DICT gets unsolicited proposal for common telecom towers
ISOC Infrastructures Inc. (ISOC Infra), a company chaired by Megawide Construction Corp. co-founder Michael Cosiquien, has submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to improve telecommunication services in the country by building telecommunication towers to be shared among the country’s telco operators.
Under the proposal submitted to Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio, Cosiquien said ISOC Infra intends to invest P100 billion over a seven year period to construct 25,000 towers nationwide that could be commonly shared by PLDT, Globe, and an upcoming third telco player.
Telco companies such as Globe and Smart can lease the towers and free up their capital and resources to further improve their network services, Cosiquien said.
Tower sharing is an existing business model in the telecoms industry that has been proven effective in Southeast Asia, the US, and other parts of the world.
ISOC Infra president Jess Chua said the tower-sharing model would be beneficial not only to the telco operators, but also to government since the scheme would provide the necessary infrastructure to help improve the country’s communication channels.
“We are excited to provide this option toward the upgrading of the country’s communication capabilities and look forward to working with the telco players and the DICT in this endeavor,” Chua said.
The common towers are expected to greatly improve mobile telecommunication services, internet reliability and efficiency, and provide these at a reasonable cost to consumers.
DICT has been working diligently on the entry of the third telco player and has emphasized that the over-all objective is to provide the most reasonably priced, efficient, and consistent service.
Rio said ISOC Infra’s proposal is “a welcome step toward involving investors to address the ever-growing communication needs of the country, taking into consideration the people’s clamor for better, reliable and affordable services.”