In the 17 largest / most active tower markets in Asia, which MNOs are present? Who has sold and leased back towers? Who has carved out their own towerco? Who is co-operating with towerco partners on BTS? And where will the next deals takes place? TowerXchange plots the answers to these questions in this matrix.
The MNO matrix was created to provide a visual representation of MNOs, their footprints in Asia, and the partnerships, JVs and tower sales that they have engaged in to date. The matrix also highlights which tower markets are the most active and where the tower model has yet to take root.
To maintain visual simplicity, only Asian countries where tower transactions or substantial tower inventories are held have been included.
India and Indonesia jump out as particularly active tower markets with multiple tower sales and carve-outs. We can also see markets that are on the verge of their first tower deals such as Pakistan and Thailand. The less active markets appear predominantly in red including Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. Finally, we can also look from at MNO perspective to see which operators have been the most progressive in divesting tower assets based on completed or rumoured deals. The clear leader from this view is the Axiata Group which has carved out its towers to subsidiary towerco edotco. Other operators active in sale and leasebacks and towerco partnerships include Hutchison Whampoa, Ooredoo, Telenor, and Vimpelcom.
For more information on tower transactions from an MNO perspective, don’t miss our interview with Analysys Mason, also in this month’s journal. And for a history of Asia’s tower transactions, and other baseline data, check out “TowerXchange’s analysis of the independent tower market in Asia”.
Matrix of Asian MNO tower strategies
Download TowerXchange Asia Matrix
