Co-location deal reduces costs, improves and widens coverage with $80m investment
LONDON, Wednesday, October 6th 2010 [ME NewsWire]:
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Eaton Towers, the African tower company, has signed a 10 year contract to take over the operations and co-location management of 750 telecom towers for Vodafone Ghana.
Over the life of the contract Eaton expects to invest up to $80 million on upgrading and improving the existing towers and on improving Vodafone’s coverage in Ghana. Eaton will also develop the existing infrastructure and build new towers.
The agreement also enables Eaton to sell co-location and shared-infrastructure facilities to other mobile operators, generating future revenues from separate long-term contracts.
Tower sharing is a more cost-effective way for African operators to reach subscribers, with building and operating costs typically shared across multiple tenants.
By outsourcing the management of its towers, Vodafone Ghana will immediately benefit from cost savings and significantly reduced capital expenditure.
Eaton will assume responsibility for all operational aspects of the passive infrastructure, including health and safety, security and power provision. Upgrades to the existing sites will include new power generation equipment and advanced management systems aimed at reducing diesel consumption and other costs.
Alan Harper, Chief Executive of Eaton said:
“This agreement is good for everyone involved. Our co-location offering ensures that Vodafone’s infrastructure will continually improve, whilst maintaining the lowest possible operating costs.
“Furthermore, our tower-sharing agreements will enable Ghana’s mobile operators to reduce costs, reach more subscribers and avoid the environmental impact of duplicating towers.
“Most importantly, through our investments, and sharing of towers, Ghana’s mobile subscribers will benefit from better coverage and operators having a lower cost base – and that is good for economic growth and sustainability. We plan to bring the benefits of tower sharing to operators and subscribers across Africa.”
About Eaton
Eaton is an African-focused tower company that owns, builds, manages and maintains telecom towers for mobile operators helping them to them to reduce capital expenditure and operating costs. Eaton works closely with Governments, Regulators and Operators to encourage sharing of telecom towers in order to maximise the potential of existing infrastructure and encourage wider coverage of telecom services to rural areas.
About tower sharing
Tower sharing is an efficient way for mobile operators to reduce capital expenditure and operating costs by co-locating antennas on the same tower. All tenants on the tower benefit from sharing the cost of power, maintenance and security. By reducing these costs, operators can compete more efficiently and reach more subscribers, especially in remote areas. Tower sharing also benefits the environment by reducing unnecessary duplication of masts and their associated infrastructure. According to a study by the TMT advisory firm Delta Partners, there are 200,000 towers in the Middle East and Africa. Towers in MEA are expected to increase by 50% in the next five years, but Delta Partners estimates that $8bn of cumulative CAPEX could be saved by tower sharing agreements.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Eaton
Alan Harper, Chief Executive Officer
+44 (20) 7467 3945
College Hill
Adrian Duffield/Carl Franklin – London
+ 44 20 7457 2020
Fred Cornet – Johannesburg
+ 27 11 447 3030
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