Axiata’s tower company edotco will acquire a controlling stake of 75 per cent in Digicel’s Myanmar venture for $221 million in an attempt to “further solidify” itself as an infrastructure provider to the greater South East Asian telecom industry.

The move will allow Axiata to create new revenue streams outside of its core mobile business, its president Dato’ Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said.

The move will also give edotco “strategic majority control providing a platform in a highly attractive tower industry within edotco’s geographic area of focus”, the company said in a statement.

The Myanmar tower market is expected to be one of South East Asia’s largest and fastest growing telecommunication infrastructure service markets, the statement added.

Edotco wants to bring services it offers in the Asian region to Myanmar, such as towers, transmission, maintenance and potentially energy.

According to Suresh Sidhu, CEO of edotco, “the Myanmar telecommunications industry with its low mobile penetration, favourable regulatory conditions and high reliance on tower and infrastructure sharing presents significant potential for the edotco business as it expands into the new market.”

The deal is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Established by Axiata in 2012, edotco manages 14,000 towers in countries like Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.