Qatar's Ooredoo considers sale of telecom tower network

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Men look at the logo of Qatar Telecom Ooredoo, as they walk past the company's head office in Doha
Men look at the logo of Qatar Telecom Ooredoo, formerly Qatar Telecom Qtel, as they walk past the company's head office in Doha March 16, 2013. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad (QATAR - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS LOGO)

DUBAI/DOHA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Qatari telecommunications firm Ooredoo (ORDS.QA) is considering the sale of its tower network, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Ooredoo is looking to sell the telecom towers across its network, inside Qatar and in the other markets it operates, the sources said, declining to be named as the information is not public.

Discussions are still ongoing and there's no certainty that Ooredoo will decide on a sale, the sources said.

Ooredoo declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Telecom towers have been the target of several big takeovers in the past few years as telecom companies seek to reduce debt and costs.

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) in March started the sale of its tower business, sources told Reuters, in a deal that could value the business at close to 18 billion euros. read more

Vodafone New Zealand was also selling its tower assets for $1.7 billion, Infratil Ltd, (IFT.NZ) which owns 49.95% of Vodafone New Zealand, said in July.

In the Gulf region, carriers have also been divesting from tower assets in their network to strategic investors in a bid to reduce heavy costs on infrastructure and focus on information and communications technology.

Omantel (OTEL.OM) in 2021 sold 2,890 towers in the country to Helios Towers for $575 million. Saudi Telecom, (7010.SE) in 2019 spun out its more than 15,000 towers into a new subsidiary called Tawal. Zain (ZAIN.KW) sold 1620 telecom towers to IHS Holding for $130 million in 2020.

Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; editing by David Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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