Telecom tower company Bharti Infratel has posted revenue of Rs 3,648 crore (+11 percent), EBIDTA of Rs 1,634 crore (+12 percent) with EBIDTA margin of 44.8 percent and EBIT of Rs 1,021 crore (+15 percent) in the second quarter ended 30 September 2017.
Bharti Infratel has Tower base of 90,955 in the September quarter against 90,837 in June quarter of 2017. Co-locations have reached 220,088 from 218,401.
Average telecom tower sharing factor reached 2.42 from 2.36. Sharing revenue per town reached Rs 83,040 per month from Rs 83,001. Sharing revenue per sharing operator reached Rs 34,427 from Rs 35,112 per month.
“Indian telecom has embraced the data centric model and is emerging as the showcase of digital technology with operators rolling out 4G networks and India planning a leadership role on upcoming 5G technology and associated applications,” said Akhil Gupta, chairman, Bharti Infratel.
Leading telecom operators announced enhanced investment plans towards improvising digital infrastructure during the recently concluded India Mobile Congress 2017.
India Government’s Smart City program presents opportunity to create digital infrastructure for sharing on a non-discriminatory basis.
The Board of Directors of Bharti Infratel, in their meeting held on October 30, 2017, has decided to explore and evaluate acquisition of stake in one or more tranches in Indus Towers with the aim of making it a subsidiary or wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Infratel.
Bharti Infratel, Vodafone India and Aditya Birla Telecom hold 42 percent, 42 percent and 16 percent stake in Indus Towers, respectively.
Bharti Infratel said it operated 39,264 telecom towers with 94,538 co-locations in 11 telecommunications circles while Indus operated 123,073 towers with 298,929 co-locations in 15 telecommunications circles.
With Bharti Infratel’s towers and Bharti Infratel’s 42 percent interest in Indus, Bharti Infratel has an economic interest in the equivalent of 90,955 towers and 220,088 co-locations in India as of September 30, 2017.
Bharti Infratel said net co-locations added during the quarter were 1,687 on consolidated basis and 1,241 on standalone basis. Net co-locations added during the quarter has impact of exits of 2,711 on consolidated basis and 1,093 on standalone basis. Bharti Infratel and Indus had average sharing factors of 2.39 and 2.43 per tower respectively.
Indus Towers have participated and won the bids for smart city project of Vadodara and New Delhi Municipal Corporation area. The company is in the process of executing the contract with the respective authorities.
