Telecom International Conference South Africa 2018

Meetup Johannesburg, South Africa 2018 – International Telecom Conference, 9^th& 10^th October, 2018

Revayu Energy participated in the Meetup South Africa – Johannesburg October 9^th& 10^th, 2018, Sandton Convention Centre, SA for gaining new technological advances made by various companies around the globe for the Telecom industry. Uk based group “TowerXchange” organized the event. It is subsidiary of Site Seven Media Company. Some of the noted participants were – Huawei, Atlas Tower, Eaton towers, Helios towers, Acsys, Galooli Power, Flexenclosure etc.

The major point of discussion was the inculcation of renewable energy technologies like wind, solar, fuel cell, multi fuel generators etc. into the diesel intensive telecom industry run on diesel generators in South Africa.

Opportunities for new market entrant in Towercos

The African telecom tower market is immature, yet progressing well. While experts agree that the tower industry is a “lumpy business”, the prevailing view is that tenancy ratios in Africa are more or less on targets set by business plans. In most cases Service Level Agreements are being achieved, and QoS is being improved. The towerco business model is proving to be an excellent mechanism for the deployment of capex in RMS, hybrid and renewable energy solutions to reduce the African telecom industry’s crippling energy opex bill, and improve the site level profitability of towercos.

Site level profitability and improved tenancy ratios are primary contributors to Tower Cash Flow (TCF) and EBITDA improvements, which will need to be demonstrated to reduce investors’ perceptions of execution risk in the African tower industry. When perceptions of execution risk recede, as the business model is proved in the coming 3-5 years, institutional and infrastructure funds may be attracted to the market, ushering a wave of re-financing and consolidation, representing the second phase (“Scale and Consolidation”) of the African tower industry. Phase one of the African tower industries – “Proof of Concept” is progressing well to date.