Transpacific Broadband joins common tower pool

MANILA, Philippines — Transpacific Broadband Group International Inc. (TBGI) has firmed up plans to help the government in accelerating tower deployment in the country by joining the pool of aspiring common tower providers.

TBGI said its board in a special meeting yesterday approved the creation of a subsidiary in line with the government’s pending policy on the common tower program.

The publicly-listed firm said the subsidiary would undertake the preparation, consolidation, and deployment of 15,000 sites for its application as a common tower provider.

“The corporation believes the NTC/DICT will allow the participation of more common tower providers based on the recent statement of the DICT and OP-EAICT to accelerate tower deployment to reach 50,000 towers comparable with Indonesia,” TBGI said.

“In past experiences, tower deployment ranges only between 1,000 sites and 1,500 sites per year, which is far behind the minimum requirements for the third telco operator’s five-year roll-out guidelines,” it said.

TBGI’s board has also authorized the company to submit a proposal to the DICT as a common tower provider, and upon compliance of legal and financial requirements, to execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government agency to be part of the pool of common tower providers for the country.

TBGI said it has identified an initial 3,000 common tower sites given its existing clientele of private schools nationwide availing of broadband services.

As a common tower provider, the firm aims to provide site acquisition services and leasing revenues.

TBGI said each tower infrastructure is estimated to cost $100,000 per site, wherein site acquisition ranges from $7,000 to $10,000 per site depending on complexity of necessary construction structure.

Last year, TBGI had already expressed interest in participating in various developments in the country’s telecommunications sector, such as the common tower program.

The DICT has decided to open up the local market to all interested common cellular tower builders as long as they are able to secure contracts with telecommunications companies.

Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio believes there is no reason to limit the number of common tower developers in the country as long as they can get customers, which are the telco operators, for the towers that they will be building.

So far, four international tower providers and one local company have signed MOUs with the DICT for their plans to build common towers in the country.

These companies are ISOC Infrastructures Inc., a company chaired by Megawide Construction Corp. co-founder Michael Cosiquien, ISON ECP Tower Singapore Pte. Ltd., Malaysia-based Edotco Group Sdn Bhd, IHS Towers of Nigeria, and China Energy Equipment Co. Ltd.

The DICT is set to sign an MOU with the sixth company today, Malaysia’s RT Telecom Sdn Bhd.