PARTNERSHIP FOR COMMON TOWERS. Globe signs a memorandum of understanding with ISOC Infrastructure and edotco Group for the building of cell towers, in ceremonies held at The Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City on Monday (June 17, 2019). The deal calls for the construction of 150 cell sites within the Calabarzon region, which may be jointly used by all local telcos. (PNA Photo By: Aerol John B. Patena)
MANILA -- Globe Telecom has partnered with ISOC Infrastructure Inc. and Malaysia-based edotco Group Sdn Bhd. for the sharing of cell sites and other communication infrastructures in support of the common tower policy of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
This was announced after Globe signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with both tower companies for the building of towers in 150 sites within the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon.
“Hopefully, in the next six to 12 months or sooner, we will have sites coming up. If we see success, it does not stop us from expanding this partnership to other areas and more sites,” Vincent Tempongko, Globe VP for Site Acquisition and Management, told reporters.
The MOU states that ISOC and edotco will build and co-own the towers, which will be leased by Globe. These same towers may eventually be leased out to other telcos such as PLDT Inc. and Mislatel.
“The partnership will be through joint investment. The point is to create more shareable infrastructures. We will offer the same to other parties,” Suresh Sidhu, CEO of edotco Group Sdn Bhd. said.
Globe urged the DICT to implement policies that will ease restrictions on the building of cell towers across the country.
Currently, a telco needs to secure 25 permits before it can build a single cell tower.
Meanwhile, DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. lauded the initiative of Globe and its partners as this would help improve the delivery of communication services in the country.
“I’m very pleased with the development because this is part of our answer in increasing tower density. We have one of the lowest density in the region. We need a lot of catching up to do,” Rio said.
The DICT official said the department is set to sign a memorandum of agreement with ISOC and edotco within the next few days to fast-track the process of granting permits and the clearing of right of way for the building of cell sites.
The DICT has signed agreements with 23 tower companies to build 50,000 cell towers within seven to 10 years.
A total of 2,500 sites, which are mostly owned by the DICT and other government agencies, were identified as locations for the common towers.
The Philippines currently has 16,000 cell towers, giving it the lowest cell site density in Asia. (PNA)
