On 19 October, TowerXchange hosted the first working group on platforms for site intelligence, management and optimisation. With robust data being absolutely critical to decision making in site operations and management, the working group was designed to address some of the limitations that users are finding with current technology platforms, share success stories in the implementation of different systems and examine requirements on how technologies need to evolve.

On 19 October, TowerXchange hosted the first working group for Civil Works & O&M in the African and Middle Eastern tower industry. The aim of the group was to identify some of the key challenges in the rollout, operations and maintenance of cell sites in the region and provide recommendations to MNOs, towercos and managed service providers on how to better work together amidst increasingly challenging economic conditions.

TowerXchange hosted our inaugural working groups at our recent TowerXchange Meetup Africa. These unique discussions help vendors understand the real operating conditions for leading buyers at MNOs, towercos and their subcontractors, identifying specific requirements and revealing much about procurement criteria. In our distributed generation working group, we focused on diesel, hybrid and renewable generation, drawing upon the experiences of two towercos, two MNOs, an ESCO and three of Africa’s leading managed service providers.

On 28 October 2016 IHS Netherlands Holdco B.V., which owns 100% of IHS Nigeria Ltd, announced the successful launch of an $800mn high yield corporate bond issue which was listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. The bond, with a 9.5% coupon and a maturity date of 2021, is the largest high yield corporate bond to come out of Africa outside of South Africa and was assigned a Ba3 rating by Moody’s. In conjunction with the rating of the bond, Moody’s also assigned a B1 corporate family rating to IHS Netherlands Holdco B.V. which provided interesting insights into the assessment of the Sub-Saharan towerco business by this ratings agency. TowerXchange examine Moody’s credit assessment of the towerco.

How and why the market is starting to evolve

How TOM is enhancing its presence in Madagascar and extending to Comoros, La Reunion and Mayotte

Insights from Vodafone, Helios Towers Africa and Towerco of Madagascar

A roundup of tower news across SSA and MENA

How four key MNOs are working to reduce their network costs

Vodafone, Airtel, MTN and Helios Towers Africa share their combined experience

How MNOs, towercos, government and 5G evolution are shaping the future

How bonds, IPOs, increasing investor confidence and diversification of the towerco business model are affecting the landscape