PLDT, Inc. is open to participating in the government鈥檚 push for shared telecommunications infrastructure.
As the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) signed five tower companies to enter the Philippine market as of last week, PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said they have been approached by some of these firms.
鈥淎 number of these tower companies have approached us and we said we are willing to cooperate in respect of new towers,鈥 the PLDT chief told reporters on Friday.
鈥淭he formula is flexible. If they鈥檙e willing to sell after they build the towers, if they鈥檙e willing to sell to us, we鈥檙e willing to consider buying them. Or just leasing the towers, and tell us whether you鈥檙e going to lease it to other telcos, so we need to know,鈥 he added.
Mr. Pangilinan refused to name the companies that talked to them, but noted PLDT is 鈥渨illing to support鈥 the endeavor.
The DICT have already signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with one local tower company and four foreign ones, namely: ISOC Infrastructures, Inc. from the Philippines; ISON ECP Tower Pte. Ltd. from Singapore; IHS Holding Ltd. (IHS Towers) from Nigeria; edotco Group Sdn Bhd from Malaysia; and China Energy Equipment Co. Ltd. from China.
DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said on Friday they are also looking to sign an MoU with American Tower Corp. this week.
The MoUs guarantee the government鈥檚 assistance in securing permits for installing common towers, which Mr. Rio admittedly said has been riddled with bureaucratic hurdles.
Telcos PLDT and Globe Telecom, Inc. had to build their own towers for their individual operations, as allowed by their legislative franchises. Mr. Rio said only around 16,000 towers are in place because of this practice, and 50,000 more is needed to reach optimal efficiency.
Globe had previously expressed its support for the common tower initiative. It has been working to incorporate its own tower company, GTowers, Inc., after securing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission last year.
Globe Senior Vice-President for Corporate Communications Yoly C. Crisanto said in a text message early January that they have been in talks with several tower companies to tap for GTowers.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in 大象传媒 through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez
