|
FOR the past three years the Philippine-based Delgado family has
been a key player in the telecommunications industry in the Pacific
Ocean territory of Guam.
It came about when Guam head-quartered Pacific
Telecom Inc. was purchased from Verizon by Prospector Holdings, the
Delgado’s corporate flagship, in 2005. A year later,
Japanese corporate giant Sumitomo invested $25 million in PTI to
become a long term strategic partner and help cement PTI’s
expansion plans in the closely knitted group of islands in
Micronesia of which Guam is the biggest.
Now, in a further extension of its business
profile in Guam (and, at the same time, exemplifying the bullish
corporate nature of the Filipino abroad) PTI’s Guam subsidiary,
PTI Pacifica Inc., has signed an asset purchase agreement with
another Guam based telecom operator, IT&E, for an undisclosed
amount. Selected current telecommunication assets and the
IT&E brand name were included in the agreement.
The company will continue to operate as IT&E
and current customers will experience a seamless transition after
the purchase is finalized within the next few months.
“This is a winning combination for Micronesia.
IT&E is a strong, locally owned company which has been a pioneer
in Guam for decades. IT&E’s history coupled with PTI’s
own, as part of Verizon in the Micronesia islands, bring new and
exciting possibilities to our customers, employees, and business
partners.” said Ricky Delgado, president and CEO of PTI.
For his part, John Borlas, president of IT&E
said that he has “entrusted the IT&E legacy to PTI and is
comfortable turning the company over to a group with the same values
and a long term commitment to the region”.
Market opinion is that Sumitomo’s sizeable
investment in PTI as a strategic partner was clearly an indication
of the confidence IT&E placed in the company.
In fact, Borlas confirmed as much when he said:
“Assuredly, this is a significant factor that played a huge role
in our decision to consider PTI, particularly coming from Sumitomo
which is one of the largest corporations in Japan.”
Borlas added: “It was a good fit for PTI and
IT&E since geographically there is not a great deal of overlap
between the companies. The combined strength of PTI, Sumitomo, and
now together with IT&E, is undeniably a superb ingredient poised
for success in promoting positive and robust growth for our civilian
and military communities”.
The purchase will combine IT&E’s cellular,
long distance, Internet, and business phone and data solutions in
Guam and the Micronesia islands with PTI, the leading communications
company in the region, which also provides CDMA and GSM cellular,
long distance, data communications, and fixed line services.
PTI provides data communications and long
distance services in Guam and publishes The CNMI Phone Book and The
Guam Phone Book. This month PTI added CNMI-wide Push-to-Talk
service to their product portfolio.
“To be the leader means continuously providing
customers with the most reliable, cost effective, and modern
network. We have done just that in the CNMI, and we will
follow the same recipe as we expand into Guam,” Delgado explained.
Once the transaction is complete, the
Filipino-owned PTI will be the largest telecommunications company in
Micronesia with estimated revenues of approximately $70million.
The combined infrastructure and assets will allow PTI to offer the
latest technology as well as a wider range of products and services
to its customers in Guam and the rest of the Pacific region.
Plans include a complete upgrade of the CDMA
wireless platform in Guam, an expansion of the GSM platform in Guam,
and the completion of a redundant microwave backbone throughout the
Pacific territories of Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.
___
bizzfizz_98@yahoo.com
|
