KKR invests in PH common tower industry

Global investment firm KKR is joining the emerging cell tower construction boom in the Philippines.

KKR said in a statement it invested in the holding company of Frontier Tower Associates Philippines, an independent tower builder that earlier partnered with the Aboitiz Group.

The investment was done via Pinnacle Towers Pte Ltd., which owns Frontier Tower Associates Philippines.

“Our investment in Pinnacle reiterates our commitment to addressing this need and supporting the Philippines’ transition to a connected, digital nation,” David Luboff, partner and head of KKR Asia-Pacific infrastructure, said.

“We look forward to assisting the Pinnacle team to deliver the benefits of a more digitally enabled economy to the Filipino people, especially in growing regions such as Visayas and Mindanao,” he added.

The statement noted that Pinnacle was led by a “highly experienced senior management team comprising of telecom tower veterans with strong track records in large-scale rollouts in various markets, including in Southeast Asia.”

Frontier Tower Associates Philippines is among the companies holding a provisional license to build independent cell towers in the country.

This was made possible through the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) push for the construction of new cell sites.

Telco incumbents PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom control more than 20,000 cell sites today.

But the DICT said the country needed at least another 50,000 towers to improve mobile connectivity and to reach unserved or underserved areas.

“Improving telecom infrastructure has become a key priority, especially in our current environment,” Pinnacle chair and CEO Patrick Tangney said in the same statement.