Kenyan mobile operators Safaricom and Orange Kenya announced plans to form a jointly owned tower management company. In a regional first, the two companies said they were in advanced negotiations, which they expect to conclude in the next three months to form an independently-managed infrastructure company. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said the initiative was prompted by the need for the industry to explore improved cost efficiency on infrastructure management. Technical and financial experts from the two companies are currently working on the details of the transaction, which is expected to be largely modeled along the lines of international tower companies like India's Indus Towers, in which Safaricom's parent company Vodafone is also a shareholder. The two Kenyan companies have over 4,000 towers between them, and they expect that in addition to the initial equity and debt financing, each partner will contribute some of its existing infrastructure. Initially, the proposed company will be formed between Orange Kenya, Safaricom and a mutually designated professional and independent tower management company on agreed terms. Later, the consortium expects to invite other players into the company either as shareholders or customers on an open-access model. The new tower company will seek and operate on a separate Network Facilities Provider (NFP) licence from industry regulator CCK in order to allow it operate on an open access model.
