Globe Telecom Inc. said on Thursday it is spending about $2 billion over five years to provide the country’s households with fiber optic cables in a move that could put pressure on rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
Globe chief commercial officer Albert de Larrazabal told reporters the investment over five years to roll out fiber optics in 20,000 barangays aimed to provide ultra-faster Internet access to about two million homes nationwide by 2020.
Globe will also pour significant investment in capacity enhancement for both mobile and wireline using different technologies that include 3G, Long Term Evolution and even Wi-Fi.
To be able to achieve its goal of creating an Internet super highway nationwide, Larrazabal said the company teamed up with the city government of Manila for the pilot rollout of its broadband technology in Binondo.
Larrazabal said the company was investing at least $1 million for the deployment of fiber broadband technology in Binondo, which is expected to deliver ultra-fast Internet to at least 5,000 new business and home subscribers.
The project will be completed in the third quarter of the year.
“Globe is able to deploy fiber broadband technology in Binondo only because we are united with the local city government in realizing a vision of developing ‘connected communities’ where both enterprise clients and customers at home get to experience the full benefits of having world-class data connectivity,” de Larrazabal said.
“We hope to replicate the realization of this vision in many other areas in the country as we all aspire to further drive local economic growth,” he said.
He said Globe was in talks with other local government units for the development of “connected communities.”
Larrazabal added Globe would also roll out small cell technology in various parts of Binondo as part of efforts to expand network coverage and capacity. The small cell technology, which supports multiple technologies including 3G and LTE, will enable Globe to harness additional capacity from fiber optics without the need for macro cell sites.
Globe is also in close coordination with the city government of Manila relating to the construction of additional cell sites not only in Binondo but also in other parts of the capital, as part of its continuing coverage and capacity expansion.
“Permitting process has been major hurdle for us in other parts of the country and we are grateful that in the city of Manila, local government executives led by Mayor Estrada have been only supportive of our initiative of building on our existing network infrastructure within the capital,” Larrazabal said.
Globe earlier said permitting environment at the local government level was the biggest detriment preventing telecommunication operators like Globe in improving cell site density, a necessary prerequisite in improving data connectivity of its customers in terms of speed and access.
Telecommunication companies were required to secure at least 25 permits to be ale to deploy Internet infrastructure such as cell sites and fiber builds.
Based on the study made by TowerXchange in February 2016, the number of unique physical cell sites in the Philippines was one of the lowest in Asia with a combined 15,000 cell sites.
Globe saw its net income jump 23 percent in 2015 to P16.5 billion from P13.4 billion it booked in 2014.
The growth in profit was supported by one-time gains coming from the sale of a 51-percent equity stake in Yondu Inc. and the acquisition of a 98.6-percent stake in Bayan Telecommunications Inc.
Globe’s core net income, which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, including one-time gains and accelerated depreciation charges, foreign exchange and mark-to-market charges, also grew 4 percent to P15.1 billion from P14.5 billion in 2014.