All of Vodacom Group’s 1,149 mobile towers in Tanzania have been sold to infrastructure firm Helios Towers Tanzania (HTT).

According to a press statement, HTT, which is a subsidiary of Helios Towers Africa (HTA), has reached an agreement with Vodacom Tanzania Limited to acquire 100% of its existing tower network in the country for stock and cash.

The structure of the cash and shares transaction involves Vodacom acquiring a 24.5% share in HTA. In turn, HTT is set to lease back the infrastructure to Vodacom as part of a long term contract.

HTA is also planned to provide close to 2,700 points of service to Vodacom and affiliates across Africa

And HTA’s tower coverage in Africa reaches 4,700 owned towers following its deal with Vodacom.

“This is a groundbreaking move for Vodacom and their equity investment is a significant endorsement of HTA’s reputation, management team and operating track record,” said Chuck Green, chief executive officer of HTA.

Vodacom, though, is not the first mobile operator to sell large numbers of its towers in Africa.

Last year, Nigeria headquartered tower company IHS acquired 931 mobile network towers from MTN Cote d’Ivoire for $141 million and 827 towers from MTN Cameroon for $143 million.

Selling mobile towers helps telecom firms such as MTN and Vodacom to cut the operating expenditure (OPEX) involved in owning their own infrastructure.

Leasing towers also helps these telcos to lower costs in an African market where the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) has been falling over the last few years owing to lower voice costs.

Vodacom, for example, last week reported that in its home market South Africa its ARPU declined from R126 in June 2012 to R125 in June 2013.