MANILA – Leading telco provider Globe Telecom welcomed President Duterte’s commitment to improve government services by reducing bureaucratic red tape, expressing hope this will lead to the standardization of LGU permits and fast track the approval process of securing permits to build cell sites and right-of-way.
“We are optimistic that the policy direction made by President Duterte will be immediately implemented and thus shorten the permitting process for cell sites and right-of-way,” said Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo. Globe has actively lobbied for the reduction of the 25 permits needed to build cell sites with an approval period of at least 8 months. “Our commitment to the Duterte administration is to improve internet services in one year. We can do this if we have the full support of the LGUs and other government agencies in fast-tracking the permits in our roll-out,” Castelo said.
Castelo clarified that the use of additional spectrum assets as a result of the company’s buyout of 50% of SMC telco assets will greatly improve capacity issues for mobile internet users. However, the more sustainable solution would be to build more cell sites to increase not only capacity but also coverage. Efficiently utilizing spectrum and having high cell site density in the country are the necessary infrastructure support to propel the Philippines to first world internet experience.
Castelo also mentioned other issues such as social acceptability especially among homeowner’s associations and political bickering among local government officials, also hamper telco providers from establishing the optimal telecommunication infrastructure needed to bring about good service experience.
At his inaugural speech, President Duterte committed to reduce bureaucratic red tape saying, “I direct all department secretaries and the heads of agencies to reduce requirements and the processing time of all applications, from the submission to the release. I order all department secretaries and heads of agencies to remove redundant requirements and compliance with one department or agency, shall be accepted as sufficient for all,” Duterte said.
As part of its network build, Globe is currently expanding its network coverage and capacity in various areas all over the country across all technologies, including 3G & LTE, for faster internet experience of its customers.
