|
GLOBE Telecom Inc. said it has set aside millions of
dollars to fund expansion of its 3G (third generation) technology
service this year.
Gerardo Ablaza, president of the
country’s second largest mobile phone service provider, said the
company has alloted $60 million to $63 million this year to fund
expansion of its 3G service.
“We will be allotting about a
third, maybe 30 percent to 35 percent of the company’s
$180-million budget for broadband business,” he told reporters.
Globe, which is partly-owned by
Asia’s biggest telco, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., has set
aside $400 million to $450 million for its capex this year.
Last year, the company invested
$120 million to $150 million for 3G.
The company earlier sought
supplementary 3G spectrum from the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) for its 3G service deployment in the rural areas.
The Ayala-led teleco wants the
assignment of 3G radio frequency bands 825 to 845 megahertz and 870
to 890 megahertz.
Froilan Castelo, Globe’s head
for regulator affairs said the frequencies are of a lower bandwidth
than Globe’s current 3G frequency assignment of 1945 to1955
megahertz and 2135 to 2145 megahertz.
“As such, their transmission
and reception capability covers a greater range from a technology
standpoint. This characteristic can permit the use of fewer 3G base
stations and network elements, while still providing substantial
coverage,” Castelo said.
Castelo added that while Globe
continues to actively pursue nationwide 3G service expansion, the
investment case differs significantly in rural areas where the
company cannot expect a reasonable rate of return.
Under its five-year 3G network
plan submitted to the NTC, Globe proposes to cover 80 percent of
provincial capital cities and towns and 95 percent of chartered
cities.
Globe now covers areas in Metro
Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao as well as key provincial
capitals and municipalities in 28 provinces.
Last year, it installed more than
1,006 3G node base stations, at least nine 3G radio network
controllers, two servers, three media gateways, six transmission
aggregators and four service GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
nodes.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
|
