Sumitomo invests in Russian Towers, the first telecommunication infrastructure sharing company in Russia

Sumitomo Corporation has invested in Russian Towers, which is the 1st telecommunication infrastructure sharing company in Russia. Russian Towers, the largest telecommunication infrastructure sharing company, which has UFG Private Equity (Russia), Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund (Russia), ADM Capital (Hong Kong) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as its shareholders together with Sumitomo Corporation, aims to construct more than 1,000 towers in the next 3-4 years.

Data traffic has rapidly increased around the world with the spread of Smart Phones and Tablets. This has caused mobile operators to outsource construction and management of telecommunication infrastructure to reduce their assets and to focus on software and service. These days, mobile penetration in Russia has reached 150%, and Moscow is said to have the highest data traffic of all European cities. With this trend, Russian Towers has signed long term lease agreements with the four largest mobile operators in Russia and has begun operations. Moreover, Russian Towers has been contributing to the improvement of the telecommunications environment in Russia by expanding telecommunication infrastructure in areas where an increase in data traffic is expected.

Sumitomo Corporation has been engaged in telecommunication businesses such as mobile service, mobile broadband service, and mobile remittance service and others in Mongolia, the Asia Pacific and CIS. With the know-how acquired through this investment in Russian Towers, we will consider providing operations and management of base stations, telecommunications networks, and additionally, data center and complex value added service. Sumitomo Corporation will consider development of the infrastructure sharing business in Asia, and will provide more advanced service to more people.