The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) plans to build a common tower infrastructure to fast-track the rollout of internet service in missionary sites in the country.
Emmanuel Rey Caintic, DICT undersecretary for Digital Philippines, said the agency is working with Congress on a legislation that will allow the DICT to utilize untapped funds from the spectrum users fee reserved for the deployment of free WiFi in public places, for building common infrastructure in commercially unviable places.
“DICT wishes to invest in common towers for missionary sites, complete with radio access network and Internet Protocol back haul,” Caintic said.
“To address permitting delays in ongoing builds of fiber optic networks, we are drafting a new Joint Memorandum Circular to streamline the permitting process. Fiber networks are critical in operationalizing broadband services,” he added.
Data from the National Telecommunications Commission showed the country has 22,405 towers as of November last year. Of the total, Globe Telecom Inc. has 10,270 towers, Smart Communications Inc. has 10,069 and new telecom player DITO Telecommunity Corp., 2,066 towers.
However, the total towers built is still far compared with other Asian countries like Vietnam which has 80,000 towers, mostly funded by its government.
In a separate statement, Globe reported setting up 318 new cell towers in strategic locations all over the country, completing the expansion of at least 4,210 sites and laying 274,000 high-speed lines. — Myla Iglesias
