Edotco boosts tower portfolio with Seatel deal

31 Dec 2018 2203 | Business & Trade Fairs

Malaysian telecommunications tower company Edotco Group announced last Thursday plans to acquire 325 towers from Singapore’s South East Asia Telecom Group (Seatel), a move that would boost tower sharing revenue and consolidate its position as the country’s largest player in the tower infrastructure business.

The deal will give Seatel increased network coverage in the fast-growing Southeast Asian nation through access to the rest of Edotco’s tower portfolio, while also lowering operation costs for the mobile operator, Edotco chief regional officer Philip Wong told the Khmer Times.

“Tower sharing is getting good traction in Cambodia,” said Mr Wong. “We will continue to build for Smart (Axiata) because they are going to expand. Cellcard is moving toward the sharing of towers, and so is Seatel.”

The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Seatel’s CEO, Yap Kok Leong, could not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Edotco, a unit of Malaysian mobile operator Axiata Group, dominates the Cambodian telco tower industry with a market share of close to 40 percent. Edotco is also one of neighbouring Myanmar’s largest tower operators, having acquired the assets and management of 1,250 telecom tower sites from Qatar’s Ooredoo Myanmar earlier this year.

The firm’s investments in Cambodia are part of a wider expansion plan in Southeast Asia, where Edotco operates and manages over 28,000 towers.

Within Cambodia, Smart Axiata, another unit of Axiata Group, jostles for mobile subscribers with smaller players such as Seatel, as well as Vietnam’s state-owned Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, who owns Metfone.