edotco Group, an integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia, launched a study in collaboration with Roland Berger titled, ‘Towering Above: Building Tomorrow’s Digital Infrastructure in Asia’.
The study estimates that Tower Companies (TowerCos) can help Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) save up to US$10 billion through infrastructure sharing and result in cumulative savings of up to US$67 billion for consumers due to affordable 5G connectivity by 2025.
Further, the study also shows that TowerCos can enable sustainable digital connectivity by reducing up to 17 million metric tonnes in carbon footprint by 2025.
The report, 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.
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.
According to the report, digital infrastructure is becoming a critical digital economy enabler, with 5G expected to transform the industry. TowerCos are now transforming their roles to become digital infrastructure providers, in addition to working closely with industry stakeholders to undertake deeper forms of active infrastructure sharing.
Not only are these services critical to stimulate development during the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, but such partnerships are also crucial for preparing economies for the 5G era – an age that will further revolutionise network usage and unlock new opportunities while easing the MNOs’ investment and deployment challenges.
“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 Gayan Koralage, Director of Group Strategy, edotco Group.
The report also noted 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 capitalise on the traffic trend. This is causing the continuous decline in ARPU, making it challenging for MNOs to generate returns that are commensurate with their cost of capital.
