Telcos’ rollout plans seen to proceed as scheduled

Industry giants PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom said the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak would not impede their network rollout plans, which depend mainly on Chinese technology and equipment.

PLDT and Globe, which lean heavily on China’s Huawei Technologies, are also poised to spend a record P146 billion for 2020 alone to ensure fas­ter internet speeds as demand continues to surge.

PLDT, which is allocating P83 billion for the year, is not expecting any impact from the spread of COVID-19, which prompted the Philippines to ban the entry of visitors coming from China starting last month.

“There is no impact,” Ray Espinosa, PLDT senior adviser to CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, told reporters.

“We have been fortunate to be able to make sure there are diverse supply channels,” he added. “Our suppliers are not just limited to the Wuhan factory. They have other factories in China so that helps a lot.”

Globe is also not expecting any significant impact, chief technology and information officer Gil Genio said.

“We have not noted any disruption,” Genio said in a text message. He explained that manufacturing of “high value” technology that Globe needed was less affected than other areas in the supply chain.

Genio said the travel ban also had a small effect on the Huawei staff in the country.

“With all the work given to them, our Chinese vendors did not have lots of staff going home for CNY (Chinese New Year) so they are all here wor­king,” he said.

However, a telco industry veteran, who requested anonymity, warned that a protracted COVID-19 outbreak could hamper rollout plans, especially in 5G, the next-generation mobile standard. PLDT and Globe had set plans to increase investments in 5G this year.

Dito Telecommunity, the country’s third major telco player, earlier said the company was looking for alternative suppliers as it anticipated constraints in the delivery of equipment such as fiber cables and steel from China.

Dito said it was on track for its technical launch on July this year while its commercial rollout—when subscribers can avail of its telco service—was slated for March 2021 or earlier.

Dito earlier committed to spend P150 billion on its first year, which ends on July 2020. That first year commitment includes a minimum average internet speed of 27 megabits per second and a population coverage of 37 percent.