Edotco, the tower business of Malaysia-headquartered Axiata Group, installed what it claims is the first telecoms tower made from bamboo in Myanmar.

In a statement, the company said the structure in Thanlyin township was built in partnership with Yangon Technological University and is part of its efforts to develop more sustainable telecoms infrastructure.

Vijendran Watson, edotco’s chief regional officer for the Bay of Bengal, said the use of bamboo is expected to reduce the company’s dependence on steel by 80 per cent and decrease the carbon footprint per site by 70 per cent.

He explained a great deal of research went into identifying the right type of local bamboo to be used, noting the material can also withstand gusts of up to 195km/h and is 70 times lighter than steel structures, making deployment easier and reducing the load to buildings.

The structure can house up to two tenants at a time. With proper maintenance, bamboo also has an expected lifespan of about 10 years.

In March 2017, the tower company first used bamboo to build a telecoms tower on a rooftop site in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.