edotco accelerates expansion to enhance connectivity in Asia

• Reiterates its ambition to become world’s top 5 towerco 
• Leverage on NaPA & digital twin tools to facilitate 5G rollouts in 9 markets

edotco Group has expanded its operations, leveraging its pioneering network and planning analytics (NaPA) and digital twin tools to facilitate the impending 5G rollouts in its nine markets. 

In a statement, the company reaffirmed its ambition to become one of the world's top five Tower Companies (TowerCos).
 
edotco said its pioneering NaPA tool could provide insights into potential locations for new tower sites and reduce build and delivery time. 

The NaPA tool uses powerful geocoding and analytics to generate coordinates with granularity and accuracy, thereby helping identify areas lacking connectivity in the markets and bridging the digital divide, the company claimed.
 
Since the launch of the NaPA tool In Malaysia in 2019, it said it has been able to identify potential coordinates for future infrastructure deployment.

Through this tool, the company claimed that it has successfully identified and installed 113 sites that meet the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan objectives and 223 sites for Jalinan Digital Negara (Jendela) initiative nationwide. 

The NaPA tool, it said, was developed entirely by edotco's in-house engineers to proactively assist mobile network operators (MNOs) to be more efficient in achieving their planning objectives.
 
Complementing the NaPA tool is the Digital Twin, which utilises drone technology to capture a digital copy of the physical asset to assist customers in interacting, analysing, simulating, predicting, and improving performance remotely without needing to be at the tower sites physically. 

According to edotco, the innovative drone technology and advanced software solution empowers data capture, labeling and calculation with auto report generation through artificial intelligence/machine learning processes. 

Mohamed Adlan Ahmad Tajudin (pic), director and group CEO of edotco Group, said “We also intend to expand into several new markets in Southeast Asia and South Asia, completing our presence in the region over the next few years.

“This expansion is required to ensure that the company continues to deliver scale while solidifying our foothold in the region and solidifying our position as the leading pan-Asian next-generation TowerCo," said Tajudin.

According to edotco, faster network infrastructure rollout can contribute to digital inclusivity only if the cost of access is within reach of the masses. 

Currently, a prime challenge for MNOs to drive holistic telecommunications evolution is their ability to provide not only reliable but also affordable services, it said. 

TowerCos the company said are best positioned to assist these MNOs by moving up their value chain to offer more innovative 5G-enabled solutions such as OpenRAN, Network-as-a-Service solutions, and Edge Computing to help MNOs deploy their own cost-effective and network-efficient solutions, it added.

“The telecommunications industry, particularly in fast-growing markets such as Asia faces a significant challenge in lowering cost per Gb, which can only be reliably done through a higher degree of network sharing.

“TowerCos can contribute to this endeavour by deepening tower sharing, using advanced data analytics, especially around power systems, as well as innovating next-gen solutions such as 5G-enabled street furniture, zero-touch operations and delivering the scale-based cost advantage to the industry,” he added.

Edotco said its acquisition in Indonesia for US$51.1 million (RM224 million) and the Philippines' Sale and Purchase Agreement for US$781 million (RM3.42 billion) resulted in edotco acquiring approximately 3,973 new towers in both of their footprint countries. 

It added that following these transactions, the company is now managing and operating a diverse portfolio of more than 50,000 towers in nine countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Laos.

Aside from improving digital connectivity, edotco said its primary goal is also to become a global sustainability champion. 

This includes the company's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2023, it added.

As the first step toward fulfilling its ESG commitments, edotco said it was recently accepted as a signatory member of the United Nations Global Compact, the company said.