Telenor Myanmar has selected Singapore-based telecommunications infrastructure provider Apollo Towers as an official vendor to build and manage telecom towers across Myanmar, the Norwegian telecoms giant said.
Telenor said the appointment supports its plan of “rapidly rolling out a modern mobile communications network in the country.”
“Establishing telecom towers represents an important first step in the rollout of that network and in Telenor Myanmar’s goal of delivering high quality and accessible mobile communications services to people throughout Myanmar,” Telenor said in a statement.
Telenor said it will launch “innovative and affordable mobile communications products and services” in Myanmar “within eight months of securing an operating license” from the Myanmar government, and said it expects the licensing process to be “finalised shortly.”
“We are pleased to be working with Apollo Towers as we enter this exciting phase in the advancement of Myanmar’s telecommunications industry,” Petter Furberg, chief executive officer, Telenor Myanmar, said.
“We are confident that combination of industry experience and expertise will meet the requirements of Telenor’s business plan and ensure the successful rollout of our advanced mobile network,” Furberg added.
The partnership between Telenor Myanmar and Apollo Towers provides the platform for future multi-tenancy on towers which will accelerate the development of an efficient and cost effective shared mobile telecommunications infrastructure in Myanmar, Telenor said.
Francois Lorelli, chief executive of Apollo Towers, said: “We are delighted to … participate in this revolutionary transformation of the telecommunications landscape in Myanmar. We relish the challenges and the opportunities it presents and are committed to providing world-class infrastructure on time for Telenor.”
Telenor said as part of its commitment to contribute to the local economy, Apollo Towers will be working with a number of Myanmar-based companies in the infrastructure build-out across the country, providing opportunities for local businesses and promoting a more vibrant business environment in Myanmar.
“Telenor is here for the long run and we are committed to fulfilling our promise to support the modernisation of Myanmar’s telecommunications sector through investing in building state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure which is vital for innovation in other key industries, and will drive the country’s socioeconomic development,” Furberg said.
Sanjiv Ahuja, founder and chairman of Apollo Towers, said: “I warmly welcome the opportunity to partner with Telenor on this exciting project and I am confident that the deep sector knowledge and international experience that we can bring to bear will result in a successful project for all parties and will lay the foundation for Apollo Towers to become a major provider of shared telecommunications infrastructure facilities in Myanmar.”
Telenor Group has mobile operations in 12 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, employing about 34,000 people. It has 161 million mobile subscriptions worldwide, with revenues of NOK 102 billion ($16.6 billion) as of Q3 2013.
Apollo Towers provides construction, management and leasing of telecommunications tower infrastructure to mobile operators. Apollo Towers Pvt Ltd Singapore is a subsidiary of Tillman Global Holdings LLC, a Delaware LLC wholly owned by Sanjiv Ahuja.
