Telcos barred from building adjacent towers

To encourage infrastructure sharing

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has ordered telco giants to share their infrastructure with new entrants by prohibiting new towers from being built close to another one.

The DICT has compelled telcos to share passive telecommunications tower infrastructure (PTTI) in line with the mandate of Section 16 of Republic Act 12234 or the Konektadong Pinoy Act.

The DICT released a department circular amending sections of a 2020 order on tower sharing to reflect changes brought about by the Konektadong Pinoy Act.

One of the notable amendments is the prohibition of PTTIs from being situated too close to each other. No new towers should be constructed within a radius of 150 meters from existing PTTIs in high-density districts and 1,000 meters in rural areas.

Telcos have to secure an approval in writing from the DICT if they intend to set up a new tower near another one. The DICT will only waive the rule on proximity radius if a PTTI can no longer accommodate upgrades to support future demand.

The DICT will also be more considerate if technologies require a PTTI to stand close to another one, or if a telco encounters topographical challenges in putting up new towers.

In revising the department circular on tower sharing, the DICT took the initiative to define what constitutes a PTTI to avoid confusion among industry players.

On top of the traditional PTTIs like masts and towers, the DICT added new technologies that are necessary in delivering data transmission to more consumers.

Further, the DICT built up the safeguard mechanism for telcos that would be sharing their assets with newcomers. The agency placed upon itself the power to approve or disallow any agreement entered into by a grantee that could be anticompetitive to industry peers.

Independent tower companies are also barred from enforcing infrastructure restrictions on shared assets, nor are they allowed to limit the brand or provider that may be installed. Further, they are told to start considering ancestral domain and heritage preservation in their future projects.

The DICT revised some sections of the 2020 circular on tower sharing to cover the Konektadong Pinoy Act’s provisions on infrastructure co-use, aimed at attracting new investors and preventing asset duplicity.

As a whole, the Konektadong Pinoy Act lifts some of the toughest requirements to enter the telco industry, hoping that this leads to more competitors and cheaper prices.