The tower industry is at a crossroads. Teams are under increasing pressure to provide greater value from their infrastructure assets, as mobile network operators (MNOs), regulators and end-users demand faster, more reliable connectivity.
The expansion of 5G, the rise of smart city initiatives and the growing adoption of IoT technologies are accelerating demand for connectivity. In this new reality, the commercial and strategic value of a tower asset is no longer just about its location. Success depends on the ability to visualise infrastructure across vast estates, apply data-driven planning and efetively demonstrate the ROI of investments.
How Traditional Approaches are Falling Short:
Despite their vital and growing role in the telecommunications sector, the tower industry continues to operate within the constraints of legacy tools. Siloed systems and inconsistent data formats make it difficult to form a complete view of assets and network opportunity, a challenge is that is multiplied for businesses operating internationally.
TowerCos are being asked to demonstrate value to MNOs and regulators, yet often lack the real-time insights required to proactively share the impact of investment and the process of identifying viable sites, approving new tenants and activating commercial opportunities is often slow.
Benefits of Digitising Operations:
1. Smarter Tenancy Targeting: Layering crowdsourced data, demand mapping and AI insights alongside available sites supports the identification and pitching of sites to MNOs.
2. Improved Asset Visibility: Centralised data platforms provide a single, geospatial view of assets across regions or countries, supporting informed decision-making and removing the need to rely on multiple platforms.
3. Faster Speed-to-Revenue: MNOs can access part of the digital platform to view available assets, accelerating asset discovery, site approvals and tenant onboarding, thereby reducing the time from identifying an opportunity to generating revenue.
4. Improved Operational Efficiency: Centralising site information into a single platform, integrated with fault and maintenance tickets, improves operational efficiency.
5. Future-Proofing: Investing into a digitised foundation today supports improved scalability, agility and readiness for adopting new technologies in the future.
In a world where connectivity underpins economic growth, TowerCos must evolve into smarter, more agile infrastructure partners. By embracing digitisation, the tower industry is set to unlock new commercial opportunities, reduce operational overheads and deliver greater value to MNOs.
The digital shift is no longer a question of "if," but "how soon."
Speak to our team to find out how we’re already supporting the tower industry to digitise operations.
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