The Philippines’ second largest operator Globe Telecom said it has activated 500 cell sites in the Visayas and Mindanao regions using the 2.6MHz band it obtained in the joint acquisition of San Miguel Corp’s (SMC) telecoms assets.

The added spectrum will give customers “faster data speed capabilities to serve growing demand for bandwidth”, Joel Agustin, Globe’s SVP of programme governance, said in a statement.

Market leader Smart, PLDT’s mobile unit, has also started a nationwide rollout using the acquired frequencies.

Both Smart and Globe have rushed to use the new spectrum bands after closing the deal in late May. Smart said in early June it launched three cell sites using the additional 700MHz frequency it acquired and plans to roll out 360 sites supporting the efficient spectrum this year. Globe pipped Smart by announcing a few days earlier it deployed its first 700MHz base station and plans to roll out 200 sites supporting the band this year.

The acquisition, however, has come under the scrutiny of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), which is reviewing the competitive impact of the transaction, BusinessWorld said.

PLDT and Globe filed a petition against a probe by the country’s competition watchdog PCC (Philippines Competition Commission) into the joint $1.5 billion buyout.

In separate statements, the companies said they had filed for a temporary restraining order, asking for a halt of the review, with Globe arguing the “transaction is already deemed approved”, adding that “the PCC cannot by whim or caprice state that it wants a review without any legal basis”.