Globe: Better LTE coverage in VisMin

Globe Telecom would roll out more LTE sites in Visayas and Mindanao as part of a commitment to utilize 4G frequencies it had gained access to following the acquisition of San Miguel Corp.’s telco unit last year.

Globe said in a statement Thursday the rollout covered around 3,000 sites thus far, or about 60 percent of its physical sites in Visayas and Mindanao. The rollout would allow better-quality mobile internet for specific smartphone devices.

“We expect customer experience to continue improving moving forward as we step up deployment of LTE sites,” said Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for program governance, network technical group.

Globe claimed its mobile data traffic had surged around 85 percent in the first semester of 2017, signaling increasing demand.

Among the frequencies rolled out were the 700 megahertz (MHz) band, for better coverage and indoor penetration, as well as the higher capacity frequencies such as the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz.

Globe CEO Ernest Cu recently said the company was mulling to increase its capital spending budget this year to $800 million from $750 million. As of the first half of 2017, Globe said it had deployed about P27.5 billion, or about $540 million, in capital spending.

Cu said a final decision on their budget would be made within the current third quarter period.