Domestic telecom operators can save billions of rubles for the construction of towers

Photo: RIA News

Russian telecom operators usually spend huge amounts of money - billions of rubles, which are spent on building towers with base stations. The company "VimpelCom" decided to try to save their money, giving the infrastructure of a third-party company, in exchange for the right to share towers, writes "RBC".

The intentions of VimpelCom to sell its towers became known thanks to information from a source familiar with the plans of the operator. The company sells its towers not only in Russia, but also in other countries: the CIS, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The number of communication towers at VimpelCom in Russia alone reaches 15 thousand.

Negotiations on the sale of infrastructure are conducted with the company "Russian Towers", and the transaction is already in the final stage. It is planned to close it by the end of 2015, in order for VimpelCom to get "beautiful numbers to reduce capital costs."
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The president of the Russian Towers company said that the discussion about the purchase of cell towers is being conducted with all operators, both directly and through consultants. One of the consultants in this transaction is Merrill Lynch, with which VimpelCom is working on “many issues”, not only in Russia.

“This is an attractive development scenario, but it’s premature to talk about any specific negotiations or deals. In general, the direction of infrastructure monetization [sale of towers] is an interesting way to get additional money for network development, ”said Alexander Popovsky, vice president of corporate strategy and business development at VimpelCom.

A similar deal was made by the company at the beginning of the year - then VimpelCom closed the deal to sell its towers in Italy.