China Tower, State Grid to promote resource sharing for towers

Chinese State-owned enterprises China Tower Corp and State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), signed an agreement on Tuesday to share resources and establish long-term cooperation, which experts said will reduce costs, increase efficiency and bring benefits for both industries.

China Tower Corp is a joint venture of China’s three basic telecom operators, while SGCC is the biggest State-owned electric utility company.

SGCC will share tower resources with China Tower Corp, and the two will cooperate in telecommunications services and smart grid construction, according to a statement SGCC sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

A mechanism will be established to strengthen communication and deepen technical exchanges, as well as to conduct pilot projects for sharing resources in electricity and telecommunications infrastructure, read the statement.

“Power transmission towers owned by SGCC are all over China. Especially in the eastern region, the distribution density of our towers is relatively high,” said Shu Yinbiao, chairman of SGCC.

“China Tower Corp has 2.5 million base stations, so there is great scope for cooperation just in tower sharing,” Shu said.

Fu Liang, a Beijing-based independent telecom industry, told the Global Times on Wednesday that benefits from this cooperation are quite obvious. For example, the cost of building towers will be substantially reduced through sharing existing towers owned by either company.

“It’s not necessary to build two towers at the same place, which is a total waste of resources. Through the collaboration, construction time will be reduced and land may be saved as well. This will further increase efficiency,” Fu said.

The average cost of building a communication tower is 142,000 yuan ($22,468.35), covering an area of 30 square meters. Using existing towers as bases, the construction period of each station could be shortened by 60 days, said a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

“The two parties have cooperated in tower sharing before, but more on an ad hoc basis. The agreement will lead to strategic and scientific all-round cooperation, and benefit both industries,” Fu noted.

On Tuesday, China Tower also signed a cooperation agreement with China Southern Power Grid, another State-owned electric utility, in a bid to share resources and establish regular cooperation.