Rivals turn partners as LCS Holdings, DITO Telecommunity inaugurate first shared telco tower in PH
LBy
CIARA ALARCON
CS Holdings, Inc. (LCS) of Luis “Chavit” Singson led the inauguration of the Philippines’ first-ever common tower that can accommodate all three major telco providers in the country.
The first shared telco tower in the Philippines will be placed in Ilocos Sur. It can power up three of the major network companies, including DITO Telecommunity – which was formerly known as Mislatel.
Although it conceded to Dennis Uy’s DITO in 3rd telco bid, Singson remained committed to elevate the mobile connectivity in the country. To prove this, LCS has become the first Philippine company to build a common tower that can help Dito to finally rollout their service.
Singson also noted that LCS has been working very hard in consultation with DITO as their first customer, and to come up with a roll-out plan that is insync with their network deployment.
“True to our commitment, we are also concentrating our efforts in prioritizing the deployment of our common towers in regional and rural areas. We believe, in months to come, we would be able to narrow the gaps of the quality of the mobile services between those in the metro areas and those in the regional and rural areas,” Singson added.
Meanwhile, DITO expressed its gratitude to become the first customer of LCS. DITO Telecommunity Chief Administrative Officer Atty. Adel Tamano addressed that this partnership marks their first strong step of providing faster, more affordable, and more secure internet connectivity for Filipinos across the country.
Tamano also revealed that they plan to launch 3,000 telco towers on their first year as one of the major network providers. In addition, he explained that these towers will be built by themselves or by teaming up with other shared tower providers.
To make this project possible, Singson’s group has collaborated with Thai tech giant Ua Withya Public Co. Ltd. (UWC). However, the latter explained that they are open for partnership with other companies to allow them build as many as 70,000 towers in the next decade.
“We are delighted to collaborate with LCS on this prestigious and momentous project. UWC has been in tower manufacturing for the past 52 years. The way we have rolled out more than 100,000 towers in Thailand and overseas is the same way we want to efficiently deliver new Philippine Towers for our client, and more importantly to the Filipino people,” UWC Chairman Chanachai Leenabanchong said.
LCS noted that they are committed to assist DITO Telecommunity in their bid to extend their mobile coverage to a minimum of 37 percent nationwide coverage within their first year of operation.
On the other hand, DITO said that they are also open for more partnership – even with international tech companies – to power up their roll-out plans.