached a wholesale agreement Grid connection for tower sites is slow and sharing between the operators there is a significant
with Vodafone to utilise its transmission and expensive and so generators are widely used, often degree of parallel infrastructure. In 2014,
14 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFanasia, an Iranian company with a background Figure seven: Ownership of Iraq’s 14,242 towers
as a turnkey service provider to the country’s
MNOs, started their own towerco business. Their
first project on Kish Island, conducted with the 3,669
support of the Kish Free Zone Organisation, was 850 300 Zain
to rationalise the number of towers on the island. 200 Asiacell
With 110 sites on the Island, each with a single
tenant and unsuitable for the addition of further Korek Telecom
tenants, Fanasia built 27 new sites which the Fastlink
operators were mandated to use, whilst existing
sites were decommissioned. The municipality 5,200 4,024 Tishknet
benefited from a revenue sharing model on top of Other 4G LTE players
the land rental fee and further benefited from the
freeing up of land under the old towers. Following
the success of the Kish Island project, Fanasia Source: TowerXchange
reached a similar agreement with the municipality
had proposed the introduction of a fourth national
of Mashhad, Iran’s second most populous city to
Iraq operator (in which the ruling government would
develop a core network of 350 sites in March 2016.
Subscribers: 36.7mn have a stake) although further details are yet to
Fanasia currently owns 106 towers.
Tower count: 14,242 emerge with political issues thought to be holding
MNOs: Three national plus several LTE only the process up.
In early 2017, in response to the growing trend
players in Kurdistan
towards infrastructure sharing in Iran, a new tower
company, Iranian Towers, was formed. The three Towerco activity: None (although rumours There are just over 14,000 towers in the market
shareholders in the company are MCI and Rightel, circulating) split between the national and Kurdistan operators
Iran’s number one and three MNOs, and Fanasia, (figure seven). Approximately 10-15% of the
Iran’s first towerco. The first phase of Iranian Iraq has three nationwide MNOs which own 2G country’s total stock was understood to have been
Towers’ operations will be the construction of and 3G licenses; Zain, Asiacell (owned by Ooredoo) destroyed or damaged during the conflict over the
approximately 1,000 new sites which are capable and Korek Telecom (in which Orange has a stake). past three years, with power systems particularly
of accommodating multiple tenants. These sites Zain has the largest mobile market share, with damaged, and so major reparatory works have been
will be constructed primarily in the major cities in Asiacell close behind, whilst Korek Telecom is underway.
order to accommodate 4G and 4.5G rollout. The new the country’s fastest growing operator which is
rollout will include both ground based and rooftop dominant in the Kurdistan region. In addition to There has been significant under investment
sites and will be conducted with the coordination the three nationwide operators, there are a host in networks in recent years with 3G coverage
of municipalities who will benefit from revenue of 4G LTE players in the Kurdistan region, Fastlink understood to be particularly poor and so
sharing on the sites. Iranian Towers now own being the largest with Tishknet, Goran-Net and significant network expansion is required; Korek
around 1,000 sites. Mobitel amongst the other players. The government Telecom forecast that they need to build a further
15 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-mena2,500 sites. Major investment has been pledged Figure eight: MNO tower ownership in Jordan
by international investors and donors in a bid to
rebuild Iraq’s economy, with significant funds
expected to be channeled into telecoms.
2,200 2,136
Iraq’s MNOs are struggling with high OPEX, Orange
attributable in large part to security and logistics
Zain
issues across the country. Power remains a major
challenge and whilst figures for power availability Umniah
vary by region and by time of year (ranging from
zero grid to 16-18 hours in Kurdistan in summer),
the vast majority of sites are reliant on two diesel 2,813
generators. Hybrid solutions are yet to have any Source: TowerXchange
large scale trials in the country, and whilst fuel is
not expensive by a global comparison, the costly Figure nine: Site ownership by MNOs in the Kuwaiti market
and difficult logistics associated with fuel delivery
and generator maintenance means that a switch to
hybrid solutions is attractive.
Jordan 2,100 2,292
Zain
Subscribers: 11.7mn
Tower count: 7,149 Ooredoo
MNOs: Three Viva
Towerco activity: TASC Towers
There are three MNOs in Jordan; Orange, Zain and 2,100
Umniah (owned by Batelco) which have a roughly Source: TowerXchange
similar mobile market share and as such, the
market is highly competitive. There are just over centralised database of fibre optic networks in a bid The telecommunications sector is subject to heavy
7,000 towers in the country, roughly split between to limit duplication of infrastructure and encourage taxes in Jordan with operators having been exposed
the three MNOs, and towerco, TASC Towers, owns a network sharing. Whilst no such scheme currently to increased electricity prices which has had an
modest portfolio of sites. exists for towers, infrastructure sharing does exist impact on operator profits. Orange have invested in
between the MNOs with Orange reporting that just a 33.7MW solar PV plant to produce the electricity it
Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory under 15% of the sites that it uses are shared with requires.
Commission (TRC) is in the process of creating a other operators.
16 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure ten: Tower ownership by Morocco’s MNOs 93% (versus 73% in 2016).
Maroc Telecom has the largest tower portfolio
with approximately 10,000 sites, whilst Orange
4,054
and Inwi are understood to have 4,000-5,000 each.
Infrastructure sharing between the MNOs exists,
Maroc Telecom
with approximately 15% of sites thought to be
10,000 Inwi shared.
Orange
5,000 Oman
Subscribers: 6.9mn
Tower count: 10,000
Source: TowerXchange MNOs: Two (plus resellers); entrance of third
MNO imminent
will provide a more cost effective means to expand Towerco activity: None
Kuwait networks in a market where infrastructure sharing
Subscribers: 7.3mn has been limited to date. There are approximately Oman has two MNOs, Omantel and Ooredoo as
Tower count: 6,500 6,500 towers in the Kuwaiti market with significant well as two mobile resellers, Renna Mobile and
MNOs: Three parallel infrastructure existing. Decommissioning Friendi Mobile. In 2017, the government introduced
Towerco activity: IHS Towers (pending closure of is expected to play a significant role in IHS’ business a tender process for a third MNO which attracted
the Zain tower deal) model in the country. interest from parties including Zain, Saudi Telecom
Company, Etisalat and Sudatel. The tender process
There are three MNOs in the Kuwaiti market where Morocco was cancelled with the government instead deciding
intense price competition has driven data costs Subscribers: 43.9mn to award the license to a consortium involving local
down drastically, putting pressure on the country’s Tower count: 19,054 funds.
operators. Decreasing ARPU has made justifying MNOs: Three
investment in rolling out new sites tough, with each Towerco activity: None although two new In addition to the threat of a third MNO and
MNO focussing on implementing cost optimisation towercos eyeing the market existing competition from OTT players, Omantel
initiatives. and Ooredoo have felt further pressures from an
Maroc Telecom is the leading MNO in the Moroccan increase in MNO royalty fees from 7% to 12% and a
Market leaders Zain have reached an agreement market with 42% market share, ahead of both Inwi tax increase from 12% to 15%.
to sell 1,600 towers to IHS Towers for US$165mn. (in which Zain has a 15.5% stake) and Orange in
The deal, expected to close in April 2018, will mark a country with 43.9mn subscribers. Data usage There are approximately 4500 ground based towers
the first major tower transaction in the Middle East continues to grow as 4G rollout progresses, with and 9,500 rooftop sites in the country, evenly
(excluding Pakistan). The entrance of a towerco Maroc Telecom reporting 4G population coverage at split between the two major MNOs. Omantel are
17 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaunderstood to be increasing their tower count by Figure eleven: Ownership of Pakistan’s 34,300 towers
about 4-5% per annum, suggesting an average
of around 100-120 new towers are built by the
operator each year. For Ooredoo, similar numbers 6,100
edotco*
are forecast. Infrastructure sharing has been
limited to date but has started to increase as the Telenor
13,700
MNOs aim to execute the rollout of 4G more cost CMPak (Zong)
effectively, with current estimates suggesting
7,100 Ufone
approximately 10% of towers are shared.
*Jazz remains the anchor tenant on the majority of edotco
Pakistan towers. Jazz has retained a small number of strategic sites, the
count for which is undisclosed
Subscribers: 147.8mn
7,400
Tower count: 34,300 Source: TowerXchange
MNOs: Four
Towerco activity: edotco and AWAL Telecom acquired by pan-Asian towerco, edotco Group for yet contribute over 6,000 further assets to the pool
US$88.9mn in 2017. of commercially shared towers.
Pakistan has four MNOs; Jazz (formed through the
acquisition of Warid by VEON’s Mobilink) leads the edotco subsequently joined forces with Dawood China Mobile’s Pakistan opco, which trades under
market, followed by Telenor, China Mobile’s Zong Hercules, a listed Pakistani holding company the brand name Zong, has around 9,100 sites, of
and Ufone (in which Etisalat has a stake). With a conglomerate to acquire the 13,000 Jazz towers which around 2,000 are co-locations.
relatively low mobile penetration rate of ~73% and which had been carved out into a subsidiary,
a data penetration rate of ~24%, there is significant Deodar. Dawood Hercules now owns a 45% stake Telenor is a keen advocate of all forms of network
opportunity for long-term growth in the market. in edotco Pakistan, with edotco Group having a sharing; towers (sharing primarily with Jazz), fibre
Towercos have been licensed in Pakistan since 2006 controlling 55% stake. (sharing with Zong), and has taken a lead role in
but MNO attitudes towards infrastructure sharing exploring active infrastructure sharing. Telenor and
only started to thaw in 2011, initially seeing their Whilst several local companies are also licensed as Zong undertook Pakistan’s first RANsharing trials
networks as a source of competitive advantage. towercos, only AWAL Telecom appears to be trading across around 30 sites, while the Norwegian-owned
as such. MNO has also shared IBS, both under the MORAN
Towershare-owned Tanzanite built a portfolio model where spectrum is not shared.
of 700 sites in the market, built largely from MNOs Telenor, Zong and Ufone each retain their
acquisitions, with the majority of towers coming tower portfolios. Ufone has been exploring the There has been extensive infrastructure sharing
from previous WiTribe assets. The Tanzanite potential sale and leaseback of their towers in between operators but significant parallel
portfolio, 40% of which were ground based towers, Pakistan for some time. The process was stalled infrastructure exists, especially in urban areas,
secured tenancies from all major operators, by the de facto merger of PTCL and Ufone, and implying that decommissioning is likely to be
reaching a tenancy ratio of 1.6x before being associated management changes, but Ufone could a key part of edotco’s strategy in the future.
18 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure twelve: Tower ownership by Saudi Arabia’s MNOs Qatar Foundation, with the local opco continuing
to operate under the Vodafone brand via a Partner
Market agreement.
There is little to no infrastructure sharing in the
8,263 market, but with both operators now effectively
owned by the state the government may start to
view infrastructure sharing more positively.
Saudi Telecom Company
At the end of 2017, Ooredoo launched one of the
16,400 Mobily first “5G speed experiences” at select locations in
Zain Doha. Qatar is positioning itself as a front runner in
the rollout of 5G, with a world class infrastructure
11,000 backbone one of the key pillars of the Qatar
National Vision 2030.
Source: TowerXchange
Saudi Arabia
Subscribers: 44.0mn
Tower count: 35,663
TowerXchange estimate the prevailing tenancy situation has improved notably in recent years.
MNOs: Three
ratio (the average number of tenants across Backup diesel genset runtime is being reduced at
Towerco activity: IHS Towers (exclusive
all towers in the country) to be around 1.25 in sites on the country’s better grid connections, with
negotiations to acquire Zain’s towers) plus modest
Pakistan, with a clear pathway to 1.5. Of around DGs increasingly being removed from such sites.
portfolios held by tower builders including Al
10,000 co-locations in the country, most originate edotco will offer a full tower+power service in
from barter arrangements, with some application Pakistan, meaning they will lease tower and ground Babtain and ACES
of commercial lease rates, but more often offset space as well as providing DC energy.
against one another so no cash changes hands. There are three MNOs in Saudi Arabia; market
These agreements will continue to be converted to Qatar leaders Saudi Telecom Company, Mobily (in which
commercial leases as towercos continue to become Subscribers: 4.4mn Etisalat has a 27% stake) and Zain. Additionally
more prevalent. Tower count: 5,000 there are two MVNOs; Virgin Mobile and Lebara.
MNOs: Two Between them, Saudi’s MNOs own over 35,000
Pakistan’s MNOs cite power as the number one Towerco activity: None towers with additional modest portfolios held
operational challenge in the market, followed by by local tower builders including ACES and Al
security and landlord issues. Qatari headquartered Ooredoo are market leaders Babtain. Infrastructure sharing in the Kingdom
in their home market, with 3.4mn subscribers has to date been very limited, with less than 2%
While Pakistan’s electricity grid remains unstable, versus Vodafone’s 1mn. Vodafone has agreed to sell of sites believed to have more than one tenant.
and outages can last eight or more hours, the its 51% stake in its opco to joint venture partner, In the major cities, Riyadh and Jeddah, there has
19 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaFigure thirteen: Tower ownership by Tunisia’s MNOs transaction up, but with the Kuwait deal expected
to close in April, all parties appear to remain
committed to the deal.
1,383
Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom Company has announced
their intent to carve out a towerco, and has invited
Tunisie Telecom bids for a management contract. Interest has
reportedly been received from a number of parties
Ooredoo
4,500 including IHS Towers, TASC Towers, Digital Bridge
Orange and Cellnex.
2,500
Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom Company has announced
their intent to carve out a towerco, with further
details expected to emerge imminently.
Source: TowerXchange
Tunisia
been some infrastructure sharing as part of MNO MNOs revisited joint venture plans in late 2016 but Subscribers: 14.2mn
densification plans to meet growing data usage, once again decided not to proceed. Tower count: 8,383
whilst in some of the country’s holy sites where MNOs: Three plus Lycamobile
access to land is limited, infrastructure sharing The first talks about tower sales emerged in Towerco activity: NATIC and Infrashare (newly
has arisen out of necessity. These infrastructure late 2014, when Zain appointed Citi to oversee a formed towercos)
sharing arrangements are typically under bilateral potential sale of their towers. Mobily followed suit
commercial agreements and thus far have only announcing a tower sale process before STC also There are 14.2mn active subscribers (source: INTT
covered passive equipment. weighed in on the action hinting they too may look Q1 2018) and three MNOs in the Tunisian market;
to sell their larger portfolio. Ultimately all tower sale market leader Ooredoo, Orange and Tunisie Telecom.
With little infrastructure sharing a high degree processes were pulled, leaving bidders with their Emirates International Telecommunications (which
of parallel infrastructure has developed; 95% of fingers burnt after so many stop-start discussions. has a stake in UAE operator du) recently reached
Zain and Mobily’s sites are reported to overlap an agreement to sell its stake in Tunisie Telecom
and as such, the government is keen to promote In late 2017, Zain announced that it had entered to private equity firm, Abraaj Group. Rumours had
infrastructure sharing. into exclusive negotiations with TASC Towers and circulated that the transaction may precipitate a sale
Saudi based Acwa Group to sell their portfolio. of Tunisie Telecom’s towers. The takeover has since
Various passive infrastructure strategies have been Talks expired and Zain subsequently entered been called off, leaving the fate of Tunisie Telecom’s
explored by each of the Kingdom’s MNOs in recent into exclusive negotiations with IHS Towers and towers in the balance.
years. As early as 2011, Saudi Telecom Company Towershare, with the operator having previously
and Mobily announced their interest in forming agreed the sale of their Kuwaiti towers to the pair. There are an estimated 8,383 towers in the Tunisian
a towerco joint venture only for talks to stall; the Regulatory issues are thought to be holding the market, split between the region’s MNOs. In addition,
20 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menathere are two new towercos active in North Africa,
NATIC and Infrashare, which are setting their sights
on build to suit activities in the country.
29-30 January 2019, Dubai, UAE
Infrastructure sharing exists with Orange
reporting that approximately a third of its sites are
Meetup MENA 2019
shared with other MNOs. In addition to passive
infrastructure sharing, Tunisie Telecom and
Ooredoo have a RANsharing deal in the country
into which there had initially been discussions to
include Orange. The 20th retreat for the telecoms infrastructure elite, coming to MENA for the first time in 2019
UAE
Subscribers: 19.8mn
Tower count: 13,000
MNOs: Two
Towerco activity: None
Etisalat lead the UAE’s market where it competes
with Du (and new MVNO, Virgin Mobile). Emirates
International Telecommunications (which has just
sold its stake in Tunisie Telecom) is a shareholder in
both du and Virgin Mobile in the country.
Whilst two competing entities, both Etisalat and du
have a common shareholder in Emirates Investment
Authority which has 60% share in the former and a
39.5% share in the latter which creates an unusual
situation in the market. The two operators have a
fixed network sharing deal.
There are an estimated 13,000 towers in the UAE of
which Etisalat owns 8,000.
To discuss your participation, contact Annabelle on
The country is very much positioning itself to be a +44 7423 512588 or email amayhew@towerxchange.com
front runner when it comes to 5G
21 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaTowerXchange’s who’s who
Abraaj Investment Fund: UAE investment fund in
the process of acquiring a stake in Tunisie Telecom
from Emirates International Telecommunications.
in MENA towers The stake sale may precipitate the divestment of
towers from Tunisie Telecom.
TowerXchange presents an A to Z of MNOs, towercos, investors and advisors who
are key stakeholders in the MENA tower industry Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: Investment fund
which had formed a consortium with KKR, Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board and GIC Singapore
Whilst 99% of towers in the MENA region sit in the hands of the MNOs, efforts around infrastructure
to buy a stake in a merged Bharti Infratel and Indus
sharing are continuing to build, towercos and tower joint ventures are being formed and tower sales Towers deal, valued at ~US$11bn (the deal since
have begun. At such a pivotal time, TowerXchange examines the key stakeholders currently active in, having fallen through). Could have an interest in
or with a potential appetite to join, the MENA tower industry. putting capital at work in Middle Eastern towers.
Keywords: Abraaj Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ACES, Acwa Group, Afghanistan, ACES: Saudi system integrator which reportedly
Al Babtain, Al Rahji Group, Al Zamil Group, Algeria, Alkan, American Tower, Asiacell, AWAL Telecom, owns a portfolio of around 50 towers in the
Bahrain, Batelco, Berkshire Partners, Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, BuyIn, Canada Pension Kingdom.
Plan Investment Board, Capital Group, Citi, Dawood Hercules Corporation, Digital Bridge, Djezzy, dU,
Eaton Towers, edotco, edotco Group, EEC Group, Egypt, EIT, Emirates International Telecommunications, Acwa Group: Saudi conglomerate with an interest
Etisalat, Fanasia, GIC, Global Tower, Helios, Helios Towers, Helios Towers Africa, HOI-MEA, IHS, IHS in towers. Joined forces with TASC Towers in their
Towers, Infrashare, IFC, iQ Networks, Iran, Iranian Towers, Iraq, Jazz, Jordan, KKR, Korek Telecom, bid to acquire Zain’s Saudi Arabian sites.
Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Macquarie Group, Maroc Telecom, MCI, MENA, MENA Towers, Middle East,
MNOs, Mobily, Mobiserve, Morocco, NATIC, North Africa, North Africa Telecom Infrastructure Company, Al Babtain: Middle Eastern tower builder with a
MTN, New Silk Route, Oman, Omantel, Ooredoo, Orange, Providence Equity, Qatar, Quippo International, modest Saudi tower portfolio on its balance sheet.
Rightel, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom Company, SBA, SBA Communications, Sudan, Syria, TAP Advisors,
Tanzanite, TASC, TASC Towers, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain, Telenor, Tillman, Al Rahji Group: Saudi based investor which was
Tillman Global Holdings, Towercos, Towershare, TRA, Tunisia, UAE, Ufone, Vinson & Elkins, Vodafone, linked with 2016 Mobily tower sale process (which
Wendel, Who’s Who, Zain, Zong was subsequently cancelled).
Al Zamil Group: Middle Eastern investor who was
Read this article to learn: linked with previous tower sale processes in Saudi
< Details of MENA’s major MNOs and their regional footprints Arabia.
< Independent towercos with a footprint in the region
< Towercos and investors with a potential appetite for MENA tower portfolios Alkan: MEA tower manufacturer and system
< TMT advisory firms with experience of tower transactions integrator which holds one of the four infraco
licenses in Egypt to build and own towers in the
22 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menacountry. The company is yet to retain any of the Figure one: American Tower’s global footprint
towers that it has built.
1,304 836 764 492 1,001
American Tower: The world’s largest independent USA Brazil
commercial towerco with a global tower count 4,484
approaching 150,000. Whilst American Tower do not 9,139 India Mexico
currently have a presence in the MENA region, the Nigeria Colombia
towerco is highly acquisitive with a truly international 40,240
18,880 South Africa Chile
footprint spanning the Americas, Europe, Africa and
Asia. As a US listed company, their ability to enter
2,208 Ghana Paraguay
some Middle Eastern markets may be challenging 2,484
but where there is an interesting tower transaction
Uganda Peru
1,431
of scale, American Tower is never very far away. 2,201 France Costa Rica
2,530
58,031
Asiacell: Ooredoo’s opco in Iraq.
4,757 Germany Argentina
Source: AMT Q4 2017 results
AWAL Telecom: Pakistani towerco with an
undisclosed tower count.
currently working with Phoenix Tower Canada Pension Plan Investment Board: CPPIB
International in CALA. Should a sizeable towerco is the professional investment management
Batelco: One of Bahrain’s three MNOs who will be
emerge in MENA, Blackstone may well assess the organisation that invests the funds of the Canada
impacted by the TRA’s new regulatory framework
opportunity. Pension Plan on behalf of its 20mn contributors
surrounding new site build and rectification of old
and beneficiaries. CPP’s tower investments include
sites.
Brookfield Asset Management: Investor with a 10.3% stake in Bharti Infratel with KKR, bought
Berkshire Partners: Berkshire backed Crown an active interest in towers which owns a stake at US$951.6mn. It was also part of a consortium
Castle during their successful foray into European in French towerco TDF. Brookfield entered into led by KKR which was in talks to buy a significant
towers in the late nineties, and currently has active discussions to acquire UK based Arqiva and also stake in a combined Bharti Infratel and Indus
investments in Protelindo (the largest towerco recently evaluated the Indian towerco, Reliance Towers deal.
in Indonesia which had a small footprint in the Communications. Brookfield has an appetite for
Netherlands until their Dutch towers were sold to further tower investments and has increasingly Capital Group: Investor keen on the towerco asset
Cellnex in 2016), Torres Unidas (active in the Andean been looking at MENA. class with capital at work in Eaton Towers (who
region of CALA) and Tower Development Corporation had expressed an interest in Egypt).
(active in the US and Puerto Rico). The investor may BuyIn: 50/50 procurement joint venture between
look at emerging opportunities in MENA. Deutsche Telekom and Orange, a key client for Citi: One of the world’s leading tower transaction
companies looking to sell into Orange’s MENA advisory groups who have been involved in tower
Blackstone: Another serial towerco investor opcos. process in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
23 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaDawood Hercules Corporation (DH Corp): Figure two: Eaton Towers’ global footprint
Listed Pakistani investment conglomerate with a
US$600mn market cap and a 45% stake in edotco
Uganda: Ghana: Kenya: Burkina Faso:
Pakistan. edotco Pakistan acquired 13,000 Jazz
towers back in 2017.
1,300 1,200 1,200 700
Digital Bridge: An investment vehicle through
which stakes are invested in towercos around the
world. Has active investments in Mexico Tower Niger:
Partners, Andean Tower Partners and Vertical
600
Bridge and also sold Global Tower Partners (GTP) to
American Tower in 2013 for $4.8bn. The company
appointed Phil Cooper as Managing Director
of EMEA and has since been looking for major
acquisitions across the region, with the company with a portfolio of 5000 sites across Burkina Faso, their planned IPO, the company has confirmed that
known to have had an active interest in previous Ghana, Kenya, Niger and Uganda. In 2016, the it still has an appetite for further acquisitions.
Saudi processes. towerco reached a deal with MobiNil (now Orange)
to acquire 2,000 Egyptian towers (about one third edotco Group: Pan-Asian towerco with a footprint
Djezzy (Optimum Telecom Algerie/ OTA): Algerian of the operator’s total stock in the country) before of 31,600 towers across Malaysia, Sri Lanka,
MNO in which Russian owned VEON (formerly the deal was cancelled. Eaton remain committed to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar.
VimpelCom) has a 49% stake (with the remainder the Egyptian market with CEO Terry Rhodes telling In 2017, edotco acquired Towershare’s Pakistani
held by the Algerian government). VEON has sold TowerXchange “Eaton Towers still regards Egypt as business for US$90mn before linking up with
their WIND towers in Italy to Cellnex and initiated a market ready for independent tower companies. Dawood Hercules Corporation to acquire 13,000
(and since cancelled) tower sale processes in Russia The imminent rollout of 4G, together with economic towers from MNO, Jazz. Spun out of Malaysia’s
and the CIS. The company had conducted an initial and political changes which have made US dollars Axiata, the MNO’s shareholding in edotco has been
investigation of a potential tower sale in Algeria, but very scarce mean the operators will be under diluted to 62.4% following private placements by
with limits on foreign investment in the country, financial and operational pressure to expand their INCJ, Khazanah and KWAP. edotco has previously
there was insufficient interest from towercos. networks. It would be enormously beneficial for been linked with tower transactions in the Middle
Should a willing buyer appear, Djezzy may well this expansion into infrastructure”. The towerco East and is understood to have an appetite for
move forward with plans. has less of an appetite for the more developed geographical expansion outside of its current
Middle Eastern market, having shied away from markets.
dU: The UAE’s number two MNO in which the participation in Zain’s tower sales in Kuwait and
government also has a stake. Saudi Arabia with the different dynamics not a EEC Group: Egyptian towerco manufacturer
good fit for their current portfolio and capabilities. holding one of the country’s four infraco licenses
Eaton Towers: Africa’s fourth largest towerco, Whilst Eaton’s focus for H1 2018 is working towards that enable it to function as a towerco. EEC is yet to
24 | TowerXchange Meetup MENA 2019, February, Dubai, UAE | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/meetup-menaYou can also read
