PLDT, Globe start rollout of high-speed internet infra

Telco giants Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom announced initial rollout plans for the high-speed mobile internet infrastructure across their networks.

PLDT spokesman Ramon Isberto said 360 cell sites in Manila, Cebu and Davao would be outfitted with equipment that will use the 700 Megahertz spectrum within 2016. Globe said it would roll this out across 200 cell sites in the next few months.

Globe and PLDT on May 30 announced a deal to buy San Miguel Corp.’s telecommunications unit for close to P70 billion.

That gave each player equal access to SMC’s valuable radio frequencies, including the 700 MHz band, ideal for covering large geographic areas.

Globe fired up its first 700Mhz cell site over the weekend near Hardin ng Bougainvillea in UP Diliman, Quezon City.

PLDT chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, meanwhile, said via his Twitter account that the first 700MHz site was launched in Tanay, Rizal late Tuesday.

Joel Agustin, Globe Senior Vice President for Program Governance, Network Technical Group, said in a statement the next step for Globe was to roll out the 700 MHz in 200 sites this year.

Globe and PLDT control about 15,000 cell sites across the country.

The conservative rollout against their total network comes as device support for this frequency is still limited to high-end smartphones like Samsung’s S6 Edge+, Note 5, S7, S7 Edge, and J5 2016.

A Globe spokesperson said the newly acquired SMC assets means the company can bring the technology to more affordable handset models.