Local government units (LGUs) continue to accelerate the issuance of permits for telecommunication companies, reaching 2,789 in the first four months of the year, data from the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) showed.
That is already 43 percent of the 6,451 permits issued in 2020, considered a record year as this represented a 294-percent increase from 1,636 in 2019.
The increase in permits issued resulted in an increase in towers built. NTC said as of the first four months of the year, 1,672 towers had been built, which nearly approximates 2019’s 1,746. In 2020, the number towers built surged to 148 percent to 4,337.
To date, the country has a total of 24,614 cellular towers: 10,941 for Globe; 10,433 for Smart and 3,240 for DITO.
According to NTC, more LGUs comply with the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01 s. 2020 signed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Anti-Red Tape Authority, and other government agencies.
Telcos continue to invest heavily on their fiber optic network with a total of 846,323 cable-kilometers already laid out all over the country to date. Smart currently has the widest network with 497,700 cable-kilometers of fiber optic built. Converge has laid-out 260,030 cable-kilometers. Globe has 72,573 cable-kilometers and DITO with 16,020 cable-kilometers.
In 2019, a total of 384,341 cable-kilometers of fiber network was laid-out all over the country. In 2020, the network increased to a total of 726,705 cable-kilometers, an 89 percent increase from the previous year. The 846,323 cable-kilometers laid-out as of April 2021 represent a 16.5 percent increase from the 726,705 cable-kilometers completed at the end of 2020.
Meanwhile, Globe Telecom Inc. said it has secured a total of 799 permits in the first quarter this year.
Globe received 219 permits in North Luzon, 191 in Visayas, 179 in National Capital Region, 113 in Mindanao and 97 in South Luzon.
Metro Manila had issued the most number of permits, followed by Cebu, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Davao del Sur. Thirteen other provinces have issued 10 or more permits.
On a per-city basis, Makati City issued the most with 56; followed by Cebu City with 39; Davao City with 33; Manila with 27; and Pasig City with 25.
Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for program delivery, network technical group, said it takes at least three months to install a new tower depending on location, accessibility, logistics and quarantine protocols implemented in the area.
