Cost, Time and Quality – Cosira Towers Getting it Right for Telecommunications in Africa
02 November 2009
A year on, after the establishment of Cosira Towers (Pty) Ltd which saw this former division of the Cosira Group come into its own as a stand-alone company, Cosira Towers has seen its share of successes, despite the economic downturn and a volatile construction industry that has been the order of the day in 2009.
Cosira Towers (Pty) Ltd is an independent subsidiary of the Cosira Group – one of South Africa's largest fabricators of structural steel. Cosira Towers offers turnkey solutions for the design, detailing, supply and corrosion protection of a range of telecommunication towers designed to the specifications of the end-user, and Cosira offers the added advantage of custom-designed solutions for specific applications or requirements.
According to David Grobler, Operations Director at Cosira Towers, the Cosira Group identified a gap in the market and this prompted the establishment of the independent Towers company. “The tower manufacturing process differs from the type of structural steel that the Cosira Group produces, so it made sense to open a stand-alone company with its own production line and manufacturing facility,” says Grobler. “Tower construction projects are generally also fast-tracked, with tighter deadlines, and do not involve the heavy engineering of large-scale construction projects,” he adds.
All tower components are designed, detailed and fabricated by Cosira Towers at its facility in Johannesburg. The structures are designed to be lightweight and efficient, while handling the required loading. All detailing is done using a detailing software package, Tekla Structures, ensuring optimum accuracy. Cosira includes foundation design as part of its service offering, so the towers are correctly designed to suit the soil conditions in their specific locations.
The company has experienced some major challenges in its first year, considering the global recession in 2008/9, as well as currency and steel fluctuation. “That being said, there have also been some highlights,” says Grobler. “Surviving your first year of operation is an achievement in itself for any organisation – even operating in ideal economic conditions.”
He goes onto say that a lot of major projects throughout the African continent were put on hold at the beginning of 2009. Some of the cellular operators only rolled out 10% of their projected forecast for 2009, and transmission line projects were also put on hold throughout the continent. To help combat this, “Cosira Towers used an aggressive pricing strategy and we have taken the approach of diversifying into other market sectors such as mining, petrochemical and power generation,” says Grobler. “We are expecting the market to turn next year; and for all the GSM and transmission rollouts that were planned for 2009 to carry over to 2010,” he adds.
Says Grobler: “In preparation for the year ahead, we have also employed a full-time Business Development Manager who is travelling extensively throughout Africa to market our service offering, targeting all the GSM operators, energy providers, fixed line operators and internet service providers. We have been actively involved in GSM roll-outs for Vodacom, MTN, Botswana Telecoms, Cellone, Mobile Telecommunications Centre; and Access Telecoms in Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria and Namibia for the past two years. This involved the design, manufacturing, corrosion protection and transport of three and four-legged, light to heavy duty towers, ranging from 36m to 100m.”
Cosira Towers has big plans for 2010, and intends to be at the forefront of telecommunications in the year ahead. “I believe the combination of time, cost and quality form the cornerstone of our operations. If we can continue getting all three these components right for our target market, we will still be a success in many years to come,” concludes Grobler.