GLOBE Telecom, Inc. expects 900 more cell sites to be built soon as its partnerships with tower builders are now in advanced stages, the Ayala-led telecommunications services provider said.
In a statement, Globe said its partnerships with tower companies Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC), ISOC-edotco, Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines), CREI Philippines (CREI), and Frontier Towers & Associates (FTA) “have advanced to active acquisition and build phases.”
Globe said AIC is expected to build about 200 more sites in Cebu, Davao, and Subic. It added it had already finalized a pole lease agreement with the Aboitiz Group unit.
The telco also expects the completion of 300 macro sites in Luzon and the assignment of 400 more sites to cover more areas, including Visayas and Mindanao, within this year.
“The count is projected to increase expansively once the pilot sites of these projects are launched,” Globe said.
“First to deliver a tower for activation is ISOC-edotco, a collaboration between ISOC Infrastructure and edotco, a Malaysia-based tower company, with more currently underway and are expected to be completed shortly,” it added.
Globe Chief Finance Officer and Chief Risk Officer Rizza Maniego-Eala said: “These infrastructure partnerships demonstrate Globe’s commitment to improve the network quality experience of our customers. It is, likewise, highly supportive of the government’s initiative to increase ICT infrastructure in the country.”
In December last year, ISOC-edotco announced its plan to build 70 common towers in Cavite province.
The joint venture has committed to spend $100 million for the construction of common towers in the country “in the next three to five years.”
The Department of Information and Communications Technology has been pushing for telcos to share infrastructure since 2017, saying every tower in the country serves more than 7,000 subscribers, as opposed to the ideal of having 1,000 subscribers per tower, and the usual 2,000 subscribers per tower in countries with faster internet.
The government is hoping 50,000 shareable towers will be built within the next seven to 10 years to keep up with the tower density in neighboring countries. — Arjay L. Balinbin
