Globe Telecom Inc. said it plans to roll out 1,800 LTE700 sites for the year, more than a three-fold increase from the 500 deployed last year, as part of its plan ramp up spectrum utilization of its 700 megahertz (MHz) band to 300 percent.
The plan is in fulfillment of its target to provide mobile coverage to about 95 percent of cities and municipalities in the country within a three-year period as committed to the National Telecommunications Commission.
“We continue to maximize the use of the previously unutilized 700 MHz because at the end of the day, our basic product is still the network. Globe has consistently delivered superior mobile services and as the country’s network of choice by smartphone users, we want to be able to stay ahead of the demand curve, taking into account our customers’ growing requirement for bandwidth-intensive content,” said Ernest Cu, Globe president.
Globe said apart from the additional LTE700 sites, Globe is also expanding coverage and increasing capacities of its 2600 MHz band by deploying an additional 1000 sites.
Globe gained access to the 700 MHz and obtained additional allocation in the 2600 MHz following a partial acquisition of San Miguel’s telecommunication assets. Prior to the acquisition, these spectrum assets were idle and unutilized.
Cu said the new LTE 700MHz and LTE 2600MHz sites will be deployed in densely populated areas mainly in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao where majority of customers using LTE-compatible devices are located.
Globe began deployment of LTE sites using the 700 MHz band in June last year following a partial acquisition of San Miguel’s telecommunication assets, which also included spectrum resources in the 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2600 MHz.
Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/business/globe-triple-lte700-rollout-year