Zain and Ooredoo Close a 50-50 Tower Joint Venture Across 4,000 Sites in Kuwait and Qatar

Zain Group and Ooredoo Group have completed the first closing of a telecom tower transaction, combining roughly 4,000 towers in Kuwait and Qatar under a jointly owned platform. Each operator holds 50 percent of the new entity, which covers Zain Kuwait’s ITK portfolio and Ooredoo Qatar’s Al Abraj portfolio, and is built on an infrastructure-as-a-service model.

The logic is capital efficiency. The platform focuses on passive infrastructure, allowing both operators to improve utilisation and cut duplicated investment, while each keeps its active network, software and intellectual property. Tower sharing reduces the capital requirement for 5G expansion without touching the radio layer that differentiates the two networks.

The companies have not disclosed the transaction value, anticipated cost savings, expected infrastructure revenue or how many towers might be added later. Zain and Ooredoo do plan to integrate additional portfolios, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. That leaves the financial case unverifiable from the announcement, and the economies of scale argument rests on management statements, not on numbers.

The two chief executives framed it in strategic terms. Zain’s Bader Al-Kharafi said the platform would unlock value from infrastructure assets while supporting a reduction in the region’s carbon footprint. Ooredoo’s Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo said the transaction advances the company’s strategy to build a leading regional digital infrastructure portfolio. Both statements point to the same theme: passive infrastructure as a separate asset class from the active network.

The wider pattern is visible in the region. The regulatory authority in Kuwait and Qatar will need to clear any further portfolio additions, and the deal’s 4,000-site base is the starting point for whatever scale the platform eventually reaches.

Supplier’s note: We supply passive tower and site equipment, including RF cabling, antennas, surge protection and grounding hardware, for shared tower builds across the Middle East, and we can quote site packages for new builds or upgrades to shared infrastructure. Lead time on site equipment packages from our Shenzhen stock is four to six weeks, and we hold buffer stock of RF cabling and grounding kits for customers running tower upgrade programmes. For operators or contractors planning a tower build or sharing conversion, send us your site count and equipment list and we will come back with a package quote and a delivery schedule that matches your construction timeline. We have supported four tower build programmes in the region in the last two years.