towerxchange-issue 7 due diligence

Tower Xchange

Tower Xchange

Meet top 200 LatAm tower decision makers at the TowerXchange Meetup Americas!

ISSUE 7 | February 2014 | www.towerxchange.com

Special feature:How to raise capital and conduct due diligence on tower transactions

The journal for the emerging market telecom tower industry

TowerXchange Africa:< Africas $3bn tower sale kicks off in Nigeria< BMI revisits first movers in Ghana< IHSs deal with MTN in Rwanda and Zambia

TowerXchange Americas:< Will the tower market open further in Mexico?< Trilogy and Cizmic views on Caribbean towers< The first LatAm independent tower count

TowerXchange Asia:< Indonesias mature and profitable tower industry< Myanmar: the last frontier< A first look at Myanmars four towercos

Jim Eisenstein on Brazil: The US tower industry on fast forward

With special thanks to the TowerXchange Inner CircleAbout TowerXchange

TowerXchange is your independent community for operators, towercos, investors and suppliers interested in African towers. Were a community of practitioners formed to promote and accelerate infrastructure sharing in Africa. TowerXchange dont build, operate or invest in towers; were a neutral community host and commentator on African telecoms infrastructure.

The TowerXchange Journal is free to qualifying recipients. We also provide webinars and regular meetups. TowerXchange monetizes this community through hosting annual Meetups and the sale of advertising, without compromising editorial integrity.

TowerXchange was founded by Kieron Osmotherly, a TMT community host and events organizer with 16 years experience, and is governed with the support and advice of the TowerXchange Inner Circle an informal network of advisors

Our informal network of advisers:

Chairman: Daniel LeeManaging DirectorIntrepid Advisory Partners

Michel FaivreDirecteur Programme PartagedInfrastructure AMEAFrance Telecom-Orange

Fazal HussainCEOSWAP International

Nina TriantisManaging Director, GlobalHead of Telecoms & MediaStandard Bank

Jeffrey EldredgePartnerVinson & Elkins

Ayman Al AdlDirector, TMT, Middle East & AfricaStandard Chartered Bank

Torsten EsbjrnRegional Director, AfricaRamboll

Gary StauntonCEOLikusasa Group

Alan HarperCEOEaton Towers

Riana DonaldsonManager: International NetworkOperations SupportVodacom

Laurentius HumanSnr Director, Corp FinanceJabil

Andrew DoyleManaging DirectorTech & Comms PracticeMott MacDonald

Natasha GoodPartnerFreshfields

Ahjeeth JaiJaiConsultantInvestec

Rajat MalhotraCEO, Middle East & AfricaHayat Communications

David MeganckFounder & COOAcsys

Chuck GreenCEOHelios Towers Africa

Adeel BajwaSenior GM of Legal Affairs andContractsWarid Telecom

Inder BajajCEOHelios Towers Nigeria

Chris Gabrielformer CEO, Zain AfricaSenior Adviser, Macquarie GroupChairman, Clean Power Systems

Areef KassamDirector of InfrastructureGSMA Mobile for Development

Tunde TitilayoVice ChairmanSWAP International

Thorsten SchaeferCEOazeti Networks

Zouhair KhaliqConsultant, Executive DirectorWarid Telecom, Former CEO,Orascom Intl Investment

2014 Site Seven Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Neither the whole nor any substantial part of this publication may be re-produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the prior permission of Site Seven Media Ltd. Short extracts may be quoted if TowerXchange is cited as the source. TowerXchange is a trading name of Site Seven Media Ltd, registered in the UK. Company number 8293930.

www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Meetup | 9www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Issue 7 | 2| TowerXchange Issue 7 | www.towerxchange.com2

Contents

Regular features11 LatAm news: consolidation imminent

15 LatAm tower count

16 TowerXchange Meetup Americas agenda

30 Africa news :Nigeria, DRC, Rwanda and Zambia

38 Africa tower count and heatmap

42 BMI Analysis: Ghana

64 46 83

112

Mexico case study

Due Diligence Dossier

A sneak preview of the tower industry in Southeast Asia

RMS and site management systems

65 Mott MacDonald Share Square & BMI Analysis73 Mark Ganzis Mexico Tower Partners76 IIMT: 90% coverage requires 70,000 towers80 Ve Por Ms: could infrasharing be mandated?

47 Daniel Lee on how to raise capital51 Hardiman compares towercos worldwide56 Citis Gulfraz Qayyum takes the sell side59 Analysys Mason tackle the buy side

84 Introduction to Indonesian towers 91 TowerXchanges Myanmar case study 95 Myanmar - the last frontier 97 GSM TP adapt tower design for Myanmar

134 Whos who in turnkey infrastructure in LatAm135 Leadcom on the structure of TI in LatAm 140 Grid Rental Sites on rooftops and DAS143 Jtel serve Northeast and jungle regions of Brazil147 Integrated solutions provider AJ Ingenieros

116 Accruent improve time to project completion121 Infozechs applied analytics125 NAAP on infrastructure lifecycle management129 Westell: Intelligent Site Management in LatAm

www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Issue 7 | 3| TowerXchange Issue 6 | www.towerxchange.com3

Special features

5 Cover story: Jim Eisenstein, GTS interview

100 Caribbean case study with Trilogy and Cizmic

148 TowerPower: Controllis, ELTEK and SDMO

160 Rooftops, masts and towers: TNX and Solaris

Africas leading, independent, telecom tower company

HTA acquires, builds and manages wireless telecom infrastructure, leasing it to mobile network operators across Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

HTAs model of shared telecoms infrastructure, and its scale, helps to deliver improved efficiency and network quality and reliability for operators, reduced costs for users and increased accessibility.

Find out more about our business www.heliostowersafrica.com

6162_HTA_Ad_355x255mm_AW.indd 1 31/10/2012 16:43

Latin America: the U.S. Tower Industry in Fast ForwardJim Eisensteins journey from the first four American Tower sites to Grupo Torresurs 6,100 Brazilian towers

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur


TowerXchange: As one of the patriarchs of the independent tower industry, how did this notion of renting capacity on towers to multiple tenants first come about?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: We all came into the tower business from different paths, but for me, it happened thanks to the radio industry.

In the early nineties, our family was selling its radio stations to a radio group based in Boston. When we sold the stations, we decided to keep our four broadcast towers. The decision to keep them was based on the fact that we had multiple tenants on each tower in addition to the radio stations, and they were providing significant revenue. This was back in 1995 and the Government had started talking about auctioning six PCS licenses, which suggested we could attract even more tenants, so I thought it might be wise to keep the towers.

Steve Dodge, who was Chairman of American Radio and became a great mentor to me, told me that many of their radio stations also had tenants on their towers, and we agreed to combine our towers with theirs and create a quasi-venture capital structure within American Radio, which we not surprisingly called American Tower.

Growing the tower business, though, was a direct function of the explosion of the wireless business in the U.S. Once the PCS license auctions became a reality, we realised we had the opportunity to be an early entrant (and hopefully a leading player) into

Jim Eisenstein was among the founders of American Tower back in the nineties. From four towers and a shared sense of a booming market opportunity, he went on to become one of the leaders of the tower industry in North America. Jim has since transferred his passion for towers to the latest tremendous growth market, Brazil, where he currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Grupo TorreSur.

Read this article to learn:< Comparing the origins of the North American tower industry with the tremendous growth of LatAm towers< Topline growth potential in Brazil with 3G still being deployed and 4G largely yet to come< How Brazilian towercos make money; new tenancies and expansion (amendment) revenue - and the current state of BTS

< How many more towers could change hands in Brazil?< At what scale do towercos operate efficiently? A look at Grupo Torresurs lean organisation

Keywords: Whos Who, Interview, Jim Eisenstein, Grupo TorreSur, Brazil, South America, North America, American Tower, American Radio, Tower People, Towercos, investment, 3G, 4G, Urban vs Rural, Tenancy Ratios, Co-locations, Infrastructure Sharing, Build-to-Suit, Densification, Consolidation, Oi, TIM, Vivo, Claro, ANATEL, OpEx, Amendment Revenue, Market Share, C-level Perspective

the emerging wireless tower business.

The tower industry had and still has today two huge barriers to entry. One was the zoning limitations for competing structures where an existing tower was already in place. The other was the substantial capital needed grow the business to scale. Steves Midas reputation on Wall Street gave us early credibility and tremendous access to capital and the zoning of sites became only more difficult. So the more of the right towers in the right locations we owned, the more protected we were. We knew that the co-location model worked and understood its potential. We knew we could make a decent return on an individual tower with one tenant, a good return with two tenants, and a significant return with three or more tenants.

TowerXchange: How do those early days of the U.S. tower industry compare with the early days of the Latin American tower industry, particularly Brazil? And how has the towerco business model been adapted for Latin America?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: The entrance of tower companies into Latin America has happened at a slightly later stage of wireless deployment compared to the U.S. By the time tower companies arrived in Latin America, carriers had already built out their 2G networks. Since then, though, we have experienced a much more rapid growth than occurred in the United States. Brazil, in particular, has been like the U.S. tower industry in fast forward.

To give you an idea of the growth curve, at the end of Q3 2010, American Tower had developed about 1,500 towers in Brazil and our company, Grupo TorreSur, had just been created. Since then, we have completed six transactions and our portfolio is currently 6,094 towers. American Tower now


has approximately 7,200 sites, SBA now operates around 5,200 towers in Brazil and BR Towers has approximately 4,000.

This means that in three years, around 23,000 of an estimated 60,000 towers have been sold in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro, financial district


The speed and volume of growth in the tower industry is definitely much greater than in the U.S.

The tower company model has been adapted very quickly in Latin America. We believed that Brazil, in particular, presented all the right macro factors for us. It is a good country in which to do business, carriers are still in the middle of building out their 3G networks, 4G is coming right behind it, which in turn presents a vast array of opportunities for us. Brazil is also a very competitive market. Out of the five carriers active in the country, four of them have 18-28% share of the market.

Brazils carriers are fiercely competitive but also have a great need for capital to build out these new 3G and 4G networks. Tower monetization allows the

carriers to shed non-core assets, garner the funds to build these new networks and concentrate on their core competencies. This has allowed for the dramatic growth of the tower industry. Given the fact that Brazilian wireless carriers are probably six to eight years behind U.S. carriers in terms of rollout and technology migration, there is hopefully a very long runway for tower company growth.

With carriers in the midst of their 3G implementations and slowly beginning to work on 4G, the potential revenue growth for tower companies is much more significant in Brazil than in the United States. In the U.S., network build out is largely complete, and most 4G projects are currently focused on cell densification, whereas in Brazil we are still in the comparatively early stages of tower market maturity.

TowerXchange: What are the key differences between Latin America and the US in terms of how towercos make money? For example, how does the balance of new tenant vs amendment vs build-to-suit (BTS) revenue compare?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: Our main focus, much like any tower company, is to grow our business organically by placing additional tenants to our towers. The second focus, also very important to our growth, is what what we call expansion revenue (the equivalent of overlay or amendment revenue in the U.S.), where existing carriers on our towers add additional equipment to an existing site. We also look to grow our company by acquisition of towers and we have been quite

active in this over the past three years. Right now, there arent many greenfield (BTS) projects in Brazil because carriers are very heavily involved in 3G expansions and colocations - the greenfield market will likely become more important to the carriers once they need to build in-fill and capacity sites for their 3G and 4G footprints.

TowerXchange: What factors could significantly change the shape of the tower market in Brazil?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: Carrier consolidation, the possibility of TIM selling their towers, towerco consolidation, and regulatory reform could all change the shape of the market. I think the market in Brazil will continue to evolve for the next few years.

TowerXchange: With almost 40% of towers in Brazil having already been sold to independent towercos, how many more towers could be sold?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: While Nextel has divested its entire tower portfolio, Telefonica has sold approximately 5,000 sites and Oi has sold close to 10,000 towers, there are still more towers to be sold. Both Oi and VIVO still own some of their towers and TIM may sell its sites. Historically Claro has viewed its towers as a strategic asset so it remains to be seen whether they will part with them.

TowerXchange: Out of the 6,094 towers that Grupo Torresur currently owns and operates in Brazil, how many are in urban areas and how

Right now, there arent many greenfield (BTS) projects in Brazil because carriers are very heavily involved in 3G expansions and colocations - the greenfield market will likely become more important to the carriers once they need to build in-fill and capacity sites for their 3G and 4G footprints.

many are in rural areas? And what role can towercos play in enhancing connectivity in rural areas?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: More than 70% of our towers are located in high density, urban areas. The remaining 30% are concentrated in suburban areas or along major


transport corridors. These towers are most often near highways or major secondary roads.

We feel very good about our portfolio and are working closely with the carriers to enhance connectivity in rural areas, in accordance with the plans set out by ANATEL.

TowerXchange: We hear financial analysts talk a lot about driving towercos to scale - what size of portfolio constitutes scale and how do economies of scale manifest for towercos?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur:Every company, of course, sets its own parameters with regard to the notion of scale, but we feel we are in a good place at the moment. When we decided to begin operating in Brazil, our original business model required us to achieve a portfolio of 1,500 towers to operate efficiently. Weve been fortunate, though, to grow our business considerably larger than that.

TowerXchange: How many people does Grupo Torresur employ? What functions are kept in-house and what is outsourced?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: Right now, we employ fewer than 40 people. We try to run a lean organisation, keeping sales, accounting and what we call LAPM - Lease Administration and Property Management, in house.

The other operational functions, such as repair and maintenance, are outsourced to highly reputable business partners.

TowerXchange: Is Grupo TorreSur focusing purely on towers, or is the company getting involved in rooftops, DAS, transmission and even active infrastructure sharing?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur:


Right now, GTS is focused purely on towers. We have looked at DAS opportunities but for now we havent pursued it. And we arent active in transmission or active infrastructure sharing.As for rooftops, weve only acquired them where required in concert with buying towers - only a very small proportion of our portfolio is rooftops.

TowerXchange: What is your personal opinion about the potential synergies between DAS and towers?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: There are certainly some synergies, particularly on the sales side. The customer is still the wireless carrier, whether theyre deploying their network on towers or on indoor or outdoor DAS. But there is a lot of complexity in owning an active network.

In the United States, there are some areas where macro sites simply cannot be built, forcing carriers to use DAS to enhance their network. DAS is certainly an important complement to the tower industry; however, in Brazil there is a lot to be built in terms of macro-sites and carriers and towercos are more focused on that first.

TowerXchange: How attractive is Latin America for investment in the telecom tower business? Can you tell us about your attracting investment from Providence Equity?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: Brazil is a very attractive destination for investors due to the strong topline growth potential. Both U.S.

towercos and private equity firms have seen how the market is performing and look at the country with interest.

Providence Equity has significant expertise in investing internationally and understands the tower industry very well. For me, it is a great opportunity to partner with one of the preeminent private equity firms in the world.

TowerXchange: We know that tower transactions are a product of leaseback rate, term, tenancy ratio and a host of other factors, but in general are the prices being paid to acquire Brazilian towers justifiable? For example how do you see the relative Return on Capital Invested compared to BTS opportunities?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: I believe that prices being paid are justified. Assets are valued more than anything on the basis of their

growth potential. If you look at topline growth in Brazil, it is dramatically higher than in United States. Companies see Brazil as a good place to invest money because of the dramatic growth we have experienced to date and the anticipated growth to come.

If returns were only the same or only marginally better than in the US, then there would be no point in investing internationally, incurring the risks of doing business abroad. But so far returns have been quite strong and shown us continued very strong potential, and we are glad to be part of this industry.

TowerXchange: How interested is Grupo Torresur in pursuing opportunities beyond Brazil?

Jim Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur: We are very happy to have invested in the tower business in Brazil and are focused right now on the countrys tower industry growth and expansion.

That said, we are always looking at opportunities in other Latin American countries. We are assessing very carefully the key elements that make investments attractive for us, such as macro-economic factors, where the carriers are in their deployment of 3G and 4G, the regulatory environment, our ability to achieve scale and the expected returns.

If the right opportunity were to present itself, wed look at it very closely

Brazil is a very attractive destination for investors due to its strong topline growth potential

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Telefonica in talks with Iusacell?

Telefonica and Iusacell are reported to be in talks for a potential acquisition. Iusacell is the third Mexican mobile operator and is owned by Grupo Televisa and Grupo Salinas. A possible merger between the two or an acquisition by Telefonica - which currently has 20% market share - would place both the Spanish company and Iusacell in a stronger position against its major competitor, Amrica Mvil (70% market share).

Brazilian subscriptions

With 271.1 million mobile subscriptions by the end of 2013, Anatel, the Brazilian telecom regulator, has reported a +3.6% increase compared to 2012 and penetration rate of 136.5%.

Current subscriptions are divided between 58.9% GSM, 35% 3G and approximately 1.3 million 4G LTE users with over 78% of them being pre-paid accounts.


The local market is currently led by Telefonica Vivo with 77.2 million customers (28.5% share), followed by TIM Brasil and its 73.4 million subscriptions (27.1% share) and Claro with 68.7 users (25.3% share). In fourth place, PTs Oi achieves 50.2 million connections (18.5% share).

Telecom Italia: from Telefonica to Egyptian talks

Telecom Italia is rumoured to be in talks with Telefonica, Oi and Amrica Mvil over a deal worth Euro 10 billion or more for the acquisition of its Brazilian branch, TIM Brasil.

While carriers havent confirmed, several banks including Citi, Morgan Stanley and Pactual seem to be actively involved in negotiations and talks between all players. In the meantime, the Italian telecom giant has worked to establish a committee to evaluate potential bids but the company isnt likely to accept offers below Euro 9 billion.

While Telefonica has repeatedly denied any negotiation, speculation continues about its potential involvement and plans to buy and then split up TIM Brasil among Vivo, Oi and Amrica Mvils Claro have appeared in several national and international media. However, the process to reduce the market form four to three players will need the backing of regulatory bodies that so far seem unlikely to support any initiative which would significantly increase Telefonicas stake in Telco, the holding company controlling Telecom Italia, of which Telefonica is the largest shareholder.

At the same time, Egyptian telecom mogul and minor shareholder in Telecom Italia, Naguib Sawiris has expressed his interest in buying TIM Brasil. Mr Sawiris repeatedly spoke against the acquisition of TIM Brasil by Telefonica as a move that will devalue Telecom Italia.

Moreover, Mr Sawiris declared he could potentially invest further in Telecom Italia - which still needs a Euro 3 billion capital injection - but would do so if and when Telefonica exits and TIM Brasil doesnt get sold.

Vodafone to become new Brazilian player?

Brazil might gain a new player if UK giant Vodafone decides to enter the Latin American M2M market, as rumoured.

While still finalising its exit from US Verizon

Brazil

Brazil

Mexico

Brazil UK

Regulatory changes and consolidation rumours in Latin AmericaFrom Mexico to Chile: crucial changes in the telecom scenario

Brazil

Brazil

Wireless, Vodafone has been focusing on signing deals in India and in the UK, among others, but has also finalised an agreement with Datora Telecom to set up a Vodafone Brasil M2M brand.

Vodafones full entrance in the Brazilian market might be facilitated by TIM Brasils potential sale, especially if the local regulatory body rules in favour of maintaining four active operators in the country.

Corpco to be created in April

Portugal Telecom and Brazilians Oi are set to merge towards the end of April. The new company will be called Corpco and will be listed in Brazil, Portugal and New York.

Corpco will reach out to more than 100 million customers between Europe and Latin America and its revenue will reach around US$19 billion.

Chilean 700MHz tender delayed

The Chilean competition watchdog (TDLC) is currently deciding whether the process for the 700MHz spectrum auction allows for free and open competition and, as a result, the auction is being delayed.

The rollout requirements are said to be so demanding as to imply the need that carrier that secures the license have a dominant position in


the market. Among the requirements, winning companies must provide broadband coverage in over 1,200 remote areas across the country.

Entels annual results and 4G timetable

A combined +6% in revenue from its domestic mobile services and +23% from the data and IT offerings have contributed to a 17% increase in revenue for Q4 2013 for Chilean Entel Group.Entel acquired Nextel del Peru last year and has since registered new revenues up to CLP 34 billion, while its additional Peruvian business, Americatel, focused on enterprise wholesale, has reported +22% increase in revenue to CLP 5.8 billion.

With decreasing EBITDA at CLP 107.4 billion for Q4 2013 - down 5% compared to 2012 - Entel still takes advantage from a reduction in depreciation costs and a relative increase in operating income (EBIT) to to CLP49.2 billion (+46%).

Entel also registered a 2% increase in mobile subscription to over 9 million and ARPU went from CLP 9,200 in Q4 2012 to CLP9,500 in Q4 2013.

At the same time, Entels General Manager, Antonio Buchi, has confirmed the companys plans to launch its 4G LTE services in March. Mr Buchi has declared that the company is working on the 2014 plans for the newly acquired Nextel del Peru, which would include a change of name and rebranding campaign

BrazilPortugal

Peru Chile

Chile

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www.leadcom-is.com

2014: a year of major events for the LatAm tower industryFrom the Brazilian World Cup to TowerXchange Meetup Americas - an exciting ten months ahead


What can the telecom tower industry expect from this new year? 2014 has just started but expectations are already high for yet another intense year for the Latin American telecom tower industry. 2013 closed with a few relevant news such as the acquisition from SBA of over 2000 towers from Brazilian carrier Oi, ANATEL ruling against Telefonica holding TIM Brasils stake while Telecom Italia kept denying any rumour regarding its sale of the Brazilian company and the announced Mexican secondary telecom reforms being postponed until Q1 2014.

We are now looking at how the market has been evolving in the past two months while updating on recent news regarding the LatAm tower industry.

Finally, were also pleased to unveil the first TowerXchange independent tower count for Latin America!

A few events are dominating diaries, with the Brazilian World Cup high up on the agenda of telecom companies involved in swiftly upgrading capacity to cope with thousands of visitors and an exponential growth in data traffic during the sport event of the year in June. At the same time, TowerXchange take a close look at Mexico and its constitutional reform and potential positive impact on the competitiveness of the local telecom industry. The expansion of Entel in Peru thanks to the acquisition of Nextel from NII Holdings is another interesting move and we will pay attention when the company releases its Peruvian plans later this year.

Another event to mark on your agenda is the TowerXchange Meetup Americas 2014. We are very proud to announce that the LatAm tower industry will gather from 20-22 May in Orlando, Florida, to host TowerXchanges first Meetup for the region. So set aside some time in your diary for the most interactive and targeted event of the year, an invitation-only gathering of the top 200 decision makers in the Latin American telecom tower industry.

In addition to our closed door, exclusive Meetup, we offer our participants the unique occasion to

Read this article to learn:< TowerXchange Meetup Americas 2014 announced< How the Mexican telecom industry could change thanks to the constitutional reform< An exciting year for the Brazilian telecom sector< Entels expansion into Peru < From 2011 to 2013: the exponential growth of the regional tower industry in numbers< The first Latin American tower count

Keywords: TowerXchange, Meetup Americas, Brazil, World Cup, Mexico, Entel, Peru, Chile, Nextel, NII Holdings, PCIA, Wireless Infrastructure Show, Colombia, Central America, South America, Editorial, Market Overview, Tower Count, Telcel, Consolidation, Het-NetArianna Neri, Head of Americas, TowerXchange

join PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show, which will be taking place simultaneously. The PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show attracts over 2,000 attendees, including senior representations from North American towercos and investors. This co-location is a great opportunity to offer TowerXchange attendees three days of focused, intense LatAm networking while also exposing them to key suppliers and lessons learned in the highly mature and profitable North American tower industry.

Tracking the growth of the independent tower sector in Latin America

In 2011, approximately 7,287 towers were sold in the region with key transactions taking place in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and in Central America.


An interesting year for the regional industry mostly thanks to Telefonica actively divesting its portfolios across the region in continuation with the previous year.

2012 followed a very similar pattern with 6,378 towers divested. However, only 958 of them were sold outside of Brazil, with the remaining 5,420 Brazilian tower sales consisting of medium scale transactions of 800-1,900 towers each.

In 2013 the number of towers being sold reached double digits for the first time - with an astonishing 14,035 total towers divested, more than double the previous year. Again, Brazil ruled the way with 12,369 towers being sold and the remaining 1,666 in Mexico.

We are left wondering if 2014 is able to follow the same growing pattern and offer yet another eventful year for the industry. We expect that over the next few months we will talk more about consolidation and partnerships among carriers, network deployment and Het-Net in Brazil, in preparation for the World Cup. Other countries will keep pushing forward to adapt their industry model to the growing demand for innovation, and we predict tower companies being well placed to help. But the biggest wild card is represented by Mexico, its reform, and the potential for increased competition - see our Mexico case study for expert analysis.

While TowerXchange keep a close eye on the development of the LatAm industry, we are offering our readers a first snapshot of the regional tower count. We will keep updating this chart with new transactions in order to provide a comprehensive perspective on the tower portfolios of each independent towerco in the region.

This analysis is generated through consultation with the towercos, review of transaction coverage, quarterly reports and annual results. Different towercos count towers differently - for example, some include sites for which permits have been obtained but where no tower has yet been built, others do not. As such, this table should be treated as our best estimate. If your company owns or operates independent telecom towers in Latin America, I would be delighted to hear from you and to add your towers to the count

Estimated number of towers owned or managed by towercos in Latin AmericaSource: TowerXchange research, quarterly filings, site lists

Columbia

Chile

Peru

Panama

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

Guatemala

Mexico

El Salvador

BrazilAmerican Tower

5,0000 10,000 15,000 20,000

SBA Communications

Grupo Torresur

BR Towers

Torres Unidas

IIMT

T4U

Mexico Tower Partners

CSS

7,200

5,151

6,094

4,000

3,429 6,824

1,153

180

180

600

500

400

480 417 250 471 139

350

Contact me at: [email protected].

TowerXchange facilitates an open dialogue and shares knowledge between key stakeholders involved in the transformation of the Latin American telecom tower industry. With carriers actively involved in upgrading their network to meet growing demand for capacity and tower companies ever-increasing appetite to acquire towers, the industry needs information, transparency and clarity.

The TowerXchange community unlocks priceless insights enabling you to evaluate opportunities across Latin America for your business, through exclusive interviews, original research and live events.

A unique, invitation-only gathering of the top 200 decision makers in the Latin American tower industry

Meetup Americas 2014May 20-22, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida

Co-located with the PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show

Register online at http://www.towerxchange.com/apply-to-attend. Questions? Call Annabelle on +44 7423 512588

Bronze Sponsor:Silver Sponsor:Gold Sponsor: Co-located with:

Media Partners:Association Partner:

Created and hosted by:

Featuring a roundtable and a panel on African towers

Tower Xchange

12:20 Networking lunch

1:40 Second structured networking roundtable

< The regulation of the tower industry< How to structure a tower transaction to meet your needs

< Build to suit opportunities in major metropolitan areas

< The investibility of the Latin American telecom tower industry

< The impact of LTE on cell site densification

3:00 Afternoon coffee and networking

3:20 Strategic partners panel part I: the

importance of partner selection for ROI

optimisation and opex reduction

3:40 Investors keynote panel

4:40 Closing remarks from day one

5:00 Close of day one

TowerXchange Meetup AmericasOrlando, Florida | 20-22 May 2014


Draft ProgrammeDay One

From 8:00 Registration and coffee

9:00 Welcome and opening remarks

9:10 The status of the Central and South

American tower industry and forecasts for the

mid-term

9:40 Mobile network operator tower decision

makers panel

10:40 Morning coffee and networking

11:00 First structured networking roundtable:

< Country focus: Brazil< Country focus: Mexico < Country focus: Peru< Country focus: Chile< Country focus: Colombia< Regional focus: Central America< Regional focus: Caribbean< Regional focus: Africa

Jonathan Atkin, Managing Director, RBC Capital MarketsKurt Bagwell, President - International, SBA CommunicationsBill Bates, Vice President - Business Development, SBA CommunicationsPat Casey, Group Human Resources Director, DigicelMarco Cordoni, Senior Partner, Analysys MasonJim Eisenstein, Chairman & CEO, Grupo TorreSurMarc Ganzi, President, Digital Bridge Holdings and Mexico Tower PartnersEdgar Geidans, Group CTO, Trilogy InternationalMauricio Giusti, CEO, BR TowersChuck Green, CEO, Helios Towers AfricaMark Johnson, Managing Director, The Carlyle GroupPhil Kelley, SVP Corporate Development, Crown CastleDan Lee, Managing Director, Intrepid Advisory PartnersRyan Lepene, Managing Director, Peppertree CapitalArianna Neri, Head of Americas, TowerXchangeKieron Osmotherly, Founder & CEO, TowerXchangeDavid Porte, Vice President - International, SBA CommunicationsWilliam Ritchey, President, IIMTAlex Sepehri-Nik, President, Brazil Tower CompanyTodd Schlekeway, Executive Director, National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE)Daniel Seiner, CEO, Torres UnidasNina Triantis, Managing Director, Global, Head of Telecoms & Media, Standard Bank

Confirmed Speakers include:


2:50 Afternoon coffee and networking

3:10 Fourth structured networking round tableRepeat of most popular roundtable topics

4:30 Summary and closing remarks from day two

9:00 An analysis of the telecom tower industry in Latin America: from international towercos making portfolio acquisitions to local build to suit ventures

9:30 Third structured networking roundtable:< How to survey, evaluate and upgrade towers for multiple tenants< How towercos achieve SLAs< How to raise capital for tower transactions< Opportunities for towercos to expand beyond the macro network into DAS and small cells< Health and Safety principles in the tower industry

10:50 Morning coffee and networking

11:10 Strategic partners panel part II: the importance of partner selection for ROI optimisation and opex reduction

11:30 Towerco keynote panel

12:30 Networking lunch

1:30 International focus: Africa keynote panel

2:30 Strategic partners panel part III: the importance of partner selection for ROI optimisation and opex reduction

Day Two Draft Programme

TowerXchange Meetup AmericasOrlando, Florida | 20-22 May 2014

Expert-led, small group interactive workshops provide practical, actionable advice

< The impact of 4G on cell site densification in Latin America< How to raise capital and structure tower transactions in Latin America< How to conduct financial, commercial and structural due diligence on towers

TowerXchange workshops run from 10am through 4pm on May 22 and include refreshments and a networking lunch.

Day Three - Post Meetup Workshops

TowerXchanges unique structured networking round tables

200 Director, VP and C-level Decision makers broken down as follows:

Mobile Network Operators

Towercos

Investors and Investment Management Advisors

Lawyers and Strategic Consultants

Energy Equipment Providers

OEMs & Managed Service Providers

Static Assets, Access Control & Monitoring and Management

TowerXchange roundtables bring together 8-10 representatives

of different segments of the tower industry ecosystem, brought

together by a common geographical focus or hot topic. There

are 3 roundtable sessions at the Meetup, each new roundtable

reshuffles the decision maker-level participants at your table so

you will meet several different prospective partners.

| TowerXchange Issue 7 | www.towerxchange.com19 www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Issue 7 | 19

Meetup Americas Exhibition

Companies involved in the regional telecom tower industry have a unique opportunity to be part of the most focused regional gathering of the year and exhibit in the TowerXchange Latin American pavilion, placed at the very heart of PCIAs exhibition hall where 100+ international companies will showcase their solutions to the largest, most qualified and concentrated audience of tower industry decision makers in the world.

Discuss your requirements today and find out all the available options for your participation by contacting Annabelle Mayhew at [email protected] or via phone at +44 (0) 7423 512 588.

Contact us today to sponsor or exhibit at the TowerXchange Meetup Americas 2014.


TowerXchange Pavillion

331131

129

127

228

KeeganWireless230

Food & Drinks

Overhead DoorOverhead

Door

ConnectionsCafe

Small Cell PavillionElectro

-Wire623

CommScope520

Slatercom421

AmiritTechnologies

423

TEConnectivity

520/620

Huada621

Product Showcase

Ericsson 20x20

20x2020x20

C D

A B

CS

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C SquaredSystems322CLCLodging320

Galtronics221/223

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329 428

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NATE713

711

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129

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105

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KGP202/204

Unimar200

11 11 11 11 11 11 11

20

GMESupply

205

MosaikSolutions

203

AFL201

MaxCell304

SBA

Com

mu

nic

taio

ns

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300 401

Fibrebond405

ValmontSite Pro 1

403

ValmontStructures

401

MaxCell304

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300

Terracon505

NelloCorp.

503

Deltanode501

SabreIndustries604

Graybar602

3ZTelecom600

ITL, LLC605

Skyhawk601

704

603Accruent700/702

117

115

113

214

Eastpointe216

212

TUFTUG217

Lattice213

Amphenol316/314

TestEquity211

EhresmannEngineering

209tarantula308

Trans-American308

111

109

210

CellphoneMate208

722622523323Wideband

Antennas422/420

Shive-Hattery

321

522

720

TWRLighting

615

716617

714BB&T

Atlantic Risk515

TP Electric616

DynamicEnviromental

517

EMSS614

Oldcastle609

710PCTEL611

OTL Solution708

Henkles & McCoy610

FidelityNational

511

TectonicTelecom509/508

631

529

527

228

228

226

ENTRANCE ENTRANCE


331131

129

127

228

KeeganWireless230

Food & Drinks


Door

ConnectionsCafe


-Wire623

CommScope520

Slatercom421

AmiritTechnologies

423

TEConnectivity

520/620

Huada621

Product Showcase

Ericsson 20x20

20x2020x20

C D

A B

CS

-S S

ervi

ce D

esk

Food & Drinks

Food & Drinks

226


Galtronics221/223

130

128

126

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122

120

118

116

114

112

110

108

106

104

102

100

430Azeti

KARAM

MerTelecom

Metalogalva

AIOSystems

HMSIndustrialNetworks

GangesInt.

ACSYS

Telemisis329 428

327 426

431 530

429 528

427 526

531630

529 628

527 626

731

729

727

725

723

721

717

715

NATE713

711

709

707

705

703

701

129

127

228

226

105

103

101

KGP202/204

Unimar200

11 11 11 11 11 11 11

20

GMESupply

205

MosaikSolutions

203

AFL201

MaxCell304

SBA

Com

mu

nic

taio

ns

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300 401

Fibrebond405

ValmontSite Pro 1

403

ValmontStructures

401

MaxCell304

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300

Terracon505

NelloCorp.

503

Deltanode501

SabreIndustries604

Graybar602

3ZTelecom600

ITL, LLC605

Skyhawk601

704

603Accruent700/702

117

115

113

214

Eastpointe216

212

TUFTUG217

Lattice213

Amphenol316/314

TestEquity211


209tarantula308

Trans-American308

111

109

210

CellphoneMate208


Antennas422/420

Shive-Hattery

321

522

720

TWRLighting

615

716617

714BB&T

Atlantic Risk515

TP Electric616

DynamicEnviromental

517

EMSS614

Oldcastle609

710PCTEL611

OTL Solution708

Henkles & McCoy610

FidelityNational

511


631

529

527

228

228

226

ENTRANCE ENTRANCE

www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Issue 7 | 21

Tower Industry Value Chain

Backhaul, FTTT, Core Network Active equipment

Tier 1 OEMs

Mobile Network Operators

Investors: private equity, debt finance, infrastructure funds

Law firms

Group level strategistsC-suite & network planners at local OpCos

Outsourceto

Strategic consultancyDue diligenceDemand forecastsValuations

Independent TowercosSell co-locationsUpgrade capacityBuild-to-suitMaximise uptimeReduce opexInvest in network

Transfer assets to

Construction servicesTurnkey infrastructure rolloutManufacture of steelworkImport, customs & deliveryLeasing & permittingInstallation of towersUpgrades for capacityO&M services

Dynamic assets

Energy equipmentDiesel gensetSolarWindFuel cell

BatteriesRectifiersInvertersLine conditioningPIUs

Air conditioning Lightning protectionControllerVoltage regulator

Managed service providers

ESCOs

Static assetsTowers & mastsSheltersBracketsEnclosuresLightingFencing

O&M servicesMaintenanceStaffingSpare partsVMI?Refueling

Energy as a service

Monitoring & managementRMSIntelligence/analysisSite managementJob ticketingAsset lifecycle platform

Access control

Subcontract

MicrogenerationCommunity power

Subcontract or in-house

Outsourceto

Som

e be

com

e to

wer

co

Investment management advisors

TowerXchange serves the Latin American tower community along two intersecting axes. On a horizontal axis we facilitate relationships between MNOs, towercos, investors and their advisers, aiding the structuring of deals and the transfer of assets. On a vertical axis, we examine the impact on, and opportunities for, the passive infrastructure supply chain, whether they sell to MNOs, towercos or through OEMs.

How TowerXchange ensure an audience of decision makers

TowerXchange successfully launched its first live event for the emerging market telecom tower industry in 2013. Since then, we have gained a strong reputation for delivering a high quality, meaningful platform for our selected audience of tower professionals.

The TowerXchange Meetup is exclusively for Director, VP and C-level decision makers. If registrants are substituted, we will only accept replacement registrants of equal or greater seniority than those pre-approved.

Through our passive infrastructure focused journal publication and research, TowerXchange have cultivated relationships with 4200 (at time of press) decision makers active in the Latin American tower industry, 85% of whom are at Director, VP or C-level.

By co-locating our event with the highly successful North American PCIAs 2014 Wireless Infrastructure Show, we will offer our audience a unique chance of exposure to the most mature tower industry in the world and its poll of top telecom professionals.

Who will you meet

| TowerXchange Issue 7 | www.towerxchange.com21

28 guaranteed, qualified introductionsHow to advice from proven practitioners

Your trusted community host and commentator

Dedicated to passive infrastructureDecision makers only An aid to shortlisting / receiving RFPs

4 structured networking sessions assemble participants in groups of 8, brought together by a common regional or topic matter interest, and arranged so each group includes 2 MNOs, a towerco, investor, advisor, OEM or managed service provider, energy equipment and a static asset or RMS manufacturer

The main TowerXchange Meetup is supplemented by how to workshops, tackling topics from how to structure a tower transaction to the implications of 4G, while the business leaders from MNOs, towercos and investors will debate hot topics in unmissable panel discussions

The TowerXchange Meetup draws on the credibility, original research and comprehensive relationships with Latin American telecoms infrastructure decision makers who read our renowned journal

While other events increasingly focus on devices and VAS, TowerXchange maintains a laser-beam focus on passive infrastructure

Access to the TowerXchange Meetup is by invitation-only. Our 200 attendees are vetted for decision making authority (Director, VP and C-level only), and the ratio of buyers to sellers is carefully managed

Strategic Partners Panels: dynamic panel sessions offering an opportunity to key solution providers and king buyers to interact. A unique way to accelerate partner selection due diligence and shortlist RFP recipients

What makes TowerXchange Meetups uniqueJoin the TowerXchange community at our exclusive executive retreat in Orlando where our unique, networking-driven unconference will facilitate tower transaction deal-making, accelerate buyers partner selection due diligence, and provide passive infrastructure equipment and service providers with dozens of highly qualified new prospects.


Respecting confidentiality yet revealing whats really going on

Enjoy networking with 200 VIPs

Tower transactions are highly confidential, so the TowerXchange Meetup is held under Chatham House Rule and our unique roundtables, private meeting space and informal receptions will enable you to discreetly discuss and advance strategic partnerships

Thanks to the co-location with US PCIA, our Meetup will be hosted at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. Our ideal location is just a short distance to a variety of Orlandos best attractions, restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues and will be the perfect address for three days of intensive learning and networking.

The must-attend event for tower industry decision makersAttending, exhibiting or sponsoring our Meetup Americas represents a unique opportunity to be exposed and interact with the entire value chain of Latin American tower professionals in addition to key professionals from the leading North American tower market.

Our attendees will enjoy three days of knowledge sharing thanks to our closed-door, highly interactive Meetup format, which will focus purely on the Latin American tower industry. At the same time, our audience can experience the advantages of meeting and gathering with over 2000 attendees joining the Wireless Infrastructure Show from all over the world in the networking and exhibition areas.

For our exhibitors, all booths are created equal at TowerXchange you wont be swallowed up into the shadow of the huge exhibits of deep-pocketed big brands at TowerXchange everyone gets the same size turnkey booth, which means vendors are shortlisted to receive RFPs purely on the basis of their ability to

TowerXchange Passive

Infrastructure footprint

Futurecom:5% passive infrastructure

Mobile World Congress: 1% passive infrastructure

Devices & VAS footprint

Mobile World Congress footprint

Futurecom footprint

TowerXchange: 100% passive infrastructure

www.towerxchange.com | TowerXchange Issue 7 | 23

meet buyer requirements. The TowerXchange Meetup has been designed to incur low logistics costs theres no need to ship anything to the event all the materials you will need will fit in the hold of the plane you fly in on.

Futurecom and Mobile World Congress are great events for general networking, but they increasingly focus on devices and VAS, not towers and passive infrastructure. The TowerXchange Meetup is 100% devoted to passive infrastructure. Its 100% decision maker level: only Director, VP and C-level are permitted to attend. And our ratio of buyers to sellers is carefully controlled.

| TowerXchange Issue 7 | www.towerxchange.com23


331131

129

127

228

KeeganWireless230

Food & Drinks


Door

ConnectionsCafe


-Wire623

CommScope520

Slatercom421

AmiritTechnologies

423

TEConnectivity

520/620

Huada621

Product Showcase

Ericsson 20x20

20x2020x20

C D

A B

CS

-S S

ervi

ce D

esk

Food & Drinks

Food & Drinks

226


Galtronics221/223

130

128

126

124

122

120

118

116

114

112

110

108

106

104

102

100

430

329 428

327 426

431 530

429 528

427 526

531 630

529 628

527 626

731

729

727

725

723

721

717

715

NATE713

711

709

707

705

703

701

129

127

228

226

105

103

101

KGP202/204

Unimar200

11 11 11 11 11 11 11

20

GMESupply

205

MosaikSolutions

203

AFL201

MaxCell304

SBA

Com

mu

nic

taio

ns

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300 401

Fibrebond405

ValmontSite Pro 1

403

ValmontStructures

401

MaxCell304

Hughey &Phillips302

CDMI300

Terracon505

NelloCorp.

503

Deltanode501

SabreIndustries604

Graybar602

3ZTelecom600

ITL, LLC605

Skyhawk601

704

603Accruent700/702

117

115

113

214

Eastpointe216

212

TUFTUG217

Lattice213

Amphenol316/314

TestEquity211


209tarantula308

Trans-American308

111

109

210

CellphoneMate208


Antennas422/420

Shive-Hattery

321

522

720

TWRLighting

615

716617

714BB&T

Atlantic Risk515

TP Electric616

DynamicEnviromental

517

EMSS614

Oldcastle609

710PCTEL611

OTL Solution708

Henkles & McCoy610

FidelityNational

511


631

529

527

228

228

226

ENTRANCE ENTRANCE

TowerXchange have co-located our Latin American Meetup with the premier national event for mobile network solutions-produced for the industry, by the industry; The Wireless Infrastructure Show, organised by the PCIA.

Your registration for the TowerXchange Meetup Americas includes a full access pass to The Wireless Infrastructure Show, which means

that throughout the event you can choose to attend sessions in the TowerXchange Meetup or you can visit The Wireless Infrastructure Show opening reception, general and tracked sessions and keynotes.

The Wireless Infrastructure Show attracts more than 2,000 thought leaders and industry innovators from across the wireless

infrastructure ecosystem. Network within the primary forum for infrastructure owners and operators, carriers, investment community representatives, government officials, equipment manufacturers and service providers, and other integrally involved in shaping the future of the industry. This market defining Show features over 35 lectures, panels, round-tables, and special events on a comprehensive selection of industry topics taught by leading industry experts.

The TowerXchange Pavilion is located on The Wireless Infrastructure Show exhibition floor, so you have access not just to our 18 Latin America-focused exhibitors, but over 100 exhibitors showcasing all of the most relevant infrastructure development tools, platforms and services helping to drive the industry forward across North, Central and South America!


PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show

Your TowerXchange Meetup Americas registration includes a full access pass to the co-located PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show!

Job functions at The Wireless Infrastructure Show: Industry composition at The Wireless Infrastructure Show:

C-Level

Engineering/Technical Operations

Investor/Financial Analyst

Business Development

Infrastructure Providers

Carriers

Professional Services

Consultant

Legal

IT

Financial

Other

28%

17%

8%

30%

10%

4%3%

40%

20%

20%

10%

10%

Our sponsors


Site One

SiteOne, developed by azeti in collaboration with NeXsysOne, is the most comprehensive solution to monitor and manage remote Sites. The 360 approach enables businesses to centralize the management of traditional IP-based systems with operational processes, creating a unique and centralized platform to improve the operational efficiency, reduce OPEX costs and consolidate multiple technologies in a single interface. With state-of-the-art appliances made in Germany and software designed by experienced telecom and network engineers, operators will be able to remotely manage the most extensive number of components and devices than any other solution could offer, like Environmental Control parameters (temperature, humidity, power consumption etc.), Security (video surveillance, theft detection for fuel, assets and other elements etc.), Access Management (access via camera, pin-pad solutions etc.) and Passive Monitoring (battery and rectifier monitoring, fuel status, energy logging etc.). SiteOne. Site Management. Made Intelligent.

www.azeti.net www.nexsysone.com

Acsys

Acsys is a global leader in tower access control solutions. Our patented, military-grade solutions based on our unique, programmable locks and keys facilitate intelligent access control while avoiding the bottlenecks associated with wired systems, including lengthy and expensive installation, maintenance, external power dependency, etc.

European-rooted, with an innovative team from around the globe, and the benefits of China-based production, Acsys stays at the forefront in designing cutting-edge security and staff management solutions at a competitive price. World unique solutions like our Code Generating System are changing the face of tower access and are utilized by many of the industrys biggest names.

www.acsys.com

Silver Sponsor:Gold Sponsor:

Our sponsors


AIO Systems

AIO Systems is a solution provider of next generation of remote management, monitoring and control systems for critical unmanned sites. Offering customized infrastructure management solutions, AIOs products are designed for telecom, power and water utilities, Oil & Gas industry, and others.

AIOs total site efficiency solution offer ~34% OPEX reduction to telecom tower operators by reducing power and diesel consumption, preventing theft and loss of fuel and equipment, and allowing them to manage every asset and every tenant individually.

Our unique controllers and peripheral devices allow for a fully integrated remote site security, which includes site surveillance and access control, perimeter security, CCTV, active security elements and more.

AIO Systems manages a modular configuration fit for the clients needs, in full automation, and providing timely alerts via a variety of communication channels.

HMS Industrial Networks

HMS Industrial Networks is the leading independent supplier of products for industrial communication and remote management. Products are marketed under the brands Anybus, IXXAT and Netbiter. Headquartered in Halmstad, Sweden, HMS is represented by branch offices in 10 countries plus distributors in more than 50. HMS employs over 350 people and reported sales of 60+ million EUR 2013.

Telco site support equipment has become smart, which offers the opportunity to have full remote control of all support equipment on Radio and Core sites and benefit from reducing the OPEX without major investments. With the Netbiter concept we have developed a vendor independent solution that fits into all kind of systems and takes care of all hassles with different communication protocols, different sizes of diesel tanks, tampering etc.

Bronze Sponsor:Bronze Sponsor:

Mer Group Telecom Division

Mer Group Telecom Division provides end-to-end Wireless Infrastructure Turnkey Solutions from network planning, site design and provision of towers, to site construction, equipment installation, network optimization and maintenance. Combining cost effectiveness, short lead times and advanced engineering techniques, we are strongly committed to client satisfaction. With a highly developed logistics chain, advanced tower manufacturing facilities and an extensive network of warehouses, our solutions are flexible and scalable, providing measurable benefits for customers. Our strong presence in Latin America enables us to leverage the combined in-depth regional knowledge of local partners with our industry acknowledged engineering expertise for our customers benefit.

The division leverages its proven global track record, comprehensive knowledge and accumulated expertise to seamlessly deliver technologically innovative and best-of-breed solutions including M2M enablement and vertical market applications, mobile financial services, cloud billing, MVNO enablement, as well as on/off board and remote/contactless payment solutions for public transport operators.

www.mer-group.com/solutions/wireless-infrastructure

Bronze Sponsor:

www.aiosystems.com www.hms.se

Our exhibitors


Telemisis

Telemisis manufactures the SitePro system for remote monitoring and automation solution for all business sectors; our specialisation being mobile operators and tower owners. We have delivered full site management systems, including power optimisation, fuel management, electricity metering, environmental management and machine/equipment control in harsh and demanding locations since 2000.

Telemisis manufactures the industrys smallest, most flexible and cost-effective remote telemetry node SiteNode. SiteNode units provide interfacing and data collection capabilities from a wide range of standard devices and sensors that may already be deployed or will be added. Coupled with Telemisis back-end server systems we offer standard or bespoke solutions.

www.telemisis.com/products

Metalogalva

TELECOM TOWERS MANUFACTURER

Quality products at fair prices. Company

with 42 years experience. Young and flexible

team. 400 employees; 30 engineers. 100 000

tons galvanizing capacity (year). 14 welding

and plasma robots. 6.6M Investment on new

equipments.

Qualifications:

Your TowerXchange Meetup Americas registration includes a full access pass to the co-located PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show!

Delegate RegistrationTowerXchange Meetup Americas 2014, May 20-22, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida

For BACS payment, please remit to:Site Seven Media Ltd

Bank name: Lloyds TSBSort code: 30-90-89

Account number: 21593660

I agree to the terms of this registration Date

For IBAN payment, please remit to:Site Seven Media Ltd

Bank name: Lloyds TSBSwift /BIC: LOYDGB21256

IBAN: GB29 LOYD 3090 8921 5936 60

The following terms and conditions apply:< Site Seven Media reserves the right to refuse admission to the event if full payment of the Registration Fee has not been received.< In the event of the Site Seven Media cancelling the TowerXchange Meetup Americas 2014, the parties agree that Site Seven Media will offer to transfer the registrants attendance of the Event to an acceptable alternative event. If Site Seven Media cannot offer an acceptable event, we will refund the Registration Fee to the Client in full.< Substitution policy: you may substitute subscribers registered delegates for colleagues, as long as alternate attendees are also Department Heads, Director, VP or C-level Regrettably no cancellations can be accepted.

Payment terms: Within 14 days of receipt of invoice, or in advance of the event, whichever comes first.

Payment per person

Registration Details

Discount Codes

Carriers

Government

Investors

Towercos

PCIA Members PCIA Non-Members

Company Name:

Delegate 1 Name: Delegate 1 Email:

Delegate 2 Name:

Address:Tel:

Delegate 1 Email:

PO Number:

Package Description

Vendors

Special rates are available for full time employees of towercos, carriers, government and regulators ONLY. Contact [email protected] to request a discount code.

Package description: TowerXchange Subscription and Delegate Pass for Meetup Americas 2014. Package includes daytime catering, participation in 3 round table sessions, after hours networking receptions. Package does NOT include accommodation or evening meals.

Note that delegates must be Department Heads, Director, VP or C-level, unless special permission is granted. Companies are also restricted to a maximum of 2 delegates unless sponsoring or unless special permission is granted contact [email protected] if you wish to apply for 3 or more passes or for an exception to our Director, VP or C-level rule.

Discount Code:

Free

$1500

$1500

$1500

$3000

Free

$1575

$1575

$1575

$3150

Invoice address & payment contact (if different):

Register at www.towerxchange.com/apply-to-attend or complete, scan and email this form to [email protected]

Exhibition access to PCIA

Access to TowerXchange Meetup

Daytime Catering

TowerXchange after hours networking receptions & catering

Access toTowerXchange VIP lounge

TowerXchange Round table interactions

10ft x10ft Turnkey booth

TowerXchange Panel sessions

Profile and ad in journal & TowerXchange Meetup Special edition

Video on TowerXchange TV

One time dedicated post event emailshot to all TowerXchange attendees

Roundtable host

Logo on backdrop, podium, signage, fliers & invites for TowerXchange

Meetup

Private meeting room

Your choice of bronze sponsorship benefit

Your choice of silver sponsorship quality benefit

Your choice of gold sponsorship premium benefit

Your choice of platinum business-class benefit

Your choice of diamond first-class benefit

TowerXchange Meetup Americas Sponsorship and Exhibition Benefits and Packages

Bronze Sponsorship Stationary sponsor (provided by client)Gift drop (provided by client)USB sponsor (provided by client)

Silver Sponsorship Totes Bags (provided by client)Lanyards (provided by client)Business card wallet (provided by client)Sponsorship of coffee break day 1 amSponsorship of coffee break day 1 pmSponsorship of coffee break day 2 am Sponsorship of coffee break day 2 pm

Gold SponsorshipSponsorship of breakfast (Open) day 1Sponsorship of breakfast (Open) day 2Sponsorship of Lunch Day 1Sponsorship of Lunch Day 2Sponsorship of icebreaker drinks

Platinum Sponsor Host of private Lunch Day 1Host of private Lunch Day 2Host of private breakfast day 2

Diamond SponsorSponsorship of Drinks Reception / Opening reception

**100% discounts for qualifying Director to C-level execs from MNOs

Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Sponsorship Benefit Options Target Attendee Breakdown

$1,500*/$3,000

Delegate pass

$11,500

Exhibitor

$16,500

BronzeSponsor

$25,000

SilverSponsor

$30,000

GoldSponsor

$40,000

Platinum Sponsor

Diamond Sponsor

1 pass

1 pass

1 pass

1 pass

1 pass

1 pass

2 passes

2 passes

3 passes

3 passes

4 passes

4 passes

5 passes

5 passes

Benefits

* Discounted rate available to Towercos, Government and Regulator representatives only

CarriersTowercosManaged Service ProvidersInvestors and AdvisorsSolution providersGovernment and Regulators

AttendeesPass

discount405040303010

**100%50%0%0%0%

50%

For prices, please contact [email protected]

MTN announces sale of 1,228 towers to IHS in Rwanda and Zambia


MTN Group Limited announced that it has agreed to sell its tower portfolios in Rwanda and Zambia to IHS. MTN will sell a total of 1,228 mobile network towers to IHSs subsidiaries in Rwanda and Zambia, comprised of 524 and 704 towers respectively, for undisclosed amounts. The sale of the towers is in line with MTNs asset optimisation strategy which is encompassed in

Initial anchor tenancy term is ten years, BTS programme included - IHS now operates 10,500 towers in Africa

MTNs new strategic framework and builds on two previous deals with IHS in Cameroon and Ct dIvoire, for a total of 1,758 towers. In addition to unlocking value in our passive infrastructure, we remain cognizant of the need to contain and efficiently manage our cost structures across the Group as our markets mature and become more competitive. We are confident these transactions are a positive step towards freeing up management time to focus on products and services, thereby fulfilling our mission of making our customers lives a whole lot brighter said Sifiso Dabengwa, Group President and CEO of MTN Group. Mr. Dabengwa added, MTN is pleased to be broadening our partnership with IHS, a leading tower operator with proven expertise across Africa, to our operations in Rwanda and Zambia. Issam Darwish, Group CEO of IHS commented: We are delighted to be extending our relationship with MTN in Rwanda and Zambia. These latest deals are testament to our commitment to client service, enabling the most efficient, effective and reliable networks for our clients. Our strong and trusted relationship with MTN is important to us and we remain committed to reinforcing their focus on customer service excellence.

Under the agreements, IHS will acquire and operate the towers and related passive infrastructure and will invest in a build-to-suit program to support MTNs future requirements in both countries. MTN Rwanda and MTN Zambia will become the respective anchor tenants on the towers for an initial term of ten years. The transactions bring the total number of towers in IHSs portfolio to 10,500 extending its leadership in the African market. IHS will market services on the towers in Rwanda and Zambia, promoting tower sharing and colocation to help drive network improvements, better service to subscribers and economic growth. Each transaction is expected to close independently during the first half of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. TowerXchanges analysis of IHSs latest deal with MTNSecuring MTNs towers in Rwanda and Zambia continues Issam Darwish and IHSs record of bidding aggressively and winning deals against Africas other Big Four towercos. This is the second time IHS has partnered with Africas leading operator, having acquired MTNs 1,758 towers in Cameroon and Cote dIvoire for US$284mn in late 2012. Its difficult to assess a tower deal without knowing the acquisition price and lease rate, but the Rwandan and Zambian markets are certainly attractive.With MTNs tower assets in South Africa apparently off the table, at least for now, the 1,228 towers they

Issam Darwish, Group CEO, IHS


January 2014, starting with selected locations in Lusaka, Kitwe, Ndola and Livingstone, with additional locations to follow is the second stage of deployment. When an independent towerco enters a new country, they often secure substantial BTS opportunities, although the scale of such opportunities in Zambia and Rwanda has not yet been confirmed by IHS. IHS reaches scaleThis latest transaction brings IHSs tower count beyond the 10,000 tower magic number, which many analysts figure to represent scale for the independent towerco business model. IHS now has a total of approximately 10,500 towers in Africa (5,750 owned, 4,750 managed), making IHS Africas largest towerco. In addition to Rwanda and Zambia, IHS also has towers in Nigeria, Cote dIvoire, Cameroon, Sudan and South Sudan. IHS is unlikely to rest on its laurels. The towerco has raised over US$1bn in capital to date from investors such as the IFC, Wendel, ECP, FMO, Investec and one of Asias premier sovereign wealth funds, and is expected to continue to be an aggressive bidder for the further 38,500 African towers are believed to be currently on the market. Recommended further reading: BMIs view of the tower market in Rwanda and Zambia (page 19, issue 5), and How IHS creates shared value (page 30, issue 3) published exclusively in the TowerXchange Journal

have sold in Rwanda and Zambia were considered one of the most investible telecoms infrastructure assets in Africa. The two countries have relatively low political risk, and have solid GDP growth in the 7-8.5% range. Potential for further tower deals in RwandaMTN is the market leading operator in Rwanda, with 56.1% market share in June 2012 (Source: BMI, RURA, Operators). Almost as important as the strength of IHSs anchor tenant is the credit worthiness of Rwandas other licensed operators and prospective tenants, Tigo and Airtel. IHSs last deal with MTN in Cameroon and Cote dIvoire was followed not long after by the same towerco securing Oranges towers (on a managed services deal), and IHS is now well positioned to take a similarly dominant position in Rwanda should additional towers come to market. There have been unconfirmed rumours of Tigos interest in selling their towers in Rwanda, while Airtel is believed to be selling all 15,000 of their towers across Africa, including Rwanda. Independent towers could ease capacity challenges in ZambiaZICTA reports that mobile penetration in Zambia is at 78%. Airtel and MTN vie for market leadership in Zambia. Cell Z, mobile arm of Zamtel and subject of a legal dispute between the Zambian government and LAP Green Networks, follow as the third ranked operator.

A fourth MNO license has been mooted for some time. The availability of independent towers has accelerated new market entrants in the past, as we saw with Africell leveraging Helios Towers in the DRC, so the establishment of an independent tower market in Zambia is likely to be good news for whichever operator wins the fourth license. Earlier in 2013 the Zambian government threatened the existing three operators with legal action due to QoS problems, which points to the opportunity for IHS to help operators ease capacity challenges. MTN launched Zambias first LTE network in

Airtel MTN Zamtel

Source: ZICTA, Dec 2012

45%

39%

16%

2.5%

Africas multi-billion dollar wave of tower sales gains pace

TowerXchange is tracking almost 40,000 African towers at various stages of progression toward sale or outsourcing to independent towercos. With a pipeline of over US$3bn worth of assets coming to market, and with the independent tower model increasingly proven in Africa, a new class of investor that only wants to write substantial cheques is being attracted to the market.


18,000+ towers for sale in Nigeria This unprecedented wave of African tower opportunities is headlined by the sale of 15,000 towers across 15 countries by Airtel, with Reuters reporting the sale is most advanced in Nigeria, where TowerXchange sources also suggest MTN Nigerias coveted portfolio of over 10,000 towers may be back on the block. With Etisalat having hired Standard Bank to secure a buyer for their Nigerian towers too, upwards of 80% of Nigerias towers may be owned and operated by independent towercos by the end of 2014 (currently around 13% of Nigerias towers are independently owned). Nigeria may be the crown jewel of the African telecom sector in terms of profitability, yet its a pretty rough diamond when one considers the power and security challenges of operating a Nigerian tower network. At the recent GSMA Green Power for Mobile Working Group in Lagos, fuel security was a hot topic, and it was reported that an average of five hours of power was available

MTN may be joining the sale in Nigeria, update on the Airtel transaction

per day at Nigerian cell sites, with only 60% of that usable due to poor quality. Last year, the GSMA counted 12,560 of Nigerias 24,242 towers to be off grid, with another 10,645 on an unreliable grid. Only 2-3% of Nigerian cell sites run 100% green power, although around 40% are battery hybrids. The GSMA has identified 10,890 sites than have a business case to be converted to hybrid or renewable power, which would require US$1bn of investment by 2015. Theres plenty of room for growth in Nigeria, which already boasts over 100mn subscribers, double digit growth year on year, 68.6% mobile penetration (NCC, March 2013) and coverage greater than 80%. However, QoS problems are common, and Nigeria is thought to need another 50,000+ towers to optimise coverage and capacity. For more contextual information on the Nigerian tower market, check out the Nigeria case study in issue 4 of the TowerXchange Journal

Nigerian mobile operator market share, March 2013

Source: BMI, NCC, operators

43.9%

20.4%

20.3%

12.9%

MTN Airtel

Globalcom Etisalat

CDMA

Even more Africa towers on the market As if Nigeria and Airtel werent enough to keep the analysts, advisors and lawyers busy, there are still over 5,000 Orange OpCo towers coming to market in Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau, and rumours of potential further transactions involving Millicom, Zantel and out of DRC and Burundi


Airtel Africa map

Airtel are still not able to comment on the record about their African tower sale, except to reiterate that sharing infrastructure is a core strategy for the group, is seen as a critical means of lowering costs in emerging markets, and has delivered operational efficiency in India. TowerXchange sources suggest that Airtel have accepted that its not feasible to sell all their African towers in one tranche. IHS, Helios and Eaton are each believed to have their own list of Airtel tower portfolios they want to acquire, while TMT Finance report that American Tower has

dropped any interest in the Airtel Africa portfolio. Airtels recent Q3 results revealed a fall in net profit from 10.11bn rupees last year to 2.84bn rupees (around US$53mn). However, Airtel is taking steps to turn around Africa operations, including hiring Christian de Feria as CEO of Africa and increasing its customer base by 21%. Airtel has improved their quarterly revenue run rate by 39% and EBITDA run rate by 55% since it acquired Zains African business, and the sale of Airtels African towers will deleverage its balance sheet in Africa

Airtel Africa towers to be carved up among IHS, Helios and Eaton

Tower People

Laurentius Human, a valued member of TowerXchanges Inner Circle informal advisory board, has moved on from Inala to join Jabil as Senior Director, Corporate Finance. Howard Earley, formerly COO of Plessey, succeeds Laurentius as CEO of Inala, with Louw Cilliers assuming operational responsibility for telecommunications. We missed this appointment at the time: Georges Alain-Rubio was appointed CEO of IHS Cote dIvoire late last year. Georges has extensive Technical and Network Direction experience within the Telcel/Zain/Airtel organisation, having served in senior positions in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Gabon


Sonatels 3,000 tower sale reportedly launched As reported in TowerXchange for several months, Orange has an active mandate to outsource Sonatels towers across Senegal (approximately 1,600 towers), Mali (1,000), Guinea (400) and Guinea-Bissau (85). TMT Finance reports that a formal process has started under the guidance of Lazard, who helped Orange sell their towers in Uganda last year, and who are also reportedly advising on MobiNils sale of 2,500 towers in Egypt.

$100mn upgrade for Helios Towers DRC

Helios Towers Africa has secured a US$100mn loan facility for the operation and upgrade, reactivation and expansion of their tower network in the DRC. The US$100mn loan facility consists of a commercial loan arranged by Standard Bank, development finance from the German Investment and Development Corporation and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, and a guarantee from the World Banks Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Helios Towers Africa is the sole independent towerco in the DRC, having acquired 729 towers from Tigo in 2010 paying US$45mn, with Millicom retaining 40% equity. Helios has achieved a very healthy tenancy ratio in the DRC, and securing this loan further proves the robustness of their business. However, conflict in the East has contributed to a small number of Helios Towers DRCs

sites being offline, while the limited extent and poor quality of grid power makes for a challenging operating model, compounded by poor transport infrastructure which makes the delivered cost of equipment significantly higher than the landed cost. Doubtless this injection of debt finance will help. TowerXchange forecasts that further tower transactions will occur in the DRC in the short to medium term, with Airtels network, believed to be the most pervasive in DRC, up for grabs, and rumours suggesting Orange may be interested in outsourcing their towers in DRC.

IHS to delist from the Nigerian stock exchange

TMT Finance reports that IHS shareholders have voted to take the company private, and will pay US$0.03 per share to buy out stockholders. Only a small proportion of the equity in IHS was believed to be part of IHS initial public offering, and the decision to take the company private is unlikely to have any impact on IHS current round of capital raising, with reports linking IHS with Macquarie-backed African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM).

Vodafone Ghana to add over 400 new sites, and who wants to buy an Expresso?

Agence Ecofin reports that Vodafone Ghana are investing US$22.9mn in a massive extension operation, deploying over 400 new sites to improve coverage and capacity. The

report quotes CTO Patricia Obo-Nai as saying Over the past years, we have invested more than USD700 million in the expansion of our sites, (which have) increased from 300 in 2009 to 2000 across the country. Vodafone Ghana outsourced the management of 750 towers to Eaton Towers in 2010 under an operational lease deal structure. Meanwhile, were reading that the on-off sale for an estimated US$150mn of CDMA operator Expresso Telecom, Ghanas sixth ranked operator, to Jospong Group is currently off. Expressos current owners Sudatel are believed to be considering selling their telecoms assets in Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and South Sudan.

Viettel keen on Burkina Faso, Burundi and Tanzania

Vietnamese military-run Viettel are in the midst of an acquisition and expansion drive into Africa. Despite delays to the launch of their Cameroon operation until mid-2014, Viettel has acquired the sixth mobile license in Burundi, and is pressing ahead with expansion into Burkina Faso and Tanzania. Viettel are believed to be the sole bidder for the fourth license in Burkina Faso, where they would join Onatel, Telecel Faso and Airtel. Mobile penetration in Burkina Faso is believed to be just over 60%. Viettel are also reported to have applied for a license in the crowded Tanzanian market. Helios Towers operates almost 2,500 towers in Tanzania having acquired the infrastructure assets of Tigo and Vodacom.

African telecom tower industry newsEgypt

DRCNigeria

Ghana

Senegal Mali GuineaGuineaBissau

Burkina Faso Burundi Tanzania


Frontier Tower Solutions closes on tower deal with Niel Telecom

Our friends at Frontier Tower Solutions (FTS) are believed to be closing in on their first African deal, acquiring towers from Niel Telecom in Burundi and the Central African Republic. FTS have built and manage over 1,200 towers in Iraq and Afghanistan, where a further deal has also been suggested, and have activity pending in Bolivia.

Telkom Mobile denies tower deal imminent, MTN extends LTE rollout

Telkom denied unsourced media speculation that it had received a bid for the sale of 1,600 mobile towers. Telkom would like to correct statements that have been widely published regarding the sale o

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