CHINA Energy Equipment Co. Ltd. (CEEC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to become the fifth shared telecommunications infrastructure provider.
In a briefing after the signing ceremony, the Chinese company said it is confident in its ability to meet the government’s target of installing 50,000 common towers for use by telecommunications firms.
CEEC Vice-President Huang Fei said the number of towers it will build will rely largely on the orders it will receive from telco operators, he said CEEC has funding of around $4.4 billion for 50,000 towers.
“They can now go to the telcos and try to get business from them. And even just one business or telco will agree to have transaction with China Energy, then the roll out will depend on the number of towers that they will try to build,” DICT Outgoing Chief Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. told reporters.
“They can go to us and then we will sign a memorandum of agreement that will now have a stronger support from DICT,” Mr. Rio added.
Mr. Rio noted that such support will include facilitatio of permits and addressing right of way issues.
Asked if costs for telco firms will fall under the common-tower system, Mr. Rio said, “Definitely.” — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

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