Bharti to sell more masts

BHARTI Airtel’s planned disposal of cellular phone towers in Africa would see it sell masts in Tanzania to Helios Towers, while units in Malawi would go to Eaton Towers, an official with knowledge of the deal said yesterday. Cellular operators such as India’s Bharti have been selling masts to specialist tower firms and leasing them back to cut maintenance costs on a continent with poor access to electricity and shoddy roads. The Tanzania sale would include about 1 000 towers, said the official, who declined to be identified because the deal had not been concluded. The official did not say how many towers in Malawi would be sold. Bharti has said that it would sell 3 500 towers across six African countries to Eaton, and 3 100 masts in four countries to Helios. It has not given details on the countries involved. – Reuters