MANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. has received an initial P1.9 billion from the tower sale it signed with the Aboitiz Group, expanding its pool of resources for network maintenance and upgrades.
PLDT yesterday transferred 135 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc., the first batch among the 650 assets sold by the integrated telco to the Aboitiz-led firm.
For this tranche, PLDT received P1.9 billion, leaving it with P7.3 billion to collect from Unity once the remainder of the towers are closed.
PLDT aims to transfer the rest of the towers in the next few months as soon as closing conditions are met. The telco giant wants to conclude the tower sale before the year ends.
Last year PLDT’s wireless units Smart Communications Inc. and Digital Mobile Philippines Inc. signed a sale and leaseback agreement with Unity covering 650 towers. The towers are located in Visayas and Mindanao and will be used by Unity to improve mobile services in the regions.
PLDT will deploy the P9.2 billion in proceeds from the tower sale for expansion projects.
Prior to this, PLDT signed a P77 billion deal for the sale and leaseback of close to 6,000 towers to foreign operators Comworks Infratech Corp. and ISOC edotco Towers Inc.
For the year, Fitch Group unit CreditSights expects PLDT to receive P32.6 billion from the tower sale, providing it with the financial boost to recover from its budget fiasco.
PLDT has allocated up to P85 billion for capital expenditures this year. The firm missed out on the opportunity to bring down its capex by a significant margin because it has to pay outstanding commitments relating to its budget overrun.
For Unity, purchasing PLDT towers forms part of its strategy to expand its portfolio to more than 2,000 towers across the archipelago.
Unity, a joint venture between Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. and Partners Group, has also bought 447 towers worth P5.4 billion from wireless giant Globe Telecom Inc.