American Tower, which manages about 38,000 towers around the world, has been buying towers in the U.S. and expanding its footprint in emerging markets.
The U.S. tower company will pay about $89 million for a 51 percent stake in the joint venture with the rest owned by MTN.
American Tower expects ATC will build about 280 tower sites for MTN Uganda over the next three years, and look for opportunities to build tower sites for other wireless operators in the East African country.
“Infrastructure sharing makes absolute sense for MTN and we expect it to play a significant role in reducing our long-term infrastructure costs,” MTN Chief Executive Sifiso Dabengwa said.
MTN, which operates in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East, has transformed into a $36 billion mobile giant by focusing on fast-growing emerging markets.
American Tower shares closed at $57.82 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
![Google Uganda Country Manager, Ham Namakajjo (Centre) with the some members of the Google team at the Press Conference in Kampala. [File Photo]](https://i0.wp.com/pctechmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Ham_and_the_rest_of_Google_at_a_press_conference.jpg?fit=332%2C221&ssl=1)
![Google Uganda Country Manager, Ham Namakajjo (Centre) with the some members of the Google team at the Press Conference in Kampala. [File Photo]](https://i0.wp.com/pctechmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Ham_and_the_rest_of_Google_at_a_press_conference.jpg?resize=557%2C370&ssl=1)
