Globe sets aside $700M for network upgrade

Globe Telecom aims to become Asia’s most modern mobile telecommunications provider despite the stiff competition provided by Smart Communications, which just completed a merger with Sun Cellular.

During a press conference held at the Intercontinental Makati Hotel on Tuesday, just right after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting, Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said the company would set aside $700 million for a network upgrade.

As competition heats up in the telco sector, especially with the merger of Smart and Sun Cellular, Globe will continue to focus on technology play and massive infrastructure improvements, he said.

“The overall message of Globe to the market is enabling new technologies that fully support superior customer experience,” Cu explained.

Globe’s aggressiveness toward a massive network upgrade is fueled by the company’s robust growth in revenue and income last year, he said.

The telco closed 2011 with a record revenue of P67.8 billion—up eight percent from the previous year, Cu said.

A new quarterly record of P17.8 billion was also set in the last three months of 2011, which marked a phenomenal fifth consecutive period of growth, Cu added.

The company’s equity before income tax depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) and core net income were also up five percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Describing 2011 as “a banner year in terms of achievements due to continued market gains,” Cu said he was confident that the company’s growth would further gain momentum this year.