Globe Telecom outlined plans to deploy 900 telecoms sites across the Philippines this year, as it works to finalise deals with tower companies to support a government initiative to improve connectivity, BusinessWorld reported.

The operator told the newspaper its partners have started to acquire and build sites: it has signed five tower sharing agreements with six companies, including ISOC Infrastructure and edotco.

It recently concluded a leasing deal with Aboitiz InfraCapital, which will build 200 towers in three areas, BusinessWorld reported. Site deployments from other partners are expected to pick up after pilot sites are built. Another 300 sites are planned on the island of Luzon, and 400 in other regions including Visayas and Mindanao.

The company said yesterday (10 September) it received 190 permits from 85 local government agencies in August to start construction, attributing the surge in approvals to government efforts to streamline complex processes around building shared telecoms infrastructure.

Local support
Joel Agustin, an SVP in the operator’s Network Technical Group, said local governments are actively working with operators to improve connectivity, with agencies following up on the status of permissions and the time to install equipment.

In late July, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and eight other agencies agreed procedures to accelerate tower deployments.

Last week, DICT said it received letters of intent from 13 new tower companies: it has existing agreements with 24 others, most of which are non-domestic.

Globe Telecom previously estimated the country needs an additional 50,000 towers.