E DOTCO G R O UP
Upholding a proactive attitude toward energy efficiency www.edotcogroup.com
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ENABLING Connectivity for the
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Since inception three years ago, edotco Group has secured a strong tower portfolio and is now bolstering its value-add service offering, starting with a concerted focus on sustainable power sources for its towers Writer: Emily Jarvis • Project Manager: Donovan Smith
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aving bolstered its range of integrated telecommunications infrastructure services with the addition of value-add services, Southeast Asia’s tower services expert, edotco is carefully balancing its desire to expand with a desire to constantly innovate; evolving beyond a traditional tower Company with a focus on creating its own reliable supply of power to remain competitive in a rapidly growing market. A series of strategic tower acquisitions since inception in 2012 has resulted in edotco taking ownership of more than 15,000 towers, including around 2,200 new towers built in 2015 by the Company across its five countries of operation - Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Pakistan – representative of edotco’s position as a leading pan-Asian tower
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services provider. Suresh Sidhu, Chief Executive Officer of the Company recalls: “edotco has evolved from a concept into a reality; with tower assets in multiple countries and a range of end-to-end solutions for the sector today. It is our ability to adapt and keep up with the pace of the industry that makes us stand out from the competition.”
With a whole range of towercentric services spanning infrastructure, power, energy sourcing, operations and maintenance and monitoring services, edotco’s offering covers the full spectrum of tower needs, tailored to tackle various country and environment-specific challenges.
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Many sectors, many needs.
ONE trusted name for constant power backup. The LARGEST battery manufacturer in Bangladesh. Solar | Inverter | Traction | Stationary | VRLA | EV | Automotive
RAHIMAFROOZ ACCUMULATORS LTD.
Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd. (RREL), is one of the foremost and pioneering solar companies, with more than 25 years of experience of Solarizing Bangladesh. As a company we specialize as a systems integrator & installer of solar solutions, manufacturer of key solar components, and one-stop service provider for carbon project development.
At Rahimafrooz Accumulators Limited (RAL) we produce a wide range of Tubular Batteries for Renewable Energy Systems, Backup Power Systems, Electric vehicles, Telecommunication, Power Stations, Railways, Forklifts, and Golf carts. RAL produces and markets industrial batteries with the best quality and highest performance backed by latest technology.
GLOBATT offers a wide range of Maintenance Free and Sealed Maintenance Free batteries ranging from 32AH to 200AH in JIS and from 36AH to 100AH in the DIN range. With a production capacity of 2.5 million, GLOBATT batteries are made with Ca-Ca-Tin Expanded Metal Technology, using 100% virgin lead sourced from leading smelters of the world.
Over 3 Million u ser in more th s an 60 export destinatio ns
Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Limited 260/B, Tejgaon Industrial Area 5th Floor, Dhaka-1208 T: +88-02-8878525-7 F: +88-02-8878566 solar@rahimafrooz.com www.rahimafrooz-solar.com
Rahimafrooz Accumulators Limited 705, West Nakhalpara, Tejgaon, Dhaka – 1215 T: +88-02 -9113696 F: +88-02-58153128 ralsales@rahimafrooz.com www.rahimafrooz-accumulators.com
Rahimafrooz Globatt Limited 705, West Nakhalpara, Tejgaon, Dhaka – 1215 T+88-02 -9113696 globatt@rahimafrooz.com www.globatt-battery.com
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Investing in value-add, tower-centric services will be key to edotco’s long-term sustainability
The Company’s recent drive to secure a reliable supply of power to its towers has proved to be a strategic move towards achieving long-term operational efficiency. “This is just one step that makes our towers more attractive and we hope this will facilitate increased tower sharing possibilities,” Sidhu adds.
Sustainable tower solutions
Heading into next year, edotco’s expansion strategy is very much focused on continued investment in its value-add, tower-centric services, including power infrastructure and new technologies designed to boost efficiency. “The vast majority of our ongoing projects are a result of our pursuit for operational excellence and investment in our brand, which affects how we are perceived in the market,” says Sidhu. Coupled with its commitment to provide the best service uptime to
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The vast majority of our ongoing projects are a result of our pursuit for operational excellence and investment in our brand, which affects how we are perceived in the market
customers, Chief Sales & Corporate Affairs Officer, Wan Zainal explains that edotco’s monitoring solution, echo is a step in the right direction. He explains: “echo is an automated remote monitoring system for all passive tower infrastructure; comprising power, security, fuel, battery life, temperature, alarms and any other key aspects that can have an impact on service levels. “From our centralised echo Centre, we can proactively monitor each site via a remote monitoring unit (RMU) in real time, intelligently gathering data, resulting in costsaving problem resolutions while minimising dependence on manual field operations.” To make the project a reality, edotco worked closely with telecommunication and industrial power expert, Orissa Wicomm (M) Sdn. Bhd; a Company who shares edotco’s long-term view of creating sustainable power solutions through its offering of renewable energy and RMU capabilities. Moreover, many of the markets in which edotco operate face the challenge of an unreliable power supply and by leveraging its close relationship with regional partners, the Company is ensuring that it meets its energy efficiency targets across its tower infrastructure; thus reducing operational expenditure and passing the savings onto the customer by reducing total cost of ownership. He further notes: “We are well placed to help our customers reduce cost to maintain their profit margins. This involved tackling the common problem of energy shortages by investing in more innovative and sustainable power solutions, including exploring avenues in renewable energy. “Moving into the power space will provide access to different clients in new geographies, providing our teams with experience in new markets. Given
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ahimafrooz is one of the leading business conglomerates from Bangladesh with more than 60 years of experience in storage battery manufacturing and distribution in domestic and international markets. Over the decades, Rahimafrooz has grown in size, scale and diversity and the Group today has eight operating Companies (SBUs), alongside other business ventures, and a not-for-profit social enterprise. As of 2015, the Group currently employs more than 3,000 people directly and a further 50,000 indirectly as suppliers and contractors, dealers and retailers, operating in four broad industries; namely storage power, automotive & electronics, energy and retail. We produce a wide range of dry charge and maintenance free automotive, motorcycle & deep cycle batteries as well as a variety of industrial tubular batteries. Rahimafrooz Accumulators Limited (RAL) is the largest industrial battery manufacturer in Bangladesh. The Company started manufacturing industrial batteries in 1991 in collaboration with Electrona of Switzerland and in 2009 commenced operation as a separate unit to cater to the growing industrial storage power requirements for the local and international market. We produce and market a wide range of telecommunication and tubular batteries for a variety of industries. RAL produces and markets industrial batteries with consistent quality and high performance backed by advanced technology. We make 2V and 12V industrial batteries maintaining high standards of operation which are ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified ensuring global quality benchmarks.
The Company consists of two manufacturing plants which use the latest technology and are equipped with modern production machineries and testing facilities; including air treatment, effluent treatment and lead recycling management. RAL aims to manufacture high quality batteries which offer safer and more environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes. Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Limited (RREL) has been an active player in the solar industry over the past 25+ years, actively dealing with many solar products and large solar projects. As one of its pioneering projects, RREL established a PV Module Plant in 2012 in order to cater the market with high quality products. RREL has also started global footprint with PV panel and SHS exports. The Company has implemented extensive rural service and selling network for access to energy using online/ERP and smartphone-based systems. Rahimafrooz Globatt Limited (RGL) is a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive batteries in Southeast Asia. We manufacture maintenance free automotive batteries in our ISO 9001, 14000 & OHSAS 18000 certified plant, with 2.5 million units produced per annum. We have been exporting batteries to the global market since 1992 and customers of 58 countries have experienced our products. The team at Rahimafrooz is committed to ensuring the best in quality standards and living the Group’s five core values – Integrity, Excellence, Customer Delight, Innovation and Inspiring People. At Rahimafrooz, we are “Enriching Lives with Your Trust”.
www.rahimafrooz.com
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9 DOTS CONSULTING
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Dots Consulting Group is
headquartered in Singapore with regional operations in Malaysia and Thailand. The core focus of 9 Dots Consulting is on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI), providing class-leading professional expertise with laser-focused quality service that can take your business to the next level of success. 9 Dots Consulting has built its success on proven Microsoft Dynamics AX implementations by fostering partnerships and working together with enterprise clients for successful outcomes.
Securing a reliable supply of power to its towers has proved a strategic move towards achieving long-term sustainability
the increasing trend for multi-service companies, it is often expected of us to provide the power infrastructure as well as the tower, and our latest investments in this area are enabling us to do this.” Additionally, edotco is continuously looking for ways to re-evaluate the design of its towers to ensure they can be tailored for a specific site, alongside a specific energy system; including the roll out of a camouflage design and BTS hotel in Malaysia. “Our multiservice approach will help to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs for the customer, while increasing network uptime,” Wan Zainal adds. Equipped with this all-encompassing solution approach, edotco is now assessing opportunities in new geographies starting with Myanmar earlier this year; acquiring a 75 percent stake in an indigenous tower company. “Going forward, we will be very much focused on operationalising this and
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9 Dots Consulting worked closely with edotco to deploy a new central enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for the Group
Whatever your business challenges are, whether it is to stay competitive, keeping your business response time down, managing expansions, shared services, consolidations or streamlining business processes across regions; you are in good hands with the right Microsoft Dynamics AX enterprise solutions from 9 Dots Consulting. 9 Dots Consulting guarantees experienced help, support and advice, in addition to a high level of commitment and responsibility. “We have a consistent track record and reputation for on-time delivery. You are in a much better partnership with us when it comes to achieving a better return on investment for your business. Integrity is the essence of our success”, says Yap Sim Chin, Managing Director, 9 Dots Consulting Group.
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ORISSA WICOMM
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rissa Wicomm is a leading systems integrator in the Asia Pacific region with presence in Malaysia and Philippines and associate offices in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Founded in 2010, Orissa Wicomm provides unparalleled energy, power, lightning prevention and remote monitoring solutions to the most demanding industries. Leveraging global experts, Orissa Wicomm helps organizations achieve their goal of reducing TCO and driving sustainable growth in an effective and innovative way. “We’ve always put our customers’ first, keeping in mind what is important to them and will continue to do that as we embark on new frontiers to expand our footprint regionally”, says Nallen Singhe CEO, Orissa Wicomm.
www.orissawicomm.com echo is an automated remote monitoring system for all passive tower infrastructure
aligning the new business with our own strategies and solutions,” he details. With this new expansion, edotco has the potential to surpass the 16,000 tower mark, further emphasising its leading market position in Southeast Asia.
Building a culture of delivery
Throughout its history, edotco has placed a concerted focus on its people in terms of both training and recruiting the right person for the job. “This is something we remain very passionate about and hope to continue selecting, where possible, local people into a melting pot of multicultural diversity who will ultimately benefit the Company and its future development goals,” Wan Zainal adds. Subsequently, edotco employees embody the customer-centric core principals and aspirations, helping to bring the best products and solutions
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MIZAN GROUP
...edotco worked closely with telecommunication and industrial power expert, Orissa Wicomm (M) Sdn. Bhd; a Company who shares edotco’s long-term view of creating sustainable power solutions...
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s a reputed company in the tower sector in Bangladesh, we have been working with Edotco Group since 2007, supplying 1,357 new towers since our partnership began. With our factory in Ashulia, near Dhaka, it is ideally situated for the production and supply to sites throughout Bangladesh. Our specialised engineers are responsible for the quality jobs at the factory and as well as fabrication at sites. We will hope to have excellent relations with the edotco Group for many years to come!
T +88 017 14109013 +88 018 41890890 E mizan2358@yahoo.com mizanconstruction@yahoo.com
www.mizangroup.com
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Telephone: +603 7886 3713 Email: sales@orissawicomm.com www.orissawicomm.com
consider it done
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ELECTRO GROUP
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DOTCO, a large infrastructure development company in the telecom sector, is playing a vital role in introducing and changing the face of telecom infrastructure with its own innovative and futuristic developments. We at Electro Group feel proud to be a selective vendor for supply, installation & maintenance of generators and recently we have signed a 3 year contract for solar power systems with EDOTCO. We have also made steps forward to make a more stable version of the BTS power conditions by using of the Electro VRLA battery. We look forward to contributing more to EDOTCO in their future development. Syed Shafiqul Hassan Executive Director, Sales & Marketing Electro Group, Bangladesh
edotco constantly assesses the design of its towers to ensure they can be tailored for a specific site
to market, that meet the changing customer needs in telecommunications solutions. Sidhu explains: “Our people set us apart from traditional tower companies; they represent a critical aspect of value creation in our ‘economies of skill’ approach to business. We can leverage our panregional approach to build a culture of delivery and continuous innovation for our customers. “This is just one of the reasons why we intend to put in place the relevant certification trainings so that there is a clear, industry-recognisable, standard that we adhere to.” A customer-centric focus stretches throughout edotco’s partner development programme, which ultimately attracts best-in-class and likeminded international partners who are also eager to encourage improved connectivity, better energy solutions
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Our people set us apart from traditional tower companies; they represent a critical aspect of value creation in our ‘economies of skill’ approach to business
and new expansion opportunities. “We also look for local partners and vendors where possible to not only encourage local development and training, but to garner a better understanding of each country we operate in,” he adds. One such international partner is 9 Dots Consulting, who is working closely with edotco to deploy a new central enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for the Group to be put in place in January. The solution will drive faster internal decision-making, improve workforce productivity and lower the cost of the Group’s ongoing IT expenditures. “So far, our partnership has been successful and we hope their good work continues long into the future,” says Wan Zainal.
Digitising Bangladesh
Aligning with the country’s vision of achieving a technologically advanced nation by 2021, edotco Bangladesh (BD) has focused on harnessing the
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Zass Telecom is one of the leading telecom vendor in Bangladesh, providing end-to-end telecom infrastructure turnkey solution to mobile & fixed phone companies.
Darryll Sinnappa, Managing Director, edotco Bangladesh
potential of renewable technologies and sustainable energy monitoring solutions to support the growth of its business across both rural and urban geographies. “Bangladesh is a nation developing at a steady pace, and our current investments follow our continued commitment to the country’s
• Operations & maintenance • Free cooling unit supply & installation (FCU) • Automatic fire protection system supply & installation (AFPS) • BTS & MW installation, testing & commissioning • BTS cabin shelter supply & installation • Civil construction works
Tel: +88018 22999097 / +88019 77777357 Landline: +880258815030 Fax: +880-28812359 / info@zasstel.com www.zasstel.com www.zassglobal.com House # 11/B (Rabbee House) Road # 96, Gulshan – 2, Dhaka – 1212
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and intelligent cooling systems are just some of the products we have introduced to the market, and we hope to play a big part in the future, throughout the nation.” Real-time monitoring via the echo system is one of edotco Group’s exclusive services, and is also the first of its kind to be provided to the tower services sector in Bangladesh. This technologically sophisticated system can monitor fuel levels, temperature, energy consumption, power systems, environmental conditions and other variables; addressing them before any cause for alarm occurs. “Our system is value-based, as opposed to the traditional alarm-based systems, which provides more value to our customers,” he further notes.
Building technical competence
In order to realise the dream that is known as ‘Digital Bangladesh’, it is a high necessity to preserve energy
communication needs; having invested US$180 million in the past year,” explains Darryll Sinnappa, Manging Director, edotco Bangladesh. Offering the same level of reliable and high quality integrated telecommunications infrastructure services Group-wide - including built-tosuit end-to-end solutions, co-locations, energy, operations and maintenance (O&M) and remote monitoring via its echo system - edotco BD is to invest a further US$100 million over the next two years to scale-up its already prominent local profile to remain ahead of the competition. “Currently edotco BD has more than 7,000 towers in its portfolio throughout the country, covering
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the seven divisions, 64 districts, 533 thanas and 4,575 unions. We are proud to have expanded to the most geographically-challenging locations, becoming the first to build towers in locations such as remote islands in coastal areas, border sites, hill tracts and so on,” he adds.
echo system
“In order to realise the dream that is known as ‘Digital Bangladesh’, it is a high necessity to preserve energy. This is something which edotco BD is focusing on by harnessing the potential of, and disseminating renewable energy technologies,” says Sinnappa. “Solar technology, lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines
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In a developing nation such as Bangladesh, strategic investments and monitoring of trends are two crucial factors that dictate future expansion. Therefore, edotco has to make sure that its investments facilitate the demands of the steadilyemerging middle-class and support pro-growth policies implemented by the Government. “We would like Bangladesh to be considered as our base for building technical competence across edotco’s entire regional footprint,” says Sinnappa. “By deploying a set of sustainable core competencies which derive from both our unique products and internal resources, we will make sure the relevant differentiators are in place to retain a competitive advantage. For example, in terms of our people, we will continue to maintain our current development programmes to enhance and optimise the nation’s resources.” Adaptability is another core competency in edotco’s repertoire that shows the Company’s ability to adjust and continually monitor its business performance, without jeopardising
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the accuracy and the quality of the overall procedures. “Adopting new technologies that maximise operational efficiencies, such as the echo system, adds incremental value to achieving the nation’s dream of a digitalised Bangladesh,” he details. The Managing Director summarises: “By continuing to increase the number of tenancies, to maximise economiesof-scale, edotco BD is targeting an overall boost to its performance to ultimately obtain the number one towerco position in the country.”
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“Moreover, edotco wants to play a key part in opening up opportunities for tower sharing across Southeast Asia, which will demonstrate our keenness to create quality partnerships and work in tandem with others, while remaining competitive in terms of our multi-service approach. In Malaysia, we have just launched our first multi-tenant cellularon-wheel under the brand name, edotco Mobility Solution eMOS.” Sidhu concludes: “Ultimately, we are targeting a multi-service, tower-centric approach without losing focus on the customer as the end-goal. Offering an Customer-centric solutions all-encompassing service was a logical Driven by its continuous aptitude for step for us to be able to expand the improvement across the board, edotco business and keep adding solutions has spent a considerable amount to our portfolio; offering a total of time optimising the design of its service solution while continuously towers and internal support processes innovating and working on continuous with the ultimate goal to provide a improvement to make a continued better product to the customer. impact across the countries in which Wan Zainal outlines: “Going forward, we operate. we hope to acquire new customers, “Customers change and we need create an even stronger customerto adapt to that, hence our approach centric mindset in our customer-facing to value-add and our keen focus on staff; while continuing to bring new sustainable energy solutions; which and innovative solutions to a growing will also come into play in terms of our number of countries. CSR focus heading into 2016.”
edotco has just launched its first multi-tenant cellular-on-wheel in Malaysia, under the brand name, eMOS
Group-wide CSR in 2016 In 2016, edotco is to adopt a Group-wide corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme; primarily drawn from its growing expertise in energy solutions, which will become the focal point for its investments in the local communities. “It is important that we address the wider challenges within each country that we operate through utilising our skills in telecommunications and the associated industries to make a big impact. Up until this point, we were involved in CSR on an ad-hoc basis and we are very pleased to now be evolving further into this space by channelling our excess energy generation back to the community,” highlights Wan Zainal.
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EDOTCO GROUP SDN BHD Level 30, Axiata Tower 9 Jalan Stesen Sentral 5 Kuala Lumpur Sentral 50470 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia T: +603 2262 1388 F: +603 2262 1308/09 E: marketing@edotcogroup.com www.edotcogroup.com