Eaton Towers, a pan-African tower company, has signed a deal with Telkom Kenya covering its existing portfolio of over 1,000 towers.
The 15-year management and leasing deal is focused on both the maintenance of existing sites and building new sites and extends Eaton Towers’ partnership with the Orange Group following the 2012 deal with Orange Uganda.
Eaton Towers has also completed its third round of equity financing, provided by majority shareholder Capital International Private Equity Fund (CIPEF) and its co-investment limited partners.
Integrated telecommunications services provider Telkom Kenya operates Orange’s mobile and fixed-line telecommunications services in Kenya. Telkom Kenya will retain ownership of its existing portfolio of over 1,000 towers while Eaton Towers will invest in passive infrastructure upgrades and build new towers to provide Telkom Kenya with improved coverage and network quality. In parallel, the partnership will create a solid platform that will allow Telkom Kenya to focus on developing value-added services such as innovative data offers as well as an enhanced customer care experience.
Alan Harper, chief executive of Eaton Towers, says: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Orange as the first tower company to operate in Kenya. This agreement extends our successful relationship with the Orange Group in Africa and brings significant benefits to all parties. Eaton Towers has raised USD195m in new equity from our shareholders for investment in Africa and the first deployment of this will be invested in upgrading Telkom Kenya’s towers and building out new network coverage."
Mickael Ghossein, chief executive of Telkom Kenya, says: "We are confident that our agreement with Eaton Towers is a step in the right direction. Telkom Kenya will retain ownership of all the existing towers and the partnership will place us in a strong position to expand our network and develop innovative new services, in particular in rural areas, helping us achieve our ambition to provide the Kenyan population with excellent nation-wide coverage and relevant offers.
“Through this agreement, we will be able to reduce our operational costs and, at the same time, minimise the environmental impact of our network by reducing the use of diesel fuel."
For Orange, the partnership represents an important step forward in the group’s overall efforts to improve efficiency and control operating costs across its footprint in Africa. Sharing passive infrastructure is a key part of this strategy and similar deals have already been struck in Uganda, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
