Ooredoo and Zain Merge 4,000 Towers into Joint Venture as SBA Exits South American Markets
Tower monetization and consolidation gathered pace on 2 November with a Qatar-Kuwait tower pooling deal and SBA Communications selling assets in Chile, Ecuador and Peru.
Ooredoo completed the initial closing in October 2026 of a 50:50 regional tower company with Zain, pooling around 4,000 towers from Ooredoo Qatar's Al Abraj and Zain Kuwait's ITK, with portfolios in other markets to follow subject to regulatory approvals. The move is part of an infrastructure monetization strategy that also covers data center expansion and AI compute investment, as shown in its third-quarter 2026 investor materials published 2 November.
The same day, SBA Communications reported third-quarter results including agreements to sell all of its towers in Chile and Ecuador and its Peruvian portfolio, exiting South America outside Brazil, while doubling new tower builds in its core markets. Its chief executive flagged strong operator demand, upper C-band spectrum, 6G direction and new demand from satellite providers and edge compute as growth drivers.