China’s three telcos sign lease agreements with China Tower
Chinese mobile operators China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom signed lease agreements with telecom tower joint venture China Tower, local press reported.
The operators are paying an average site lease fee of approximately 26,000 yuan ($2,890) per tower, with discounts applied when two or three operators lease the same site. Analysts believe China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom will generate savings this year of 2.4 billion yuan, 1.9 billion yuan and 1.8 billion yuan, respectively, based on the infrastructure leasing arrangement.
In October, the three telcos signed an agreement to transfer a combined $36 billion worth of telecommunications towers and related infrastructure to China Tower. The operators formally agreed to create the new company in July 2014, with the main goal of reducing duplication of telecom towers and other related infrastructure. China Tower is responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of telecom towers across the country.
China Mobile owns a 38% stake in the joint venture while China Telecom and Unicom each secured around 28%.
Helios Towers secures financing to acquire Bharti Airtel’s towers
In EMEA news, telecommunications tower operator Helios Towers DRC announced it has secured $105 million in financing for the acquisition of mobile towers from Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel, and to finance future growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new funding represents an upsizing of an existing loan facility led by The Standard Bank of South Africa and Germany’s Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft.
Bharti Airtel agreed in May to sell 950 towers in the DRC for an undisclosed amount to Helios Towers, including some still under construction. Helios said its DRC portfolio sits at nearly 1,800 towers.
