Globe Telecom Inc. is still open to sell its cellular towers but is waiting for a more stable regulatory environment on tower -sharing.
“Globe’s efforts in spinning off its tower and related assets to the tower company have been put on hold until a more stable regulatory environment to govern the tower sharing industry is in place,” said Froilan Castelo, Globe general counsel.
Globe remains open to exploring this space as it welcomes any opportunity to invest capital on active equipment versus passive equipment, added Castelo.
Globe has been considering to sell its towers since early 2018 but put this on hold last year as the tower firms need to scale up.
To date, Globe has signed agreements with tower firms Ison Tower Ltd. Inc., ISOC Edotco Towers Inc., CREI Philippines Inc., Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc., Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. and Phil-Tower Consortium Inc.
Globe built 1,407 new cell sites nationwide in 2021 including both fourth generation Long Term Evolution and 5G, upgraded over 22,300 mobile sites, and installed over 2,000 5G outdoor sites and in building solutions as of end-December 2021.
On the fixed line front, Globe reported installing over 1.4 million fiber-to-the-home lines, even surpassing its revised target for the year.
Meanwhile, Globe dominated four categories in the Mobile Network Operators 2021 report on the Philippines released for the first time by international think tank The Method Research, leading in network coverage, internet speed, digital marketing campaigns and price competitiveness amid intense industry competition.
The international market research firm which conducted the survey in the fourth quarter of last year said based on the results, 34 percent of respondents picked Globe in terms of best network coverage ahead of competitors.
Globe also emerged as the top choice of Filipinos when it comes to internet speed, cornering 32 percent of the total respondents.
Globe topped the list in terms of competitive pricing, picked by 27 percent of respondents for the category.
Respondents ranked Globe first in terms of digital marketing campaigns at 38 percent.
