Globe gets Singapore license to provide international cable services

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. is expanding its global presence after its unit received a license to provide international cable capacities and other telecommunications services in Singapore.

 Globe compliance officer MariSalve Ciocson-Co said GlobeTel Singapore Pte Ltd was awarded a facilities-based operations license from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore last Jan. 7.

GlobeTel Singapore is a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe’s GTI Business Holdings Inc.

With the license, the company would be able to provide international cable capacities and other telecommunications services in Singapore.

“GlobeTel Singapore’s offering will boost connectivity requirements between Singapore and the Philippines, further improving business relations between the two countries,” Ciocson-Co said.

She added that the company would provide alternate and redundant cable paths from Singapore to Hong Kong and Japan transiting the Philippines to ensure stable connectivity.

The telecom provider jointly owned by conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. is looking at expanding its operations within Southeast Asia particularly in Myanmar.

Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu earlier said the company is exploring the possibility of expanding its operations within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region to complement relatively strong economic growth within the region.

Cu announced the plan during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Beijing, China. 

In particular, Cu said that Globe is looking at Myanmar as a potential expansion area.

“There’s already a telco player in Myanmar but there are other areas we could get involved in, like financial services and mobile advertising and these areas have potential,” he added.

According to Cu Globe has taken the direction of providing products and services most relevant to customers amid fast-paced evolution of digital technologies.

Globe is considering the possibility of offering its mobile-based banking service to other Southeast Asian markets once the ASEAN integration is in place next year, Cu said.