Having bought Vodafone India and Idea Cellular’s 20,000 cell phone towers in India in November for $1.2 billion, Boston-based American Tower Corporation will evaluate more tower asset acquisitions to grow operations in India.
James D. Taiclet, chairman and chief executive of the company, said that his company’s near-term focus would be integrating the captive towers recently acquired from Vodafone and Idea into its existing portfolio. However, going forward, it may “seek to acquire additional assets in India depending on their characteristics and return potential,” given the tower company’s significant “financial resources, local market knowledge and experienced management team.”
The acquisition of Vodafone India’s and Idea Cellular’s towers brings American Tower Corporation’s India portfolio to nearly 80,000 towers, at third place behind Indus and Bharti Infratel, which own 123,000 and 91,000 towers, respectively.
Taiclet also expects the rapid consolidation underway in India’s telecom industry to be ‘a net positive’ for the country’s entire towers industry, reports the Economic Times.
