Globe gets more funds for network upgrade

Globe Telecom said it had secured additional funds to partly cover spending needed to upgrade its data network infrastructure.

Globe, owned by Ayala Corp. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., said in a stock exchange filing yesterday that it had sealed a 10-year P7-billion term loan facility with Union Bank of the Philippines.

The telco earlier announced that spending this year would hit P35.4 billion. It said the bulk of the amount would be spent on data-related projects, including ramping up its LTE network and fixed-line internet infrastructure

In the first six months of the year, Globe spent P17 billion, or almost half of its 2016 budget.

Globe announced earlier that profit rose in the first half of 2016. It outlined in a regulatory filing that core profit was up 2 percent to P8.8 billion while its reported net income stood at P9 billion, up 3 percent as gains in Ebitda were offset by increases in depreciation and non-operational expenses.

It said total service revenue rose 11 percent to P59.6 billion. Data-related revenue now account for half of the total, Globe said. Mobile subscribers hit 61.3 million in the first six months, up 20 percent.

The company also noted big gains in its home broadband and corporate data business segments.

Total home broadband service revenue hit P7 billion, while total subscribers stood at 1.14 million. Revenue and subscribers were up 49 percent and 38 percent, respectively, in the first semester of the year.

“The growth in revenue was driven by subscriber expansion in both fixed wireless and wired broadband solutions, due to the continued rise in demand for internet and data connectivity and the popularity of entertainment and other content-driven applications,” Globe said.

Its corporate broadband business, meanwhile, saw revenue jump 55 percent to P4.9 billion during the same period.