PLDT considering Globe’s tower company joint venture proposal

Philippine telecoms company PLDT Inc. is reportedly open to an idea put forward by its rival Globe Telecom to set up a joint venture cellular tower company in a bid to reduce their respective CAPEX outlays. Local press quote Ray Espinosa, PLDT’s chief corporate services officer, as saying that the telco is ‘willing’ to partner with its Ayala-led competitor in building such towers, but stressed that decisions on where to locate them must dovetail with its network capacity demands. ‘We cannot just base our stations in areas where Globe says, “This is where we build [them].” It has to be consistent with our network design and rollout,’ he explained. Until now, both telcos’ ambitions to secure permits to establish new towers have been mired in red tape.