Phoenix Tower International (PTI), headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, is discussing construction of several hundred new build-to-suit towers with Latin American mobile network operators, reported BNamericas. The exact number of new sites is still to be determined. Market conditions this year have resulted in fewer towers being built than planned.
The company said it expects to end 2022 with 134 new sites deployed in Latin America, down from the 300 new towers it expected to build in the region this year. According to BNamericas, Alex Tude, PTI’s director of tower development, indicated that two customers with a large volume of orders did not move forward as expected. Altán, in Mexico, encountered financial difficulties and Viva Bolivia indicated a strong commitment but only recently confirmed that commitment. Despite the dip, the company expects construction activity to pick up in 2023.
The region is experiencing persistent inflation levels and high interest rates. Beyond the macroeconomic environment, there has been MNO market consolidation, some MNOs had financial difficulties, and supply chain disruptions have factored into tower construction delays.
PTI is still seeking new deals, although it acknowledges that there are fewer assets available for either opportunistic or strategic acquisitions in Latin America. In January, funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners purchased a 35 percent stake in PTI, providing it with capital for expansion.
In 2022, PTI acquired 3,200 towers from Cellnex in France in March, 202 towers from Tower Venture Holdings in the U.S. in April, and 3,800 from WOM in Chile in July, Inside Towers reported. As part of the WOM transaction, PTI acquired 2,334 tower sites at the initial closing, with the 1,466 balance to be delivered by 2024. The company expects to have roughly 2,700 of the WOM towers in its inventory by the end of 2022.
PTI is also looking for ways to drive incremental revenues. New services are being developed for MNOs and other wireless service providers. These value-added services include power-as-a-service solutions along with fiber, edge computing, small cells, and distributed antenna systems. PTI sees growing demand for edge, mini-data centers, and fiber deployments, especially among its Mexican customers.
PTI owns and operates over 18,000 towers, rooftops, and related wireless infrastructure sites in 20 countries in the Americas and Europe. Over half of its towers are in Latin America – Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Chile, and Ecuador. Jamaica is a growing market for PTI.
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