Helios Towers Tanzania Limited (HTT), a subsidiary of Helios Towers Africa Limited (“HTA”), the independent telecoms tower infrastructure company, has announced that it has reached an
agreement with Zanzibar Telecom Plc (Zantel), for the acquisition of all unique sites of their mainland tower portfolio.
The organisation is also working with Zantel to decommission the duplicate towers under a separate services agreement.
Some of the highlights of the agreement include acquisition of all mainland unique telecoms tower sites from Zantel; Acquisition grows HTT’s telecom tower sites in Tanzania to around 3,700 owned towers; Decommissioning of duplicate towers underscores strategy to reduce environmental impact of telecoms services; and to enables HTT to drive cost efficiencies throughout the industry, lower consumer prices and enhance network coverage.
This acquisition reaffirms HTA’s commitment to drive increased infrastructure sharing, thereby
reducing the costs incurred by mobile operators to deliver vital telecoms services that support economic growth, social development and job creation in local communities.
HTA’s decommissioning of the duplicate towers will also help to reduce the environmental impact of delivering telecoms services as well as improve operational efficiencies. The firm has built a leading position in Tanzania, one of the largest and fastest growing
telecommunications markets in Africa with 37 per cent expected growth by 2020.
The acquisition, which has received regulatory approval from the Tanzanian authorities, highlights the economic benefits of a telecoms towers company working with multiple operators to combine multiple legacy networks. It will also enable HTT’s customers to enhance their network coverage and increase the
quality of service provided to the end user, through the additional sites. It will also facilitate lower consumer prices, in addition to the better coverage, whilst reducing capital, maintenance and
operating costs for mobile services providers.
Chief Executive Officer of HTA, Kash Pandya said: “Helios Towers Africa is proud to announce the successful acquisition of Zantel’s mainland tower
portfolio, which enables us to deliver expanded coverage and network capacity in an efficient and cost-effective way. The acquisition and the decommissioning of duplicate infrastructure will help operators meet growing consumer demand whist ensuring network expansion is done in a sustainable
and responsible way.
We are proud to deliver business excellence to our customers and give them access to the vital telecoms infrastructure needed to facilitate the penetration of communications
technology across Africa.”
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Zantel, Sherif El-Barbary, said: “Zantel is delighted to announce the sale of its mainland tower portfolio to Helios Towers. This is part of a wide set of transformational initiatives that Zantel has carried out since its acquisition by Millicom group in 2015. With this sale and ongoing relationship with Helios Towers, Zantel will streamline its
infrastructure costs and improve the overall efficiency of the market.”
Source: Helios Tower Tanzania