Transpacific inks deal with China firm for common tower entry

MANILA, Philippines — Transpacific Broadband Group International Inc. (TBGI) has inked a partnership deal with a major China state-owned telecom equipment supplier for the development of common towers in the country.

In a disclosure to the local bourse yesterday, TBGI said it executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a state-owned China company, wherein it will assist the firm by providing service from pre-site acquisition to the post-construction process for the rollout of common towers.

“TBGI’s long and close working relationships with two major institutional organizations is the key consideration for the Chinese company to gain access in a short time to many and various strategic sites that dot the archipelago,” it said.

“Moreover, TBGI’s congressional telecom franchise and existing business in satellite and communications are other stages of cooperation,” the listed company said.

The MOU entails the formulation of the matrix of responsibilities, project schedule, contract arrangement, and milestones of the project.

TBGI has submitted an initial 3,000 tower sites given its existing clientele of private schools nationwide availing of the firm’s broadband services.

Each tower infrastructure is estimated to cost $100,000 per site, while the acquisition of sites is estimated to cost $7,000 to $8,000 per site, according to TBGI.

Apart from the potential revenues from expanded broadband services, TBGI said the site acquisition contract project is expected to improve the corporation’s top-line numbers by P1 billion in the next five years.

Last January, TBGI said its board approved the creation of a subsidiary  in line with the government’s pending policy on the common tower program.

TBGI’s subsidiary would be undertaking the preparation, consolidation, and deployment of 15,000 sites for its application as a common tower provider.