Edotco, Axiata’s regional tower company, is looking to expand via M&A in the region and is stepping up efforts to boost operational efficiency at cell sites to reduce labour costs.
“Edotco is always on the lookout for M&A opportunities and a priority definitely includes Malaysia,” said edotco CEO Suresh Sidhu (pictured) at its innovation day yesterday.
The company aims to expand its market share in Malaysia from 16-17 per cent (with about 3,600 towers out of a total of 22,000) to 20 per cent.
It announced in early October it will acquire a 75 per cent stake in Digicel’s Myanmar Tower Company (MTC) for $221 million in an attempt to “further solidify” itself as an infrastructure provider to the Southeast Asian telecom industry.
To automate operations, Edotco has rolled out a remote monitoring and management system at more than 5,000 sites. The system reduces onsite manpower hours by more efficiently managing issues remotely from its operations centre. The company said the system automates and optimises operational processes, performance and improves visibility.
“By minimising dependency on manual operations and increasing operational efficiency, edotco is able to respond and address issues immediately as they arise,” Sidhu said.
It aims to implement its so-called ‘echo’ system at all its sites within the next 18 to 24 months.
The firm owns more than 15,000 towers in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan, and after completing the MTC deal it will have about 16,200 towers across Asia Pacific.
In mature markets Edotco also plans to use structures such as billboards, flagpoles, clock towers and water tanks to mount antennae. “These structures will serve two or more purposes, are eco-friendly and will harmonise with the skyline in urban areas,” Sidhu said.
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