Too much data, too few cell sites

Globe CEO’s lament

The country is experiencing a mobile data explosion to date. Problem is, the sparse number of cell sites in the country cannot cope with surging data traffic.

The Philippines, an archipelago, currently has about 17,000 cell sites versus the likes of Vietnam with 55,000 cell sites for the same population density in a contiguous land area.

Today, building a cell site involves about 25 permits with at least 8 months lead time, lamented Globe Telecom Inc. President & CEO Ernest L. Cu.

The marked increase in data traffic nationwide coupled with the lack of cell sites prompted Globe to call for support from local government units.

LGU assistance can help reduce the lead time, if not facilitate less permits, he pointed out.

By building more cell sites, telco service providers can address the need for additional bandwidth to transmit enormous amount of data and provide better internet experience for customers. Service providers have to put up more cell sites as demand for data continues to surge and more Filipinos adopt a digital lifestyle with cheap datacapable gadgets.

Significantly, data revenues now account for half of the Globe’s total service revenues.

Mobile data revenues from January to March soared 62% to 19.1 billion, of which 13.5 billion is home broadband and 12.3 billion, corporate data.

A hefty increase in the company’s mobile customers, from 48.4 million to 57.3 million in the comparative period also provided support for mobile data.

Globe’s mobile revenues totaled 123.1 billion in the first quarter, up 7%, pushing consolidated revenues to 129.9 billion, a 14% jump from the same period in 2015. Net profit stood 14.3 billion, up 3%.

Aside from LGUs facilitating the building of cell sites, telecom regulators should harmonize spectrum if they want to increase bandwidth for mobile data use.