China is about to make international headlines in the telecom press when a million towers, rooftops and DAS are transferred from China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom to the recently created China Tower Company (CTC), representing the clearest indication to date that China has embraced infrastructure sharing. What readers may be less aware of is the fact that there are around 15,000 independently owned towers in China. With abundant organic growth opportunities, the Chinese independent tower sector could represent an interesting opportunity for international investors, if those investors can comfort themselves that the market offers sufficient transparency.
An insider’s view: how the tower market works in China
