P Balakrishnan

As all the leading mobile service operators expand their network to increase coverage and increasingly seek to share passive infrastructure in order to reduce capital expenditure, provision of towers has emerged as a new stand alone business.

India currently has around 100,000 towers. As the number of cellular mobile subscribers grows from the current level of 200 million to 462 million, it is estimated that over 240,000 towers will be needed by 2011.

The burgeoning market is being sought to be addressed both by the existing stand  alone players – GTL Infrastructure , Quipo Infrastructure,  Tower Telecom Infrastructure, Aster - the new companies hived off by telecom operators –Reliance Telecom Infrastructure, Bharti Infratel – as well as by  new entrants – American Tower, Ramboll, Tower Vision and Crown Castle. 

The growing market for towers is also attracting the attention of private equity funds who are committing large investments in the various companies that will set up and manage the towers.