Globe earns P300M from tower sale

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Globe Telecom is seen at a Globe service center in Edsa, Quezon City, metro Manila, Philippines, May 7, 2018. Picture taken May 7, 2018. REUTERS/Dondi Tawatao

Globe Telecom Inc. received P300 million from a recent closing of its tower asset sale to Aboitiz-led Unity Digital Infrastructure, beefing up its coffers for expansion.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the Ayala-led telco giant said that it had transferred 25 towers to Unity’s portfolio this week.

Globe has turned over 307 out of 447 assets acquired by the independent tower company. In total, it has cashed in P3.7 billion from this transaction.

The telco player and tower company inked their P5.4-billion tower sale and leaseback agreement in May last year.

This is just one of the company’s several tower sale deals. Globe sold a total of 7,506 tower assets for P96.4 billion to several tower companies.

The sale and lease back of tower assets are in line with the government’s tower-sharing initiative, which seeks to beef up connectivity across the country.

Tower-sharing enables operators to expand their footprint across the country without putting up more facilities, which can also be cost-effective for them. Instead, operators will lease the towers from the independent tower companies that allow multiple users at a time.

A 2022 study by independent tower company Edotco Group and management consultancy firm Roland Berger estimated that local telco players could save up to $1.15 billion in capital and operational expenditures until 2025 through tower-sharing.

Proceeds from the tower sale will fund its expansion and debt payments.

Globe has set its capital expenditure guidance at $1 billion this year, which will be funded via internal cash flow, proceeds from tower sales and debts. By 2025, the company targets to cut down spending to below $1 billion.

In the first half, Globe spent P28.3 billion in capex to beef up its infrastructure. The company, as of end-June, built 352 new cell sites, upgraded 1,942 existing mobile sites and deployed 245 new 5G sites across the country.

The telco player’s 5G coverage has reached 98.45 percent in the National Capital Region and 94.19 percent in key cities in Visayas and Mindanao.