Globe Telecom, Inc. plans to add more cell sites in Metro Manila and 26 other provinces beginning this month as it targets to further expand its network capability before the end of the third quarter.
“Globe is set to expand further its network capability with simultaneous undertaking of cell-site builds in different parts of the country including Aklan, Albay, Batangas, Bohol, Bulacan, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Iloilo, Laguna, Metro Manila, Maguindanao, Negros Occidental, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Zamboanga, Sulu, Capiz, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Tarlac, Palawan, North Cotabato, Leyte, Bukidnon, Benguet, Zambales and more starting this month until the end of the third quarter of 2020,” Globe said in a statement e-mailed to reporters on Thursday.
Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest L. Cu has appealed to local government units to relax their permitting requirements so that telecommunications companies can fast-track the execution of their cellular tower projects.
“We are investing billions of pesos to connect the rest of the public to the digital world to enable things like working and learning from home and yet, there are so many obstacles along the way. I think it is really incumbent upon our local officials to provide telecom infrastructure to their constituents. Telco is like water or power. It is something that people need and want,” he said in a statement last week.
The company has committed to spend P63 billion in capital expenditures this year.
Globe reported in May that it was able to spend P10.7 billion in the first quarter, “22% higher than last year and representing 29% of gross service revenues.”
Bulk of the capex spending went to data-related requirements.
Globe also advised its customers in the areas in which the projects will be implemented that they may experience temporary service disruptions such as loss of signal or internet connectivity for at least an hour anytime during the day. — Arjay L. Balinbin
