The Philippines government pushed on with plans to rapidly deploy towers in the country to improve connectivity, by adding another company to its exclusive list of independent tower companies.
CommsUpdate reported, Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corporation (MIESCOR), a subsidiary of Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), was named as one of eight companies licensed by regulator the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to operate as an independent tower company.
Other companies to work with the government for tower deployment include: CEEC Tower, Communication and Renewable Energy Infrastructure, Desarrollos Terrestres, ISOC Edotco Towers, Ison Tower, Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) and LBS Technologies Asia Pacific. Each player gained a five-year certificate of registration.
In light of the current health crisis, DICT simplified the process to securing permits, yielding a 4,544 tower construction permits issued between July and November 2020, apparently, an increase according to the National Telecommunications Commission, with the total number of towers erected standing at 22,405 at the end of November 2020.
Globe Telecom is the leading operator in terms of tower portfolio with 10,270, second was PLDT brand Smart Communications with 10,069, while third place was DITO Telecommunity with 2,066.
DICT is aiming to have 50,000 towers deployed nationwide in the next five to 10 years.