COMMON tower provider Alliance Towers Corp. said it will begin erecting towers for Globe Telecom, Inc. this year, as part of its ambition to build 500 towers a year for the country’s wireless telecommunications operators.
The company recently signed an agreement with Globe, Alliance Towers President and Chief Operating Officer Alvin D. Tolentino said during a briefing on April 8.
He said Globe had “awarded sites in Visayas and Mindanao.”
The company aspires to build 500 towers a year, but with the current pandemic situation, it believes it can build around 200 towers this year for DITO Telecommunity Corp., Smart Communications, Inc., and Globe.
Alliance Towers has built more than 40 towers for DITO and Smart at the height of the pandemic, according to Sherwin G. Hing, chairman and chief executive officer of the independent tower company.
He said 80% of the company’s portfolio is from Globe.
As for the capital expenditures, he said: “We are looking at P40 billion in the next 10 years, or around P4 billion a year.”
Mr. Tolentino cited various factors as drivers of tower demand in the country, including increased data usage with more powerful applications and greater smartphone penetration, rollout of fifth-generation (5G) technology, cost savings from tower sharing, and 4G expansion into areas where 3G is still the dominant technology.
He also noted that the government aims to have 50,000 new towers in the next seven to 10 years just to meet the current capacity shortfall.
“The recent pandemic has brought about the urgent need for fast and reliable internet connectivity to enable digital transformation and the adaptation of the country to new digital landscapes,” Mr. Tolentino said.
“Unfortunately, there is a wide gap between the number of subscribers and the cell sites here in the Philippines to provide the bandwidth and connectivity that the Filipinos demand.”
For his part, Mr. Hing said: “We acknowledge our role in the success of the country’s digital transformation and advancement. This is why we have selected a management team who has a proven track record in the tech and telecommunications industry to lead our programs and initiatives in building digital infrastructures.”
“Furthermore, we also ensure that our experts are armed with the right extensive information and knowledge to develop our towers, and we have also developed standard parameters to ensure that our sites, services and operations are best-in-class,” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin
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