GLOBE Telecom, Inc. announced on Monday that it had secured almost 800 permits to build new cell towers in different parts of the country.
“The company received 219 permits in different areas in North Luzon and 191 more in Visayas,” Globe said in an e-mailed statement. “Local government units in the National Capital Region released 179 permits while those in Mindanao and South Luzon issued 113 and 97 permits respectively.”
The permits were secured in the first quarter of the year.
“Metro Manila topped the provinces with the most permits, followed by Cebu, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Davao del Sur. Thirteen other provinces have issued 10 or more permits,” Globe noted.
The city of Makati issued the most (56), followed by Cebu City (39), Davao City (33), Manila (27), and Pasig City (25).
Globe said building new cell towers take time. “It will take us at least three months to install a new tower and it will also depend on its location, accessibility, logistics and quarantine protocols implemented in the area where we secured the permits,” said Joel R. Agustin, Globe senior vice-president for program delivery, network technical group.
“We would like to assure our customers, however, that we will build the new cell sites as soon as possible,” he added.
Globe targets to put up 2,000 new cell sites this year.
The telco installed 318 new cell towers across the country in the first three months of the year.
Globe shares closed 0.28% lower at P1,806 apiece on Monday. — Arjay L. Balinbin
