As the first towerco on the ground in Bangladesh, edotco is rapidly consolidating its position and contributing to the culture of infrastructure sharing in this rapidly growing telecom market. We spoke with the Managing Director of edotco BD, Darryll Sinnappa, who has over 18 years of diversified professional experience, primarily focused in the telecommunications and IT industries. Prior to joining edotco, Darryll was with Axiata Group Berhad in Malaysia as the Commercial Head in the Network Transformation SBU. In this role he was involved in driving some of the largest Cost Driving transformation initiatives, notably in Carrier Collaboration engagements, Right Cost Network (RCN) and Least Cost Network (LCN) initiatives, across the Axiata Group.
TowerXchange: Could you tell us about edotco’s recent launch in Bangladesh and your partnerships with Robi, Qubee and Teletalk?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
The launch of edotco BD has successfully engaged all telco operators under the infrastructure sharing agreement. The growing partnership with our customers, in line with BTRC’s vision of advocating infra-sharing, is vital in the evolving telecommunication industry.
We currently possess a customer base of both MNO’s and non MNO’s. With successful fulfillment of customer needs, edotco BD is among the top preferred infrastructure providers in Bangladesh. edotco BD is the first to launch a state-of-the-art remote monitoring centre for passive infrastructure equipment enabling observation of management of energy, fuel, battery life and other passive components. The “exceeding” result of the latest Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by Spire Research and Consulting, indicates that edotco BD is successfully meeting almost all requirements of customers, and is ready to lead the industry.
Partnerships:
edotco and ROBI: edotco is providing end to end passive infrastructure for ROBI as well as managed services and nationwide field operations.
edotco and QUBEE: An infrastructure sharing agreement exists between both parties with a number of sites shared with edotco BD. Qubee also recently initiated an expansion of their Wi-Fi hotspot strategy, using edotco sites as PoP (Point of Presence).
edotco and Teletalk: With Teletalk continuously expanding their 3G network coverage, we have a tower sharing arrangement using edotco BDs towers.
Notably all these partnerships have played an instrumental part in enhancing infrastructure sharing. It has enabled collaboration and has paved the way for new niche specialised internet service providers and broadband providers to reach out to the masses in Bangladesh, bridging the digital divide, paving the way for a ‘Digital Bangladesh’.
TowerXchange: How is the development of the Bangladeshi tower market progressing? How complete is the coverage? What are the operational implications for edotco given that I understand that you manage the full field first level operational maintenance and energy for your Bangladeshi tenants?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
In Bangladesh, all mobile operators combined have over 25,000 towers; every operator under the BTRC infrastructure sharing guidelines are sharing their current passive infrastructure with each other, that includes non-telecom equipment such as towers, buildings, batteries, electricity, and cooling systems to ensure larger network coverage with cost efficiency. edotco is strongly pursuing the BTRCs agenda of sharing infrastructure and have strengthened the sharing model since inception. Operators are driving to enhance 3G coverage across the board and mobile coverage is primarily addressing infill capacity as well as rural coverage.
With this management responsibility comes the responsibility of ensuring the best quality of service and best network availability to our key customers. It also means that we need to be very “service and operations excellence” oriented as a company. We have seeded into our company DNA the culture of customer first, efficiency at all levels, and quality in all our operational work efforts. Operational functions and network availability becomes a clear focussed function and improvements in efficiency become ingrained into every team member, and improvements in processes ingrained into the company accordingly. We have started introducing new tools, deepened our analytics efforts and introduced more advanced monitoring systems to harness as many efficiencies as possible whilst also moving towards more automation to improve speed of service delivery.
TowerXchange: We understand there are a total of around 27,000 towers in Bangladesh – are we right, and how many new towers would you estimate are being built each year?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
From our internal analysis, those figures look about right, as far as new tower builds are concerned, it depends very much on the three to five year plan for each mobile operator as well as any new government policies that may arise. Based on coverage, technology and mobile trends, we believe possibly another 5,000 additional sites may likely be developed. They would be in the form of infill sites to address the growth of data utilisation as well as coverage sites to address the growth of users.
TowerXchange: How could the 1,800 and 2,100 MHz spectrum auction, which at last report was due this month, affect the Bangladeshi tower market?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
As key inputs into the businesses of our clients the mobile network operators (MNOs), developments in spectrum allocation and management is an area that we watch closely. From the perspective of the tower business, new spectrum would translate into new opportunities for not just new build but also increased possibilities for co-locations and infrastructure sharing. The latter two possibilities are especially important as tenancy growth is a key strategy for edotco BD.
TowerXchange: One of TowerXchange’s energy storage vendor clients described the Bangladeshi grid as “one of the most unreliable in the world” particularly during the monsoon season. What has been your experience of the Bangladeshi grid and what steps have you taken to maximise uptime at your sites?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
Power supply in Bangladesh is not always available due to load shedding issues and also due to the exponential growth in demand seen from recent infrastructure and development in Bangladesh and thus ample planned measures are taken in order to facilitate for it.
Battery is an immediate secondary source after grid failure. We as edotco are looking into the latest technologies for battery back-ups including lithium ion batteries which provide faster recharging times and much longer-lasting charge, resulting in substantial efficiencies. All BTS/RBS sites have such solutions and the capacity depends upon the network plan. For business critical sites (Core, Hub, HVC, Remote), diesel-powered generators are used as a redundant power source with an orderly fuel arrangement in place. In addition, solar panels are another energy/power source that is deployed at sites with the most vulnerable grids.
Our greatest challenge is faced during the monsoon periods when the storms knock out transmission lines. The repairs for this takes significant time and this is when our resources are stretched to ensure that we keep as many sites powered up by an efficient localised mobile/portable generators logistics programme. Our strength of vastly experienced field operations and management teams across the nation certainly helps us to overcome the challenges of this season in the best way possible.
TowerXchange: Can you tell us about edotco’s deployment of solar hybrid sites in Bangladesh?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
Bangladesh is a developing nation trying to overcome challenges for the demand and uninterrupted supply of electricity across the whole country.
There are still rural areas with no commercial electricity supply, for recognition known as NCP (non-commercial power) zones. In an effort to bring about advancement to such areas and taking all the related factors into consideration, edotco is pioneering the use of renewable energy sources for its infrastructure with the deployment of solar technology across a large number of sites throughout Bangladesh especially in NCP zones and areas with the most vulnerable grids. This innovation is being used alongside the generators that are currently powering the towers. In the absence of power supply, solar panels are able to harness the sun’s energy and convert it to run mobile telecom transmission services, which is of optimum benefit in NCP zones. Therefore, with the addition of solar technology, a notable amount of carbon emission is reduced, both at sites with and without commercial power. The carbon footprint is also reduced significantly. On average, solar hybridisation reduces energy costs by 30% per site.
Conservation of the environment is one of the leading thoughts at edotco Bangladesh, driving the effort to increase the number of network transmission towers using solar energy, going green with high tech environmental solutions toward greener pastures for the nation.
TowerXchange: Like most metropolitan centres, we understand Dhaka has a lot of rooftops rather than ground-based towers. What steps have you had to take to ensure the structural integrity of the buildings your sites are located on top of?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
Most of the sites in Dhaka City are pole sites, which do not have an impact to structural integrity as they are light and strong. Moreover, in Dhaka City, it is mandatory for landowners to have a safety check done with due approval by the Capital Development Authority of the Government of Bangladesh, known as RAJUK, in order to build a house or building, which satisfies our minimum structural safety requirement for pole sites.
On the other hand, for tower sites (on roof tops) anywhere else in the country, we do a structural analysis of the building to figure the feasibility of a particular tower, via third party consultants. After analysis, if the building is deemed as feasible for a tower site, only then does the acquisition team move forward to make an agreement with the house owner.
TowerXchange: What is the current regulatory framework around infrastructure sharing? Can you share any insights into the regulation of towercos’ equity ownership? Do you expect any regulatory changes in the near to mid-term to support telecoms development?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
BTRC, the Bangladesh regulatory authority, has had the foresight to advocate a strong policy position on infrastructure sharing as far back as 2008 through its Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines (ISG), which have since been amended in 2011. The guideline establishes key principles such as non-discriminatory access to towers, commercially negotiated terms, as well as clearly establishes the role of access seeker and provider. The ISG also details the basis on which any request for access can be rejected, typically on grounds of insufficient capacity. We feel that with some minor amendments to accommodate independent tower companies, the ISG can continue to provide impetus for further infra-sharing in Bangladesh.
Presently, separate regulation of tower companies is not yet in existence in Bangladesh. As such, equity ownership issues in relation to tower companies are not as yet relevant.
Notwithstanding reviews of the National Telecom Policy and the legislative and regulatory changes that might emanate from that process, Bangladesh is well poised to make crucial decisions in the area of infrastructure rollout and sharing, through the licensing of independent tower companies. edotco Bangladesh is a firm advocate of the licensing approach to standalone tower companies, given the mutual benefit of regulatory oversight for the regulator and security of tenure for the operator. We feel this will spearhead a new era of growth and operational excellence hitherto unseen, with new levels of specialisation and innovation in towers.
TowerXchange: What do you think are the top three changes required to aid the development of the Bangladeshi tower market?
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh:
Bangladesh is a rapidly urbanising nation with cities like Dhaka and town centres facing major trials in advancement with lack of space and stable power deficiencies. Keeping the nation’s challenges in mind; innovative technology and solutions for tower management in terms of space, structural design, energy efficiency, advanced batteries, et cetera, are primary to bring about development in the tower market.
In terms of cost efficiency and the environment, cordial industry collaboration is another leading factor to aid development, which edotco BD is actively committed to.
Furthermore, while issuing the towerco license, only the serious players who are well-capitalised and experienced should be prioritised, for the sake of stability in the tower market.
Don’t miss the upcoming TowerXchange Meetup Asia being held on 13-14 December at the Marina Bay Sands,Singapore. For more information visit https://meetup.towerxchange.com/event/779b884f-2156-4a99-81e0-747a2f905382
