Globe secures P9-B financing for network rollout

Telco giant Globe Telecom secured debt financing to help pay for record spending on its network rollout this year.

Globe said in a regulatory filing that it had signed loan facilities with Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. for P5 billion and $95 million, respectively.

Amounting to about P9 billion, the debt will partly fund expected spending of P63 billion in 2020. This includes the spillover commitments from 2019 of about P12 billion.

Globe also expects to refinance mature obligations and spend on “general corporate requirements.”

The bulk of the spending is expected to be deployed to upgrade its mobile and fixed-line networks given strong consu­mer demand.

Globe spent P51 billion in 2019, of which 79 percent went to investments in its crucial data business.

As a result, Globe built 139 percent more sites and 25 percent more 3G and 4G base stations over the previous year.

“The gains benefited customers through improved download and upload speeds and latency,” Globe said.