Eaton Towers has announced an agreement to acquire more than 3 500 telecommunications towers in six countries from Bharti Airtel. Airtel will have a 10-year lease on the towers.
Eaton Towers currently owns and operates towers in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. The new acquisition expands coverage in Africa to seven countries with more than 5 000 towers.
Alan Harper, CEO of Eaton Towers, comments: “This is a transformational deal which gives Eaton Towers the most diversified tower portfolio across Africa. We are proud to be chosen by Airtel as their key partner in these six countries.”
Manoj Kohli, chairman of Airtel’s selling entity Bharti Airtel International Netherlands, adds: “We are delighted to announce this agreement, which represents the next phase of Airtel’s growth journey in Africa. We are the pioneers and strong proponents of telecoms infrastructure sharing, which results in industry-wide cost efficiencies.
“The agreement with Eaton Towers is an extension of this philosophy and will lead to far superior utilisation of passive infrastructure and help drive the proliferation of affordable mobile services across Africa.”
The agreements are subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries.