UK-based Eaton Telecom has appointed an ex-Plessey man to head up its South African operations.
The company was founded last year with the intention of catering for the growing move towards tower sharing on the continent.
It was started by Sanjiv Ahuja, former CEO of Orange Mobile internationally; Alan Harper, former management board director of Vodafone Group; and Terry Rhodes, one of the founders of Celtel International (now Zain).
The company plans to own and operate passive telecommunications infrastructure assets across Africa. Eaton's senior executives have spent the previous 15 years building telecoms operators in Africa.
Last October, the company merged with Q-Venture Holdings, whose principal business is Venture Communications, to create Eaton Venture, to build towers, with a presence in 12 countries.
The founding of Eaton Venture set it going in the tower construction space, but now it wants to grow its tower rental company.
Low hanging fruit
CEO Alan Harper says the “growth area is in tower ownership and tower rental, as operators focus on their capital expenditure”. SA, with about 18 000 towers, is seen as a quick entry point into the continent.
Yesterday, ITWeb reported that Cell C wanted to sell off some of its towers and was rumoured to be in talks with Eaton. Harper could not confirm these talks, but is excited about the potential to buy and rent out towers in SA.
In addition, he says, the company sees the potential to build towers over the next few years as Telkom rolls out its mobile offering and Neotel grows.
To take advantage of the possibilities in SA, Eaton has appointed Pieter Nel, who was CE of Plessey Group, to lead its South African operation.
“The tower market in Africa has huge potential. I am very excited to be involved with Eaton at this early stage of its development, to build a great future for Eaton and value for its customers, shareholders and partners,” Nel says.
Eaton Venture has a presence in 12 countries, and is already exploring opportunities in Africa in countries such as Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is already present in Ghana.
Harper says once the fruit in SA has been harvested, Africa will be Nel's next port of call.
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