Telecom tower sales to unlock $1.6bln in value: Omantel CEO

Telecom tower sales to unlock $1.6bln in value: Omantel CEO

Sales of telecom towers in Oman and other geographies where majority Omani-government-owned Omantel has a presence through its Zain telecom subsidiary, will culminate in the establishment of one of the largest telecom tower companies in the region, a top official has revealed.

Talal al Maamari, CEO – Omantel, said the initiative – first launched in 2021 with the sale of thousands of its telecom towers in the Sultanate of Oman – has since been expanded to cover Zain-linked infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, and will be enlarged to include Zain towers in Bahrain, Iraq and Sudan as well. Significantly, the exercise will unlock an estimated $1.6 billion in value, which will be ploughed into Omantel’s long-term growth projects, he stated.

“Unlocking value over the last 12 months, we have announced a number of initiatives that are part of our goal to remove anything that is noncore from our portfolio,” Al Maamari said.

“So the tower deal that you’ve heard about here in Oman, and in KSA, Kuwait and Jordan etc are basically part of these initiatives. So far, we are unlocking approximately USD 1.6 billion worth of value. And we have an ambition to continue with Zain Bahrain, Zain Iraq and