PLDT seen ramping up infra rollout; Globe expanding to more underserved areas

Telco giant PLDT Inc. secured its largest number of permits for new infrastructure in 2020 after government agencies agreed to cut red tape that had hobbled expansion efforts for years.

PLDT obtained over 4,000 permits while wireless subsidiary Smart Communications got 2,500 permits in the second semester of 2020.

This was accelerated by an order in August from the Anti-Red Tape Authority to slash regulatory bottlenecks.

Permits are required by a host of national and local government agencies to build new infrastructure such as cell towers and fiber cables.

“Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the lockdowns, we managed to ramp up our network rollout, with the help of the government,” PLDT chief revenue officer Alfredo Panlilio said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are really thankful for the government’s help in making it easier for us to build our network,” he added.

This will also clear a path for PLDT’s network expansion moving into 2021, when it plans to build a record 2,000 cell sites.

To date, Smart has more than 10,000 sites across the country, including more than 700 new cell sites fired up by the end of 2020.

PLDT is also further increasing the capacity of its fiber-to-the-home network and laying out additional ports in 2021.

Rival Globe Telecom is also planning to build about 2,000 cell towers next year, benefiting from the same easing of regulatory bottlenecks.

In a separate statement, Globe said it is expanding services in underserved locations.

It named Palawan, Nueva Ecija, Negros Oriental, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Cebu, Quezon, Batangas, Bulacan and Ifugao. Local government units (LGUs) here have supported one-stop shops to facilitate the issuance of permitting requirements for telcos.

“We are hoping that these LGUs will inspire others to support and be with us in bringing better, more enjoyable and accessible talk, SMS and data services to more Filipinos in 2021,” Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for program delivery, network technical group, said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Makati, Manila, Marikina, Calamba, Tagaytay City and Legazpi in Albay were the first LGUs to set up their one-stop shop for permitting requirements of telcos. INQ