By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Ensuring to meet the target of the much-needed towers that will support connectivity across the country, ISOC edotco Towers Inc. (“IETI”), today announced that it has completed its first build-to-suit site in Cavite. Built for Globe Telecom Inc., this common tower is the first of many that will improve overall connectivity in the Philippines.
Located in Barangay Maguyam in Silang, Cavite, all passive and active components of this tower are in place. This tower will initially serve Globe but has the capacity to accommodate and serve other mobile network operators as shared infrastructure. To help reduce carbon emissions, the network infrastructure uses green power solutions by deploying high efficiency and intelligent rectifier systems with Lithium batteries as storage technology.
“The readiness of this first of many common towers denotes our unwavering commitment in advancing connectivity for the nation through the shared infrastructure model. With our regional experience, industry best practices and capabilities in deploying built-to-suit and next-generation connectivity solutions, we are thrilled to officially mark a new era of reliable and affordable connectivity in the Philippines,” said William Walters, Country Managing Director of IETI.
Following the Government’s recent push to expedite the issuance of necessary permits, the engineering design and construction of IETI’s other common tower projects are now underway, with construction remaining on track despite the limitation to physical activities due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“With a total of five towers completed, we are confident we will be able to meet the remaining towers in the pipeline as committed in our commercial agreement with Globe,” added Walters.
“The completion of this first-ever build-to-suit site in Cavite will hopefully lead to more projects in the coming months as demand for connectivity and wider coverage continues. These builds not only complement the existing network expansion programs of the company but also give some flexibility for us to maximize their potentials in a totally different way,” said Rizza Maniego-Eala, Globe’s Chief Finance Officer and Chief Risk Officer.
In 2019, IETI partnered with Globe and signed the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in a bid to deliver next generation tower solutions that would help advance the telecommunications infrastructure in the Philippines. Today, as it pioneers the country’s common tower initiative, the company’s tower projects support the Government’s thrust of improving the Philippines’ telecommunication industry and services through the installation of more shared infrastructure.
To date, the Philippines has 17,850 towers according to TowerXchange that serve more than 100 million subscribers, which translates to a tower density of 7,143 customers per tower. The ideal tower density is 1,000 customers per tower. By fueling a robust and future-ready telecommunications landscape, IETI aims to connect the entire nation, further benefiting over 108 million Filipinos.
