Globe Telecom, the Philippines’ second largest telecoms group, is planning to raise PHP20 billion (USD404.1 million) from the debt market to fund an aggressive expansion programme. Local press reports cite a Globe disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, saying that its board of directors have approved the debt securities filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under a ‘shelf registration programme’, which enables firms to secure funding over a three-year period with the benefit of lower interest rates.
The operator is gearing up its 4G LTE rollout, aided by the acquisition of additional frequencies from San Miguel Corporation (SMC) in May last year. Having kicked off the deployment of LTE-700 equipment in June 2016, Globe is now also using blocks of 1800MHz, 2300MHz and 2600MHz spectrum also acquired under the deal. It spent around USD1 billion in FY2016 to bolster its rollout, hitting a figure of 500 LTE-700 sites and 900 LTE-2600 sites deployed by end-2016.