Vodacom will retain full ownership of the tower company subsidiary which will have full ownership of the operator’s tower portfolio.
Chief executive officer Shameel Joosub said the creation of the tower company is not yet complete, while detailing the company’s Q1 results, reported Reuters.
He added the separation of towers from the main business will enhance the assets and lower costs, although he did not expand on how. A managing director for the new company will be announced in due course.
Vodacom has a portfolio of over 9,500 towers and rooftop antennas.
Operators globally have been spinning off their tower businesses to raise capital for reinvestment into new services, in bids to expand new services as fresh revenue streams. Many operators have been competing in price wars.
Vodacom reported that Q1 revenue grew from ZAR24.8 billion (US$1.43 billion) to ZAR26.1 billion (US$1.53 billion) year-on-year. Service revenue grew 5.2% which was supported by a 10.4% bump from its international portfolio and 9.3% from its financial services.
Levies from Tanzania on its mobile business dampened the growth in financial services said Joosub. The growth rate would have been an estimated 19.7% if adjusted for the impact of the levies.
The GSMA said in a report, that since the introduction of the levy last year Tanzanians have been turning away from mobile money services due to higher costs.
