Barthi Airtel, India’s leading mobile operator, is expected to reach an agreement on the sale of its telecom towers in Nigeria for more than US$1 billion within the next three weeks, said a news update released by Pyramid Research.
According to the report, American Tower Company (ATC) is believed to be leading the race to buy the 4,000 towers, followed by IHS Towers.
“Once the sale goes through, Bharti would have successfully sold almost half its towers in Africa,” said the update from PR.
But sources familiar with Bharti Airtel operations here indicated that the company intends to sell more than 3,500 of its mobile towers in six African countries to tower operator Eaton Towers, in its bid to reduce costs, exit non-core businesses and raise cash in the run-up to the upcoming spectrum auctions.
Malawi, Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Kenya are the countries where Airtel’s towers, which are part of the deal with Eaton, are located, they said.
