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Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest mobile operator by revenue and subscribers, has sold its 1,100 telecom towers in Zambia and Rwanda to African mobile phone operator IHS Holding Ltd.
Following the agreement, financial terms of which were not disclosed, the Indian company will take the same towers on lease under a 10-year contract.
Focus on core business The will enable Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, reduce debt and capital expenditure on passive infrastructure in these African markets, Airtel said in a statement.
“This agreement will accelerate infrastructure sharing amongst operators and benefit customers in form of affordable tariffs and wider network coverage,” said Christian de Faria, Bharti Airtel’s managing director and chief executive officer for Africa.
The agreement, which was signed through its subsidiary company Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals, the company said.
Following the transaction, IHS portfolio of towers will increase to 21,000, giving it scale needed to provide shared telecoms infrastructure solutions in Africa. IHS customers, mobile network operators, will benefit from lower operating costs, expanded network coverage and accelerated network roll out times, higher network capacity and improved quality of service. The agreements are subject to statutory and regulatory approvals.
“The opportunity to expand our East African business bringing IHS’ market leading energy and infrastructure management practices to a wider market is an excellent opportunity,” said Issam Darwish, Executive Vice-Chairman and Group CEO of IHS.
Similar deal in November For Bharti Airtel, this is the second deal within a month’s time. On November 24, Bharti Airtel signed a similar agreement to sell its 4,800 telecom towers in Nigeria to American Tower Corp for about $1 billion. Following the deal, Bharti Airtel will be the anchor tenant for American Tower Corp for an initial term of 10 years.
The agreement was signed through Bharti Airtel’s subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV.
This deal would enable American Tower Corp, which has a worldwide portfolio of about 70,000 communication sites, to launch its operations in Nigeria. The companies had said they expect to close the acquisition during the first half of 2015.
Shares in Bharti Airtel closed up 0.65 per cent at ₹350.05 on the BSE on Monday.
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