In order to increase connectivity in the continent and advance mutual greenhouse towers, Airtel Africa PLC announced a partnership with American Tower Corporation’s African Operations (ATC Africa).
The partnership agreement signed is a multi-year, multi-product agreement planned to leverage ATC Africa’s existing vast portfolio of communications sites and new site and product development capabilities across its footprint in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Uganda in support of Airtel Africa’s network rollout.
The group hopes that through their combined efforts, they can substantially increase connectivity on the continent, extend digital inclusion to underserved communities and advance their mutual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction objectives.
The tower operator explained, “all new site development under the agreement will comply with ATC Africa’s new green site specifications, which is expected to substantially reduce reliance on fossil fuels while advancing American Tower’s progress toward achieving its science-based targets (SBTs).”
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Airtel Africa and America Tower Partnership
Similarly, this strategic cooperation is counted on to relieve vulnerability to fuel price volatility for both ATC Africa and Airtel Africa. The groups have likewise committed to continuing working together to convert existing telecommunications sites to ATC Africa’s green site specifications over time.
“Over the last several years, ATC Africa has made forward-thinking investments to ensure we achieve tangible reductions in our on-site fossil fuel consumption in Africa,” Marek Busfy, SVP and CEO of ATC Africa, stated.
To date, ATC Africa has invested approximately $300 million in energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy deployments and energy storage solutions to decrease on-site reliance on fossil fuels. The company has also earmarked additional investments to fund the implementation of future energy efficiencies.
Busfy stated again, “As we selectively extend the platform services we offer, we are demonstrating our commitment to introduce new and renewable sources of energy to power our sites, which protects the industry, our customers and consumers from ongoing and future volatility in fuel prices. Airtel Africa’s environmental goals are aligned with ours and, as we expand digital reach on the African continent, we remain committed to reducing GHG emissions in tandem with our growth.”
He added, “Furthermore, through our Digital Communities program, we will be able to meaningfully improve quality of life in our markets through connectivity.”
To give an analysis of this landmark agreement, Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, said that “The company has once again demonstrated its commitment to creating value for customers and shareholders by subscribing to an environmentally sustainable growth model. Airtel Africa’s corporate citizenship requires us to extend coverage to increasingly remote areas – and meeting this obligation is necessary to establish a sustainable partnership with a like-minded industry player. We continue to invest in infrastructure and distribution networks across the countries where we operate to support their economies and communities. Sustainability is at the core of our strategy, driven by our corporate purpose to transform lives across Africa and support people, businesses, and governments in getting access to better connectivity.”
About ATC Africa
Founded in 1995, American Tower Corporation, one of the largest global Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), is a leading independent owner, operator, and developer of wireless and broadcast communications real estate with nearly 43,000 sites in the United States.
ATC Nigeria is a part of American Tower, is a Fortune 500, S&P 500 and Forbes Global 2000 company that provides the infrastructure for modern digital communications.
ATC Nigeria is a provider of wireless towers, in-building and outdoor DAS, small cell and Wi-Fi networks, managed rooftops and services that speed network deployment for the wireless and communications infrastructure sharing community.
As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 199,330 communications sites, including 27,494 sites in the U.S. and Canada, 74,813 sites in Asia, 29,722 sites in Europe, 21,455 in Africa, and 45,816 sites in Latin America.
About Airtel Africa
Airtel Africa plc is a multinational company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East, Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa is majority owned by the Indian communication services company Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa offers mobile voice and data services and mobile money services nationally and internationally. Airtel Nigeria is the most profitable unit of Airtel Africa due to its cheap data plans in Nigeria. As of March 2019, Airtel had over 99 million subscribers on the continent. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Airtel began operating in many African countries after acquiring Zain’s Africa operation in June 2010. Airtel operates with One Network, a mobile phone network that allows Airtel customers to use the service in a number of countries at the same price as their home network. Customers can place outgoing calls at the same rate as their local network, and incoming calls are free. As of 2021, the service is available in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
