Globe reports 152% increase in cell sites built

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. said on Tuesday the number of new cell sites it built from January to March this year increased by 152% to 318 from 126 in the same period last year.

The Ayala-led telco issued the update during its annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday.

Fourth-generation (4G) LTE and fifth-generation (5G) builds reached 7,065 sites in the first three months of 2021, up 245% year on year, Globe said in an e-mailed statement.

Globe also announced that its customers raised P3.4 million in donations as of the first quarter, via Rewards points, as part of the company’s ongoing pandemic response.

The telco is investing P70 billion in network enhancement initiatives this year.

“Substantial capex will be used for the aggressive rollout of fiberto-the-home network and widen its 5G footprint,” Globe noted.

The company announced in February that its core net income fell 13.04% in 2020, owing to the pandemic’s impact on its businesses except home broadband.

Its core net income for 2020, which excludes the impact of nonrecurring charges, foreign exchange and mark-to-market charges, declined to P19.52 billion from P22.45 billion in 2019.

Full-year service revenues from mobile, home broadband, corporate data, and fixed line voice decreased 1.76% to P146.39 billion in 2020 from P149.01 billion in the previous year.

Globe Telecom shares closed 0.76% higher at P1,864 apiece on Tuesday. —