KUALA LUMPUR (June 1): Tower companies (towercos) can help mobile network operators (MNOs) save up to US$10 billion (RM43.80 billion) through infrastructure sharing and result in cumulative savings of up to US$67 billion (RM294 billion) for consumers due to affordable 5G connectivity by 2025, according to a study conducted by edotco Group and Roland Berger.
In a statement on Wednesday (June 1), edotco also highlighted that towercos can enable sustainable digital connectivity by reducing up to 17 million metric tonnes in carbon footprint by 2025.
The report, entitled “Towering Above: Building Tomorrow’s Digital Infrastructure in Asia” and launched during a panel discussion featuring edotco, Roland Berger and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) explores the critical roles and potential impact of towercos across nine key Asian markets — Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. According to edotco, the report also demonstrates how towercos are stimulating sustainable digital connectivity to realise incremental socio-economic benefits for industries, societies and governments, in addition to assessing how key policies and regulatory reform recommendations can unlock such opportunities.
“While MNOs are rapidly expanding their network in low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) markets such as Asia, they face a significant challenge in keeping their cost per GB under control, while striving to meet the industry demands and adhering to regulators’ intended policy and regulatory outcomes.
"These can only be addressed sustainably through a higher degree of infrastructure sharing,” said edotco Group Director of Strategy, Gayan Koralage.
The study also pointed out that despite Southeast Asia and South Asia being among the fastest growing sub-regions in terms of average data usage per user — MNOs have not been able to capitalize on the traffic trend.
This is causing a continuous decline in ARPU, making it challenging for MNOs to generate returns that commensurate with their cost of capital, it said.
“In overcoming the MNOs’ investment conundrums, solutions based on software-defined networking and a stronger partnership with next-generation towercos can foster greater scalability, speed and cost advantages.
“Such partnerships are rapidly unfolding in developed markets, showcasing the towercos’ emerging catalytic roles in business, society and the environment, ” Koralage added.
Roland Berger's Southeast Asia managing partner Damien Dujacquier said towercos must evolve to become active digital infrastructure providers to provide the needed industry scalability, efficiency and flexibility.
“However, the right regulatory environment is needed with five policy reforms critical to power growth: strong digital infrastructure mandate, conducive licensing & ownership regime, active promotion of infra sharing, streamlined process and enablement of adjacent services,” Damien said.