The Zambian government plans to build 469 mobile phone communication towers at a cost of $272 million, while Indian telecom Bharti Airtel has announced the sale of 8,300 mobile towers in Africa for $1.7 billion.

The new Zambian towers will be owned, managed and maintained by the country’s government-owned telecommunications company, Zamtel, according to a report in ITWebAfrica.

Zambia already has 169 existing mobile towers, also owned by the government and shared by the country’s three mobile phone service providers, Airtel, MTN and Zamtel.

The new towers will be distributed across Zambia’s 10 provinces, including rural areas, so that everyone can benefit from mobile phone communication services, said Kapembwa Simbao, minister of communications and transport.

Bharti Airtel had about 14,000 mobile towers in Africa and has decided to exit the tower business, FinancialExpress reported. It has completed tower sales in seven African countries, representing almost 60 percent of its total tower base, Airtel said in a statement.

In August, Bharti Airtel completed a sale and leaseback agreement of 949 telecoms towers in Zambia to U.S.-based  infrastructure firm IHS Holding, TotalTelecom reported Sept. 2. The transaction will allow Bharti to cut costs, according to the report.

Eventually the India-based Bharti Airtel plans to sell all its towers where it operates in 17 African countries, Bloomberg reports.

Bharti’s business has been hurt in Africa due to fallen oil and commodity prices and regulatory hurdles, according to Bloomberg.

Boston-based American Tower Corp. bought about 4,700 towers in Nigeria from Bharti, Businesswire reported, agreeing in November to pay Bharti $1.05 billion for the deal.

Bharti’s agreement has lapsed to sell towers in Tanzania and Chad to Helios Towers Africa, Bharti said in September, according to DevelopingTelecoms.

Zambia’s government expansion into mobile tower ownership and management is expected to grow Zamtel’s market position, ITWebAfrica reports.

Zamtel is Zambia’s smallest mobile operator with less than 2 million customers. MTN is the country’s largest operator and Bharti Airtel is No. 2.

The new towers will expand Zamtel’s reach and delivery to rural areas and compete with rival operators that have expanded their networks, the report said.

The Zambian government is still trying to secure a loan for the new towers. No date has been announced for when construction will begin.