IHS, a tower developer headquartered in Mauritius, a tiny island nation off the coast of East Africa, announced plans to operate up to 30,000 towers in Saudi Arabia within the next five years, according to Arab News. The company said they view Saudi Arabia as the “pulsating heart” of the Arab world.
Earlier this year, a landmark deal was reached between Zain KSA and IHS regarding 8,100 towers across the region.
IHS assumed ownership of the cache of cell phone towers and now hopes to expand even further, reports ArabNews.com.
“Saudi Arabia is just beginning now the 5G rollout … With 5G, you’re going to need a lot of towers, because 5G uses different spectrums,” said Sam Darwish, IHS Towers’ group chief executive. Whether IHS chooses to build or acquire the towers is still under consideration. Darwish anticipates a huge surge in wireless usage throughout the gulf region.
“Now our main focus is the Gulf, the whole Gulf, plus potentially North Africa. We’re looking at opportunities there,” he said. “And if you look at the Arab world in general, the Kingdom is the pulsating heart … its population is young, and they’re very influential on the world stage.” He further speculated the need for 10,000 to 30,000 towers in Saudi Arabia alone within the next five years.
No specifics were reported by ArabNews.com, but there are plans afoot for IHS to launch an initial public offering in the near future.
June 3, 2019
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