The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and concerned agencies have signed a joint memorandum circular (JMC) reducing to less than a month from more than six months the processing time to secure permits in building shared towers in the country.
The JMC was signed with other government agencies (NGAs) to streamline requirements and reduce procedural delays in securing the necessary permits, licenses, clearances, certificates and other requirements in the construction of shared passive telecommunications tower infrastructures (PTTI).
The guidelines aim to shorten the entire timeline — to a target of 16 days from the original period of over 200 days — for constructing PTTIs by mobile network operators and independent tower companies duly registered with the DICT, to accelerate the rollout of telecoms infrastructure.
Under the guidelines, five permits are no longer required as pre-requisites for the construction of PTTIs: a Sangguniang Panlungsod/Bayan resolution; Sangguniang Barangay/Barangay Council resolution; environmental compliance certificate; radiation safety evaluation report from the Food and Drug Administration; and certified true copy of the National Telecommunications Commission provisional authority or certificate of public convenience and necessity.
A certificate of use for PTTIs, which is easier to acquire, will now be issued by the Office of the Building Official instead of the certificate of occupancy which demands more stringent standards.
A separate issuance for locational clearance guidelines is being drafted in accordance with JMC provisions.
Height clearance permit will no longer be required for PTTIs below 50 meters that are located outside of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines critical areas (CCA).
Instead, an undertaking by a licensed geodetic engineer attesting that the PTTI will be built outside of CCA will be given for submission to the local government unit (LGU).
The processing, approval and issuance of permits are required to be done within seven days, as mandated under the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 and the JMC.
Permits and clearances not approved within the prescribed periods shall be deemed automatically approved.
To avoid delays, the permitting process among NGAs and LGUs shall run parallel, with no permit from any office serving as a pre-requisite before other permits are processed and issued.
