The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the establishment of an independent tower company by Globe Telecom that will be in charge of installing cell towers for the delivery of telecommunication services to its subscribers.
Globe said the SEC has approved the incorporation of GTowers Inc. in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
“The establishment of a tower company will help speed up the building and deployment of cellular towers in the country,” according to the company.
Globe has earlier said that it will divest all its tower assets in favor of the newly established tower company once this is approved by the SEC.
Towers built by the company may also be leased to existing and new telcos to further improve their services amid government efforts to encourage the entry of a new player in the industry.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is eyeing to accredit two independent tower companies by the first quarter of next year, followed by a six-month building period for its common tower policy.
A common tower will help ensure that services that will be offered by telcos to consumers are affordable and that the costs of constructing towers will not be passed on to them, according to DICT acting secretary Eliseo Rio Jr.
The lack of cell towers has been identified as one of the barriers to the slow and costly internet services currently being experienced in the country.
The Philippines has one of the lowest tower densities in the world with less than 20,000 towers serving 100 million people. Approximately 50,000 more towers should be built to serve the current voice and data traffic. — Aerol John Patena (PNA)
