Introducing CALA’s smaller, nimble towercos who are creating value ‘from the ground up’ via BTS programmes

Estimated number of towers owned or managed by towercos in India

BMI’s tower analyst Kenechi Okeleke bullish about tower market in Côte d’Ivoire

TowerXchange's analysis of the IHS success story - transforming from a regional BTS and managed services player into a continental market leader

With a population of 15.9 million1 people and with over half of Malawians living below the poverty line, Malawi is one of the most densely populated and least developed countries in Africa. The country is located in the south east of the continent, landlocked and surrounded by Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Compared to the rest of Africa, the Malawi telecommunication market is particularly under-developed. There were 5.56 million mobile subscriptions at the end of 2013, giving a low penetration rate of 35%. Relatively low subscriber growth of 2.3% is forecast for 2014, and is expected to taper off over subsequent years. More than 99% of the subscribers are prepaid users. A SIM registration programme is taking place in 2014 and, as observed in other SSA countries, this is likely to have a negative impact on subscriber figures.

And a further 31,000 towers are currently for sale

Both the Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies approved the secondary laws on telecommunications and broadcasting. The upper house approved the bill 85 to 12 in favour while 340 votes in favour were reached by the deputies.

Increasing comfort with the towerco business model and pipeline of opportunities attracts a deeper pool of investors

Buying, building and adding value to Colombia’s cell towers

Agence Ecofin reports that Djezzy has launched 3.5G services in seven provinces of Algeria. Meanwhile, Algeria Telecom’s mobile arm, Mobilis, is rumoured to be extending its business-oriented fixed-wireless LTE service to consumers. TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, report that Mobilis have already deployed 200 ‘eNodeB’ sites across the country, with plans to install 2,000 LTE-enabled base transceiver stations by year end 2015.

Reliance Communications is planning to considerably reduce its staff by axing 37% of its 15,000 people workforce by the end of July 2014. The move is part of the company’s plan to cut costs and increase its profitability. As a result of the axe, both its call centre and shared services operations will be outsourced.

Phone-friendly culture indicates pent up demand for coverage and capacity – the rollout will transform Myanmar, but can Myanmar keep up?