Gulf telcos Zain, Ooredoo and TASC to form $2.2 bln regional tower giant

Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain Group (ZAIN.KW), Qatar’s Ooredoo (ORDS.QA) and Dubai’s TASC Towers Holding said on Tuesday they had signed definitive agreements to combine their tower assets into a $2.2 billion entity in a cash-and-share deal. Zain, Ooredoo and TASC in July had announced exclusive talks to create the Middle East and North Africa’s largest tower company, combining about...

Telkom starts talks to dispose of tower unit

Telkom has kicked off negotiations with a preferred bidder for the sale of its Swiftnet tower business. The move to dispose of Swiftnet has been in the pipeline for some time, as the telecommunications company looks to unlock value for its shareholders. Swiftnet owns a portfolio of 6 200 communication towers in South Africa. In...

Vodacom turns to Nvidia AI to automate its towers

A Vodacom pilot in Cape Town is using a virtual twin of the Mother City to calculate optimal tower equipment configurations in real time. The mobile operator has partnered with American chip giant Nvidia to create an AI-powered virtual network management platform. The system has mapped Cape Town along with all of Vodacom’s infrastructure in it – called...

Telecom Namibia announces deployment of 500 new telecom towers in the next five years

Telecom Namibia is increasing initiatives to strengthen its infrastructure in order to improve its network and be more competitive on the national market. The company announced in July 2022 that it would invest N$2.3 billion in its network infrastructure over five years. State-owned Telecom Namibia plans to deploy 500 new telecom towers across Namibia over the...

Madagascar’s TowerCo undergoes brand alignment

TowerCo of Madagascar has completed its brand shift, marking a milestone in the company’s alignment with TowerCo of Africa (TOA). The company revealed the refreshed look today, stating that the rebranding initiative demonstrates its commitment to developing a recognised brand across all TOA operations. Since starting operations in the island country 12 years ago, TowerCo...

Helios Towers Secures Up to $720M in New Credit Facilities for Debt Refinancing

Helios Towers plc, the independent telecommunications infrastructure company, has announced that it has signed a new five-year up to US$600m term loan facilities agreement (“New TL”) and up to US$120m revolving credit facility agreement (“New RCF”) (together the “New Facilities”), with the New Facilities ranking pari passu with the 7.000% Senior Notes due 2025 issued...

Calls for MTN affiliate IHS Towers CEO to go

Blackwells Capital, a shareholder in MTN’s affiliate IHS Towers, is calling for leadership changes at the tower operator, including a reconstitution of the company’s board and the replacement of CEO and chairman Sam Darwish. This, as the tower company continues to face pressure from its shareholders, who accuse it of poor governance, which has resulted in the...

Delay in sale of Telkom’s towers portfolio

Telkom appears to need more time than its originally expected to conclude a deal to sell its tower assets. In mid-June, group CEO Serame Taukobong told TechCentral that Swiftnet, which houses the masts and towers portfolio, would be sold in its entirety within weeks. Although it said a sale was imminent, Telkom would not be drawn on who the proposed...

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