American Tower turns on solar plant to provide Brazil fiber grid

• Telecommunications infrastructure firm American Tower has begun utilizing a solar plant constructed by Brazil's CGC Energia to supply its neighborhood fiber networks.

The distributed generation job in Minas Gerais state includes 4,920 solar panels providing the firm's fiber unit, American Tower stated.

The solar plant is the firm's first in Brazil.

Investment was not divulged, but the business claimed in a statement that using the renewable resource will prevent the discharge of 255t of CO2 a year.

Its fiber network was a major vehicle driver to launch the solar plant.

American Tower aims to broaden the solar park from 2021 to not only meet its own power requirements yet likewise to create surplus power for shared usage with clients, the company claimed.

Lately, American Tower broadened its neutral fiber optic network in Minas Gerais to 15 brand-new places, getting to around 17,000 km of optical network.

Part of the framework is constructed for the fiber to the residence (FTTH) use of Telefônica Brasil.

FIBERS AND TOWERS

Among the area's most significant gamers, American Tower went into Latin America in the late 1990s.

The group constructs and leases towers and associated facilities to the major well-known wireless service providers, and Brazil and also Mexico are its main markets.

The business has 19,000 interaction websites in Brazil.

"In Latin America, where we've owned and also run towers for now over twenty years, we have actually spent about US$ 8bn throughout the years as well as now have over 41,000 websites throughout eight countries," CEO Tom Bartlett claimed in the firm's Q2 earnings call.

According to Bartlett, Brazilian networks are "overburned" with the three main gamers-- Telefônica Brasil, Claro as well as TIM-- having 3,000-4,000 SIM cards per cell site, which is twice the US levels. That suggests telcos will require even more antennas and also, therefore, towers.

"We expect to develop over 500 websites throughout Latin America this year as well as prepare for strong demand for new builds in the region over a multiyear duration," Bartlett informed the call.