Determinants of Cost Variability in Stealth Monopole Tower Construction Projects in Ghana

Abstract

Aims: To identify the most significant determinants that impact the cost of Stealth Monopole Tower projects in Ghana. Study Design: Both Quantitative and Qualitative Study. Place and Duration of Study: The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University of Mines and Technology, Ghana, between January 2024 and July 2025. Methodology: The researcher designed questionnaires in collecting and gathering the data for the analysis. Sixty (60) out of eighty (80) distributed questionnaires were returned, screened, coded in Excel, and analyzed using factor analysis in SPSS (version 21) to reduce 18 factors to five key factors. These were Quality of completed work by contractor (QC), Experience of contractor (EC), Classification of company to assign work (CC), Holidays and emergency events (HE) and Site area (SA). Results: Site Area was the only significant factor at a p-value of 0.021 after regression. It was the primary determinant used to take critical decision of the market viability of tower projects cost. Strategically, lowering the cost of Stealth Monopole tower project requires a smaller land size area for the tower project if it is going to be placed at high densely populated area. Conclusion: The identification of Site Area as a key determinant can assist tower companies in optimizing site selection and minimizing project costs. Again, the focus of tower organization in taking decision to place tower at a particular location must take into account the irreversible fixed cost, variable cost, ongoing uncertainty and timing of the project. This research has contributed in identifying the factors that affects the cost of stealth monopole tower projects in Ghana and have filled the needed knowledge gap regarding the telecommunication tower projects in Ghana. In future research, the cost estimation methods used for the cost of tower project should be segregated so that the impact of each project method will be well identified and well known.