January 22 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Monday that it has joined an international consortium led by UK-based sustainable infrastructure investor Actis that will acquire some 1,800 mobile towers from state-owned Telekom Srbija spread across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
The project will establish the first independent mobile tower group headquartered in the Western Balkans, which will facilitate enhanced infrastructure sharing between mobile network operators in the region, the EBRD said in a press release.
Increased tower sharing, or colocation, will contribute to the development of mobile technologies, including a quick launch of the 5G standard and better network coverage, the EBRD noted.
International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group's private sector arm, is also a member of the consortium.
“This investment provides the capacity to meet increasing demand for reliable mobile services in the three countries, and enables the transfer of state-owned telecoms infrastructure into private ownership," said EBRD head of telecommunications, media and technology, Holger Muent. "Supported by strong international investors, the independent mobile tower company will be well-placed to boost innovation and market competition."