Airtel, Eaton Towers Conclude Tower Sale Deal in Burkina Faso

Telecom major Bharti Airtel and Eaton Towers Tuesday announced the conclusion of the sale and purchase of the former's tower assets in Burkina Faso. "We are pleased to close this fourth transaction with

Eaton Towers and we continue to explore other opportunities to work together," Bharti Airtel Africa CEO Christian De Faria said in a statement.

With this, Airtel has now concluded the sale of about 9,000 telecom towers in eight African countries. As part of the deal, Eaton Towers has acquired 2,500 towers from Airtel in four countries - Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Burkina Faso.

Airtel has committed to use these towers on rental basis for 10 years under tenancy contract to Eaton Towers. The domestic telecom major is also negotiating with Eaton for divesting its tower portfolio in other countries.

Airtel has decided to exit from its tower business in Africa, and thus has started to sell off over 14,000 mobile towers across 20 countries in the continent to focus on its core business and customers.

For Eaton Towers, the acquisition gives the scale which is necessary to provide for shared telecoms infrastructure solutions.

"The successful conclusion of our transactions in four countries with Airtel, together with the deal to acquire 2,000 towers from Mobinil in Egypt, will mean Eaton Towers will have over 6,000 towers and the most diversified tower portfolio across Africa," Eaton Towers CEO Terry Rhodes said.