MANILA, Philippines — Malaysia-based tower company edotco Group Sdn Bhd plans to further expand its presence in the Philippines, with the recent acquisition of nearly 3,000 towers from telco giant PLDT just the beginning of the company’s big plans for the country.
Suraj Narayanan, edotco Philippines acting country managing director, told The STAR that by being the largest tower company in the Philippines following its acquisition of the PLDT assets, edotco can be instrumental in shaping and developing the communications infrastructure in the Philippines while creating value for its stakeholders.
“This is a highly strategic transaction for us. It is the first step in our market expansion strategy in the Philippines, allowing us to become the country’s leading independent tower company,” he said.
“Given the developing nature of the tower market in the Philippines, the transaction provides a critical first-mover advantage with an established and sizable platform, allowing edotco to diversify and strengthen its pan-Asian platform,” Narayanan said.
ISOC edotco Towers Inc., a subsidiary of the edotco Group, acquired 2,973 telecom towers through a sale and lease back transaction with subsidiaries of PLDT.
The tower firm said the transaction, valued at P42 billion, makes it the leading tower company in the Philippines with 3,073 towers in its portfolio.
“The completion of this transaction brings us one step closer to realizing reliable and affordable connectivity for the nation,” Narayanan said.
“The telecommunications industry in the Philippines has great potential for advancement, and this milestone is just the beginning of our contribution to the nation-building efforts and the country’s digital transformation aspirations,” he said.
According to Narayanan, edotco has built approximately 100 towers in the country to date, and has an order book of approximately 400 towers.
“In terms of targets for the number of towers in the Philippines, we are targeting approximately 500 new builds by end of 2022,” he said.
Aside from building sites for Smart, Narayanan said edotco also has agreement with Globe to provide its built-to-suit and co-location offerings.
As for Dito, he said the company is in the final stages of discussion with the new major telco player.
The edotco Group manages telecom towers across nine markets, including Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan and Laos.
Its biggest market at present is Malaysia, with a portfolio of over 16,000 towers and managed sites, followed by Bangladesh with about 15,000 towers.