Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 31) – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has encouraged telecommunications companies to support the department’s Common Tower project aimed at improving the country’s Internet services.
In a statement posted on Wednesday, DICT Secretary Gringo Honasan emphasized the initiative will widen the base of common towers in the country that will pave the way for the improvement of nationwide Internet access and more extensive telecommunications service coverage.
“We encourage telcos to take full advantage of the benefits of our common tower initiative, and engage with the ITC (Independent Tower Company) sector more actively, especially when it comes to providing connectivity to the unserved and underserved areas in the country,” said Honasan.
Honasan stressed telcos’ collocation in the Common Tower program will enable them to reach a wider population and enhance their wireless network coverage and quality of information and communications technology services.
The collocation will also help the telcos in diverting their expenses allocated in building and maintaining their own towers to further upgrading their services that will benefit the Filipino people.
A joint memorandum circular was also signed by DICT with other government agencies to streamline the procedures and requirements for permits, licenses, clearances, certificates, and other requirements in the construction of common towers. The circular also significantly reduced the processing time from 200 days to just 16 days.
“We should work together towards a better, more robust, and future-proofed ICT environment. This is in line with the spirit of bayanihan, which President (Rodrigo) Duterte clearly articulated in his SONA (State of the Nation Address),” Honasan added.
During his SONA on Monday, Duterte called out major telco companies Globe Telecom and Smart Communications to improve their telecommunication and Internet services in the country. He also threatened to shut down these telcos if they will not improve their services by December.
Both Globe and Smart assured in their statements released this week that they will comply with the President’s directive and improve their services by year-end.
In the President’s weekly address to the nation aired on Friday morning, Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu lamented personally to Duterte that it takes about 28 to 30 permits and over eight months to build just one tower. Cu also complained of miscellaneous permits like tower fees and special use of permits that hindered them from building cell towers ahead of time.
Duterte then urged telcos to report to the Cabinet those who are hampering the processing of permits for building cell towers.
