Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad plans to invest up to US$200m in towers in Myanmar in an effort to capitalise on the country’s booming mobile market, according to Suresh Sidhu, CEO of subsidiary Edotco. The Southeast Asian nation has seen the number of mobile subscribers more than triple since the telecoms sector opened up in 2013.
Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad ((MYX:6888) plans to invest up to US$200m in towers in Myanmar in an effort to capitalise on the country’s booming mobile market, according to Suresh Sidhu (pictured), CEO of subsidiary Edotco.
Axiata’s network infrastructure unit Edotco agreed in October to acquire a majority stake in Myanmar Tower Company(MTC) from Jamaica-based Digicel. The deal, which values MTC at US$221m on a cash and debt-free basis, will see Edotco acquire a 75% stake in Digicel Asian Holdings, which in turn owns 100% of MTC. Qatari telco Ooredoo’s local business is MTC’s main tenant.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Sidhu said Axiata intends to spend an additional US$100m to US$200m in Myanmar within five to eight years.
Describing the Southeast Asian nation as “a huge opportunity”, he said he expects significant growth in both its mobile and infrastructure sectors.
Myanmar, which has a population of some 51 million people, has seen the number of mobile subscribers more than triple since the telecoms sector opened up in 2013, granting Qatar’s Ooredoo and Norway’s Telenor licences. The two compete with MPT, a joint venture between the telecoms ministry and Japanese telco KDDI.
This July, Telenor said its subscriber base in Myanmar had surpassed 10 million, while Ooredoo said it had 3.3 million customers at the end of April.
Earlier this week, the Myanmar Times reported that Telenor’s local unit had inked a memorandum of understanding with telecom vendor OCK Group and its local partner King Royal Technologies. Telenor Myanmar communications head Joachim Rajaram was cited telling the Myanmar Times that the company wanted to work with more towercos to ensure it could increase its current portfolio of 3,700 local towers to its target 9,000.
He declined comment on a Malaysian report suggesting discussions centred around a 12-year deal involving 900 towers.
Other towercos in Myanmar include Apollo Towers, Pan Asia Towers, Eco-Friendly Towers and Irrawaddy Towers.
