Russian operators MTS and Vimpelcom are in talks to pool their towers and set up a joint venture in a bid to share and reduce infrastructure costs.
Discussions are at an early stage.
An MTS spokesperson confirmed that such plans are being considered,…
Russian operators MTS and Vimpelcom are in talks to pool their towers and set up a joint venture in a bid to share and reduce infrastructure costs.
Discussions are at an early stage.
An MTS spokesperson confirmed that such plans are being considered, telling TelecomFinance: “We would be interested in tower sharing agreements with all interested parties if they enable us to reduce construction and maintenance costs”.
MTS added that it already shares 400 towers across Russia with Vimpelcom.
“We are currently looking at a number of options in this respect but no decision has been taken on how such a venture would be structured,” a Vimpelcom spokesperson commented.
Infrastructure sharing or sale and lease-back transactions are measures available to operators to reduce costs. Among the biggest tower sharing deals announced this year are plans by Vodafone and O2 to pool their passive network infrastructure in the UK.
According to a Reuters report other operators such as Megafon, Rostelecom and Tele2 may also try to get in on a tower sharing deal in Russia, but nothing is confirmed as yet.
Russian daily Vedomosti reportedly said that the tower venture could be 85% majority controlled by Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
