Introduction to the tower industry in Cameroon

Two major shakeups have brought about a period of unprecedented change and opportunity in the hitherto under-developed Cameroon telecommunications market. The transfer of over 1,900 towers by both market leading MNOs, MTN and Orange, to IHS Africa has coincided with the licensing of new market entrant Viettel.

Viettel’s March 2014 launch was recently postponed to September, but the pressure of time to market and shrinking window of exclusivity in 3G, which runs through the end of 2014, may be eased by Viettel signing an agreement to co-locate on IHS towers.

While clear market leaders, MTN and Orange are not the sole players in Cameroon. Cameroon Telecommunications is the incumbent operator, launched in 1998. Camtel’s website states that they have about 120,000 fixed line subscribers, plus over 400,000 CTPhone customers using fixed/mobile CDMA technology, with a re-entry into the mobile market pending. YooMee launched in Cameroon in 2011, where it provides 4G service in Yaoundé and Douala.

There is huge growth potential in the Cameroonian telecoms market, where penetration is below SSA average at 67.3% and where coverage reaches 85% of the population (stats courtesy of the GSMA).

If you’re interested in Cameroon, we recommend you download the excellent (and free!) GSMA Green Power for Mobile “Best Practices for Energy Provision in Telecoms: Francophone Africa” report, released in April 2014, which focuses on Cameroon and Senegal. In that report, the GSMA suggests there are 2,090 towers in Cameroon, of which 533 are off-grid, 34% of which are using solar power (plus two on-grid grid-DG-solar hybrids). Energy opex reduction remains a priority - according to Orange, fuel represents 52% and the grid 48% of the total energy cost in Cameroon.

 

Now that they own or operate over 90% of Cameroon’s towers, IHS Africa have become the ‘king buyers’ of telecom power in the country, supported by their local O&M subcontractors. Having concluded their initial site assessments and upgrades of generators and batteries, IHS is now evaluating alternative energy solutions in Cameroon. “IHS tend not establish power pass through agreements – we find our clients prefer a full service price structure inclusive of a standard amount of power,” says Rhys Phillip, Chief Commercial Officer of IHS Africa in his TowerXchange interview to be released in our next edition. “So IHS acquire and upgrade the power assets, absorb the risk of diesel price fluctuations and pilferage, and in return stand to benefit from energy efficiency improvements”.