China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom late on Wednesday agreed to transfer a combined 213.9 billion yuan (€29.5 billion) worth of towers and related assets to their new tower-sharing joint venture.
The telcos formally agreed to establish the new company, originally named China Communications Facilities Services Corporation Limited but now called China Tower, in July 2014. It was formed with the aim of reducing duplication of towers and related infrastructure.
Ergo, China Tower will be responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of towers and ancillary systems, such as power and air conditioning, for base stations.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, China Mobile said it will transfer assets worth CNY116.4 billion to China Tower.
In similar filings, China Unicom and China Telecom said they will transfer assets worth CNY63.2 billion and CNY34.3 billion respectively.
All three operators will then lease assets back from China Tower.
The transactions are expected to complete on 31 October, upon which China Mobile will own 38% of China Tower, China Unicom will own 28.1%, and China Telecom will own 27.9%.
Meanwhile China Reform Holdings – an entity controlled by the government’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) – will take a 6% stake.
