Ooredoo and Telenor have ordered a second round of cell towers as the two international firms with licenses to operate in Myanmar push to expand its mobile network coverage.
Norwegian firm Telenor has signed up for more than 700 from Apollo Towers – the only supplier who worked on the original order to be re-commissioned by either telco – and about 700 from Eco-Friendly Towers, the Myanmar Times reported.
Ooredoo, from Qatar, meanwhile, has ordered 1000 from Irrawaddy Green Towers and another 500 from Singapore Windsor Holdings.
“Geographically the first round of towers was aimed at getting coverage up in the central spine of Myanmar. Now it’s going to be much more spread out, mostly in the rural areas, with fewer rooftop towers,” Philippe Luxcey, CEO of Apollo Towers, told the newspaper.
Ooredoo and Telenor, which rolled out services last year, had hoped to have 5000 towers completed by early 2015 but so far between 3000 and 4000 are estimated to have been built.
Some 17,300 towers are needed for the target of 70 per cent of the population to be reached, according to the 2014 Green Power for Mobile report from industry body GSMA.
Photo: Coconuts Media
