NOW Telecom readies rollout of 5G network

MANILA, Philippines — NOW Telecom Co. Inc., an affiliate of publicly listed technology firm NOW Corp., is preparing to join the big league as it sets the stage for its public listing as well as its 5G network rollout.

NOW Telecom has appointed Unicapital Inc. as financial advisor to assist in preparing for possible fund-raising activities for its 5G network rollout. Unicapital will act as exclusive financial advisor for a planned corporate restructuring as well as exclusive issue manager and financial advisor for a planned listing by way of introduction in a stock exchange.

“We are moving forward with the corporate restructuring of NOW Telecom to take it to the next level. NOW Corp and NOW Telecom were the first to introduce 5G broadband speed of up to two Gbps direct to our existing enterprise clients. Our next move is to extend said service to the residential and consumer markets,” said Mel Velarde, founder and CEO of the NOW Group of Companies.

Earlier, NOW Telecom revealed that it plans to spend $713 million for its five-year 5G fixed wireless access business plan. The company aims to deploy the 5G FWA network in the National Capital Region and offer a broadband plan of up to 10 gigabit per second service.

NOW Telecom is hoping to build on its current stronghold, particularly business enterprises, high-density residential areas, high-end residential homes, and high-rise buildings. Company officials emphasized that the telecom firm is well-positioned in the enterprise and high-end residential market in the country via 5G FWA and that with fairly limited competition in this space, there is a strong opportunity to gain a profitable market share.

It will be recalled that last year, NOW Telecom signed an MOU with SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest telecom provider, to help design the company’s 5G network.

The company also inked a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based HyalRoute Group, through local subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network Ltd. (PFOCN), in connection with shared fiber infrastructure assets nationwide.