Globe Telecom Inc. has secured a total of 799 tower permits in the first quarter, allowing it to build infrastructure to improve its services.
According to Globe SVP Joel Agustin, the telco was given 219 permits from different areas in North Luzon and 191 more in Visayas. It also secured 179 permits from local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region, 113 in Mindanao, and 97 in South Luzon.
“We are very grateful to local government units [LGUs] which are very supportive of our plans to improve our services in their respective areas. This appreciation on how LGUs may make or break efforts to give their people much needed internet connectivity is most welcome,” he said.
Metro Manila issued the most permits. It was followed by Cebu, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Davao del Sur.
On a per-city basis, Makati City issued the most with 56; followed by Cebu City with 39; Davao City with 33; Manila with 27; and Pasig City with 25.
Agustin noted that building towers “take time” and getting permits “ahead of time” will allow Globe to fast track the construction works.
“It will take us at least three months to install a new tower and it will also depend on its location, accessibility, logistics and quarantine protocols implemented in the area where we secured the permits. We would like to assure our customers, however, that we will build the new cell sites as soon as possible,” Agustin said.
Globe is spending P70 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year, higher than the P60.3 billion capex spent in 2020 to further modernize its mobile and fixed line networks.
Bulk of the capital or about 91 percent will be invested in data-related requirements “to support the fast-growing data usage and provide superior data customer experience.”
This includes the deployment of fiber optic cables, the construction of new cell sites, and the upgrading of existing towers to host 4G antennae.
“The record-breaking capital expenditure supports Globe’s continuous modernization of its network to make 5G as well as fiber technology available to customers in more areas in the country,” its disclosure to the stock exchange read.
So far, Globe has spent P19.1 billion of its programmed capital for the year, exceeding the year prior by 79 percent.
Globe posted an 11-percent increase in net profits during the first quarter to P7.30 billion from P6.69 billion the year prior, thanks to a new law on corporate income taxes.
Image courtesy of Bloomberg