Vodacom investigates the possibility of pooling its resources with competitors
Group investigates the possibility of pooling its resources with competitors
VODACOM, South Africa’s biggest wireless operator by subscribers, was exploring the possibility of sharing infrastructure on the continent with competitors Millicom International Cellular and Bharti Airtel, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The idea to pool resources, such as phone towers, was at an early stage and might not lead to a deal, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter was private.
Vodacom is 65 percentowned by England-based Vodafone Group. Representatives of Vodacom and Bharti declined to comment.
Mobile operators in Africa are curbing costs by sharing infrastructure and selling towers as they seek to extend highspeed networks throughout the continent.
Johannesburg-based Vodacom’s largest rival, MTN, may sell towers in South Africa and is also in talks with fixed-line operator Telkom about network sharing.
Pooling resources “is the future for the industry, particularly if we want to meet some of the political ambitions in the countries where we are, around rural coverage,” Arthur Bastings, Millicom’s executive vicepresident for Africa, said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
He declined to comment on discussions with Vodacom.
Vodacom gained as much as 2.3 percent to the highest price since its shares started trading on the JSE in May 2009 and was down 1.11 percent to close at R135.28 on Friday.
Vodacom has networks in Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It had 61.1 million active customers at the end of December.
The company said it planned to increase capital investment by about 20 percent to R13 billion in the financial year to the end of March.
Bharti Airtel, which
is India’s biggest wireless carrier, is controlled by billionaire chairman Sunil Mittal and has 75 million subscribers in 17 African countries.
Millicom, controlled by Sweden’s Kinnevik Investment, had more than 25 million mobile customers in Africa at the end of last year. – Bloomberg