Robi, Banglalink set to sell towers

Robi Axiata and Banglalink are in the final phase of negotiations to sell their towers in order to cut maintenance costs.

A mobile phone tower, or base transceiver station, is where electronic communications equipment and antennae are mounted to manage networks.

Robi, the second-largest operator in Bangladesh, will sell all of its 2,460 towers, while Banglalink, the third-largest carrier, will sell 5,500 towers of its total of 6,500.

The two operators are expected to earn about $500 million from the sales. Market leader Grameenphone is also in the process of selling towers.

The towers will be sold to four companies that are licenced to manage and operate them.

With an aim to increase shared tower usage among mobile network operators (MNOs), the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) introduced a policy in 2007.

The policy intends to reduce the number of additional towers, ensure optimal use of scarce land resources, and cut pressure on power demand.

But after the MNOs showed reluctance to comply with the policy, the commission granted licences to four companies -- edotco Bangladesh, Summit Towers, AB High Tech Consortium, and Kirtonkhola Tower Bangladesh -- in 2018 to manage the sites.

Currently, 4,148 towers are shared by the operators, which are 17 per cent of the total 24,425 towers they own.

Robi shares 30 per cent of its existing towers, while Grameenphone and Banglalink share only 17 to 19 per cent of their sites.

A spokesperson of Robi declined to comment.

In a statement, Ankit Sureka, head of corporate communications and sustainability of Banglalink, says Banglalink holds one of the largest tower portfolios in Bangladesh.

"Furthermore, since the introduction of the new tower sharing guidelines, we have signed expansion agreements with all of the four tower licensees of the country, and we are actively expanding our network through these agreements." 

"However, as part of our asset-utilisation strategy and expansion plan, we may consider – if the operational and financial conditions are satisfactory – to sell towers to the tower licence-holders."

As per the regulator's decision in 2018, the four firms would have to expand networks to all divisional cities in the first year of getting the licence.

In the second year, towers would have to be installed at the district level. After that, network penetration was set to reach 30 per cent at the upazila level by the third year, 80 per cent by the fourth year, and full coverage by the fifth.

The installation of new towers was halted for about two years from November 2018 due to complications with the service level agreement. After the complications were resolved in November last year, the tower companies started installing new sites as per the demand of mobile operators.

The number of towers owned by edotco stands at 12,896, while Summit Towers owns 584, AB High Tech Consortium owns 406, and Kirtonkhola Tower owns 97, according to a BTRC report. Of the towers, 35 per cent are shared.