TowerXchange continues our Who’s who of the licensed towercos in Egypt with an interview with the CEO of Alkan CIT’s International Business and Sales Director of Alkan Networks. Alkan has installed or manages over 22,000 towers in MEA, and has the flexibility of owning their own tower factory, enabling services from design and manufacture, through installation and commissioning, to managed services.
TowerXchange: Please introduce us to the Alkan Group - in particular, what services do you provide to tower operators?
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
Alkan CIT, the leading telecommunication system integrator and solution provider, is a subsidiary of Alkan holdings group founded in 1974 by the late business leader Mohamed Nosseir and now led by Mr. Khaled Nosseir, the Chairman of holdings group. Alkan CIT Group led by Ahmed Abd El Aal, Group CEO; operates through three specialized subsidiaries in Egypt, namely Alkan Networks, CEO Emad El Sadek, Alkan Telecom, CEO Ahmed Galal and ESRI NeA, CEO Tarek Wahby, in addition to its international operations present in 19 different countries under the Alkan CIT International Business, which I lead.
Alkan CIT provides state of the art technologies and turnkey solutions to its clients across the whole MEA region that fully support their business needs from planning right through full operation. Offerings include satellite broadband services, GSM/CDMA tower production, network planning and rollout, installation and commissioning, operation and maintenance, fibre optics, renewable energy solutions, network integration and infrastructure, OSS/BSS, network security, video technologies, value added services, tracking and fleet management, facility management, electromechanical services, managed services, wireless connectivity, GIS applications, digital mapping and data production.
Alkan is not just a turnkey infrastructure provider but a full end to end solution provider, capable of building the entire GSM/CDMA and IT infrastructure for telecoms operators.
We own a tower factory in Alexandria, from which we ship to the 19 different countries in which Alkan has legal entities and we’re evaluating several other markets in which to open offices. In addition to producing our own towers, mobiles sites, rooftops and indoor solutions, we support network rollouts, and can build fiber, microwave or satellite backbones, Alkan also owns its own VSAT hub located in Egypt.
After building the network Alkan provides radio network planning and optimization, and managed services within and outside Egypt, including FM, preventative and corrective maintenance, as well as DG overhaul. We’re now also getting into green energy by optimizing third party solar energy solutions.
In addition to end to end services, Alkan has also leveraged our software house to develop umbrella systems for data collection and integration to the control room dashboard, providing tools to manage and track the managed services workforce from the NOC.
Alkan is able to integrate our business lines and capabilities to meet diverse client objectives.
TowerXchange: What is Alkan’s footprint in Africa?
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
In Africa, besides our headquarters in Egypt, Alkan also has offices in Libya, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana. Then in the francophone region we’re in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal. In the East of Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, North and South Sudan. We have legal entities in the GCC including in Iraq, KSA, UAE and Oman, plus operations in Qatar and Bahrain.
We’ve installed around 6,000 towers in Egypt, another 6,000 beyond Egypt, and manage a further 10,000 sites on behalf of various clients.
Initial resistance to infrastructure sharing has gone over the last three years
We have several options for any new towerco transaction that may occur in Egypt, one of the options is to establish a consortium with one of the key players in the build to suite market in the region
TowerXchange: Given that Alkan has one of four infrastructure provider licenses in Egypt, what role do Alkan see themselves playing if a tower transaction takes place in Egypt?
Tamer Wahba, Sales Director, Alkan Networks:
We were the first company to establish our own tower sharing company in Egypt. Alkan had been considering launching a tower sharing business since 2007, and proudly were the first to acquire the license for construction, possession and leasing of wireless communication towers in 2010.
Telecom operators’ long term competitive advantage lies in their networks, so many operators have recently adopted tower sharing strategies to significantly reduce costs, and improve the rate of mobile services rollout and thus allowing for focusing on new service design, marketing and sales activities. By providing turnkey tower sharing services, Alkan CIT saves time, effort and money for telecom operators, enables unlimited expenditures and helps eliminating the burden of rollout activities in addition to the operation and maintenance of the GSM infrastructure.
Alkan shareholders had already allocated the required funds for securing the build to suit business continuity and currently we are working with leading telecom operators in Egypt and started building more than 100 new sites adopting the tower sharing approach. We have several options for any new towerco transaction that may occur in Egypt, one of the options is to establish a consortium with one of the key players in the build to suite market in the region.
We recognize that sharing should be encouraged not only within the boundaries of the Telecommunications/ICT sector but together with other infrastructure industries (such as electricity, gas, water, sewage, etc.), establishing a one-stop-shop would facilitate the coordination of trenching and ducting works between telecommunications service providers and those of other utilities.
TowerXchange: If a portfolio of towers did come to market in Egypt, would Alkan bid for the towers or seek to partner with one of Africa’s existing multi-country towercos?
Tamer Wahba, Sales Director, Alkan Networks:
We have the capacity to manage the infrastructure of all operators together; however we are keeping all options open, whether to work solely or to establish a consortium with one of the multi-country towercos.
Our business case for continuing working alone or partnering with multi-country towercos depends on the deal requirements, size and financing which may include building totally new independent towers for future expansion, and/or buying the existing infrastructure from an anchor tenant and making the required modifications for multiple tenants.
Alkan has been working hand in hand with leading telecom operators in Egypt since their early beginnings. We’ve successfully managed the full cycle from inception to completion, going through all phases starting from rollout through until managed services and will continue to support them in every possible way including applying the required enforcement and design modifications to upgrade old single tenant towers to multiple tenants, thanks for our design and manufacturing team.
TowerXchange: Please introduce our readers to Alkan’s production capabilities.
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
The Alkan Tower Factory (ATF) designs and fabricates a rich selection of self-supporting and guyed towers, antenna support structures, fences, tower accessories, fuel tanks and generators’ canopies in addition to Solar Cell steel structures, that are fully compliant with International standards and specifications. Our product range is complemented with full technical support and consultancy services in addition to custom designed towers according to customers’ specifications.
Our investment in R&D means we’ve moved from product supplier to solutions provider - we approach challenges with a solution not a product. We’re proud of our achievements in R&D such as our own brand for Cell on wheels (COW); Alkan Mobile Stations (AMS). Usually the operator needs a COW for temporary mobile sites and Rapid Deployment Units (RDUs) for quick installation in permanent sites; AMS combines the best of both capabilities. The AMS takes just less than three hours to deploy, our telescopic guyed towers reach 45m, and can be used as a permanent site without wheels.
We installed an AMS in Tahrir Square, where the revolution started, as all the operators were struggling with QoS as the traffic was too high, with networks congested by news. The problem is now resolved but it’s a good example of where the AMS can be useful. It’s also installed along several highways and at various difficult locations.
TowerXchange: Can you give us an example of how Alkan overcomes the challenges of installing towers in remote and difficult to reach regions?
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
One of our clients in Sierra Leone had committed to provide GSM coverage to 4,000 residents and professionals near Frenghbeya Mountain in Sierra Leone, facilitating communications and daily operations for the iron ore exploration site of a company called African Minerals. In order to cover the whole area, a GSM base station had to be built on the top of a mountain, 1000m above sea level. This involved moving ten tons of material and equipment, laying a concrete foundation and assembling a four legged 70m tower in an area with no defined roads, no communication, no electricity and challenging terrain and climactic conditions.
The Alkan team had to manually clear a 3m wide passage up the mountain, cutting trees then using the trunks as slides to glide up the de-assembled tower, shelter, 4000L fuel tank, generator and active equipment, plus mixer, sand, gravel, cement and water. Pullies were fixed around giant trees and ropes used to pull materials up the mountain. Once at the top of the mountain we had to manually dig away 108m² of rocks before erecting the tower that provided coverage for the whole area.
TowerXchange: How does Alkan adapt to projects in conflict regions?
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
When two of our clients wanted to share towers in Niger, two of the sites selected were in the ‘Red Zone’ or as natives call it ‘the real Niger desert’, lacking all essential resources including water, fuel, food and paved road connectivity. There was also anticipated risks from robbery and kidnapping due to ongoing political conflicts.
The project required civil works, shelters, BTSs, RF installation, VSAT and microwave links, GSM and power supply testing and delivery in 45 days.
Military convoys were used to access the sites and special arrangements were made to overcome the lack of essential supplies. The tower sharing project was successfully completed, with sites up and running within 30 days.
TowerXchange: Finally, please could you summarize how Alkan differentiates your company from competitors?
Ahmed Mounir, CEO, Alkan CIT International Business:
Alkan is more than a full turnkey infrastructure company - we are an end to end solution provider.
We understand telecom operators’ requirements, not just rollouts but the whole business from Customer Experience to VAS, location based services and OSS/BSS.
Alkan builds GSM and IP networks and has the flexibility of owning our own tower facility, meaning we can support our customers from tower design and manufacture, through permits and installation to managed services.
