Michael Magambo, former head of Helios Towers and American Tower, has been appointed as head of the soon-to-be-launched Vodacom TowerCo.
The appointment comes at an advanced stage in plans to split Vodacom SA’s tower portfolio, with a new company to manage the assets soon to begin.
Vodacom Group CEO Shamil Josoub recently provided an update on the company’s growth when he presented the telco’s financials for the quarter ended in June.
The spin-off of Vodacom SA’s tower systems portfolio into a separate tower company, TowerCo, is part of the Advantage System group’s strategy to optimize assets.
In this regard, Jusub said, the group is separating the tower portfolio and creating a separate legal entity that will be 100% owned by the Vodacom Group.
Standalone tower companies greatly benefit telcos from a financial perspective as they have great economies of scale by hosting multiple tenants. This reduces the overall costs of telcos such as Vodacom.
Magamba spent seven years as a senior executive at Helios in Uganda. On his LinkedIn profile, he says he has spent the past two months as head of towers company Vodacom, after taking up the role in August.
According to Telco Titans, which broke the news, Magamba joined Helios Uganda in 2015 after a three-year stint as director of sales and marketing at Helios Towers in Tanzania.
The publication adds that his tenure spanned the sale and leaseback deal Helios struck with Vodacom Tanzania in 2013, which covered all of the then 1,149 OpCo sites and is Vodacom Group’s biggest tower outsourcing move to date.
“Subject to the approval of the work permit, Vodacom can confirm the appointment of Michael Magambo as a director of TowerCo,” says a Vodacom spokesperson.
