Globe to divest itself of telecom towers

Globe Telecom Inc. is looking at divesting all or part of its tower assets to independent tower companies as part of its network expansion and optimization plan, the company said Thursday.

In a regulatory filing submitted by Globe chief compliance officer Marisalve Co, the telco said it is in talks with third party companies to establish an independent telecommunications tower company to speed up the deployment of cellular towers in the country.

“We have been allocating over 30 percent of our total revenues to capital expenditure for the past five years and this level will be sustained over a period of time. An independent tower company will be a win-win solution,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said.

“In addition, this greatly helps President Duterte’s initiative to open the telco industry to new players. The plan is for these towers to be open for lease to new and existing players,” he said.

Globe has more than 8,000 cell towers nationwide. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News