‘‘
‘‘
mobile operators have no choice but to build more capacity into their existing networks
says Harper, “and today the market is a great deal more welcoming of the concept than what it was in previous years. “Increasingly, specialists like ourselves are proving the business case and making infrastructure a more accepted practice.” The company’s goals for the coming years are simple: add more markets and countries to Eaton’s radar. “But these transactions take a long time to do and we’ll report news as and when deals are concluded. “Eaton’s most recent deal in Uganda took a little over a year to conclude.”
Different strokes This was complicated by the fact that each deal was different, because what each telco wanted from its specific deal varied. “Some telcos are looking to unlock cash, which might mean their monthly rental might be higher. “Others aren’t looking for cash at all and are instead looking to shift the management burden to a third party.” It’s a space that is anything but boring to be involved with. Addressing the prevailing trends in the telecoms industry for the next year and beyond, Harper speculates that his company feels it’s on a winning wicket because tower infrastructure-sharing transactions were becoming more commonplace and more accepted in the market. “Outside of that, we see the growth in data showing no evidence of slowing down,” he says. “Up until now, the mobile telephony space – at least in the markets where we have operations – has been mainly centred on voice and text services. But there’s a brave new data-centric world out there and the prevalence of smartphones, tablets and 3G-capable notebooks is driving this trend. “It means that mobile operators have no choice but to build more capacity into their existing networks, as opposed to just focusing on expanding their coverage areas.” It’s no surprise that Harper says this is driving Eaton’s business quite strongly. “If telcos need to build more capacity into their networks, they need to increase the concentration of base stations in a specific area, and colocating is a much faster and more cost-effective way of doing this,” he says. “When it comes to spotting these trends and capitalising on them, I must say we’re extremely lucky to have a staff complement and management team as experienced and senior as we do,” he says. Most of Eaton’s management team are drawn from the cellular industry – both in the tower management and core telecoms markets. “That means we have fantastic insight into the market and a number of strategic customers and relationships. “Our ability to leverage that expertise and those relationships is truly a big differentiator,” he says. AT 26 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 25