AP Towers to finalise partner by April end

Visakhapatnam: AP Towers Limited (APTL) is expected to finalise a strategic partner for developing communication tower infrastructure in the state by end of April or early May. The strategic partner for the project will have access to around 10000-12000 sites belonging to the government for installing telecom tower infrastructure.

APTL was formed as part of the state government's plans to set up tower infrastructure in AP by offering government sites to telecom infrastructure developer, who would install telecom towers such as ground based towers, roof top towers, smart towers to enable wi-fi in public area among others. The AP government wants to leverage the existing vacant space in government buildings, on rooftop and also by using other utility areas such as substations or bus stands.

Speaking to TOI, APTL chairman Ajay Jain said, “We are in the process of evaluating the bids submitted for becoming a strategic partner in a joint venture with APTL to develop the communication tower infrastructure.” He said, “We have received two bids and the evaluation is being carried to see if they meet the requirements mentioned by the government.”

“We have identified around 10000 to 12000 sites belonging to the government, which can be offered to the joint venture partner to setup the telecom infrastructure,” an APTL official said. He said, “APTL is acting as a liaison between the government and telecom infrastructure firm. The joint venture firm will provide the revenue share to the state government based on the number of sites which will be useful for setting up the infrastructure.”

As per the detailed project report prepared for the project, it was estimated that AP currently has around 16000 towers of which 74% are GBTs (Ground based towers) and 26% are on roof top sites. The DPR said that ATPL expects "high growth in future due to data explosion." Industry sources said that the demand for telecom towers is expected to grow in the coming years due to the increased usage of 4G networks as well as development of smart cities.