Global Tower Partners, a U.S.-based provider of outsourced antenna site facilities, announced the purchase of 250 towers from Centennial Towers CR, SRL. The towers were constructed and are currently occupied by the major wireless telecommunications operators in Costa Rica. GTP also acquired a significant pipeline of additional towers in various stages of permitting and construction still to be developed.
The purchase was made via GTP’s subsidiary GTP Costa Rica Holding CR, SRL and C.R. Transmission Holding Corp., and the closing was consummated on November 2 under a stock purchase agreement between the parties.
In a statement, Global Tower Partners chief executive officer Marc C. Ganzi said that the transaction represents a strategic decision by GTP to invest in the Costa Rican tower sector and establish the enterprise as the largest provider of tower sites in the country. He added that Costa Rica’s wireless spectrum is dominated by investment grade wireless carriers who are deploying and will continue to deploy significant Capex over the coming years as the nation implements the privatization of its wireless spectrum.
Very recently, the entry of Telefónica and America Movil into Costa Rica ended a state monopoly of almost half a century. The nation’s telecommunications regulator Sutel has granted mobile operators Claro (Carlos Slim’s América Móvil) and Telefónica’s Movistar 1 million lines each to start sign customers.
Both carriers launched operations in November. The operators signed an interconnection agreement with ICE following technical tests on communication between the networks and billing for the use of another operator’s network.
América Móvil obtained a license to operate in Costa Rica in a public auction in January. The company was granted the use of 70 MHz of spectrum in the 1.8 MHz and 2.1 MHz bands for a period of 15 years.
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