India needs 100,000 telecom towers to cater to the rising data demand

The upcoming National Telecom Policy aims to garner an investment of $100 billion in the telecom sector in five years

Despite a consolidation in the telecom sector, India needs around 100,000 additional towers to take care of the growing data and voice requirements. The country currently has about 461,000 mobile towers for a customer base of 1.18 billion.

The world's second-largest telecom market is undergoing consolidation with operators either merging with larger players or closing operations altogether. 
 

Tower companies, which lost thousands of co-locations per tower leading to drop in revenues, too are seeing the impact of consolidation. Due to the changed scenario in the sector, Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers last month announced a merger creating the world's second