Between January and March, the Qatari company’s revenue saw a 2% spike, reaching QAR 5.6 billion.
Qatar’s Ooredoo, Kuwait’s Zain, and Dubai-based TASC Towers Holding have entered “exclusive negotiations” to create their joint tower company, the largest in the Middle East, the telecoms giants announced on Monday.
The major talks included combining their “approximately 30,000 telecommunication tower assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan” to create the joint company, the three parties said in a press release.
The companies said the partnership “will form the largest tower company in the MENA region”, with negotiations on the signing of “definitive agreements” expected to take place in the third quarter of this year.
“The enlarged tower company will continue to operate as an independent and standalone entity providing passive infrastructure as a service throughout the region with a focus on operational efficiencies, synergies and reduction of carbon footprint,” the joint press release read.
The statement added that Ooredoo and Zain “will retain their respective active infrastructure, including wireless communication antennas, intelligent software, and intellectual property with respect to managing their telecom networks.”
“Both operators are committed to executing on their respective growth strategies to unlock significant capital and maximise value for shareholders while at the same time reducing the carbon footprint within the MENA region,” the companies said.
The statement noted that Ooredoo’s tower network in Oman “is following a stand-alone process.”
“The potential transaction remains subject to, amongst other factors, agreement on final terms, signing of definitive agreements and obtaining of all required corporate and regulatory approvals,” the companies noted.
If the potential deal materialises, it would mark a major development in the region’s telecommunications sector.
Ooredoo operates across the MENA region and Southeast Asia, serving customers in 10 countries. The Qatari telecommunications giant’s revenues in 2022 hit QAR 23 billion and witnessed further growth during the first quarter of this year.
Between January and March, its revenue saw a 2% spike, reaching QAR 5.6 billion in comparison to QAR 5.5 billion during the same period of 2022, per figures shared by Ooredoo in May.
Kuwait’s Zain is a leading operator across the region, which provides services to more than 53 million active customers and has a commercial presence in seven countries. Meanwhile Dubai-based TASC Towers Holding is “the largest independent towerco” in the entirety of the MENA region.
