Globe to build more cellular towers

MANILA, Philippines — Globe Telecommunications Inc. is set to build more new cellular towers as local government units (LGUs) have accelerated their permits issuance.

Globe said it secured a total of 799 permits in the first quarter.

In January, the company received 253 permits, followed by 242 in February and 304 in March.

The Ayala-led telco received 219 permits in different areas in North Luzon and 191 more in Visayas.

Local government units in the National Capital Region released 179 permits while those in Mindanao and South Luzon issued 113 and 97 permits, respectively.

“We are very grateful to local government units 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,” said Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for program delivery, network technical group.

Agustin said tower builds take time so it is important to secure the permits way ahead of time.

“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,” he said.

Globe spent a total of P19.1 billion in capital expenditure in the first quarter and was able to build a total of 318 new cell towers and install over 287,000 high-speed lines.

The telco giant aims to build 2,000 cell sites or towers and one million fiber-to-the-home lines this year.