MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz InfraCapital said Wednesday it signed a common tower deal with Globe Telecom and Frontier Tower Associates Philippines in a bid to improve connectivity in Cebu, Davao and Olongapo.
In a statement, the Aboitiz unit said the memorandum of understanding with Globe and FTAP seeks to explore the possibility of leasing build-to-suit sites, towers and "other passive telecommunications infrastructure and facilities."
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“Tower sharing is a means to address the demand for better internet experience. Our collaboration with tower experts will enable us to fast track the construction of cell sites and towers in unserved and underserved areas as well as congested urban centers,” Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu was quoted as saying in a statement.
President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 invited China to be the Philippines' third telecom provider that would transform the country's troubled telco sector that has long been dominated by PLDT and Globe.
Davao-based tycoon Dennis Uy, an old friend of the president, teamed up with state-run China Telecom to form the Mislatel Group — which the Philippine government had formally declared as the country’s third telco carrier after two rival bids were rejected and foreign players backed out.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology expects the new telco player to start operating by the first quarter of 2020.
Aside from Mislatel’s entry, DICT is also counting on the agreement that involves the construction of an ultra high speed information highway in improving the speed, affordability and accessibility of broadband internet throughout the country by next year.
The DICT targets to roll out at least 50,000 new common towers across the country in the next seven to ten years. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral